1. perfuse — to besprinkle, to overspread (as with moisture or color); to pour through or over, to diffuse through; [medicine] to circulate through blood vessels or lymphatic system Cunegonde’s cheeks were perfused with a rosy glow, though whether from joy or from our strenuous exertions I could not tell. 2. volplane — to …
Tag Archives: vocabulary
Friday Vocabulary
1. po-faced — [British] humorless, over-serious, disapproving Alain’s attempts at defusing the tense standoff between the two culinary students only elicited a po-faced shake of the head from Chef Arnie. 2. auscultation — diagnosis through listening to bodily sounds, usually with a stethoscope Though the pulse diagnosis of Chinese medicine has been compared with …
Friday Vocabulary
1. otic — of the ear Despite the advocates’ claims, ear candles are ineffective and dangerous, and could result in hot wax falling into the otic canal. 2. refrangible — capable of being refracted Though red light was known even in the time of Newton to be the least refrangible of the visible spectrum, …
Friday Vocabulary
1. irenic — non-polemic, pacifying, tending to promote reconciliation Strangely enough for one of his vociferous views, at the dinner table his presence seemed to have an irenic effect upon the recriminations and attacks of our usual Thanksgiving meals. 2. gyp — servant for students at Cambridge and Durham colleges So here was the …
Friday Vocabulary
1. refection — the partaking of refreshment I did not want to interrupt their family refection, so I merely took the warm apple pie from the windowsill and hurried off to the nearby woods to enjoy my own repast. 2. brast — [archaic] past participle of “burst” Though he strove mightily against his foes …
Friday Vocabulary
1. telex — teletypewriter service using public communication channels to deliver two-way text transmission between subscribers Though the public telex offices were jammed with expatriates attempting to send the startling news to interested parties back home, the government ensured that none of those messages made it to their intended recipients, censoring all mention of the …
Friday Vocabulary
1. waler — light Australian breed of riding horse, originally bred in New South Wales Only one of the more than one hundred thousand walers brought overseas by the Australian calvary in World War One ever returned home. 2. rodomontade — vainglorious boast, extravagantly bragging speech In the midst of his vicious rodomontade a …
Friday Vocabulary
1. crocket — hook-shaped medieval ornament suggesting a leaf The wind-flung veil had caught on one of the crockets that lined the steeple of the small village church, which some took as an ill omen for Susan’s decision to leave the convent. 2. egest — to expel from within the body His plan had …
Friday Vocabulary
1. phobogenous — induced by fear The meeting with his prospective in-laws wasn’t going well, Timmy realized, as the phobogenous sweat rolled down his temples and into the collar of his shirt. 2. hypocaust — hollowed flooring into which heated air was sent to raise the temperature of a room or bath (in ancient …
Friday Vocabulary
1. budge — lambskin fur Master Pieter sat at his counting table in a warm green houppelande trimmed sensibly with black budge, holding the letter tightly in his left hand, its seal intact. 2. pottle — former liquid measure equal to a half-gallon; vessel of this capacity We split a pottle of sack while …