NYT Connections Word Meanings & Definitions Today — July 23, 2026 (Puzzle #1138 Explained)

If you played the NYT Connections puzzle on Thursday, July 23, 2026 (Puzzle #1138) and were confused by what certain words actually mean or why they belong in their respective categories, this comprehensive word meanings guide is built for you. Whether you wondered why FEBRILE fits anxiety, what an airport APRON is, or how DEPLANE and JANGLE hide math terms, understanding the definitions behind BASEBALL, GLOBE, MARBLE, ORANGE, EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE, APRON, HANGAR, RUNWAY, TERMINAL, APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, and JANGLE makes the whole grid crystal clear.

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Glossary: Dictionary Meanings of All 16 NYT Connections Words Today

Here is the full dictionary definition and part of speech for every word in today's grid, along with its specific context in Puzzle #1138:

Word	Part of Speech	Dictionary Definition	Connections Meaning & Group
BASEBALL	Noun	A stitched leather ball used in the game of baseball.	Yellow — Spherical object
GLOBE	Noun	A spherical 3D representation of the Earth or celestial body.	Yellow — Spherical object
MARBLE	Noun	A small hard sphere of glass or agate used in games.	Yellow — Spherical object
ORANGE	Noun	A round, spherical citrus fruit produced by an orange tree.	Yellow — Spherical object
EXCITED	Adjective	Feeling eager enthusiasm, nervousness, or high arousal.	Green — State of anxious agitation
FEBRILE	Adjective	Feverish; marked by nervous excitement or anxious tension.	Green — State of anxious agitation
FRENETIC	Adjective	Fast, frantic, and wildly agitated or restless.	Green — State of anxious agitation
INTENSE	Adjective	Characterized by extreme force, degree, or emotional strain.	Green — State of anxious agitation
APRON	Noun	The paved area of an airport where aircraft park and refuel.	Blue — Airport facility/zone
HANGAR	Noun	A large building used to house and repair aircraft.	Blue — Airport facility/zone
RUNWAY	Noun	A strip of paved land for aircraft takeoff and landing.	Blue — Airport facility/zone
TERMINAL	Noun	The airport building where passengers board flights.	Blue — Airport facility/zone
APPOINT	Verb	To assign job duties or positions officially.	Purple — Ends in POINT
DEPLANE	Verb	To disembark or exit from an airplane.	Purple — Ends in PLANE
FELINE	Adjective/Noun	Relating to or belonging to the cat family.	Purple — Ends in LINE
JANGLE	Verb/Noun	To make a metallic, ringing sound.	Purple — Ends in ANGLE

Yellow Group Word Meanings: SPHERICAL THINGS

In geometry and physics, a sphere is a perfectly round 3D solid figure where every point on the surface is equidistant from its center. In today's puzzle, the Yellow group connects four everyday physical objects defined by their spherical shape.

BASEBALL (Definition & Context)

Definition: A leather-covered hard ball used in baseball games.
Connections Context: While baseball is primarily known as a sport, the word here refers physically to the ball itself—a classic stitched sphere measuring roughly 9 inches in circumference.

GLOBE (Definition & Context)

Definition: A spherical model of the Earth or celestial sphere.
Connections Context: Unlike flat maps, a globe is an explicit 3D sphere designed to accurately represent planetary geography without map distortion.

MARBLE (Definition & Context)

Definition: A small, hard toy sphere made of glass, clay, or stone.
Connections Context: Marbles are iconic small spheres used in traditional games like ring marbles and marble runs.

ORANGE (Definition & Context)

Definition: A round, orange-colored citrus fruit.
Connections Context: Although orange is also a color, here it acts as a noun representing the round fruit, forming the fourth spherical object in the Yellow group.

Green Group Word Meanings: IN AN ANXIOUS STATE

The Green group tests emotional vocabulary, bringing together four adjectives that describe someone experiencing intense, nervous, or feverish agitation.

What does FEBRILE mean in Connections?

Definition: Pertaining to fever; marked by nervous excitement or anxious tension.
Connections Context: Solvers often search the definition of febrile because it is a literary word. Beyond its medical meaning (having a fever), it describes a "febrile atmosphere"—one charged with feverish, anxious tension. It belongs in Green with EXCITED, FRENETIC, and INTENSE.

EXCITED (Definition & Context)

Definition: Feeling high emotional arousal, eagerness, or nervous energy.
Connections Context: While excitement can be positive, in psychology and everyday speech it indicates an elevated, anxious physiological state with heightened pulse and restlessness.

FRENETIC (Definition & Context)

Definition: Wildly frantic, agitated, or chaotic.
Connections Context: Someone behaving in a frenetic manner is acting out of high stress or anxiety, rushing wildly to complete tasks under pressure.

INTENSE (Definition & Context)

Definition: Showing extreme effort, concentration, or emotional strain.
Connections Context: An intense state of mind is characterized by rigid focus, high pressure, and acute emotional tension.

Blue Group Word Meanings: PARTS OF AN AIRPORT

The Blue group tests airport infrastructure and aviation terminology, uniting four physical locations on airfield grounds.

What does APRON mean in an airport context?

Definition: The paved airfield zone where aircraft park, refuel, and load.
Connections Context: This was one of the most searched word meanings in today's grid! While non-aviation readers think of a kitchen apron, an airport apron (also called the tarmac or flight ramp) is where planes sit while passengers board.

HANGAR (Definition & Context)

Definition: A enclosed garage structure designed to hold aircraft.
Connections Context: Hangars are large structures at airfields used for aircraft maintenance, repairs, and weather protection.

RUNWAY (Definition & Context)

Definition: A long paved strip engineered for aircraft takeoff and landing.
Connections Context: The runway is the core operational strip of any airport, distinct from taxiways and aprons.

TERMINAL (Definition & Context)

Definition: The main building where passengers handle check-in, security, and boarding.
Connections Context: The airport terminal connects ground transportation to the boarding gates and aircraft.

Purple Group Word Meanings: ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS

The Purple group features clever wordplay where the last letters of each word spell out a fundamental mathematical concept in geometry.

APPOINT (Wordplay Explanation)

Definition: To assign a position or job role officially.
Geometry Wordplay: AP-POINT. Ends in Point—a 0-dimensional geometric location marked by coordinates.

What geometry term is hidden in DEPLANE?

Definition: To step off or disembark from an aircraft.
Geometry Wordplay: DE-PLANE. Ends in Plane—a flat 2-dimensional surface extending infinitely in geometry.

FELINE (Wordplay Explanation)

Definition: Relating to or characteristic of cats.
Geometry Wordplay: FE-LINE. Ends in Line—a 1-dimensional continuous geometric figure extending infinitely in two directions.

JANGLE (Wordplay Explanation)

Definition: To make a harsh, metallic ringing sound.
Geometry Wordplay: J-ANGLE. Ends in Angle—the figure formed by two geometric rays meeting at a common vertex.

Why Certain Words Tripped Solvers Up Today

Search trends for Puzzle #1138 show that solvers heavily searched the meanings of four specific words:

1. FEBRILE: Many solvers knew the medical definition (fever) but weren't sure how it fit with EXCITED and FRENETIC until realizing its figurative meaning describes feverish, anxious tension.
2. APRON: Players looking at kitchen wear assumed APRON was a clothing item, missing its technical aviation definition as an airport parking ramp.
3. DEPLANE: Solvers frequently tried putting DEPLANE into the Airport group with HANGAR, RUNWAY, and TERMINAL. However, DEPLANE is an action verb rather than an airport place, and its true purpose was hiding the word PLANE for the Purple geometry group.
4. JANGLE: At first glance, JANGLE seems like an unusual word alongside FELINE and APPOINT, until the suffix ANGLE reveals the math connection.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What do the 16 words mean in NYT Connections for July 23, 2026 (Puzzle #1138)?

The 16 words represent physical spheres (Baseball, Globe, Marble, Orange), states of anxious tension (Excited, Febrile, Frenetic, Intense), airport facilities (Apron, Hangar, Runway, Terminal), and words ending in geometry terms (Appoint, Deplane, Feline, Jangle).

What does FEBRILE mean in today's NYT Connections?

Febrile means feverish or characterized by intense, nervous excitement and anxiety, fitting the Green group 'IN AN ANXIOUS STATE'.

What does APRON mean in an airport context?

An airport apron is the paved area on airfield grounds where planes park, refuel, load baggage, and board passengers.

How do APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, and JANGLE relate to geometry?

Each word ends with a core geometry term: ap-POINT, de-PLANE, fe-LINE, and j-ANGLE.

Explore More Connections Guides & Solutions

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• Daily NYT Connections Hints & Progressive Clues
• Full NYT Connections Solution Archive
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• NYT Connections Soccer Edition Hints Today

Final Thoughts

Understanding word definitions and subtle dictionary meanings—like the aviation definition of APRON or the figurative anxiety meaning of FEBRILE—is the most effective way to solve daily NYT Connections grids. Be sure to bookmark our page and return daily for detailed word meanings, definitions, and category breakdowns!