Word of the Day for Tuesday May 24, 2005 suffuse \suh-FYOOZ\, transitive verb: To spread through or over in the manner of fluid or light; to flush. She gave me a long slow look, as if she were deciding something, and then she allowed herself to blush, the color suffusing her throat in a delicious mottle of pink and white. --T. Coraghessan Boyle, [1]T. C. Boyle Stories Have you ever felt happiness suffuse all the cells in your body and a smile light up your face? --Sarabjit Singh, "Queen of the Hills," [2]India Currents, November 30, 1996 Like an angel or an earthquake, it isn't there and then it is; it doesn't steal over us and suffuse us with a festive spirit like the gradual effects of alcohol or good deeds. --Barbara Peters Smith, "Gladness descends on her home," [3]Sarasota Herald Tribune, December 27, 2003 _________________________________________________________ Suffuse comes from the past participle of Latin suffundere, "to overspread; to suffuse," from sub-, "under" + fundere, "to pour." References 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/014028091X/ref=nosim/lexico 2. http://indiacurrents.com/ 3. http://www.heraldtribune.com/ Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=suffuse