(n.) A web-footed bird, of the genus Diomedea, of which there are several species. They are the largest of sea birds, capable of long-continued flight, and are often seen at great distances from the land. They are found chiefly in the southern hemisphere.
Example Sentences:
(1) But the Ukip albatross grows bigger by the year and may destroy his career.
(2) On her right shoulder is an albatross: "She wanted to come back as one when she died."
(3) These patients continue to haunt the surgeon, and the syndrome has been named the "albatross" syndrome.
(4) There is now provisional BBC Trust approval for Project Canvas , the TV-on-demand joint venture that includes ITV, the BBC and BT, but Norman may be left with the task of working out what to do with ITV's digital albatross Friends Reunited, if the Competition Commission blocks its proposed £25m sale .
(5) Now that shopping habits have changed with the arrival of online grocers and the popularity of buying little and often from small local shops, Tesco’s collection of large stores seems more like an albatross around its neck.
(6) So far, the president has been more fatuous than fascistic, though he belatedly realized what an albatross the bill had become.
(7) While newer procedures in ulcer surgery may alter the incidence of standard postgastrectomy complications it will not alter the incidence of the albatross syndrome, which is more directly related to the selection of the patient rather than the selection of the surgeon or surgical procedure.
(8) "Does social conservatism continue to be a albatross around the neck of the party?"
(9) Liberal Democrat leader Clegg, who has been variously branded a "jelly", "condom", "lapdog" and "yellow albatross" by Johnson, suggested the mayor should be clearer about his true intentions.
(10) 'House Of Cards', which recalled Fleetwood Mac's 'Albatross'.
(11) So next time you buy bottled water, remember the baby albatross.
(12) Lead poisoning was diagnosed in 10 of the droop-winged albatrosses and was one of the causes of morbidity.
(13) But albatrosses have adapted to cope with salty food and water.
(14) Human activity (lead poisoning and vehicular trauma) caused mortality at Midway Atoll and represented additive mortality for pre-fledgling albatrosses.
(15) Although she came to see The Golden Notebook as her "albatross", she had to concede that the novel, written during a period of great personal and social upheaval, had a life and energy of its own.
(16) There’s no question it will be an albatross should he win the nomination.
(17) His presence either indicates a certain softening of attitude towards the prize on the part of Blur's frontman, or else it's going to be short-lived: the last time he turned up on the Mercury shortlist, for Gorillaz's eponymous 2001 debut album, Albarn demanded the nomination be withdrawn, claiming that winning the award would be "like carrying a dead albatross around your neck for eternity".
(18) Over 100 species of sea birds are known to have ingested plastics, and according to a study published last month around 95% of fulmar, a seabird related to albatrosses, have been found to have potentially hazardous plastics in their stomachs.
(19) Hosts of brightly plumed birds – "flamingos and frigate-birds, falcons and deep-water albatross" – have flocked into the town, and when the narrator leans against a pillar box, trying to straighten his flying suit, an eagle "guarding these never-to-be-collected letters snaps at my hands, as if she has forgotten who I am and is curious to inspect this solitary pilot who has casually stepped off the wind into these deserted streets".
(20) Epizootic mortality occurred in Laysan albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) fledgings at Midway Atoll in 1983.
Millstone
Definition:
(n.) One of two circular stones used for grinding grain or other substance.
Example Sentences:
(1) That price is inevitably going to increase over the years and will be another millstone around the BBC’s neck.
(2) Blair’s business decision might thin the fog of rage – and help Labour | Jonathan Freedland Read more The scaling back of commercial activities may remove a second millstone around his reputation, although critics will say he has already made substantial sums from his businesses, including from some authoritarian regimes.
(3) If a younger generation cannot, or is afraid to, incur a massive millstone of debt, their right of access to education is being severely curtailed, if not extinguished.
(4) Like other grocers, its biggest stores have become millstones as customers increasingly shop on the internet and at local convenience stores.
(5) Channel 4's most successful show of the past decade – both in ratings and commercial terms – Big Brother became a millstone around its neck in the wake of the Shilpa Shetty race row in early 2007 and was broadcast for the final time by the broadcaster last year.
(6) Broomhill is a small, local library, in a smart bit of the city, near the university: it's a toasty old house of millstone grit – Edwardian, I think – which, perhaps, was once owned by some upwardly mobile steel magnate.
(7) Their biggest millstone may not be their ability, but whether their association with a previous Labour government leads the party to look to a new, less experienced generation.
(8) Ever since, harder-nosed Tories have been struggling to discredit what they regard as a costly millstone around their neck.
(9) Indeed, the fact he is every bit as image-conscious as United could help give more substance to his status; the size of the fee is unlikely to be a millstone around the neck of a player who, like Cristiano Ronaldo before him, has always believed he has what it takes to become the greatest and seems reinforced by others’ confirmation.
(10) Introducing a grace period for empty property rates for new development will remove a millstone from around neck of the property industry, and let it get on with what it does best – investing in our towns and cities, regenerating communities and building the offices, factories and shops in which we work.
(11) But, for now, the external sector is acting as more of a millstone on the economy than a long hoped-for source of support," he added.
(12) However, the commitment to a review for change in 2017 is arguably as important for driving growth for businesses in the UK – getting the system to be one that drives entrepreneurship, and investment, rather than a being millstone that constrains business.
(13) As the economic crisis dragged on, it seemed there was little that Hollande could do to bring the required drop in unemployment or a boost to industrial output and growth and the Mr Normal tag began to prove something of a millstone.
(14) But looking back, Mr Osborne's conference-pleasing rabbit in 2007 was better tactics than strategy; it worked primarily because it forced Labour to defer the election, but it was also a policy millstone that the Conservatives have had to bear in the middle of the ensuing economic crisis.
(15) In a fiery sermon on Monday , Francis railed against corruption and quoted the bible's advice that practitioners be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck.
(16) "But recent polling shows the issue is becoming a political embarrassment and millstone for the Republican party, even as they have yet to change their stripes.
(17) "But it has got us off 33 points, which has been a millstone around our neck, and, fingers crossed, now in our last eight games we can push on."
(18) If independence is defeated, the story would be that Scotland bottled it; that kind of charge would hang around the country's neck like a millstone, sapping self belief.
(19) I don’t know who invented the West Ham way phrase, but it’s a millstone around the club’s neck.” Allardyce, who steered West Ham to 12th in May after a promising start to the season ran out of steam after Christmas, added that he was not alone in feeling hamstrung by the supporters’ expectations and the club’s past, which saw them win the FA Cup on three occasions – 1964, 1975 and 1980 – and also lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965.
(20) In The Millstone (1965), Margaret Drabble's central character, Rosamund, gets pregnant accidentally, after a one-night stand with a man called George.