Anticipating and preparing against the possibility that someone might outdo one; taking special measures to ensure one cannot be one-upped or outmaneuvered.

Someone's adoption a new name different from their current name. / The legal act by a person of changing their name.

plural of negative cost

fine-needle aspiration

(surgery) A diagnostic biopsy used to investigate lumps

The modern practice of living in religious or spiritual communities that have monastic elements but are not limited to a specific church or denomination.

(Anglo-Indian, archaic) roguish; mischievous

(Anglo-Indian, archaic) A roguish, mischievous person.

A request for advice or instruction on what should be done. / A request, usually rhetorical, to know what, in a series of negative events, is the next negative event occurring.

plural of hypoglossal nerve