Friday Vocabulary

1. brickbat — piece of brick, esp. when used as a missile

Piled behind the barricades were cobblestones and brickbats to be used against the government troops during the inevitable reactionary assault.

  2. fret — to gnaw; to wear away by gnawing, friction, corrosion, etc.

He was proudest of the ivory box lid in which he had fretted a bas-relief depicting the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga.

  3. halation — blurring around edges in photographic image beyond proper boundaries, creating local fog around highlights, etc.

The UFOs seemed impossible to focus upon, and we saw instead a reddish halation rather than a definable edge, even as the craft drew closer to our dismasted schooner.

  4. fettle — condition, state

The fish were in a fine fettle, showing the attentive care lavished upon them and their aquarium.

  5. aumbry (archaic spelling of ambry) — cupboard, locker; recess in church wall for storage (of sacramental vessels, books, etc.)

He pulled back the rough wooden door, but the aumbry was bare, the sacred silver noticeable only by its absence.

  6. coulter (also colter) — blade fixed before the plowshare, cutting soil vertically

A lively debate broke out after everyone had finished their second glass of wine, as to whether the introduction of the coulter to the heavy plough in the middle ages led to increased concentration of population in farming centres.

  7. tardigrade — slow moving or slow walking; of or relating to sloths; of or relating to water-bears

The tardigrade action of the sloth belies the inherent strength of these magnificent animals.

  8. moil — to drudge, to work hard; to wallow in mire

You will never get rich if you moil uselessly with nothing put aside for the morrow.

  9. ecdysis — shedding of integument by reptiles, crustaceans, etc.

His was unfortunately an incomplete ecdysis, as a large portion of shedded skin continued to adhere to the claws on his right forefoot, leaving the harassed gecko annoyed and alarmed.

  10. starling — pointed set of pilings around a bridge pier for protecting from the impact of debris or vessels

We pushed off the boat-like starlings as we drifted beneath the bridge, our prow just passing by the half prow of the wooden pilings.