monoline n. a company specializing in a single type of financial business, such as credit cards, home mortgages, or a sole class of insurance. Editorial Note: Monolines are often required by government regulation rather than by market conditions...
Vanna White veto n. a form of line-item veto that permits an elected official to strike single letters in legislation. Editorial Note: This term is specific to Wisconsin, where this type of veto—also called a pick-a-letter veto and similar to the...
fixie n.— «“Fixies,” as they are called here, are sort of the Platonic ideal of bicycles: stripped of all but the most vital components, and with just a single speed.» —“Legs a-blur, Portland cyclists make fixed-gear bikes...
wab n.— «“I just hope Victoria doesn’t look like a little wab.” Wab—short for wetback—was, I had already discovered, the single most popular local youth insult. “Whenever my mom has Victoia for more than a couple of hours...
frankenbite n.— «Frankenbite…An edited reality show snippet, most often found in contestant testimonials, that splices together several disparate strands of an interview, or even multiple interviews, into a single clip. A...
grandmother cell n. a neuron that is said to fire when a person recognizes a single individual. Editorial Note: This term is directly tied to a theory of neurology which posits that individual brain cells contain individual memories, as opposed to...