a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

bitumen (ˈbɪtjʊmɪn)

—n
1.	any of various viscous or solid impure mixtures of hydrocarbons that occur naturally in asphalt, tar, mineral waxes, etc: used as a road surfacing and roofing material
2.	the constituents of coal that can be extracted by an organic solvent
3.	any liquid suitable for coating aggregates
4.	the bitumen
	a. informal (Austral), (NZ) any road with a bitumen surface
	b. informal (Austral) (capital) the road in the Northern Territory between Darwin and Alice Springs
5.	a transparent brown pigment or glaze made from asphalt

[C15: from Latin bitūmen, perhaps of Celtic origin]

bituminous

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

bituminous

1610s, from Fr. bitumineux, from L. bituminosus, from bitumen (see bitumen).

EXPAND

"The Plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge Boiles out from under ground, the mouth of Hell." ["Paradise Lost," XII.41]

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