What is ‘pssamophile,’ the word that the National Spelling Bee champion 2023 Dev Shah spelled correctly to win the 95th title of the National Spelling Bee?
Psammophile is an organism that thrives or lives in sandy areas. Apart from psammophile, some of the other words that Dev Shah correctly spelled during the National Spelling Bee competition included tolsester, schistorrhachis, poliorcetics, bathypitotmeter, aegagrus, Perioeci, exhortation, and ardoise.
Let’s know the meaning of these words. ‘Tolsester’ means a toll paid to the lords by their tenants, for liberty to brew and sell ale. Similarly, aegagrus is another word he spelled right. ‘Aegagrus’ means a wild goat of a wild goat specie, found in forests, rocky areas from Turkey, and up to the areas leading to the Pamir Knot.
Another word Shah correctly spelled was ‘Schistorrhachis.’ It means a common congenital defect in which a vertebra becomes malformed.
Dev also spelled the word ‘Poliorcetics’ correctly which means the art of seigecraft.
Another word Dev Shah spelled correctly was ‘Bathypitotmeter.’ It is an instrument that records the current velocity and water temperature at given depths below the surface of a water body.
‘Perioeci’ is another word he spelled right. this word means the ones who live on the same latitude but in a different hemisphere. So when there is noon in one place there is midnight in the opposite lattitude.
One of the relatively simpler words he had to spell was ‘Exhortation’ which means to urge or proclaim. Another word that he spelled correctly was ‘Ardoise.’ It means the slate board for writing on with chalk which has a slate to purple colour.