1. parallax — apparent difference in position due to change in location of observation point
Before adjusting for parallax in your rifle scope, make sure that your reticle is properly focused.
2. bursary — [British] college scholarship; institutional treasure, esp. for ecclesiastical institutions
Some say that Lord Peter only funded the bursary to make up for the harm he’d done to the seamstress, but more cynical wags opined that the great lord wouldn’t give a fig for any problems the ‘lowers’ had in any event.
3. vacuously — emptily
The argument hinged upon whether the statement “Abraham Lincoln’s psychic powers could have stopped Booth’s bullet” was only vacuously true, or whether some actual positive meaning could be found for the contrapositive sentence.
4. stithy — anvil; forge
He learned all his horselore at the stithy of Master Brummond, and could tell you stories for hours, though he couldn’t sit in the saddle for as long as it’d take to say his name.
5. avidin — protein in white of eggs which prevents action of vitamin B
Cooking eggs neutralizes the avidin within, which otherwise can make biotin unusable by the digestive system.
6. gnomon — part of sundial which casts the shadow by which time is determined
But the gnomon of the garden sundial had been stolen, probably for its copper, and we had no means of solving the next puzzle left behind by the eccentric millionaire.
7. cairn — mound of rough stones heaped up as a grave marker or landmark
Though many clever explanations have been given, no one is certain just what purpose the cairns now called the Nine Standards originally served, though some believe them to have been constructed in the Pennine Hills over 800 years ago.
8. rescript — formal response to legal question written by monarch, pope, etc.; clarification of law, esp. canon law; rewritten document; act of rewriting
The fawning toadies of the press have claimed that the Emperor’s rescript demonstrates once more the kindly attention of the throne to the problems of the common people.
9. delectation — pleasure, delight
And now for your rapturous delectation, our three lads will perform a pantomime of King Lear, with Tony taking on all of the female parts.
10. ambigram — representation of a word in calligraphy or type which, when rotated or inverted, displays either the same or a different coherent word
Only some palindromes, and only in specific typefaces or styles, are also ambigrams, as when ‘NOON’ is rotated about its center (though it’s clear that if normal casing is used this is no longer true).
Bonus Vocabulary
(British idiom)
Buggins’s turn (also Buggins’ turn) — possession of office by rotation or seniority rather than merit
“I’m not sure why I happened to be secretary when the brouhaha broke out, just Buggins’s turn, I suppose.”