1. indefeasible — not liable to be annulled or voided, not forfeitable
Any arguments for the indefeasible rights of an author to control his writings are undercut by the works of Franz Kafka, most of which were saved only when his friend Max Brod famously ignored Kafka’s final wishes that his unpublished works be burned after his death.
2. carter — driver of a cart
The shoats quickly fled the overturned wagon, but the dazed carter merely sat mournfully on the kerb, bemoaning his loss rather than seeking to retrieve the runaway pigs.
3. groin — to fashion intersecting vaults or to furnish such vaults with ribs along such an intersection
The builders had replaced the barrel vaults of the original plans, groining the vaults instead for greater strength and stability.
4. apophallation — the biting off of the penis
Two types of slugs have been observed to engage in apophallation during or after mating, though the reasons for this behavior are not entirely clear.
5. enchafe — to make warm or hot
We must beware the effects of excessive drink, for, as Plutarch says, wine has the power to enchafe both the body and the mind.
6. tippet — narrow scarf worn with ends hanging down over shoulders; band of silk worn by clergy around neck with ends pendent from shoulders; woman’s shawl or scarf worn around neck and shoulders
In the 19th Century the proctors at the University of Cambridge wore the tippet in place of the hood worn by other officials.
7. clinker — fused matter left behind from burning combustible material in furnace or forge, piece of slag
Natural cement is composed from the finely ground clinker formed after burning the appropriate limestone.
8. eupeptic — having good digestion; of or related to a good digestion
I envied him his youthful strength, his happy mien, his eupeptic state that seemed so to contrast with my own crabbed, pain-wracked, and sour disposition.
9. mantic — of or related to divination
The priestess lay dazed upon the bed of animal hides, her mantic frenzy now evaporated leaving only the memory of her words of doom.
10. cumbrous — unwieldy, cumbersome
For ages readers have bemoaned the cumbrous volumes they were forced to read from, but only our day has seen these troublesome tomes replaced with virtual books that can be carried in the pocket.