scurf (skurf) noun

   1. Scaly or shredded dry skin, such as dandruff.

   2. A loose, scaly crust coating a surface, especially of a plant.

[Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin.]

   "One moment the sky was full of words, the next flakes of blue
   were falling upon the earth like scurf from the unwashed heads of
   angels."
   Jeremy Sharp, Necessary Angel: On the Nature and History of Anne
   Szumigalski, Essays on Canadian Writing, Fall 1998.

This week's theme: words that make one say, I didn't know there was a word
for that.

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Today the real test of power is not capacity to make war but capacity to
prevent it. -Anne O'Hare McCormick

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/scurf.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/scurf.ram