Word of the Day -- Gibbous

This has been one of my favorite words ever since I first heard it.  It means: 1) marked by convexity or swelling; 2) in relation to the planets, espeically the moon, seen with more than half but not all of the apparent disk illuminated, and 3) having a hump : humpbacked.  

I have always liked looking at the moon, and had known about full moons, crescent moons, blue moons, harvest moon, etc. but for some reason the term gibbous moon escaped my brain until mid life.  I believe it was either Steve or Kenneth who told me about it, both being smarter though less handsome than me.  Turns out there are a waxing gibbous and a waning gibbous; waxing gibbous meaning that the moon is over half and going toward a full moon, and a waning gibbous still over half but going from full down.  

It's just a nice bit of trivia to know the next time you are staring, or howling, at the moon.