World vignettes

An extensive check of online and offline dictionaries did not reveal a single dictionary that correctly referred to gravity being the operative force, Hughes said. My initial reaction was shock. I just stood there like a stunned mullet thinking how can this be? He emailed the editors at Oxford whose revision team said they will correct the mistake. Oxford Dictionary spokeswoman Margot Charlton said the definition was written in 1911 by editors who were not scientists.

The definition

Oxford English Dictionary: A tube used to convey liquid upwards from a container and then down to a lower level,the flow being maintained by atmospheric pressure.