1. dysphoria — state of feeling bad or unhappy, malaise
The marketing team finished their presentation on moving the Overton Window of dysphoria so that people at least didn’t feel so bad about feeling bad, but nobody in the room felt any better about the plan.
2. punnet — small basket for selling strawberries or other fruit
The strawberries looked luscious, and at $2 a punnet (or 5 for $8) the price was great.
3. runkle — to crease or wrinkle
He runkled his forehead as he strained to decipher the crabbed handwriting of his nephew.
4. petcock — small hand valve used for drainage or testing
After Decker’s pleas, the nurse opened the petcock slightly to allow more morphine into the IV.
5. ort (usu. plural) — leftover
As he was feeding the orts to the pigs, he thought of how the swine ate better than he, and he decided to humble himself and go back home and swallow his pride as well as his father’s food.
6. risible — laughable
The risible nature of their sexual congress dampened the anger that drove him into Milady’s chamber, and his hoarse demands to “Get out!” were accompanied by tearful guffaws instead of ire.
7. selachian — of or related to the subclass Elasmobranchii consisting of sharks, rays, etc.; sharklike
Madag favored me with a selachian smile and began to put on a pair of tight black leather gloves.
8. horse-coper — buyer and seller of horses, usu. of ill repute
Your typical horse-coper is well aware of all the intricacies of contract law as it relates to the sale of horseflesh, so any complicated clauses in the bill of sale should alert you to the possibility that you may find yourself with neither your horse nor your money.
9. spital — place for care of sick charity cases
The 15th Century spitals at Highgate were solely for the care of lepers, and of course were privately funded.
10. petrissage — deep massage using kneading motions
Henry submitted himself to the trainer’s petrissage and felt his shoulders relax for the first time since he and Ollie had stolen that car outside the banker’s garage.
Bonus Vocabulary
(historical policy of Louis XIV to reconvert Huguenots by billeting troops in their households and turning a blind eye to consequent abuse and thefts)
dragonnade — abandoning civilians to the pillaging of soldiers
After three days of this dragonnade the city elders returned to General DuCloit and asked under what conditions he could be persuaded to withdraw the troops.