1. pooka (also pookah) — malevolent spirit in Irish folklore, often taking the shape of a rabbit or horse or other animal
Sure and now he’s a Rationalist and a deep thinker, he is, but I remember him storming through that door there, wailing that he’d been chased all the way to the pub by a pooka!
2. davenport — large sofa, often a sofa bed
Chuck moved from behind his desk and threw himself across the davenport as he sighed a long and exasperated sigh.
3. jejune (also jejeune) — boring, uninteresting; lacking content or matter or nutritive substance; immature, juvenile
For our ‘entertainment’ we were forced to sit through a jejune puppet play performed by the family children, whose pretty voices could not hide the banality of the offering which was, if anything, less interesting than a session on the rack or being forced to look at vacation photos.
4. dace — small freshwater fish similar to roach or chub
Fishing for dace can be quite a challenge, as they reject most tied flies, and more success may be found with bacon or other meat.
5. squelch — to suppress, to put down; to make a sucking sound as of feet attempting to pull themselves from mud
You may protest all you like that this paper has squelched your views by refusing to publish your letter to the editor, but in point of fact you stand in the office of a podiatrist.
6. squabash — [Scots] to crush, to squash
Last night’s tempest left the hunter’s hut utterly squabashed.
7. rector — clergyman with charge of a parish in Episcopal Church; priest in charge of college or seminary or similar in Roman Catholic Church; parish priest with full rights to the tithes of the parish in Anglican Church
He was a beloved figure, often seen on his long walks for exercise marching across the fields of the county, but the women of the church knew that the real secret of his success was the tireless work of the rector‘s wife.
8. gumption — initiative; guts
It took a lot of gumption to request a job interview right after t-boning the industrialist’s Town Car.
9. hustings — place where political candidates make speeches; political campaigning
He was a charming wonder on the hustings, and a complete disaster in the legislature.
10. lagniappe — small bonus, unexpected trifling gift; extra present given with a purchase by the storeowner
He threw in a few free donut holes as a lagniappe.