1. gantry — framework or platform supporting a crane; framework across railroad tracks for showing signals; scaffolding framework for rockets I chose to say nothing to Black Tom, waiting instead until the last moment to fall down on the boxcar roof, letting the signal gantry sweep my enemy and his Colt .45 off the train. …
Tag Archives: vocabulary
Friday Vocabulary
1. diligence — public stagecoach of early 18th Century, esp. in France I told the innkeeper to run out and hold the diligence while I gathered the soi-disant baroness up from the floor, along with her physical baggage. 2. bedizen — to dress up, esp. in a vulgar manner His green plaid waistcoat was …
Friday Vocabulary
1. callipygian — having shapely buttocks I gladly followed the callipygian blonde up the narrow trail and—not for the first time—gave silent thanks to whomsoever had introduced yoga pants into the realm of fashionable casual wear. 2. manustupration — (archaic) masturbation For centuries the detrimental effects of manustupration upon the body, the psyche, and …
Friday Vocabulary
1. orpiment — yellow arsenic sulfide used as pigment Although most commonly associated with ancient painting, orpiment has many, many uses, and in India and Iran is not infrequently used as a depilatory. 2. bort — low-grade diamonds and fragments of good diamonds, used commonly as abrasive Though over half of mined diamonds are …
Friday Vocabulary
1. pluviophile — lover of rain and rainy days As the storm subsided into a steady shower, Daniel looked out into the comforting grey sky and he realized how much he had missed rainy days, realized that he had always been a pluviophile, perhaps since he used to visit his grandfather in the little county …
Friday Vocabulary
1. chiliad — group of 1,000; 1,000 year period Can Christianity survive its third chiliad? 2. Barmecidal — illusory, offering imaginary sustenance (fr. Arabian Nights story) When we received the news, we had no champagne and no way to get any (this was back when the Blue Laws were still in effect and you’ll …
Friday Vocabulary
1. bindlestiff — hobo “What does that bindlestiff have on you, that you keep putting up with his nonsense, giving him money and clothes, and now a job?” 2. lineament — line, design; (often pl.) feature of a face or body; (pl.) distinctive features Barely restrained grief suffused the warrior’s lineaments as he gazed …
Friday Vocabulary
1. catoptric — of or related to a mirror, or to optical reflection He felt lost in this strange, emotional world, in which people’s motivations always eluded him, and wished he could create some catoptric device capable of splitting and reflecting the psychic waves around him, a psychological Michelson-Morley experiment to enable him to determine …
Friday Vocabulary
1. steatopygic — having a fat ass, of or related to the possession of very large buttocks due to the accumulation of fat there and in the thighs and hips (esp. in women) True, he had been easily distracted by her forward protuberances, but when she turned around and began twerking in all her steatopygic …
Friday Vocabulary
1. bodge — to patch poorly or clumsily As long as he remained in his chair nobody could see how he had bodged the rip in the seat of his pants, leaving a pleat along the center seam. 2. malefic — producing evil, baleful Being snubbed at the party had a malefic effect upon …