1. screw — small amount (of a product) wrapped in a twist of paper; such a twist of paper In the ragamuffin’s pocket (the one without the hole in it) were only two tarnished farthings, a screw of tobacco, and a piece of rough twine. 2. univocal — having only a single meaning, unambiguous …
Tag Archives: bonus word
Friday Vocabulary
1. heliograph — signaling device using mirrors to reflect flashes of sunlight; instrument for taking pictures of the sun The gang hid out in this canyon fastness after each robbery, secure from the sheriff’s searchers, until Old Kentuck would signal them by heliograph that the coast was clear. 2. rootle — to dig with …
Friday Vocabulary
1. murrey — purple-red Somehow the murrey lining made the black hood even darker. 2. dobbin — ordinary farm horse The county fair has everything you might want, from fancy pickles to thrilling fancies, and if you want to take a flier on the dobbins, well, we’ve got that too. 3. matriculate — …
Friday Vocabulary
1. artemon — square sail on a sharply steeved spar at the bow of ancient Roman or Greek merchant vessels and ships Runners were sent forward to furl the artemon so that the master would have clear sight lines as the enemy ships rushed towards our prow. 2. vaward — [archaic] forefront; vanguard The …
Friday Vocabulary
1. maunder — to mumble, to talk idly, foolishly, or to no real purpose; to move about aimlessly The poorly shaven hobo took another pull from the bottle and maundered more words about the family he once had, the son who had once been so proud of his father. 2. termagant — violent ill-tempered …
Friday Vocabulary
1. longanimity — patient suffering, forbearance Still, his mother showed such great longanimity during his endless travails that all the neighbors wondered that such a saint had borne such a son. 2. recondite — abstruse, uncommonly profound; little known, obscure Though I spent several years waiting upon the professor, hearkening to his every word, …
Friday Vocabulary
1. corvine — of or related to a crow or crows The so-called detective pranced around the debris remaining in the street with ungainly, corvine hops, examining each little pile of trash as if it would give up the very secrets of the universe if he simply stared at it strongly enough. 2. palter …
Friday Vocabulary
1. marplot — one who defeats or spoils a plot or design by meddling or officious intrusion Strangely enough, Pierre Boulle’s The Bridge Over The River Kwai, in which Colonel Nicholson plays the marplot to the commandos’ efforts to strike against Japanese supply lines, is based to some extent on the experiences of the author …
Friday Vocabulary
1. paraphyletic — of or related to taxonomic group containing most but not all of the descendants of a common ancestor The Italic branch of Indo-European is paraphyletic as usually delineated, as it leaves out the modern Romance languages. 2. aorist — simple past tense in Ancient Greek, with no further limitations or restrictions; …
Friday Vocabulary
1. farrago — confused mixture, hotchpotch, medley Even taking the few moments needed to look up the actual facts to rebut this farrago of nonsense is a waste of my time. 2. crassities — [obsolete] materiality, density The soul must be devoid of crassities, taught the philosopher, else it could be broken into separate …