Blog, noun [short for ''Web log''] (1999): a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.

"Blog" is the Word of the Year, dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster said Tuesday, as it released the year''s top 10 words keyed in by users searching its Web sites.

The word received the largest number of user requests by a wide margin, said Merriam-Webster. Others in the top 10 (in descending order) included incumbent, electoral, insurgent, hurricane, cicada, peloton, partisan, sovereignty, and defenestration.

Eight of the top ten words related to breaking news stories from the past year, ranging from the 2004 presidential election (electoral) to the war in Iraq (insurgent). "Defenestration" was the winner in Merriam-Webster''s "What''s Your Favorite Word?" online survey held earlier this year.

("Defenestration," by the way, is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.)