Term
| sorrel As if expecting a protest, she continued plaintively; "If you're too busy with the hauling I presume you can let Jotham Powell drive me over with the sorrel in time to ketch the train at the Flats." |
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Definition
| sor·rel noun 1. light reddish-brown 2. a horse of this color, often with a light-colored mane and tail adjective 1. of the color sorrel |
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Term
exanimate
It looked exanimate enough, with its idle wheel looming above the black stream dashed with yellow-white spume, and its cluster of sheds sagging under their white load. |
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Definition
ex·an·i·mate
adjective
1. inanimate or lifeless
2. spiritless; disheartened |
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Term
discursively
Still she did not speak and, prompted by an obscure desire to help himself and her through their miserable last hour, he went on
discursively: "Ain't it funny we haven't been down together but just
that once last winter?" |
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Definition
dis·cur·sive
adjective
1. passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling
2. proceeding by reasoning or argument rather than intuition
discursively (adv) |
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Term
suffuse
The answer sent a pang through him but the tone suffused him with joy. |
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Definition
suf·fuse
verb
1. to spread or flood through or over something |
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Term
grizzle
There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so stiffened and grizzled that I took him for an old man and was surprised to hear that he was not more than fifty-two. |
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Definition
griz·zle
verb
1. to make or become gray or partly gray
2. to complain; whimper; whine
3. to laugh or grin in mockery; sneer
adjective
1. gray; grayish; devoid of hue
noun
1. gray or partly gray hair
2. a gray wig |
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Term
scintillate
The sunrise burned red in a pure sky, the shadows on the rim of the wood-lot were darkly blue, and beyond the white and scintillating fields patches of far-off forest hung like smoke. |
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Definition
scin·til·late
verb
1. to emit sparks
2. to sparkle; flash: a mind that scintillates with brilliance
3. to twinkle, as the stars
4. (Electronics)
a. to shift rapidly around a mean position
5. (Physics)
a. to fluctuate in a random manner
b. to produce a flash of light in a phosphor by striking it
6. to emit as sparks; flash forth |
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Term
taciturnity
Every one in Starkfield knew him and gave him a greeting tempered to his own grave mien; but his taciturnity was respected and it was only on rare occasions that one of the older men of the place detained him for a word. |
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Definition
tac·i·tur·ni·ty
noun
1. the state or quality of being reserved or reticent in conversation
2. (Scots Law)
a. the relinquishing of a legal right through an unduly long delay, as by the silence of the creditor |
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Term
sardonically
Harmon chuckled sardonically. |
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Definition
sar·don·ic
adjective
1. characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical; sneering: a sardonic grin |
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Term
querulous
She sat opposite the window, and the pale light reflected from the banks of
snow made her face look more than usually drawn and bloodless, sharpened
the three parallel creases between ear and cheek, and drew querulous lines from her thin nose to the corners of her mouth. |
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Definition
quer·u·lous
adjective
1. full of complaints; complaining
2. characterized by or uttered in complaint; peevish: a querulous tone; constant querulous reminders of things to be done |
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Term
colloquially
During my stay at Starkfield I lodged with a middle-aged widow colloquially known as Mrs. Ned Hale. |
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Definition
col·lo·qui·al
adjective
1. characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing; informal
2. involving or using conversation |
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Term
bole
The lane passed into a pine-wood with boles reddening in the afternoon sun and delicate blue shadows on the snow. |
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Definition
bole
noun
1. any of a variety of soft, unctuous clays of various colors, used as pigments
2. a medium red-brown color made from such clay
3. (Botany)
a. the stem or trunk of a tree |
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Term
self-effacement
"I wouldn't ever have it said that I stood in the way of a poor girl like Mattie marrying a smart fellow like Denis Eady," Zeena answered in a tone of plaintive self-effacement. |
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Definition
self-ef·face·ment
noun
1. the act or fact of keeping oneself in the background, as in humility |
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