Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IMMURE

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"IMMURE" Meaning: To immure things or people is to put a wall around them. You can literally immure people by putting them in a prison of any kind, but we're interested in the figurative sense: to immure things or people is to close them up or confine them, as if they're trapped inside some walls. Pronunciation: im YURE Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like “eat,” “try,” and “want,” all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, you immure something or someone.) Other forms: immured, immuring, immurement How to use it: Talk about someone or something that's been immured, often in or behind something: "He's immured in his grief." "Wealth has immured the whole family; they can't relate to regular people." "The proposal has remained immured in bureaucracy for six months." "If they want to stay immured behind their ignorance, nothing we can do will help." You might also find use for the adjective, "immured:" "immured treasures," "immured memories," "immured academic traditions," "immured rituals," etc. It can be hard to make friends at a new school, where all the other kids are already immured within their own little cliques. Hours can pass without me realizing it when I've immured myself in the office, working intensely on some project or another. Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "immure" means when you can explain it without saying "put walls around" or "confine." Think of a real or fictional person who seems trapped in a very limiting situation, and fill in the blanks: "It's so sad how (Person) stays immured in _____, (doing something in particular.)" Example: "It's so sad how Laura stays immured in her apartment, playing with her glass animal collection and never making any friends." Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game and quote below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Playing With Words: This month, we're playing New Word Order! It's a card game that I recently created; it involves figuring out the order in which certain words and phrases entered our language. I'll give you several words and/or phrases, and you'll use your knowledge of history, slang, technology, popular culture, fashion, psychology, etc. to put them into chronological order. I'll post the right answer to each question on the following day. If you like this game, you can download and print it to play with your family and friends. (It's free.) Yesterday's task was to place "vacuum-pack" on this timeline:  Pre-K, 1967 Serial killing, 1984 Tae Bo, 1994 Answer: Vacuum-pack, 1951 Pre-K, 1967 Serial killing, 1984 Tae Bo, 1994 Today, your new timeline looks like this: Declutter, 1950 Paparazzi, 1981 McJob, 1986 Try to decide where this term belongs on that timeline: "rewritable." A Point Well Made: John Keats: “Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced — Even a proverb is no proverb to you till your Life has illustrated it.” 1. The opposite of IMMURE is A. ENCIRCLE B. EMANCIPATE C. EVADE 2. She has all the _____ of an immured _____. A. insightful vision .. CEO B. provinciality .. schoolgirl C. street smarts .. veteran Answers are below. To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each day for free by Mrs. Liesl Johnson, M.Ed., a word lover, learning enthusiast, and private tutor of reading and writing in the verdant little town of Hilo, Hawaii. For writing tips, online learning, essay guidance, and more, please visit www.HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. B Exploring the archives: Today we're looking at a metaphor related to walls, one that emphasizes their confining, limiting aspect. But we've also looked at a word that emphasizes instead the protective, reliable aspect of (metaphorical) walls. This word starts with "b," it has a very positive connotation, and it means "a strong protector of a certain quality." Could you recall it?