1. orthopnea (also orthopnoea) — difficulty breathing except in standing or sitting upright position
Among the consequences of massive heart failure are dyspnea or orthopnea as the weakened ventricular muscles can no longer sustain the effort required.
2. splificate — [British slang] to annihilate, to obliterate, to destroy
That last week of less than two hours sleep a night had just about splificated my nerves, and I looked at the towel and the tongs in my visitor’s hands with a weary sigh.
3. metal — [British] to surface a road with broken stone
It was a surprise to find a solid road in the middle of the jungle, and it did my heart good to be standing on a good metalled roadway for the first time in weeks.
4. taw — to prepare raw material for use; to transform hides into leather without tannin, usu. by preparation of alum and salt
It was a poor place to store the tawed hides, for the slow leak had soaked and swelled the deerskins, and this swelling further enlarged the dangerous seeping cracks.
5. manicule — typographic mark of pointing hand: ☞
The difficult typeface was more than made up for by the clever notes in the margin, each marked by a delightful manicule.
6. impudicity — shamelessness, reckless lack of modesty
It is one thing to take note of the impudicity of today’s youth, but it is another to describe their moral turpitude with such lascivious care as to stimulate concupiscent envy.
7. mendicant — beggar; member of religious order depending entirely upon alms
“What’s with that mendicant staked out across the street, Joel? Have you been sent a watcher from heaven to encourage you to mend your wicked ways?”
8. valuta — currency, money
But it’s still quite easy to smuggle valuta, even in large amounts, into the war-torn region if you know how to keep a low profile.
9. squiz — glance, look, gander
“Let’s just take a squiz at your paperwork, make sure it’s all in order.”
10. jeofail — mistake in legal pleading; acknowledgement of such mistake
The judge stated that he was well aware of the Statute of Jeofails but the fact that the very identity of the plaintiff was somehow an open question seemed more than a trivial paperwork issue.