On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:15:43 +0100, "Pete Stockdale"
<peter.jeanne@> wrote:
>Strange indeed - as the word bascule is listed as a noun only with no verbal
>or adverbial variations !
The absence of a word from a dictionary (or from any dictionary) does
not show that the word does not exist. It may mean that the word has
not been brought to the attention of the lexicographers or that they
thought it too rare, or likely to be too ephemeral, to be worth
including. Furthermore, dictionaries are, of necessity, always behind
the times: words will have appeared, disappeared and changed their
meanings while the dictionaries were in preparation.
As the meaning of "basculate" is clear, and it fills a gap in the
lexicon (albeit for the relatively small number of people who need to
talk about the actions of bascule bridges), it is not inconceivable
that future editions of Chambers will record it.
bjg