1. waler — light Australian breed of riding horse, originally bred in New South Wales
Only one of the more than one hundred thousand walers brought overseas by the Australian calvary in World War One ever returned home.
2. rodomontade — vainglorious boast, extravagantly bragging speech
In the midst of his vicious rodomontade a hunched old crone started to beat him about the shoulders with her purse, causing the puissant party leader to shrink away, crying out in a whining tone, “Stop it, Mom!”
3. mercer — textiles dealer
Hiram was surprised that the silk mercer supported the planned expansion of the cotton mill.
4. etymon — primary word or word form from which other words or forms are derived
Although Joel Roberts Poinsett was a strong leader of the U.S. cause not only in South Carolina and in South American, he is most remembered only in his role as the etymon for the poinsettia seen commonly throughout the Christmas season.
5. filé — powdered leaves of sassafras
Some prefer a roux, others like okra, but give me gumbo made with filé and I’ll be happy.
6. puce — dark brownish purple
The head wound had left his brown locks with puce highlights.
7. instantiation — representative instance of a more general pattern, algorithm, or concept
No, it won’t do you any good to remember that a triangle having sides of length 3,4, and 5 is a right triangle, as that is only one instantiation (and a rare integral one at that) of the more general Pythagorean theorem.
8. customary — consuetudinary, customal, custumal, written account of local customs or usages of a manor or region
The crabbed writing in the ancient customary gave strong support for the monastery’s claim to ownership of the well and the lands surrounding it.
9. cockchafer — doodlebug, large brown European beetle
“How can I write with those annoying cockchafers crashing into the window in my study every five minutes?!?”
10. stipendiary — person receiving regular pay for services
Though it was often bruited about that Mr. Laventer was a stipendiary of one foreign country or another, this accusation of near treason never interfered with his attendance at all the best parties in the capital.