v. crouch or curl up ; mass; heap; crowd or draw together
Main Street with its two-story brick shops, its story-and-a-half wooden residences, its muddy expanse from concrete walk to walk, its huddle of Fords and lumber-wagons, was too small to absorb her.
Oliver was awakened in the morning, by a loud kicking at the outside of the shop-door: which, before he could huddle on his clothes, was repeated, in an angry and impetuous manner, about twenty-five times.
Even so were the suitors lying all huddled up one against the other.
a. low or inferior in station or quality; modest
A moment afterwards, he was as fawning and as humble as ever.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 52. I ASSIST AT AN EXPLOSION As to all the rest, he was humble and contrite, and I never knew him complain.
When he saw that smile, submissive and humble, Levin felt something clutching at his throat.
v. kindle; cause to start burning; set fire to
After that no wood is used, except as a means of quick ignition to the staple fuel.
The regiment was like a firework that, once ignited, proceeds superior to circumstances until its blazing vitality fades.
Like a plethoric burning martyr, or a self-consuming misanthrope, once ignited, the whale supplies his own fuel and burns by his own body.
n. lack of knowledge or education
Marianne was, of course, kept in ignorance of all these arrangements.
She was not doomed, however, to be long in ignorance of his measures.
I imparted to Mr. Jaggers my design of keeping him in ignorance of the fate of his wealth.
n. one who comes to a country where they were not born in order to settle there; non-native
I knew this must be the immigrant family the conductor had told us about.
Her father had started as a poor immigrant boy and had won the broad acres of Tara.
THIS is not the place to commemorate the trials and privations endured by the immigrant Mormons before they came to their final haven.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In PART II: CHAPTER II. THE FLOWER OF UTAH a. resistant to; free or exempt from; not subject to
And thus fortified, as I supposed, on every side, I began to profit by the strange immunities of my position.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde By Robert Louis StevensonContext Highlight In CHAPTER HENRY JEKYLL'S FULL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Connie says people like wisps of smoke, and Olive says immunized women, and babies in bottles, and Dukes says the phallus is the bridge to what comes next.
I have never believed it possible that any natural or improved ability can claim immunity from the companionship of the steady, plain, hard-working qualities, and hope to gain its end.
n. protection; exemption from normal legal duties
I have never believed it possible that any natural or improved ability can claim immunity from the companionship of the steady, plain, hard-working qualities, and hope to gain its end.
And thus fortified, as I supposed, on every side, I began to profit by the strange immunities of my position.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde By Robert Louis StevensonContext Highlight In CHAPTER HENRY JEKYLL'S FULL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Connie says people like wisps of smoke, and Olive says immunized women, and babies in bottles, and Dukes says the phallus is the bridge to what comes next.
a. without money; poor; penniless
v. hinder; charge with improper conduct; challenge validity of; try to discredit
Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In XIII. ANOTHER VIEW OF HESTER Owing to her baby, who somewhat impeded Thomasin's view forward and distracted her mind, she did at last lose the track.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 5: 8 Rain, Darkness, and Anxious Wanderers a. unshakably calm; placid; incapable of being disturbed or disconcerted
I believe there never was anybody with such an imperturbable countenance when she chose.
Rhett never deviated from his smooth, imperturbable manners, even in their most intimate moments.
She paused a moment before the last name, and shot a query through her lashes; but he remained imperturbable.
v. beg for urgently; make an earnest appeal
Think, I implore you, before you answer.
I am dying; I beg, I implore you to come.
And I implore you not to look at me during the ceremony.
v. demand; force; compel to behave in a certain way
Still more so, by the stipulation of implicit confidence which I beg to impose.
I mention this in your hearing, Jane, that you may not attempt to impose on Mr. Brocklehurst.
They hesitated to break the silence which death seemed to impose; at length Valentine ventured.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 73. The Promise. a. making a strong or vivid impression; producing a strong effect
The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur.
The awe which these reflections inspired was attested by the impressive silence and the ranks of staring eyes.
These details and accompanying delays worked up an atmosphere of preparation that was as impressive as it was fascinating.
a. not fitting; lacking in harmony or compatibility
Then a strangely incongruous sight struck her eyes.
The most incongruous ideas were in confusion in his head.
In the years that followed that second christening, many changes had taken place in her that made the pet name incongruous.
a. unconquerable; incapable of being overcome
And that the great monster is indomitable, you will yet have reason to know.
From one of the proudest families in Kentucky he had inherited a set of fine European features, and a high, indomitable spirit.
Probably, thought Scarlett, because Sally and Young Miss were too afraid of the porcelain-frail but indomitable old Grandma to dare voice any qualms.
a. diligent; hard-working; busy and laborious
I want to have something to do with all those many hours when you are so industrious.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 44. OUR HOUSEKEEPING Once upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters; one of them was beautiful and industrious, the other ugly and lazy.
I can be well recommended by all the neighbors, and I hope I can be industrious and patient, and teach myself while I teach others.
a. lacking of judgment, sense, or reason; unsuited; inappropriate; foolish
She had drunk a quantity of champagne and during the course of her song she had decided ineptly that everything was very very sad--she was not only singing, she was weeping too.
n. moral corruption or contamination; invasion of body which can lead to tissue damage and disease
Then the whole herd caught the infection.
There was a moral infection of clap-trap in him.
Semi-starvation and neglected colds had predisposed most of the pupils to receive infection: forty-five out of the eighty girls lay ill at one time.
n. weakness; bodily ailment or weakness, especially one brought on by old age
Neither duty nor infirmity could keep youth or age from such exhibitions.
The moment he sat down, I noticed the nervous infirmity of which Mrs. Harling had told me.
It was mournful, indeed, to witness the subjugation of that vigorous spirit to a corporeal infirmity.
v. expand; fill with air or gas; increase the amount or availability of
A man with a pervading appearance on him of being inflated like a balloon, and ready to start.
Old Colonel Raleigh had come to Lincoln from Kentucky and invested an inherited fortune in real estate, at the time of inflated prices.
As the younger ones slipped up to him in his retreat, he kept taking things out of his pockets; penny dolls, a wooden clown, a balloon pig that was inflated by a whistle.
v. live in; occupy; reside in
I will tell you, then, in a few words the character of the three men who inhabit these rooms.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE STUDENTS I write to you, encompassed by peril and ignorant whether I am ever doomed to see again dear England and the dearer friends that inhabit it.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 I inquired of the inhabitants concerning the fiend and gained accurate information.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 v. restrain; prevent or forbid; hold back
But of course, in all her conversations with Ashley there were so many things which could not be said, for honor's sake, that the sheer force of them inhibited other remarks.
v. set up; connect or set in position and prepare for use
You should install yourself here, and cheer my solitude.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 88. The Insult. And little Eliza seconds the effort, by toddling up to her father, and trying to pull the book out of his hand, and install herself on his knee as a substitute.
Noirtier was prepared to receive them, dressed in black, and installed in his arm-chair.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 75. A Signed Statement. v. explain or tell the meaning of; translate orally; decipher
Listen, then, to a dream that I have had and interpret it for me if you can.
Glubbdubdrib, as nearly as I can interpret the word, signifies the island of sorcerers or magicians.
Gulliver's Travels(V2) By Jonathan SwiftContext Highlight In PART 3: CHAPTER VII. The word, which I interpret the flying or floating island, is in the original Laputa, whereof I could never learn the true etymology.
Gulliver's Travels(V2) By Jonathan SwiftContext Highlight In PART 3: CHAPTER II. a. valuable under estimation; inestimable; priceless
This invaluable friend was a very young woman, and very lately married.
As a conductress of Indian schools, and a helper amongst Indian women, your assistance will be to me invaluable.
Those rules of deduction laid down in that article which aroused your scorn, are invaluable to me in practical work.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In PART I: CHAPTER II. THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION a. unevenly cut; having the texture of something so cut; having a rough quality
The tune changed; snapped; broke; jagged.
Now the jagged leaf at the corner suggested, by its contours, Europe.
They stopped, leaning over a jagged fence made of sea-drift, to ask for water.
n. exposure to death, loss, or injury; hazard; risk of loss or injury
But this was not the only jamming jeopardy he was exposed to.
"Give him, in pity, give him the contents of another rifle," cried Duncan, turning away his eyes in horror from the spectacle of a fellow creature in such awful jeopardy.
But in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship's direst jeopardy; she must fly all hospitality; one touch of land, though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder through and through.
n. sudden jerking, as from a heavy blow; sudden, strong feeling of surprise or disappointment
She leaned forward and pressed her face against the window just as the carriage gave a big jolt.
The first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my hammock, but afterward the motion was easy enough.
Gulliver's Travels(V1) By Jonathan SwiftContext Highlight In PART 2: CHAPTER VIII. She fell with a jolt into a whitewashed hall and sat looking at two scared girls and a young man in wrinkled tights.
v. come into rough contact with while moving; make one's way by pushing or elbowing
Even in Broadway and Chestnut streets, Mediterranean mariners will sometimes jostle the affrighted ladies.
In the doorway the marshal of the province jostled against Levin.
She, Mellors, and Clifford moved at once, Connie and the keeper jostling lightly.
v. adjust the spaces between words; show to be reasonable; explain, clear away
Her not objecting does not justify him.
You perhaps will find some means to justify my poor guiltless Justine.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 7 It may have been a mistaken one, or you may have ceased to justify it.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 26. I FALL INTO CAPTIVITY v. grieve; express sorrow; regret deeply
For himself, he grew desperate: his sorrow was of that kind that will not lament.
And Mr. Brooke looked so contented and cheerful that Meg was ashamed to lament her hard lot.
You throw a torch into a pile of buildings, and when they are consumed, you sit among the ruins and lament the fall.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 24 n. weapon, consisting of long handle and steel blade or head; spear carried by horsemen, often decorated with small flag
Bildad, thou used to be good at sharpening a lance, mend that pen, will ye.
The aristocracy of the lance has allied itself with the nobility of the cannon.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 51. Pyramus and Thisbe. What precise purpose this ivory horn or lance answers, it would be hard to say.
n. slide of a large mass of dirt and rock down a mountain or cliff; overwhelming electoral victory
n. any of the short hairs fringing the edge of the eyelid
Strike nothing, and stir nothing, but lash everything.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 120. The Deck Towards the End of the First Night ... This plan worked well; the slaves became as fearful of tar as of the lash.
Scarcely a day passed, during the summer, but that some slave had to take the lash for stealing fruit.
n. freedom from normal restraints; angular distance north or south of the earth's equator
Beyond the irregular carpet of grass was a row of white palings, which marked the verge of the heath in this latitude.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 2: 1 Tidings of the Comer At length the desired observation was taken; and with his pencil upon his ivory leg, Ahab soon calculated what his latitude must be at that precise instant.
It is only when a leaky vessel is in some very out of the way part of those waters, some really landless latitude, that her captain begins to feel a little anxious.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 54. The Town-Ho's Story. n. teaching by giving a discourse on some subject; speech that is open to the public
Aunt March took no notice, but went on with her lecture.
By the by, I mean to lecture you a little upon their account myself.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 5 Waldman, a fellow professor, would lecture upon chemistry the alternate days that he omitted.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 3 a. unhurried; slow; taking abundant time
Hindley descended more leisurely, sobered and abashed.
She rang the bell till it broke with a twang; I entered leisurely.
So she turned round; and as she had run a good way and was tired, she walked home leisurely to cool herself.
Grimms' Fairy Tales By The Brothers GrimmContext Highlight In FREDERICK AND CATHERINE n. mildness; quality of mercy or forgiveness, especially in the assignment of punishment as in a court case
Yet he had a reputation for kindness and charity on the country-side, and was noted for the leniency of his sentences from the bench.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In V. The Adventure of The "Gloria Scott" v. be slow in leaving; continue or persist; stay
Another bird did not linger, but rose behind Levin without the dog.
And now, as I close my task, subduing my desire to linger yet, these faces fade away.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 64. A LAST RETROSPECT The doctor says she may linger a week or two yet; but he hardly thinks she will finally recover.
a. high, tall, having great height; idealistic, implying over-optimism
The room was large, and very light and lofty.
Nodding with an air of lofty contempt to the two officers, he went up to Vronsky.
She could not understand how lofty and beyond her it all was, and she ought not to have dared to allude to it.
n. reasoned and reasonable judgment; a system of reasoning
Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES Victor thought there would be more logic in thus disposing of old people with an established claim for making themselves universally obnoxious.
Your logic is most powerful, Valentine, but say what you will, I can never renounce the sentiment which has instinctively taken possession of my mind.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 57. In the Lucerne Patch. n. an imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the north and south poles
I should then see the discovery of the longitude, the perpetual motion, the universal medicine, and many other great inventions, brought to the utmost perfection.
v. appear or take shape, usually in enlarged or distorted form
Stephen bent over his loom, quiet, watchful, and steady.
At the end of the second day, he saw land; at the end of the third, his loom stood empty.
And now the Emperor himself wished to see the costly manufacture, while it was still in the loom.
Andersen's Fairy Tales By Hans Christian AndersenContext Highlight In THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES n. act of plundering; plunder; booty, especially, the boot taken in a conquered or sacked city
In a swath eighty miles wide the Yankees were looting and burning.
To Scarlett, that uniform and those gold buttons would always mean the fears of the siege, the terror of flight, the looting and burning, the desperate poverty and the grinding work at Tara.
He hoped the ladies would never hear of the horrors of the looted cemetery, for they'd never get over that.
n. moment of calm; a period of calm weather; temporary quiet and rest
At a lull in the entertainment the man looked at me and smiled.
I went into the kitchen, and sat down to lull my little lamb to sleep.
The situation, however, was not agreeable enough to lull her to complete unconsciousness of its insecurity.
a. shining; emitting light, especially emitting self-generated light
It was night, but luminous dark.
Her cheeks were flushed and there was a soft luminous look in her eyes.
Tears stood in his eyes, and the luminous, serene look in them impressed Vronsky.
v. make products by hand or machinery; make from raw materials
In some stages of his manufacture of the human fabric, the processes of Time are very rapid.
And now the Emperor himself wished to see the costly manufacture, while it was still in the loom.
Andersen's Fairy Tales By Hans Christian AndersenContext Highlight In THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES Her form was concealed in many wrappers of the same simple manufacture, and her face was shut forever from the gaze of men.
The Last of the Mohicans By James Fenimore CooperContext Highlight In CHAPTER 33 a. of, found in, or produced by the sea; naval
The two ships becalmed on a torpid sea, I believed to be marine phantoms.
She had formerly been a mere mortal, but had been since raised to the rank of a marine goddess.
Monte Cristo smiled at her unusual humility, and showed her two immense porcelain jars, over which wound marine plants, of a size and delicacy that nature alone could produce.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 62. Ghosts. n. wonder; strong surprise; astonishment
The marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to work unfolded itself to the musing boy.
I did not marvel how Catherine Earnshaw could forget her first friend for such an individual.
Which is still a marvel to more experienced people than Oliver Twist, every day of their lives.
a. enormous; colossal; consisting of great mass; containing a great quantity of matter
Its massive oaken door stood unbarred.
It was a massive door and opened into a big bedroom.
There was a fine, massive gravity in his face, I did not venture to disturb.
David Copperfield By Charles DickensContext Highlight In CHAPTER 40. THE WANDERER v. develop and reach maturity; grow old or older
He was matter-of-fact, yes, and incurably mature.
Napoleon was now a mature boar of twenty-four stone.
In truth, a mature man who uses hair-oil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere.
a. being nothing more than what is specified; considered apart from anything else; small; slight
We come next, to mere details of arrangement.
This, however, was a mere question of length and wearisomeness.
The mere presence of the idea was an irresistible proof of the fact.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 7 n. great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind
I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 10 Surprise, horror, and misery were strongly expressed.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 8 But when he entered, misery and despair alone welcomed him.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 1 n. unfortunate accident; bad luck
That direful mishap was at the bottom of his temporary recluseness.
This mishap occurred when she was descending an open slope about two-thirds home.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 5: 8 Rain, Darkness, and Anxious Wanderers While he stood there the men at the well succeeded in getting up the bucket without a mishap.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 3: 3 The First Act in a Timeworn Drama n. lack of trust or confidence
I have not supposed so; but, as I have said, I mistrust myself now.
You see, I mistrust you still, though you have borne up wonderfully so far.
I said that I did not blame him, or suspect him, or mistrust him, but I wanted assurance of the truth from him.
v. alter; make partial or minor changes to
When he was very much interested he often spoke quite broad Yorkshire though at other times he tried to modify his dialect so that Mary could better understand.
But with Ahab the question assumed a modified aspect.
Moby Dick By Herman MelvilleContext Highlight In CHAPTER 50. Ahab's Boat and Crew. Fedallah. I candidly own that I have modified my views a little, in deference to you; and it should satisfy you.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext Highlight In BOOK 3: 3 The First Act in a Timeworn Drama n. wetness caused by water
Her clothes were dripping with moisture.
de Blacas wiped the moisture from his brow.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 11. The Corsican Ogre. She had no umbrella and the moisture quickly penetrated her thin spring dress.
n. king; sole and absolute ruler; sovereign, such as a king or empress
de Blacas pondered deeply between the confident monarch and the truthful minister.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 10. The King's Closet at the Tuileries. No nonsense, my good fellow; silver simply, round coins with the head of some monarch or other on them.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext Highlight In Chapter 81. The Room of the Retired Baker. This was my sincere endeavour in those many discourses I had with that monarch, although it unfortunately failed of success.
Gulliver's Travels(V1) By Jonathan SwiftContext Highlight In PART 2: CHAPTER VII. a. boring; dull; tediously repetitious or lacking in variety
It was a monotonous yet ever-changing scene.
Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) ShelleyContext Highlight In Chapter 19 She opened it at the middle and began to read in a clear monotonous voice.
Chilling winds swept beneath the doorsills and rattled the loose windowpanes with a monotonous tinkling sound.
n. dark-colored person generally; broad area of open land, often high but poorly drained
Bonny bird; wheeling over our heads in the middle of the moor.
Having crossed the marsh, I saw a trace of white over the moor.
High banks of moor were about me; the crag protected my head: the sky was over that.
n. a little bite or bit of food; a small quantity; a little piece; a fragment
The poor morsel of food only whetted desire.
However, the wolf thought he was in joke, and came one night to get a dainty morsel.
Peggotty meant her nephew Ham, mentioned in my first chapter; but she spoke of him as a morsel of English Grammar.
n. legend; fable; a traditional story accepted as history
I've been making the town a myth.
It's one of our favorite American myths that broad plains necessarily make broad minds, and high mountains make high purpose.