Word of the Day: deciduous

The word deciduous has appeared in 12 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 8 in the book review “Did the First Americans Arrive via Land Bridge? This Geneticist Says No.” by Jeremy DeSilva:

Our job as anthropologists is to breathe life into the past, to retell the stories of our ancestors and extinct relatives. We do not work with lifeless old bones or inert molecules but with the precious, fragmentary remains of once living, breathing, thinking individuals who laughed, cried, lived and died.

As Raff explains, “We have promised to treat the small scraps of bone and teeth with respect and mindfulness that they are cherished ancestors, not ‘specimens.’” Sprinkled through “Origin” are lovely vignettes of life thousands of years ago. Raff playfully imagines how the Yana River boys lost their deciduous teeth in a Siberian river 31,000 years ago.

Daily Word Challenge

Can you correctly use the word deciduous in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.

If you want a better idea of how deciduous can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.