Friday Vocabulary

1. tarlatan — thin, open-mesh muslin, used frequently for ballroom gowns We could discern Jason’s sisters only with difficulty, hidden as they were within a cloud of tarlatan finery of pink and green.   2. scratty — (colloquial) unkempt, scruffy; scrawny By this time, Peele was living in a scratty little SRO by the bus …

Friday Vocabulary

1. boscage — mass of shrubs or trees, thicket His naked legs were covered with scratches from the thorns in the surrounding boscage he had forced his way through.   2. entablature — (architecture) horizontal construction supported by columns in classical temples and the like, consisting of an architrave, a frieze, and a cornice The …

Friday Vocabulary

1. penetralia — innermost part (esp. of a temple); most secret or private parts We rushed into her well-appointed toilette, and found her already dying, lying in the very penetralia of her boudoir before a beautiful Art Nouveau vanity, a tortoise-shell brush still clutched tightly in her hand.   2. chary — wary, shy, sparing, …

Friday Vocabulary

1. forfend — to protect by precautionary measures; to prevent, to fend off Try as they might to forfend from her everything likely to bring Clarence back to mind, they were powerless to stop the lawyers with their evil videotaped depositions.   2. glabella — line of flat space on forehead between and above eyebrows; …

Friday Vocabulary

1. wapentake — subdivision of certain shires in Northern England and the Midlands, corresponding to the hundreds in other counties Though an orderly appropriation was to be hoped for, in some outlying wapentakes the bailiff summarily took whatever goods were upon his list, often without payment or with payment only through tallies.   2. fog …

Friday Vocabulary

1. nastic — (biology) (of plant movement) caused by external stimulus which does not determine direction of response A strong flick of the finger against the leaf of a mimosa plant creates a strong nastic response, with the leaf quickly and visibly folding up in a striking example of thigmonasty.   2. snug — (nautical) …

Friday Vocabulary

1. saveloy — highly seasoned dried sausage, usually bright red Though the white tablecloth and perfectly unctuous staff were more suited to coq au vin, my dining companion demanded two orders of saveloys and chips which were brought almost immediately to our table, perhaps procured from the fish and chips shop in the row behind …