The Baltimore Sun says several readers groused about the use of the word "limn" in a recent headline.

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The newspaper said it received several complaints about the headline, "Opposing votes limn difference in race," which utilized the synonym for describe, from people who had to look up the definition of the word.

"I had to keep looking at it again and again," Sun reader Carol Shaw wrote in an e-mailed complaint about the Tuesday headline. "I consider myself an educated person ... I have never heard of the word 'limn.' ... To put a word like 'limn' in the headline for the lead article on the front page of this newspaper seems to me to be unbelievably arrogant and patronizing."

The Sun said a check of its records found the word "limn" had been used 47 previous times in the newspaper since 1991, including two headlines.

"Speaking as a headline writer myself, though not the author of this one, I heartily endorse all sorts of short verbs that are neither scatological nor obscene," said John McIntyre, the Sun's night content production manager.

"Speaking as a language maven, I applaud when people consult dictionaries to add another little brick to the wall of their vocabularies. Now that you know what it means, it is yours forever."