v. cause to sink or become stuck in; hinder, entrap, or entangle
He was obliged to walk upon bog tufts and watch his feet to keep from the oily mire.
And immediately after the shot it splashed heavily with its white breast on the wet mire.
He was exhausted, and felt it a great effort to drag his staggering legs out of the mire, and for a minute he hesitated.
n. mistaken thought, idea, or notion; erroneous conception; false opinion
So I take advantage of this short halt, while Gatsby, so to speak, caught his breath, to clear this set of misconceptions away.
Not a grain of anger with them was in his heart; he knew them, far below their surface weaknesses and misconceptions, as no one but their fellow-labourer could.
'We wished Mr. Copperfield to be accompanied by some confidential friend today,' with an inclination of her head towards Traddles, who bowed, 'in order that there might be no doubt or misconception on this subject.'
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 41. DORA'S AUNTS n. product of a body's mass and its velocity; impelling force or strength; impetus
It was too late, however, for we were rapidly gathering momentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XII. The Adventure of The Final Problem a. caused by disease; pathological or diseased; unhealthy or unwholesome
She felt a morbid desire to ascertain the point.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In XV. HESTER AND PEARL One of his darkest miseries in the unhealthy morbid past days had been his hatred of being a sickly weak-backed boy whose father was afraid to look at him.
Shut in and morbid as his life had been, Colin had more imagination than she had and at least he had spent a good deal of time looking at wonderful books and pictures.
n. change; alteration, either in form or qualities.
a. having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
The mystical Om-Om-Om of the dynamos in the electric-light plant behind the mill was louder in the darkness.
Human or animal, the mystical brow is as that great golden seal affixed by the German Emperors to their decrees.
All these circumstances, so natural and so trivial, were gravely listened to as proofs, or, at least, as affording strong suspicions that Rebecca had unlawful correspondence with mystical powers.
n. addictive drug, such as opium, that reduces pain, alters mood and behavior; inducing sleep
The drought which Reuben administered was of a sedative and narcotic quality, and secured the patient sound and undisturbed slumbers.
Yet his presence, his manners, the warmth of his glances, and above all the touch of his lips upon her hand had acted like a narcotic upon her.
Monte Cristo for some time kept his eyes fixed on the young girl, who gradually fell asleep, yielding to the effects of the narcotic the count had given her.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 101. Locusta. v. to give an account or tell the story of
In the event of your acceding to my request it is probable that I shall have to narrate them to you.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XI. The Adventure of The Naval Treaty But, before I proceed to narrate it, and before I pass on to all the changes it involved, I must give one chapter to Estella.
It made a great impression on me, and I remembered it a long time afterwards; as I shall have occasion to narrate when the time comes.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 16. I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE v. make necessary or indispensable; render unavoidable
It looked as if the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very prompt and energetic measures on my part.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In I. A Scandal in Bohemia But what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable brevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to expound it.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 89. Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish. That disadvantage is not diminished, when that pressure necessitates the drawing of stipendiary emoluments, before those emoluments are strictly due and payable.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 39. WICKFIELD AND HEEP a. very wicked; infamous by being extremely wicked
v. discuss the terms of an arrangement
Morrel now tried to negotiate bills at ninety days only, and none of the banks would give him credit.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 30. The Fifth of September. In order to negotiate with him they have to get an interpreter, and they pitch upon this Mr. Melas, having used some other one before.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In X. The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter Even this arrangement was not effected without considerable negotiation, for Mme.
a. of or relating to neurons; relating to a nerve or the nervous system
n. central or essential part around which other parts are gathered or grouped; core
That would make three of us for a nucleus.
Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE It was the last asset in their fortunes, the nucleus around which their life was to be rebuilt.
n. death notice; list of dead
a. having slanting or sloping direction, course, or position; inclined
A small window shot an oblique square of whiter light upon the cluttered floor.
The oblique band of sunlight which followed her through the door became the young wife well.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 3: 6 Yeobright Goes, and the Breach Is Complete I recognized by the oblique feet that it was some extinct creature after the fashion of the Megatherium.
n. condition or quality of being completely forgotten; official overlooking of offenses; amnesty
There had been a period of repose, and he had sunk into oblivion.
Tom appeared from his oblivion as we were sitting down to supper together.
She must shut them out for a few hours; she must take a brief bath of oblivion.
a. causing disapproval or protest; very annoying or objectionable; offensive
We swept on, and I felt that I was highly obnoxious to Camilla.
Victor thought there would be more logic in thus disposing of old people with an established claim for making themselves universally obnoxious.
He was a Turkish merchant and had inhabited Paris for many years, when, for some reason which I could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 14 n. offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty; repulsive; disgusting
They became sodden, stupid, ugly or obscene.
Ravished by dead words become obscene, and dead ideas become obsessions.
Before they got her story she had five more minutes of obscene wallowing.
a. lacking in insight or discernment; stupid
When he arrives he will be met by the obtuse but resolute Lestrade, and I have no doubt that we shall have all our details filled in.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In II. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box She liked their elegance, their lightness, their lack of emphasis: even the self-assurance which at times was so like obtuseness now seemed the natural sign of social ascendency.
"I have been very obtuse, Watson," said he.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In IV. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY CYCLIST a. impenetrable by light; not transparent; not reflecting light; having no luster
Kennicott was as opaque as ever.
The water was opaque over the mud.
Her body was going meaningless, going dull and opaque, so much insignificant substance.
n. the branch of physics that studies the physical properties of ligh; optical properties
At the time I will confess that I thought chiefly of the Philosophical Transactions and my own seventeen papers upon physical optics.
Yet those same bleared optics had a strange, penetrating power, when it was their owner's purpose to read the human soul.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In II. THE MARKET-PLACE a. rich and superior in quality
He waved his whip in the direction of the Bellomont acres, which lay outspread before them in opulent undulations.
Yet, in spite of this, nowhere in all America will you find more patrician-like houses; parks and gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford.
Of two brothers, very similar in temperament and character, one had settled on a flourishing farm in Vermont, and the other became an opulent planter in Louisiana.
n. place of orisons, or prayer; chapel or small room set apart for private devotions
In fact, Sam considered oratory as his vocation, and never let slip an opportunity of magnifying his office.
Having made this well-turned speech, Villefort looked carefully around to mark the effect of his oratory, much as he would have done had he been addressing the bench in open court.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 6. The Deputy Procureur du Roi. n. decree; authoritative command or order
accordance with the laws, ordinances, and regulations of the.
"There is no law, nor reverence for authority, no regard for human ordinances or opinions, right or wrong, mixed up with that child's composition," remarked he, as much to himself as to his companion.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In X. THE LEECH AND HIS PATIENT a. simple and healthful and close to nature
There was no organic connexion with the thought and expression that had gone before.
But it took some getting at, the core of the physical jungle, the last and deepest recess of organic shame.
I went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks working out a few experiments in organic chemistry.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In V. The Adventure of The "Gloria Scott" n. living being; system considered analogous in structure or function to a living body
Even an organism is bourgeois: so the ideal must be mechanical.
They did it as a standing horse paws with his foot, or as a man enjoys killing animals in sport: because ancient and departed necessities had impressed it on the organism.
Inherited tendencies had combined with early training to make her the highly specialized product she was: an organism as helpless out of its narrow range as the sea-anemone torn from the rock.
n. an opening or aperture; recess; introductory section or part, as of a poem
He resolved, therefore, to let things take their course without making any direct overture to the count.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 35. La Mazzolata. There was an ominous, clanging overture to the charge when the shafts of the bayonets rattled upon the rifle barrels.
Tom watched the little lady a great deal, before he ventured on any overtures towards acquaintanceship.
v. ease anger or agitation of; make calm or quiet; end war or violence
To pacify Mary, and perhaps screen her own embarrassment, Anne did move quietly to the window.
Meantime, Teta Elzbieta would go and beg, over in the Hyde Park district, and the children would bring home enough to pacify Aniele, and keep them all alive.
Sir Henry had to assure him that it was not so and pacify him by giving him a considerable part of his old wardrobe, the London outfit having now all arrived.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By A. Conan DoyleContext Highlight In Chapter 8. First Report of Dr. Watson v. complete view in every direction.
or whom he could hold entranced before a ledge of granite thrusting up through the fern while he unrolled the huge panorama of the ice age, and the long dim stretches of succeeding time.
v. avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing
Such was the address of each in parrying and striking, that the spectators broke forth into a unanimous and involuntary shout, expressive of their delight and admiration.
"Then give me water," cried Danglars, endeavoring to parry the blow.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 116. The Pardon. v. analyze syntactically by assigning a constituent structure to a sentence
The earnest virgins were, she fancied, as likely to do harm as to do good by their faith in the value of parsing Caesar.
a. lacking in energy or will; peacefully resistant in response to injustice
She really was both innocent and corrupt, but a sweet and passive woman.
And Levin had been struck by the passive, weary incredulity with which the children heard what their mother said to them.
He sat still and passive, his head resting against the back of the wooden rocking-chair, his hands relaxed upon the arms.
n. a person who gives financial or other support to people or activity; regular customer
I have found out who my patron is.
His being my lawyer, and his being the lawyer of your patron is a coincidence.
He is not my private friend and public patron, as Steerforth was, but I hold him in a reverential respect.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 18. A RETROSPECT a. deeply, often dreamily thoughtful; engaged in serious thought or reflection; contemplative
Ned, getting sentimental, warbled a serenade with the pensive refrain.
He felt as if suddenly shaken out of a pensive dream and found it impossible to go to sleep again.
The Countess Lidia Ivanovna was a tall, stout woman, with an unhealthily sallow face and splendid, pensive black eyes.
v. spread or flow throughout; pervade
He was not temporarily overlaid with the colour; it permeated him.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 1: 2 Humanity Appears upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble He was permeated with its scenes, with its substance, and with its odours.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 3: 2 The New Course Causes Disappointment Morrel, overpowered, turned around in the arm-chair; a delicious torpor permeated every vein.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 117. The Fifth of October. n. form, appearance, or belongings of a person; external appearance, stature, figure, air
He appeared a taciturn, and perhaps a proud personage; but he was very kind to me.
To Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner he was scarcely a less interesting personage than to herself.
It was a seaman, quite a little personage, so little as if he were a midshipman; but a midshipman it was not.
Andersen's Fairy Tales By Hans Christian AndersenContext Highlight In THE DREAM OF LITTLE TUK n. appearance of things; view, outlook, or vista
An open door afforded a perspective view of the Aged in bed.
As I could obtain a perspective view of Mr. Omer inside, smoking his pipe by the parlour door, I entered, and asked him how he was.
The Aged must have been stirring with the lark, for, glancing into the perspective of his bedroom, I observed that his bed was empty.
a. having precise or logical relevance; pertaining or relating
Mrs. Charpentier blushed at my pertinent question.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In PART I: CHAPTER VI. TOBIAS GREGSON SHOWS WHAT HE CAN DO Nor did the scout fail to throw in a pertinent inquiry, whenever a fitting occasion presented.
The Last of the Mohicans By James Fenimore CooperContext Highlight In CHAPTER 22 The pertinence of the question checked Selden's fugitive impulse before the train had started.
a. pervading; spread throughout every part
Its tone was indeed solemn and pervasive.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 1: 9 Love Leads a Shrewd Man into Strategy Now, by a subtle pervasion of the new spirit, he had somehow been pushed out.
a. expecting the worst possible outcome
Of this he was very proud, and it made him more disposed than ever to laugh at the pessimists.
I've gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things.
a. exceedingly or unbelievably great
He is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XII. The Adventure of The Final Problem The Afro-American citizens of Kentucky, whose intellectual and financial improvement has been phenomenal, have never had a separate car law until now.
a. evoking lifelike images within the mind; pertaining to or consisting of pictures
It may be that the primal source of all those pictorial delusions will be found among the oldest Hindoo, Egyptian, and Grecian sculptures.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 55. Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales. n. substance used as coloring; dry coloring matter
They were the only parts of his face that showed any life or expression, the pigment upon it was so thick.
Since the introduction of railways Wessex farmers have managed to do without these Mephistophelian visitants, and the bright pigment so largely used by shepherds in preparing sheep for the fair is obtained by other routes.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 1: 9 Love Leads a Shrewd Man into Strategy Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP n. a journey to a sacred place
They saw more rooms and made more discoveries than Mary had made on her first pilgrimage.
I would have made a pilgrimage to the highest peak of the Andes, could I when there have precipitated him to their base.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 9 The spirits that guarded me had provided these moments, or rather hours, of happiness that I might retain strength to fulfil my pilgrimage.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 n. peak; tall pointed formation, such as mountain peak
I will hang thee out to feed the ravens, from the very pinnacle of thine own castle.
The moon was low upon the right, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the lower curve of its silver disc.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By A. Conan DoyleContext Highlight In Chapter 9. The Light upon the Moor [Second Report of Dr. ... He felt himself on a pinnacle that made him giddy, and far away down below were all those nice excellent Karenins, Oblonskys, and all the world.
a. deserving or inciting pity; causing feelings of sympathy
Immediately they heard a loud, piteous cry.
Grimms' Fairy Tales By The Brothers GrimmContext Highlight In SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED Those pictures of glory were piteous things.
It was most piteous, that last expiring spout.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 81. The Pequod Meets The Virgin. a. crude or coarse; unrefined or coarse in nature or manner; common or vulgar
Villefort, as we have seen, belonged to the aristocratic party at Marseilles, Morrel to the plebeian; the first was a royalist, the other suspected of Bonapartism.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 7. The Examination. I smiled as I unfolded it, and devised how I would tease you about your aristocratic tastes, and your efforts to masque your plebeian bride in the attributes of a peeress.
He was dressed in a common gray blouse and velvet cap, but his carefully arranged hair, beard and mustache, all of the richest and glossiest black, ill accorded with his plebeian attire.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 51. Pyramus and Thisbe. a. flexible; yielding; easily bent or shaped
Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one.
They all loved her but they thought her the sweetest, most pliable of young women, deferential to her elders and without any opinions of her own.
But Scarlett intended to marry--and marry Ashley--and she was willing to appear demure, pliable and scatterbrained, if those were the qualities that attracted men.
v. inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of; fill with inhabitants
To make matters worse, a vague distrust of those in high places had begun to creep over the civilian population.
The wives and families of the Yankee garrison, filled with curiosity about the South after four years of war, came to swell the population.
I followed, when I could, the courses of the rivers; but the daemon generally avoided these, as it was here that the population of the country chiefly collected.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 n. a grand and imposing entrance; a short vein that carries blood into the liver
A sudden thought came into my head as I stooped towards the portal.
Suddenly little Gerda stepped through the great portal into the palace.
Andersen's Fairy Tales By Hans Christian AndersenContext Highlight In THE SNOW QUEEN The trees about the portal of the chapel moved soughingly in a soft wind.
a. inoffensive expression of fat; stout
He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET Mr. Bumble emerged at early morning from the workhouse-gate, and walked with portly carriage and commanding steps, up the High Street.
In the length he attains, and in his baleen, the Fin-back resembles the right whale, but is of a less portly girth, and a lighter colour, approaching to olive.
n. rule or principle prescribing particular action or conduct; authorized direction or order
How much of the practice I have just reduced to precept, I owe to Agnes, I will not repeat here.
The applicability or non-applicability of the Christian precept to his own case was too difficult a question to be discussed lightly, and this question had long ago been answered by Alexey Alexandrovitch in the negative.
I am simply applying to ordinary life a few of those precepts of observation and deduction which I advocated in that article.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In PART I: CHAPTER IV. WHAT JOHN RANCE HAD TO TELL n. district or division of city; place or enclosure by definite limits
Trainloads of negroes had been rushed from town to town, voting at every precinct along the way.
There was a young olive growing within the precincts of the house, in full vigour, and about as thick as a bearing-post.
Standing, for the most part, on the hallowed precincts of the quarter-deck, they were careful not to speak or rustle their feet.
a. expecting a baby; carrying within the body or being about to produce new life
No lady ever showed herself when she was pregnant.
She looked worse than any pregnant woman she had ever seen.
Scarlett had wept with despair at the knowledge that she was pregnant and wished that she were dead.
n. introduction; forerunner; preliminary or preface
The audience felt that a startling revelation was to follow this ominous prelude.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 110. The Indictment. Little did I think that this would be the prelude to the most crushing misfortune of my life.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In V. THE ADVENTURE OF THE PRIORY SCHOOL I had already been out many hours and felt the torment of a burning thirst, a prelude to my other sufferings.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 20 v. occupy or take possession of beforehand or before another or appropriate for use in advance
He was sober and quiet and preoccupied.
Firstly, my mind was too preoccupied to be able to take in the subject clearly.
Ellen was thin and preoccupied now and on her feet from morning until long after the plantation was asleep.
n. impression produced by achievements or reputation; recognized distinction or importance
Not even at the present day has the original prestige of the Sperm Whale, as fearfully distinguished from all other species of the leviathan, died out of the minds of the whalemen as a body.
Ethan was aware that, in regard to the important question of surgical intervention, the female opinion of the neighbourhood was divided, some glorying in the prestige conferred by operations while others shunned them as indelicate.
Even the blockade had added to Atlanta's prestige.
v. state freely; practice as a profession, teach, or claim to be knowledgeable about; confess one's faith in, or allegiance to
Well; all sorts of humbugs profess morality.
But, in return, your sister must allow me to feel no more than I profess.
Confiding in you at all, on the faith of the interest you profess for him, I will not do so by halves.
a. skilled; expert; having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude
If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.
You are aware that I have some proficiency in the good old British sport of boxing.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In IV. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY CYCLIST My ardour was indeed the astonishment of the students, and my proficiency that of the masters.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 4 n. sequence; act of moving forward toward a goal
He did not sleep the whole night, and his fury, growing in a sort of vast, arithmetical progression, reached its highest limits in the morning.
First, when used as a fin for progression; Second, when used as a mace in battle; Third, in sweeping; Fourth, in lobtailing; Fifth, in peaking flukes.
Wildeve forgot the loss of the money at the sight of his lost love, whose preciousness in his eyes was increasing in geometrical progression with each new incident that reminded him of their hopeless division.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 3: 8 A New Force Disturbs the Current a. defending or protecting from disease or infection
n. essay; ordinary speech or writing; commonplace expression or quality
But let me observe that all histories are against you--all stories, prose and verse.
Yet, though quarter-staff play be out of date, what we can in prose we will do for these bold champions.
I counted up to high numbers, to make sure of myself, and repeated passages that I knew in prose and verse.