excelsior (ik-SEL-see-uhr) noun

   Wood shavings used for packing fragile items.

[From a trademark. From Latin, literally higher, from excelsus, high.]

   "In a glint of needle light, of grass seeds, dew flecks, a friend is
   throwing her voice
   While far inside a grainy heaven a butcher's apron ripples its dried
   blood in the wind.
   The bark strippings, excelsior, the panicles of the garden. In the midst
   of summer a friend cuts greens and places them in a bowl as if they were
   fronds.
   A friend is a vinegar - and now, pearl-shaped, in clusters, faces among
   her face,
   As globes rise on the lawn, each above a root of recriminations."
   Garden solstice, The Antioch Review, Jun 1, 1996.

The word excelsior is also the motto of the New York state:
http://50states.com/flag/nyflag.htm
It is also the title of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
http://bartleby.com/102/62.html
Of course, here they are not exhorting us to take inspiration from wood
shavings. Rather these refer to the Latin sense of the word. -Anu

This week's theme: Words from the names of newspapers.
Examples: The Daily Excelsior (India); the Excelsior (Mexico).

............................................................................
If you are afraid of being lonely, don't try to be right. -Jules Renard,
writer (1864-1910)

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