1. scantling — small piece of wood, usu. used for studs etc.; blocks of wood of a given size; [nautical] framing timber of a vessel
Finally we found the missing doubloon, covered in pitch and hidden in the scantlings just aft of the bilge.
2. pygarg — food animal, perhaps a species of antelope
Among the clean animals permitted as food mentioned in Deuteronomy is the hapax legomenon pygarg, commonly thought to be the addax of the Sahara.
3. chatoyant — of changing luster or color; of jewelry cut so that a streak of light is reflected
The shimmering silky nothing she was wearing seemed either greenish or opalescent or transparent, though the girl’s creamy figure was never quite seen through the chatoyant material, no matter the light.
4. acatalepsy — incomprehensibility, Skeptic teaching that only partial perception or plausible conceptions of truth are possible
Strangely enough, the pyrrhonic Skeptics teaching of absolute acatalepsy was co-opted by the rich and the powerful to undercut the idea of social change, thus becoming a tool of the most unphilosophical elements of civilization.
5. arras — rich tapestry; hanging screen of such
Behind the arras was a small alcove in which a pair of rusting swords had been forgotten.
6. speak — [nautical] to communicate with at sea through semaphore or sound
The last record we have of the Red Locust is from either the fifth or sixth day of March, when the jaunty schooner spoke a Swedish collier in the North Sea.
7. ablution — washing of the hands, face, etc.
After my morning ablutions were complete I selected my cleanest collar and cuffs and prepared to beard the lion in his own den.
8. ablation — removal; loss of surface (as of rocks or a glacier) through erosion or other natural process
The question thus becomes to what extent the ablation of mores and customary niceties by market forces may lead to an entire absence of any moral center in our daily lives.
9. melodeon — small wind organ; small accordion
Though the parlor lacked a piano, Betsy did have a jolly melodeon upon which to practice her musical wiles.
10. dour — sullen; stern
In all the twenty and seven summers I knew that crotchety old man, I never saw even a sliver of a smile cross his dour face, except this one time I’m telling you about now.
Bonus Vocabulary
(trains)
blind baggage — railway postal car with no door on the end, usu. just behind the tender; riding the rails unseen by trainyard bulls
We had found a gondola and were riding blind baggage across the plain when the crow landed beside us, intrigued by our grub.