Educated Guesswork

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 until his heart fain would brast, their numbers eventually overwhelmed the doughty knight.

3. magniloquent — lofty or grandiose in expression; pompous; bombastic

“So you see before you a man battered by fate, but not a whit cowed by these dark experiences,” he said in his habitual magniloquent style.

4. ruth — compassion, pity

I bless the ruth I found at this house in my hour of need.

5. linnet — European songbird of the finch family

It dawned upon us that this debris was all that remained of the linnet‘s nest, and just then we heard the bird’s sweet song, as if to reassure us that all was well, that only twigs had been damaged.

6. betimes — early

Better you should discover betimes that not all claims of friendship are true than to learn too late the dangers of a gullible trust.

7. vicinage — neighborhood, vicinity

It is from the defendant’s vicinage that the jury must be called.

8. slavey — servant, often a hard-worked serving girl

On the one hand, no more does one see a slavey carrying coals to stoke the heater in great homes hour after hour; on the other hand, fewer jobs.

9. swank — to swagger, to make pretense of superiority

He came swanking in wearing leather ankle boots and bell-bottomed zebra print pants, smiling outrageously behind the huge purple lenses he affected.

10. chiliasm — belief in the prophesied reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years

Chiliasm differs from other strains of millenarianism in its focus on the worldly realm of the Messiah.

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 strange and ludicrous end of the prince and his hunting party.

2. assart — to root up trees and bushes from land for cultivation

Sir Rilchiam was granted use of the wood by the church, with the provision that should the land be assarted, a tithe of its produce would be given to the church each year.

3. canaille — vulgar populace, rabble

On the other side of the parked busses the streets became more and more packed with the canaille of the city and others imported for the protests, accompanied by the usual gaggle of reporters and presumed bloggers and mere excitement tourists, all hurtling themselves forward toward the thick line of olive drab and black clad police of a dozen or more agencies, resplendent in their flak jackets, helmets, and face shields.

4. pentice — shed with sloping roof, such a roof projecting from side of a building, penthouse

The side door was protected from the rain by a ramshackle pentice of pine and scrap lumber.

5. urticant — producing stinging or itching sensations

Even a purely psychological approach, such as talk of small insects (especially when accompanied by scratching motions), can produce an urticant effect.

6. estoppel — judicial limitation on a party from making a claim or statement at odds with a previous position

Though in law a man may be forbidden by the principle of estoppel from asserting as fact something directly contradictory to his previous claim, apparently in politics this principle does not apply.

7. squinch — scuncheon; structure placed across corner of interior walls to hold up some superstructure

“Be careful as you make your measurements of the inner tower walls; I’ve heard tell of a Lord killed by a falling squinch.”

8. circumflittergate — to move around and around quickly in a purposeless and random manner

Harold was completely overmatched by his charges in his role as substitute Sunday school teacher, and the parents found him haplessly plopped down on the floor while the five-year-old boys and girls circumflittergated about him with construction paper and white glue and glitter and crayons and all the other impedimenta of the classroom.

9. cretonne — heavy printed cloth often used in upholstery

Perhaps once the wicker chairs with their cretonne covers had evoked elegance and relaxation, but not the mildewed and rotting seats only underlined the sad decay of the entire house.

10. jink — to move jerkily; to elude

The wise pilot keeps his eyes on the enemy’s rudder, knowing that any lack of attention will allow his target to jink away from the pursuit, and even to become the pursuer.

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 hunched old crone started to beat him about the shoulders with her purse, causing the puissant party leader to shrink away, crying out in a whining tone, “Stop it, Mom!”

3. mercer — textiles dealer

Hiram was surprised that the silk mercer supported the planned expansion of the cotton mill.

4. etymon — primary word or word form from which other words or forms are derived

Although Joel Roberts Poinsett was a strong leader of the U.S. cause not only in South Carolina and in South American, he is most remembered only in his role as the etymon for the poinsettia seen commonly throughout the Christmas season.

5. filé — powdered leaves of sassafras

Some prefer a roux, others like okra, but give me gumbo made with filé and I’ll be happy.

6. puce — dark brownish purple

The head wound had left his brown locks with puce highlights.

7. instantiation — representative instance of a more general pattern, algorithm, or concept

No, it won’t do you any good to remember that a triangle having sides of length 3,4, and 5 is a right triangle, as that is only one instantiation (and a rare integral one at that) of the more general Pythagorean theorem.

8. customary — consuetudinary, customal, custumal, written account of local customs or usages of a manor or region

The crabbed writing in the ancient customary gave strong support for the monastery’s claim to ownership of the well and the lands surrounding it.

9. cockchafer — doodlebug, large brown European beetle

“How can I write with those annoying cockchafers crashing into the window in my study every five minutes?!?”

10. stipendiary — person receiving regular pay for services

Though it was often bruited about that Mr. Laventer was a stipendiary of one foreign country or another, this accusation of near treason never interfered with his attendance at all the best parties in the capital.

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 Rome)

I suppose you could—given enough money, anything is possible—build a hypocaust with wooden flooring, but the disadvantages seem quite obvious.

3. peascod — pod of the pea including the seeds

You cannot eat peascods as you would an edamame appetizer, for the peas will simply be squashed within the pod.

4. littoral — of or relating to the shore or the shoreline region

Hasp Freedly, a stereotypical sailor infamous for his littoral womanizing, seemed at a loss on the dance floor in our new landlocked refuge.

5. foison — plenty, abundance; plentiful harvest; vitality

May we always enjoy the rich foison of nature which seems ever-present when we seek humbly only for our needs.

6. antecubital — of that part of the arm on the other side from the elbow

I prefer having blood drawn from the thick (in my case, at least) vein in the antecubital fossa, to having a damnable finger stick which will pain me all day if not longer.

7. curtilage — ground surrounding a dwelling, sometimes including outbuildings, considered the same as the residence itself

The discovery of the stolen motorbike was thrown out on Fourth Amendment grounds, because although the garage door was open, the garage was deemed part of the curtilage thus making the warrantless search inadmissible.

8. xerostomia — dry mouth

Xerostomia and the munchies are a bad combination when no beverages are available.

9. gasolier — gas burning chandelier

I had no envy for the servant responsible for lighting the forty-eight burners of the huge brass gasolier which stood ponderously over our heads.

10. spokeshave — two-handled cutting implement with blade in the middle, used for shaping wheel spokes or other curved edges of wood

From the doorway I thought she was running a spokeshave across her upper thigh, only realizing as I neared that it was a steel bar similar to those used in the Graston Technique, and that she was massaging away knots from her muscles.

1. carphology — plucking at bed linen while in a delirious state

While Ophelia’s plucking of flowers may seem only another version of carphology and a sign of underlying madness, her all-too-cogent comments in the language of flowers prove that there is more method than madness in the scene.

2. vesicant — blister producing substance

Certain chemotherapy drugs, such as Amsacrine, can cause tissue necrosis if vesicant extravasation occurs.

3. dactyloscopic — of or related to fingerprints

By this time, the files of the Sûreté boasted a huge collection of dactylscopic records.

4. diekplous (also diekplus) — ancient naval battle maneuver in which a line of galleys rows between ships in an opposing line so as to attack the enemy’s weaker stern and sides; sometimes thought to be a maneuver wherein a single war galley shipps oars on one side and turns at the last minute to shear off an opposing ship’s oars

Though the evolution was much lauded in ancient times, only three instances of a successful diekplous were ever recorded.

5. expectant — (in medical triage) expected to die

It is extremely unlikely for a BZ gas victim to present as an expectant patient.

6. obtund — to dull, to blunt

The rich food and fine wine obtunded my innate wariness, and I agreed too readily to his proposal.

7. mydriasis — overlarge pupil dilation

As I stared deeply into her brown eyes, I hoped her mydriasis was a side effect of love, and not of the dim lighting.

8. râle — crackling sound heard in unhealthy lungs during auscultation

The inventor of the stethoscope likened râles to the sound of crackling salt on a hot dish.

9. wharfinger — person in charge of a wharf

Everyone knew that Jack Callen, the wharfinger, was not entirely honest ready to look the other way for ready cash in hand.

10. pelisse — short fur-lined military jacket, often worn over one shoulder by light cavalry; long ladies coat with Empire waist

His lady descended from the carriage in her dark, velvet pelisse, one arm still in her fur muff as the other held the doorframe to assist her exit.

1. indite — to compose, to create a literary composition; (obsolete) to dictate

A review of the cuneiform records reveals that the governor of the far-flung province continued to indite missives imploring the High King to send aid long after the military disaster.

2. epistemology — science of the origin and method of knowledge

Epicurus dethroned Reason as the arbiter of truth, giving that role to Nature in his epistemology.

3. arrogate — to claim without right, to take without justification

We should not arrogate a complete understanding of the universe, but should recognize that our vision and comprehension may be only partial and perhaps misguided at times.

4. view-halloo — hunter’s cry upon spying the fox break cover

“There it is!” he shouted as a prosaic view-halloo when he saw his suitcase land on the baggage carousel.

5. cremocarp — type of fruit development in which two one-seeded mericarps hang from a central axis

Carrot ‘seeds’ are found in a cremocarp covered by coarse hairy growth which will bind them together.

6. bashaw — pasha; imperious man

“The Bashaw of Tripoli shall deliver up to the American squadron now off Tripoli, all the Americans in his possession.” (from the peace treaty ending the First Barbary War, 1805)

7. pavane — solemn and stately dance

On the warehouse floor the robots and the humans who served them once more entered into their colorless pavane of commerce.

8. hoodwink — to blindfold, to cover eyes with a hood; to deceive, to trick

Josiah realized his own prejudices had hoodwinked him, and now the real culprits were far away while he had arrested this innocent in his unreasoning fury.

9. tergiversation — apostasy, abandonment of a cause; turning dishonorably from straightforward action or principles, equivocation

My opponent’s change of heart regarding ice cream parlor licenses is an example of his flip-flop politics, if not outright tergiversation from his supposed ideals.

10. artful — wily, deceitful

We may support Odysseus, but then we have never been the victim of his artful schemes.

1. purl — to flow with whirling motion; to flow and burble

They sat together on a small blanket spread out upon the grassy bank, watching the gentle brook as it purled through the mossy rocks on its lazy way to the lake.

2. coppice — copse, thicket or underwood grown for intermittent cutting

The dogs ran off at once into the tangled coppice to our left and we tried to follow, cursing and tearing our clothes in the process.

3. skewbald — marked with patches of white and brown

Jerome’s skewbald pony stood hobbled near the oak, and the embers in the fire still produced a thin trail of smoke, but no other sign of the preacher did we see.

4. behoovely — necessary, fitting [appears to be a hapax legomenon used only by Julian of Norwich]

The rough parts of the road are behoovely though this may be clear to us only at our final destination.

5. cotta — surplice, often with box pleats

The mass of seminarians, stern yet joyful in their cassocks and cottas, strode across the greensward before the assembled parents and other well-wishers.

6. farthingale — hooped petticoat or frame worn beneath a woman’s skirts to extend them

Although there is no evidence that Henry IV of France hid beneath the farthingale of Marguerite de Valois, the wife of another Henry IV—Joan of Portugal, wife of Henry IV of Castile—is credited with originating the bizarre fashion trend, perhaps to hide embarrassing pregnancies.

7. surrebuttal — (Law) plaintiff’s response to a defendant’s rebuttal

In any true debate there should be provision made for (at the very least) argument, rebuttal, and surrebuttal.

8. instauration — renewal, restoration; [obsolete] the establishing or instituting (of something)

After the devilish depredations of money upon science and education, a true instauration of those once hallowed institutions will take decades, if such is even possible at all.

9. batture — alluvial land raised from sea-bed or river-bed; specifically, land between Mississippi River and the levees

The major’s plan was to move his troops across the batture at low tide and surprise the enemy from the rear, but he reckoned without the difficulty of slogging through the mud and muck.

10. farctate — absolutely full

And into this farctate container he sought to insert just one more book, just a single slim volume of poetry, at which point the cardboard gave way and the entire box split apart.