empty nest syndrome (EMP-tee nest SIN-drom) noun

   A depressed state felt by some parents after their children have left home.

   "Meanwhile, _Home Improvement_ is going to be suffering empty nest
   syndrome.  Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who plays middle son Randy on the
   sitcom, will leave to focus on his education, the 16-year-old actor's
   publicist said yesterday."
   People Watch, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Aug 5, 1998.

This week's theme: syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and principles.

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I wish I were either rich enough or poor enough to do a lot of things that
are impossible in my present comfortable circumstances. -Don Herold

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