oddment
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A remaining piece or part: An oddment is a single item or fragment that remains after the main part has been used, sold, or dealt with.
- An unusual or miscellaneous item: An oddment can also refer to something unusual, often of minor value, that might be collected or kept.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- She used the oddment of fabric to make a small patch for the quilt.
- The box was filled with oddments from his travels: shells, coins, and strange keys.
- After the sale, only a few oddments were left on the shelf.
Advanced Usage
"An oddment of information": a small, isolated, or miscellaneous piece of information.
- The historian found an oddment of information in a forgotten diary that changed the theory.
"To be reduced to oddments": to be left only with small, leftover pieces.
- After the project, the material was reduced to oddments too small for any major use.
Variants and Related Words
Oddments (plural noun): A collection of miscellaneous small items or remnants.
- The drawer contained various oddments like buttons and paperclips.
Remnant (noun): A small remaining quantity of something. (This is a close synonym but often implies a larger or more coherent leftover piece than an "oddment".)
Synonyms
- Fragment: A small part broken or separated off something.
- Scrap: A small piece or amount of something, especially one that is left over after the greater part has been used.
- Remainder: A part of something that is left over when other parts have been completed, used, or removed.
Related Phrases
- Bits and oddments: A common phrase emphasizing a collection of very small, miscellaneous items.
- She sorted through the bits and oddments in the sewing box.
Related Idioms
- "A ragbag of oddments": A disorganized mixture of various different things.
- The report was a ragbag of oddments, lacking a clear central argument.
Noun
- something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting
- a piece of cloth that is left over after the rest has been used or sold