(a.) Having no certain course; roving about without a fixed destination; wandering; moving; -- hence, applied to the planets as distinguished from the fixed stars.
(a.) Deviating from a wise of the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; strange; queer; as, erratic conduct.
(a.) Irregular; changeable.
(n.) One who deviates from common and accepted opinions; one who is eccentric or preserve in his intellectual character.
(n.) A rogue.
(n.) Any stone or material that has been borne away from its original site by natural agencies; esp., a large block or fragment of rock; a bowlder.
Example Sentences:
(1) This erratic course renders difficult assessment of the efficacy of methods of treatment.
(2) As trigger sensitivity was decreased within its usual range, a marked and progressive ventilator response delay occurred which was associated with erratic changes in functional residual capacity as well as dyspnea and tachypnea.
(3) Obstacles to successful treatment include an erratic schedule, mistrust of authority, and uncooperative or aggressive behavior.
(4) In the wake of a second fatal police shooting in the St Louis area after the death of Michael Brown , concerned citizens are asking why officers had to kill Kajieme Powell, a 25-year-old man who was holding a knife and “behaving erratically.” They want to know why officers don’t shoot someone like Powell in the leg or the arm, rather than aiming for vital organs, or why they don’t just use a less lethal weapon, like a Taser.
(5) We attribute the persistence of infection in our patient to erratic usage of antituberculous drugs.
(6) Coronary blood flow and coronary perfusion pressure were significantly correlated during the administration of lignocaine; bupivacaine had erratic effects on coronary blood flow and no correlation between coronary blood flow and coronary perfusion pressure was seen.
(7) Flynn’s subsequent penchant for inflammatory, erratic and even bigoted statements left few, particularly in security circles, willing to defend him.
(8) The president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, reflecting the deep anger felt in Brussels at the erratic negotiating tactics adopted by Tsipras and Varoufakis, said Greek voters should blame Tsipras for bringing the country to its knees.
(9) Cells in optimal (5 x 10(-9) M) but uniform concentrations of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) polarized well and showed a 'persistent random walk' type of locomotion, whereas in supraoptimal concentrations (10(-7) M), the cells took erratic paths and polarized poorly, suggesting that monocytes cannot develop an anteroposterior polarity if hit by ligand molecules at many points on the cell surface simultaneously.
(10) It is perhaps not surprising that self-diagnosis and self-medication are common and follow-up attendance is erratic.
(11) As far back as 2008, the Wall Street Journal was running front-page pieces , beginning: "Major banks are contributing to the erratic behaviour of a crucial global lending benchmark".
(12) The fact that it failed is related to the atomised society left behind by 40 years of the most brutal and erratic of dictatorships.
(13) At lower levels the results were somewhat more erratic due to inaccuracies of the various methods at low concentrations.
(14) At any rate, the only sparse range of body expressions, the smallness and preference of night activity of these animals and the erratic occurrence of essential behaviour patterns make the investigations more difficult.
(15) It has been encouraged by Trump’s often erratic, unfocused behaviour , and the resulting opportunities and dangers arising from weakened American global leadership.
(16) Though absorption of ampicillin from capsules was often erratic, its bioavailability was similar in normal and cirrhotic subjects.
(17) Moreover, the emotional climate of adolescence, which requires affiliation with peer groups, and a distancing from authority figures such as doctors and parents, is often associated with a deterioration in drug and dietary compliance and with erratic clinic attendance.
(18) I learned that the hard way: when I was younger, I played the part of the erratic, irascible drunk in order to have something to write about.
(19) Once well-paid, stable work with decent terms and conditions is gradually being replaced by minimum-wage, erratic jobs.
(20) Psychiatric patients may also be at special risk for the development of digitoxicity because of erratic drug taking, electrolyte imbalance or increased autonomic tone.
Quicksilver
Definition:
(a.) The metal mercury; -- so called from its resemblance to liquid silver.
Example Sentences:
(1) A pair took off from the newly tilled bare earth, chasing in tandem, making mazy, quicksilver, patterns with their white tail feathers glinting against the soil, as if they were playing with sparklers.
(2) Maya Yoshida and the excellent Victor Wanyama had threatened earlier and the second goal followed more quicksilver work by Mané, who escaped on the byeline before being body checked by Rochdi Achenteh.
(3) Which there was, before even the Dead: Quicksilver's symphonic epic 'The Fool' being the first taste.
(4) Although Tennant is best-known in the wider world for his quicksilver portrayal of the tenth Timelord in Doctor Who – and more recently, a quizzical detective in ITV's doomy thriller Broadchurch – his theatrical pedigree is impressive.
(5) Alli scored Tottenham’s second goal and he dazzled with his quicksilver incisions while Son was a persistent threat in the No9 role.
(6) Chile need to do more quicksilver, fleet-footed attacking, and rely less on sending free-kicks into the mixer.
(7) The first is that attempting to regulate the things that it creates is like trying to catch quicksilver using a butterfly net.
(8) Dispatches picked up both the home and international current affairs awards, for independent producer True Vision's The Hunt for Britain's Sex Gangs, and Quicksilver Media's Syria: Across the Lines, respectively.
(9) But I suspect that 21st-century politics is much more uncertain, and the way that Corbyn went from zero to hero within weeks is further proof of how politics flips around in a world beyond tribal loyalty, and the quicksilver reality in which we find ourselves.
(10) We in Big Brother wanted to be Indians, tribal, while Quicksilver wanted to be the cowboys, with their boots, carrying rifles around.'
(11) At their core were the Charlatans, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother and the Holding company (with Janis Joplin) - leaving Country Joe and the Fish, and the Sparrows (later Steppenwolf), slightly to one, political, side.
(12) De Bruyne’s second strike of this nascent season came courtesy of a quicksilver brain.
(13) In the film, Cumberbatch plays Assange as a quicksilver saviour, humane at times, deceitful at others, never less than human.
(14) Bates was an infinitely versatile actor at home in all media; but what one will remember, especially in modern drama, is his matchless ability to suggest a quicksilver intelligence imbued with mischievous irony.
(15) Feldman's other interests included Ocean Energy, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources, and Parker Drilling.
(16) The Glenderamackin Beck shines like a vein of quicksilver in the shade below, while the low-angled light above accentuates the shapeliness of the underlying Skiddaw slate as opposed to the more jumbled forms of the rest of Lakeland.
(17) As for the fight itself , Ali risked destruction by using slackened ropes to lean eccentrically out of reach , back arched, rendering him intermittently safe from the oak-tree arms of the hitherto unbeaten Foreman , draining George’s strength and self-belief until he picked the right moment to launch his quicksilver raid on the crude ogre’s chin.
(18) There was time in prison for possession of marijuana, but Duncan secured 'good money for suits and driving around with show girls' playing casinos in Vegas before coming to San Francisco, hooking up with David Freiberg and the late John Cipollina to form Quicksilver.
(19) Some great vocab – “Quicksilver,” “impoverished” – that lend a terrific punch.
(20) This information is entered onto an IBM compatible computer by the secretary using a quick, user-friendly program written in a dBASE dialect and compiled with Quicksilver.