•March 22, 2023•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

Guinness World Records has determined the verb “set” has more definitions than any other word.
Some 430 senses of the verb are listed in the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1989. It has the longest entry in the dictionary at 60,000 words — or the equivalent of a short paperback novel.
We’re a little tight on space (and I imagine consciousness) to explore that in this column. But for some reason it got me thinking about a boring little word with a multitude of wonderful and very specific synonyms: “walk.”
In the interest of writing descriptively, I utilize probably three or four dozen words when I try to sum up a person’s walk.
Perhaps it’s a bit on the voyeuristic side, but I like to people watch — wherever I am — and, of course, put a name to a gait.
Mind you, this is not a form of judgment but rather a vocabulary exercise for me.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.