1. choler — anger, ire, irritability
Nothing could raise Ira’s choler so much as the suavity of robots.
2. cat — [UK slang] to vomit
“Sorry I almost catted back there,” Timothy said in his oh-so-serious voice, “but the news took me somewhat by surprise.”
3. cannikin (also canikin or canakin) — small cup or can for drinking
“Grab us a couple of cannikins of ale and I’ll grab us a table.”
4. subjacent — at a lower level, underlying, situated beneath something else
But in addition to the high moral principles and noble ideals, there was another motivating force, subjacent and unstated, but understood nevertheless by those members of the establishment whose job it was, after all, to ensure the preservation not only of the republic, but also their own privileges.
5. apocope — loss, omission, or suppression of final letter, syllable, or sound of a word
Though he tried to start a new trend by insisting upon ordering a ‘hamburg’ or a ‘cheeseburg’, these apocopes never caught on.
6. chiropodist — foot doctor
Her chiropodist recommended changing shoes, but her agent put a kibosh on the idea.
7. zendado — sendal, light cloth of silk; veil made of such cloth
He tried to hold his breath lest it betray him as he saw her pull aside her zendado to drink from the ladle, revealing her fine features to his eyes for the first time.
8. esurient — ravenously hungry
So esurient a nature could naturally never be satisfied, and thus by stages Walter was led away from the path of righteousness, until he became nothing better than a common thief.
9. mingy — miserly, stingy
Adam looked at his mingy slice of pizza, with its single pepperoni, and wondered once again just what he was doing here.
10. anticlinal — sloping downwards to both sides of a central axis or ridge
I looked left and right at the anticlinal scree and realized that I’d never be able to turn the truck and trailer around; I had to go forward, come what might.
Bonus Vocabulary
(UK slang)
cough drop — obnoxious person; fellow, ‘character’ or ‘card’
“You’re quite the cough drop, ain’t you? Well, best keep on the good side of me.”