1. pouter — domestic pigeon, noted for puffing out its crop
In contrast to Jack, whose beer belly could be seen before the man himself, Bert had an almost inverse shape, with a narrow waist and overlarge barrel chest, puffed up like a pouter in full distention.
2. fons et origo — source and origin
And that small accident, the tiniest dent made by the whisper of her bumper upon his new Honda, this trifle was the fons et origo of all the consequent nastiness that led to the dreadful disaster.
3. list — to be pleasing to
I shall do as me list, and no law nor force will stay me.
4. blent — past tense and past participle of blend
If you like your drinks blent—not to say turnt—you could do worse than the versatile daiquiri.
5. sodality — companionship, fellowship; an association; society for Catholic laypeople
Before joining the convent she had been quite active in her sodality, taking meals to poor homebound seniors and leading charitable drives during the Christmas season.
6. debauch — to seduce, to corrupt
His friends and their Bohemian lifestyle had debauched the high ideals he had held when first he came to the big city.
7. logomachy — contention or dispute about words
To insist upon the term ‘illegal alien’ versus ‘dreamer’ is not some logomachy but rather a beachhead upon the battlefield of political power.
8. refectory — dining hall in a college or religious house
The plates had all been cleared away yet Tom and Guy still argued in the refectory, each determined to win the day which—truth be told—was long since over.
9. stipe — (botany) stalk, esp. of a mushroom
Connoisseurs of psychedelia know that the potency of the stipe is the same as that of the cap, so don’t waste anything.
10. ramify — to spread out in branches; to separate into subdivisions
Petersen really felt that he had finally created the ultimate ontology, for his new software displayed all of human knowledge in three dimensions as each category ramified into further more particular subcategories, interconnecting them in a glorious structure he hoped would enable his perfect database.