1. maunder — to mumble, to talk idly, foolishly, or to no real purpose; to move about aimlessly
The poorly shaven hobo took another pull from the bottle and maundered more words about the family he once had, the son who had once been so proud of his father.
2. termagant — violent ill-tempered woman, virago
We all sat frigidly silent, stunned by the termagant‘s rude shouts when offered no soups to her liking.
3. mole — very large construction in water, as a pier, breakwater, or causeway
The inner harbor was formed and protected by a massive mole, made from the stones left over after the construction of the towering cathedral dominating the seaport.
4. portfire — handheld, slow-burning fuse for lighting artillery or fireworks
Obviously an electric igniter is best, but many fireworks still require flame to ignite and in those cases a portfire can be essential, providing the needed fire without the difficulty given by striking matches or a lighter.
5. desideratum — need or want, needed or desired thing
The company claimed that their robots would satisfy the two most urgent desiderata of the warehouse, safety and speed, at a cost much less than paying untrustworthy human workers.
6. eld — old age; olden times
Only his eyes seemed untouched by eld, scintillating still within their sunken, wrinkled sockets.
7. decompensate — to lose grip upon one’s own mental health, i.e., to go crazy
And then the psychiatric resident stopped by my hospital room to make sure I hadn’t decompensated during the ordeal with my nares.
8. flirt — sudden jerk, quick throw
With a violent flirt of her fan Bessie declared that she would rather drop dead than ever see that man again.
9. lairage — resting place for cattle on their way to slaughter
We five witnesses were ensconced in quite a nice downtown hotel, a gilded lairage before the grand jury met on the morrow.
10. brigandine — body armor consisting of iron rings or plates sewn onto, and sometimes within, fabric coverings
The brigandine of the Duke’s personal guard was dyed a rich cerulean blue, making our own functional hauberks look shabby in comparison.
Bonus Vocabulary
(British)
St. Martin’s summer — unseasonable warm November weather
With hearts gladdened by the strident sun of our St. Martin’s summer, the dark and depressing clouds from Belgium seemed an insupportable burden.