1. bittacle — [obsolete] binnacle, box on ship’s deck for the compass
Be sure to use wooden pegs or the like in constructing the bittacle, for metal nails can attract the compass.
2. barney — [British] fight, quarrel, brawl
Terence spent the night in jail after getting into a barney with some other drunken louts and thus he has an alibi for the murder.
3. ninnyhammer — fool, simpleton
If he seems a mighty Solomon, it is solely because he surrounds himself with such ninnyhammers as to make his every phrase appear genius in stark comparison to the drivel about him.
4. scarify — to make scratches or light incisions (as in vaccination); to wound, to make sore; to make cuts in the bark of a tree
The duo finally made it through the brambles surrounding the top, Kris’s shins and calves so thoroughly scarified that Devon felt glad he had worn long jeans even on such a hot day.
5. surd — irrational number (esp. a root); voiceless consonant; [obsolete] deaf; stupid
But try as he will, the student will find he is left with an irreducible surd, namely the root of 2, just that number at the heart of the occult mysticism of the Pythagoreans and the cause of the murder of Hippasus.
6. vizard — [archaic] mask, visor
Dame Whitby affects a vizard, not to hew to the latest fashion, but to hide the marks of the pox upon her cheek and brow.
7. lumber — to encumber, to obstruct or heap
Dusty albums and boxes of old photographs lumbered the bottom shelves, making the books thereupon almost inaccessible.
8. university — [obsolete] totality, entirety; the universe
They are wrong, he taught, who speak of this or that animal as being “bad” or “evil”, for the university of life comes from the Creator of all things, of Whose creation there is nothing which is not good, which does not redound to His glory.
9. pettifogger — inferior legal practitioner, esp. one who cavils and engages in questionable acts; any petty practitioner
I doubt that he was any worse than any of the other pettifoggers who pervaded Congress during that dark time in our history, but he was cursed beyond his fellows with an absolute and irredeemable lack of humor.
10. exogamous — of or practicing the custom of marriage only outside one’s clan, tribe, or group
Pinkie shocked his Eton classmates when he not only married outside his class but pushed this exogamous predilection so far as to marry an American.
Bonus Vocabulary
(business formal, legal)
of even date — of the same date
This letter is in response to your inquiry of even date regarding our ability to supply you with thirteen tons of cotton balls.