{"id":3397,"date":"2021-05-21T08:03:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T15:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=3397"},"modified":"2021-05-21T08:03:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T15:03:06","slug":"friday-vocabulary-157","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=3397","title":{"rendered":"Friday Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. treen<\/strong> \u2014 made wholly of wood<\/p>\n

Our current age may best be judged by the label attached to a decorative rabbit-shaped bowl that I found at the store: “Our <\/em>treen products are made of resin and is not for use with food.”<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. pillock<\/strong> \u2014 [British informal<\/em>] stupid person<\/p>\n

I always thought that Tom-Tom was a complete <\/em>pillock, and he proved it on this occasion, telling us later that he’d thought it was Sunday we needed the ride back from the swap meet, not Saturday.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. questionless<\/strong> \u2014 without question; unquestioning; unquestionable<\/p>\n

Few better places exist, <\/em>questionless, for repose and reflective solace, but my mind was set upon vengeance, and for that I needed a computer.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. guillemot<\/strong> \u2014 sea bird belonging to the auk family<\/p>\n

The black <\/em>guillemots wheeled above the treacherous rocks beneath the jagged cliff.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. hodge<\/strong> \u2014 [British<\/em>] rustic person<\/p>\n

That’s all I’d need, to have some old <\/em>hodge come by asking why I was painting my lorry in the middle of the woods.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. axillary<\/strong> \u2014 of or related to the armpit<\/p>\n

The main image was beautifully preserved, but the vintage concert t-shirt was marred by quite noticeable <\/em>axillary stains.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. cob<\/strong> \u2014 male swan<\/p>\n

That vicious <\/em>cob attacked poor old Gammage and nearly sent him to hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. pavid<\/strong> \u2014 fearful, timid<\/p>\n

You’ve only to look into the eyes of these <\/em>pavid men to know that we stand little chance of repelling the next assault.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. reboant<\/strong> \u2014 loudly booming or reverberating<\/p>\n

I couldn’t hear my radio for the <\/em>reboant clangor of the pounding machinery.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. gloriole<\/strong> \u2014 nimbus, halo<\/p>\n

I first saw the cabin in the crepuscular light of the late summer sunset, framed in a hazy <\/em>gloriole of the gold and green light drifting through the trees.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11. scarp<\/strong> \u2014 line of cliffs; steep banked fortification<\/p>\n

The jagged <\/em>scarp of the Sierras loomed over the valley always, ever threatening drought and doom to the hardscrabble farms below.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12. pluvial<\/strong> \u2014 of or related to rain or rainfall, rainy<\/p>\n

Making my way through the <\/em>pluvial swamp beneath the pines in the backyard, I lost my shoe.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13. embranglement<\/strong> \u2014 state of being embroiled, implicated, or entangled<\/p>\n

His business dealings are like his family tree, a incestuous <\/em>embranglement of dead-end branches and overdetermined connections that eventually produce nothing but entitled misery and sneering incompetence.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

14. gaff<\/strong> \u2014 to grab with a long handled hook<\/p>\n

Oh, she had me <\/em>gaffed well and good, and I just paid the bill and followed her meekly.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

15. lickerish<\/strong> \u2014 overfond of eating, greedy; lecherous, wanton<\/p>\n

She gave me and Ernie a <\/em>lickerish smile and invited us to sit with her at her corner booth table, nodding her flushed face at the waiter to bring more drinks.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

16. fritinancy<\/strong> (also fritiniancy<\/strong>, fritiniency<\/strong>) \u2014 twittering<\/p>\n

Lefferts paid it no mind, no more than he would have been bothered by the <\/em>fritinancy of the elder ladies at a church social.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

17. largophone<\/strong> (also lagerphone<\/strong>) \u2014 musical instrument made of a long wooden pole with jingles attached, played by shaking or pounding or with another smaller notched stick<\/p>\n

The highlight of every winter’s evening was Alexander Sutcliffe’s solo rendition of “The Last Ride of Willie and Poor Robert”, all twenty-eight verses accompanied only by the mournful pounding of his <\/em>largophone.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

18. shikaree<\/strong> (also shikari<\/strong>) \u2014 hired big game hunter<\/p>\n

“Next time,” said my <\/em>shikaree as he bandaged my wound, “shoot, don’t talk.”<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

19. furbelow<\/strong> \u2014 flounce, pleated border of petticoat or skirt; showy trimming<\/p>\n

For all the finery and ribbons and fancy <\/em>furbelows, Jane was at heart just a simple girl with simple tastes.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

20. sessile<\/strong> \u2014 [biology<\/em>] immobile; [botany<\/em>] attached immediately by the base<\/p>\n

He eventually adapted to his new role, becoming almost happy with his <\/em>sessile existence behind the (supposedly) bulletproof glass, sitting upon his stool night after night handing out the filthy tickets for the almost as filthy lucre proffered by the greasy hands of the almost as greasy men.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

21. palladium<\/strong> \u2014 rare metallic element resembling platinum<\/p>\n

Its ductile properties make <\/em>palladium useful in dentistry, but only for crowns and such, never for fillings.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

22. Palladium<\/strong> \u2014 statue of Pallas Athena, esp. that of Troy; (usu. lowercase<\/em>) thing upon which the safety of a people or institution is supposed to depend<\/p>\n

The franchise was once thought the <\/em>palladium of democracy, and the expansion of the right to vote was seen as fulfilling the promise of liberty for all.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

23. brake<\/strong> \u2014 thicket, overgrown area<\/p>\n

I found myself lost in a <\/em>brake of oak and scrub, every sound swallowed up by the rustling brush.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

24. welkin<\/strong> \u2014 the arc of heaven, the firmament, the sky<\/p>\n

With a triumphant roar that made the <\/em>welkin resound, our company entered the fallen town.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

25. tumid<\/strong> \u2014 swollen; bombastic<\/p>\n

Jackson’s <\/em>tumid poetry hides only an empty heart, devoid of true feeling and all the manly virtues.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bonus Vocabulary<\/h4>\n

(from Shakespeare)<\/p>\n

coign of vantage<\/strong> \u2014 good position for observation or action<\/p>\n

From my <\/em>coign of vantage I’d be able to see almost the entire library, and would be able to rush to Francine’s aid if the beast made it necessary.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. treen \u2014 made wholly of wood Our current age may best be judged by the label attached to a decorative rabbit-shaped bowl that I found at the store: “Our treen products are made of resin and is not for use with food.”   2. pillock \u2014 [British informal] stupid person I always thought that … <\/p>\n

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