Catch – 22 [kach - twen - tee - too]
–noun, plural Catch-22′s, Catch-22s
1. a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory regulations or conditions.
2. any illogical or paradoxical problem or situation; dilemma.
3. a condition, regulation, etc., preventing the resolution of a problem or situation; catch.
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Origin:
from a military regulation in a novel of the same name (1961) by U.S. novelist Joseph Heller (born 1923)
spiffy [spif-ee]
-adjective, spiffier, spiffiest. Informal.
spruce; smart; fine.
Also, spiffing [spif-ing]
especially British, spivvy, spivving.
”Hey guys, what do you think of my — this spiffy ride here?” President Obama asked the group of reporters traveling with him on the presidential plane.
| 1. | the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty. |
| 2. | a method of inflicting such pain. |
| 3. | Often, tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone. |
| 4. | extreme anguish of body or mind; agony. |
| 5. | a cause of severe pain or anguish. |
–verb (used with object)
| 6. | to subject to torture. |
| 7. | to afflict with severe pain of body or mind: My back is torturing me. |
| 8. | to force or extort by torture: We’ll torture the truth from his lips! |
| 9. | to twist, force, or bring into some unnatural position or form: trees tortured by storms. |
| 10. | to distort or pervert (language, meaning, etc.). |
