here's a noun that's a mouthful -- onomatopoeia.t's either a bacteria found in the lower intestine. or the use of words that sound like what they mean. or it's a coming of age ritual in ancient greece. onomatopoeia, the use of words that sound like what they mean. as, when you say a baby babbles that's onomatopoeia because when a baby babbles it sounds like "babble." ready for another? turgid. is it an adjective, swollen, or excessively embellished? or is it a noun, a slurring of speech? or how about a noun that means a cloth head wrap worn in equatorial regions? give up? turgid is an adjective. it can mean swollen, or it can mean excessively embellished. as in "the turgid poetry used so much onomatopoeia that it was irritating to hear." okay. let's take a short one. flail. could it be a noun -- a tool used with a swinging motion? or is it a verb, to strike with a swinging motion? gotcha. flail can be a noun, a tool used with a swinging motion, and the swinging motion itself. you could say, "the farm worker has to flail a flail to t