1. poll — human head; the part of the head where grows the hair
His encounter with the irate barber left him with a poll looking like a golf fairway covered with diseased fescue and dangerous divots.
2. puckfist — [archaic] braggart
I’d not give a farthing for the whole puckfist band of pusillanimous purveyors of supposed prose.
3. cock-a-hoop — vaingloriously elated
Only five months after the minister’s cock-a-hoop pronouncement that the new policies would jumpstart the economy, he resigned in the face of the ever worsening news and numbers.
4. snaffle — [British] to purloin, to swipe
“Don’t go snaffling all of our host’s good Scotch—leave some for the rest of us!”
5. dyadic — of or consisting of a group of two
So strong was their dyadic bond that it seemed that you never saw the one without the other somewhere nearby, and indeed, after Les was sentenced to twenty years hard labor, Sam seemed to retreat into a parallel psychic confinement.
6. sneck — [Scots] door or window latch
His fingers were so cold he could barely lift the sneck to open the door.
7. nave — [architecture] the principal area of a church, loosely parallel to the longest arm of the Christian cross in cross-shaped churches
I’d been sweating in the heat before entering the church, but as I walked down the nave to join Clarissa I almost shivered from a deep chill which seemed to emanate from the ancient stone floor beneath my feet.
8. algolagnia — sadomasochism, sexual gratification from either inflicting or enduring pain
Perhaps this is some sort of strange algolagnia, for I can imagine no other explanation for the bizarre and quite off-putting performance we suffered through at Friday night’s concert.
9. aubergine — eggplant; dark purple
As he sat in the easy chair I could see beneath his purple bell bottoms that a pair of silk aubergine socks complemented his lavender loafers.
10. shieling — [Scots] pasture; herder’s rude hut
As we came through the heather we saw by the shepherd’s shieling a dark leathern cloak, abandoned by our prey for reasons unknown.
Bonus Vocabulary
(furniture first marketed by the firm of William Morris)
Morris chair — reclining chair with hinged back and high armrests
When Veronica sat on the armrest of my Morris chair and batted her eyes at me, I found it almost impossible to deny her any request, no matter how ludicrous it later seemed.