/ˈdɪm.ə.wɒt/
noun · informal · etym: anglo-noemic compound · dimmer + what · attested in conversation; rarely written
a thing whose name you used to know.
the dimmerwhat is held in the hand, or pointed at, or described by its uses: "the small one, with the — the part that does the — for the kitchen drawer." it is never the most important object in the room, but its name has gone the way of a familiar street one has not walked in a decade.
every household contains at least three dimmerwhats. they live alongside the [—] and the [—] and the small dish whose proper purpose was forgotten long before it began holding keys. consult the catalogue for those few that have been recovered; consult forget for those that have not.
in a sentence: "pass me the dimmerwhat — no, the other dimmerwhat."
see also · ferror footnotelore forget catalogue word