n. one who, or that which, defends or protects; defense; protection
Ye say that the interest of the master is a sufficient safeguard for the slave.
I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In I. A Scandal in Bohemia With all his faults, Trenor had the safeguard of his traditions, and was the less likely to overstep them because they were so purely instinctive.
n. quality of being sagacious; quickness or acuteness of sense perceptions; keenness of discernment; shrewdness
She was half sorry her sagacity had miscarried, and half glad that Tom had stumbled into obedient conduct for once.
Young ladies have great penetration in such matters as these; but I think I may defy even your sagacity, to discover the name of your admirer.
Morcerf asked leave to retire; he had to collect the documents he had long been preparing against this storm, which his sagacity had foreseen.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 86. The Trial. n. scholar; man of learning or science; one eminent for learning
The Dawsons smiled their appreciation of listening to a savant.
His conversation, I remember, was about the Bertillon system of measurements, and he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the French savant.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XI. The Adventure of The Naval Treaty On the way he thought no more of money, but mused on the introduction that awaited him to the Petersburg savant, a writer on sociology, and what he would say to him about his book.
a. of a brilliant red color
If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and passed on.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In XIII. ANOTHER VIEW OF HESTER Elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever; her illness was severe, and she was in the greatest danger.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 3 It was whispered by those who peered after her that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In III. THE RECOGNITION v. write or draw carelessly and in a hurry; doodle; meaningless marks and lines
Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, and I knew that he was writing me a note.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and handed it to him.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In I. A Scandal in Bohemia Yet as she scribbled, she kept her eye on her sister, who seemed unusually quiet.
v. free from fear, care, or anxiety; not have reason to doubt
But again the frost came and made the paths of the sea secure.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 They think themselves secure, you do no more than what is expected, and it raises no gratitude at all.
His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.
n. soldier placed on guard; guard
The sentry was our young Divine.
Andersen's Fairy Tales By Hans Christian AndersenContext Highlight In THE SHOES OF FORTUNE Scarlett thanked him and followed the sentry.
Huck stood sentry and Tom felt his way into the alley.
n. meeting devoted to a particular activity; time for school to hold classes
Yet after four sessions of the library-board she was where she had been before the first session.
Boarding with the Widow Bogart was Fern Mullins, a girl of twenty-two who was to be teacher of English, French, and gymnastics in the high school this coming session.
n. a herder of sheep; someone who keeps the sheep together in a flock
Then the shepherd jumped upon the horse, wished Hans and the cow good morning, and away he rode.
His horse would have ran off, if a shepherd who was coming by, driving a cow, had not stopped it.
A shepherd had a faithful dog, called Sultan, who was grown very old, and had lost all his teeth.
n. seat, especially a royal seat; throne; rank; grade; sitting before a fortified place; surrounding or investing of a place by army
The truth was that the North was holding the South in a virtual state of siege, though many did not realize it.
I found it rather harassing to live in this state of siege, but was too much afraid of Mrs. Crupp to see any way out of it.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 34. MY AUNT ASTONISHES ME In consequence I embarked for Oran, and went from thence to Constantine, where I arrived just in time to witness the raising of the siege.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 40. The Breakfast. n. device to separate larger objects from smaller objects, or to separate solid objects from a liquid; utensil for separating; coarse basket
All goes through the sieve of her gills, and nothing surprises her.
Walking was as difficult as on a bog, and by the time Levin had ended the row he was in a great heat, and he stopped and gave up the sieve to Vassily.
He watched how Mishka strode along, swinging the huge clods of earth that clung to each foot; and getting off his horse, he took the sieve from Vassily and started sowing himself.
a. unique; extraordinary; being only one
He was a boy of singular talent and fancy.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 2 When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 2 In the same early morning, I discovered a singular affinity between seeds and corduroys.
a. messy and dirty; careless and excessively casual
She looked poor white, shiftless, slovenly, trifling.
He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly fashion, for his frock-coat was dingy and his trousers frayed.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By A. Conan DoyleContext Highlight In Chapter 1. Mr. Sherlock Holmes Our liturgy," observed Crawford, "has beauties, which not even a careless, slovenly style of reading can destroy; but it has also redundancies and repetitions which require good reading not to be felt.
v. show contempt by turning up the nose, or by a particular facial expression; speak derisively; show mirth awkwardly
Trenor caught her up with a sneer.
To sneer at his imperfect attempt was very bad breeding.
Even through her fear and bewilderment, his sneer stung.
n. nickname; familiar name for person, typically shortened version of given name
a. worried or concerned; full of desire; expressing care or concern
You are too solicitous about him.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 39. WICKFIELD AND HEEP One would be tenderly solicitous.
She was solicitous about his health and his welfare.
v. assume to be true without conclusive evidence; engage in buying or selling of a commodity for profit
I am afraid to speculate on what it is.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 62. A LIGHT SHINES ON MY WAY Jurgis had time enough to stare and speculate, for it was two hours before he was summoned.
In charge of the campaign was Mr. James Blausser, who had recently come to town to speculate in land.
n. magnificence; Great light or luster; brilliance; grandeur
The sun was low, and the heavens glowed with the splendor of an autumn sunset.
He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor.
On this last evening, I dressed my self out in my new clothes for their delight, and sat in my splendor until bedtime.
v. extend; stretch; spread; sit or lie with the body and limbs spread out awkwardly
He seated himself again, sprawling his long legs comfortably.
As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground.
In a bound, I was on my feet, and easily sent him sprawling to the floor.
v. reject disdainfully or contemptuously; scorn
Well, that gives me sorrow, for I am not made so entirely happy by my marriage that I am willing to spurn you for the information, as I ought to do.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 4: 6 A Conjuncture, and Its Result upon the Pedestrian artist who haunts her steps, and is spurned by the.
They were forever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 v. interrupt or cut off voice; keep in or hold back; suppress; conceal or hide
Dickon laughed so that he was obliged to stifle the sound by putting his arm over his mouth.
At first she tried to stifle the thoughts, but the hard self-honesty that lay at the base of her nature would not permit it.
As for Aunt Pitty, she was nervously trying to stifle a belch, for the rooster they had had for supper was a tough old bird.
a. loud and harsh; insistent; high-pitched; rough-sounding
Again and again it sounded, the whole air throbbing with it, strident, wild, and menacing.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By A. Conan DoyleContext Highlight In Chapter 9. The Light upon the Moor [Second Report of Dr. ... Her laugh, too, was high, and perhaps a little strident, but there was a lively intelligence in it.
Each stalk served as a perch for a grasshopper, which regaled the passers by through this Egyptian scene with its strident, monotonous note.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 26. The Pont du Gard Inn. v. present obstacle; stump; cause to fail or to leave hopelessly puzzled, confused, or stuck
a. occurring or taking place in person's mind rather than external world; unreal
My doctrine has never aimed at the subjection of the understanding.
It has reappeared to annihilate me, all through my life, in connexion with all kinds of subjects.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 26. I FALL INTO CAPTIVITY Thus Elizabeth endeavoured to divert her thoughts and mine from all reflection upon melancholy subjects.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 22 n. pretense; something intended to misrepresent
This was difficult, for Scarlett had not a subtle bone in her body; and Gerald was so much like her he never failed to penetrate her weak subterfuges, even as she penetrated his.
She'd have to put ruffles in her bosom to make them look larger and she had always had contempt for girls who resorted to such subterfuges.
a. brief or compact; by clear, precise expression in few words
We, at the Grange, never got a very succinct account of his state preceding it; all that I did learn was on occasion of going to aid in the preparations for the funeral.
"I have never heard a profound truth expressed so succinctly," he said.
"You sum up the difficulties of the situation succinctly and well," he said.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In PART I: CHAPTER IV. WHAT JOHN RANCE HAD TO TELL v. submit to an overpowering force; yield to an overwhelming desire; give up or give in
The helpless wounded succumbed to her charms without a struggle.
In the actual sex-thrill within the body, the sisters nearly succumbed to the strange male power.
The look was far worse to resist than the frantic strain: only an idiot, however, would have succumbed now.
a. being beyond what is required or sufficient
That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.
Her husband was simply a superfluous and tiresome person.
Miss Micawber I found made snug for stormy weather, in the same manner; with nothing superfluous about her.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 57. THE EMIGRANTS n. watching; inspection; close observation of a person or group; supervision
a. indicated or understood without expressed directly; not speaking; silent
His attitude became one of good-humored subservience and tacit adoration.
She did as he suggested; and the act was a tacit acknowledgment that she accepted his offer.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 4: 3 She Goes Out to Battle against Depression By some tacit consent, throughout the voyage little or no allusion was made to it, especially by the mates.
a. silent or reserved in speech; saying little; not inclined to speak or converse
But these men were a taciturn lot, picking their words carefully.
Young Jefferson Hope rode on with his companions, gloomy and taciturn.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In PART II: CHAPTER II. THE FLOWER OF UTAH He appeared a taciturn, and perhaps a proud personage; but he was very kind to me.
n. strategy; policy; plan for attaining a particular goal
This, said Squealer, was something called tactics.
Not for Hood the cautious tactics of General Johnston.
Miss Ophelia was old, and skilled in the tactics of nursing.
v. make dirty or spotty; stain; dull the luster of; discolor, especially by exposure to air or dirt
The tarnish of shame and guilt that enveloped her spread to him as well.
Edmond, my friend, do not compel me to tarnish that noble and pure image reflected incessantly on the mirror of my heart.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 89. A Nocturnal Interview. Elizabeth also wept and was unhappy, but hers also was the misery of innocence, which, like a cloud that passes over the fair moon, for a while hides but cannot tarnish its brightness.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 8 a. tiresome by reason of length, slowness, or dullness; progressing very slowly
Another tedious wait at the spring and another long sleep brought changes.
The alteration is not in them, if their parties are grown tedious and dull.
Three dreadful days and nights dragged their tedious hours along, and the village sank into a hopeless stupor.
v. be abuzz; be full of; move in large numbers
Yet his very elbows, when he had his back towards me, seemed to teem with the expression of his fixed opinion that I was extremely young.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 28. Mr. MICAWBER'S GAUNTLET When I had lain awake a little while, those extraordinary voices with which silence teems began to make themselves audible.
v. tie with rope; fasten or restrict with rope or chain
I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the envelopes to stick them to.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In IV. The Adventure of The Stockbroker's Clerk Within the limits of his short tether he had tumbled about, annihilating the flowers of existence with greater singleness of purpose than many of the blatant personages whose company he kept.
Yet a certain feeling, you may understand, tethered me in a circle of a few miles round the point of my arrival.
n. subject of conversation or discussion; topic; essay
It is not much to give to the theme that so long filled my heart.
I believe the theme of this incomprehensible conundrum was the moon.
My reflections on this theme were still in progress when dinner was announced.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 25. GOOD AND BAD ANGELS n. wood or collection of trees, shrubs
The birds twittered more and more loudly and busily in the thicket.
In front of the door he observed a bird which had caught itself in the thicket.
Grimms' Fairy Tales By The Brothers GrimmContext Highlight In THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR Outside this door a spade was placed against the wall; I took it, and advanced towards the thicket.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 67. At the Office of the King's Attorney. a. worn through till threads show; wearing old, shabby clothing; shabby and poor
A threadbare and venerable device, but useful upon occasion.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING THREE-QUARTER At last I tore my eyes from it for a moment and saw that the hail curtain had worn threadbare, and that the sky was lightening with the promise of the sun.
Mr. Sowerberry was a tall gaunt, large-jointed man, attired in a suit of threadbare black, with darned cotton stockings of the same colour, and shoes to answer.
n. expanse of land or water; system of organs that perform a specialized function; leaflet or pamphlet
The old man frequently stretched his eyes ahead to gaze over the tract that he had yet to traverse.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 1: 2 Humanity Appears upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble This is a great tract of a hundred thousand acres, which from time immemorial has been a hunting preserve of the nobility.
Birds, beasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, indeed, any of the latter were to be found in that wide tract of wilderness.
The Last of the Mohicans By James Fenimore CooperContext Highlight In CHAPTER 14 n. going from one state of action to another
The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.
There was only one stage in the transition from coldness to inspiration, at which work was possible.
From fire to oil was a natural transition for burned fingers, and Amy fell to painting with undiminished ardor.
n. payment in money made by one ruler or nation; tax; mark of respect; praiseworthy quality
This tribute to the unusual transformed and glorified her.
Almost any exhibition of complete self sufficiency draws a stunned tribute from me.
The confidence he had thought fit to repose in me seemed a tribute to my discretion: I regarded and accepted it as such.
n. a spear with three prongs
a. characterized by unrest or disorder
But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot.
There came a turbulent stream of men across the fields.
The turbulent voices, even Guy Pollock being connotative beside her, were nothing.
n. wealthy and powerful businessperson or industrialist; magnate
a. lacking conscience; greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
a. not easily deciphered; not able to be read or understood
Like those mystic rocks, too, the mystic-marked whale remains undecipherable.
a. short-handed; clandestine; marked by deception
He had suspected his agent of some underhand dealing; of meaning to bias him against the deserving; and he had determined to go himself, and thoroughly investigate the merits of the case.
"Oh, it's nothing underhand," he assured me.
But, you see, from the mother's breast the colored child feels and sees that there are none but underhand ways open to it.
v. write under something else; subscribe; assume financial responsibility for; guarantee against failure
a. awkward; lacking grace in movement or posture
They fled like soft, ungainly animals.
You know he is as ungainly within as without.
He was lank and ungainly but, even with his wooden peg, he moved as swiftly as a snake.
a. impossible or difficult to pronounce correctly; very difficult to pronounce correctly
Their last names were unpronounceable, so they were called Pavel and Peter.
n. instrument, implement, or container for practical use, especially in kitchen or laboratory
Beside it lay some cooking utensils and a bucket half-full of water.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By A. Conan DoyleContext Highlight In Chapter 11. The Man on the Tor All about them were other small fires surrounded by men with their little black utensils.
She was better acquainted with the utensils in the kitchen than with Vida Sherwin or Guy Pollock.
a. streaked, spotted, or marked with a variety of color; very colorful
This part of the Rhine, indeed, presents a singularly variegated landscape.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 18 Now all was ready--silver and white, forks and napkins, and in the middle the splashed bowl of variegated roses.
They grew scattered, as if wild, among the variegated shrubs, but, as I say, I did not examine them closely at this time.
n. a variety show with songs and comic acts etc.
Even Raymie lost his simple faith, and tried to show that he could do a vaudeville shuffle.
This altogether admirable tradition rules the vaudeville stage, facetious illustrators, and syndicated newspaper humor, but out of actual life it passed forty years ago.
n. rapidity or speed of motion; swiftness
The river glanced by with its ordinary velocity, but the canoe was nowhere to be seen on its dark waters.
Clym reached the hatches, the framework of which was shaken to its foundations by the velocity of the current.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 5: 9 Sights and Sounds Draw the Wanderers Together He seemed swimming with his utmost velocity, and now only intent upon pursuing his own straight path in the sea.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 135. The Chase.—Third Day. n. state of being near in space or relationship; proximity
Coarse grass and rank weeds straggled over all the marshy land in the vicinity.
A light shone through the keyhole and from under the door; a profound stillness pervaded the vicinity.
So near a vicinity to her mother and Meryton relations was not desirable even to his easy temper, or her affectionate heart.
n. unbordered picture, often a portrait; decorative design placed at beginning or end of book or chapter; short literary sketch
n. act of vindicating, or state of being vindicated; defense; evidence or statements that justify a claim or belief
His vindication of a great lady.
Gulliver's Travels(V1) By Jonathan SwiftContext Highlight In PART 1: CHAPTER VI. Also, the tall soldier received his vindication.
In a defeat there would be a roundabout vindication of himself.
v. treat in a violent manner; abuse; do violence to; disturb; interrupt
While you looked so, I should be certain that whatever charter you might grant under coercion, your first act, when released, would be to violate its conditions.
He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In XVII. THE PASTOR AND HIS PARISHIONER I should have thought it a gross violation of duty and respect.
n. a person's employment or main occupation; career or profession
He answered, to go to sea again, in his old vocation.
What with women and wine and the excitement of his vocation, a man could afford to rest now and then.
David smiled sadly, though not without a momentary gleam of pleasure, at this allusion to his beloved vocation.
v. hazard on the event of a contest; stake; engage in, as a contest; adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; hire; employ
The man will stay and run the mill for a wage.
In desperation she raised the wage she was offering but she was still refused.
He said, in effect, that the South had nothing with which to wage war but cotton and arrogance.
v. reduce or eliminate gradually, with knife; cut small bits off
One of his legs was gone at the knee and to the stump was fitted a roughly whittled wooden peg.
I went with Musgrave to his study and whittled myself this peg, to which I tied this long string with a knot at each yard.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In VI. The Adventure of The Musgrave Ritual He was clever at whittling and Wade was constantly by his side, for he whittled out toys for him, the only toys the little boy had.
v. shrivel; decay; lose freshness, vigor, or vitality; loss of moisture
When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither.
Do not allow a trivial misunderstanding to wither the blossoms of spring, which, once put forth and blighted, cannot be renewed.
The leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a close, and now every day showed me more plainly how well I had succeeded.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 4 n. exaggerated or abnormal fear of strangers or foreigners
n. gentle breeze; west wind; any of various soft light fabrics, yarns, or garments
Euroclydon, nevertheless, is a mighty pleasant zephyr to any one in-doors, with his feet on the hob quietly toasting for bed.
A delicious zephyr played along the coasts of the Mediterranean, and wafted from shore to shore the sweet perfume of plants, mingled with the fresh smell of the sea.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 117. The Fifth of October. n. a piece of orange or lemon peel, used to give flavor to liquor; something that gives or enhances a pleasant taste; appetizer
So much of the keen zest had gone out of life recently.
But the reward itself seemed unpalatable just then: she could get no zest from the thought of victory.
I admired the cheerful zest with which grandmother went about keeping us warm and comfortable and well-fed.