Quackle

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A free computer program designed to play the word game Scrabble and analyze the best moves on a board
2. An open-source software application that competes at Scrabble by evaluating possible tile placements and scores
3. A computer tool for the board game Scrabble that uses artificial intelligence to choose strong plays

Etymology: "Quackle" is a plain formation: the verb "quack," the sound a duck makes, with the diminutive or frequentative suffix "-le" attached. English has many such pairs, where a "-le" ending turns a sound or action into a smaller, repeated, or more casual version of it, as with "crackle" from "crack," "sparkle" from "spark," and "twinkle" from "twink." Here the suffix gives the basic quacking a lighter, quicker, more clustered sense. The result is a word that is easy to build and easy to understand, since its meaning follows directly from its parts. Its use is largely limited to describing short, repeated or lively quacking, rather than the full sound of a duck. Because it is a transparent combination rather than a borrowing, there is no older foreign history to trace behind it.