What are orts?
(ôrts)

Food scraps left from a meal; any type of waste.

...the rich ate and drank freely, accepting gout and apoplexy as things that ran mysteriously in respectable families, and the poor thought that the rich were entirely in the right of it to lead a jolly life; besides, their feasting caused a multiplication of orts, which were the ( Read more... )

What's a billet?
(bil' it)

A short letter or a note.

In The Three Musketeers, d'Artagnan receives two letters:

The one was a little billet, genteelly folded, with a pretty seal in green wax on which was impressed a dove bearing a green branch. The other was a large square epistle, resplendent with the terrible arms [seal] of his Eminence the cardinal ( Read more... )

What does imprimis mean?
(im prē' mis, -prī'-)

It means In the first place, and it's used to begin a list of things.

Grumio: . . . Now I begin: Imprimis, we came down a foul hill, my master riding behind my mistress, -
Curtis: Both of one horse?
Grumio: What's that to thee?
Curtis: Why, a horse.

From Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

What's quinsy?
(kwin' zē)

Tonsillitis - an acute inflammation of the tonsils.

Yulka forgot to give me back my comforter, and I had to drive home directly against the wind. The next day I came down with an attack of quinsy, which kept me in the house for nearly two weeks.

From Willa Cather's My Ántonia

What's precipitancy?
(prē sip'i tən sē, pri-)

Great haste, rashness, or hasty action.

"I hope there will be no women besides our own party," Lady Bareacres said, after reflecting upon the invitation which had been made, and accepted with too much precipitancy.

From William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair

What does it mean to be farinaceous?
(far'ə nā'shəs)

Having a mealy texture; rich in starch; high in carbs.

On the day of the races at Krasnoe Selo, Vronsky had come earlier than usual to eat beefsteak in the common messroom of the regiment. He had no need to be strict with himself, as he had very quickly been brought down to the required light ( Read more... )

What's intrepidity?
(in trə pid' ə tē)
Toughness and bravery. Intrepid behavior means that you go forth without trepidation (fear).

However, in my thoughts I could not sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals, who durst venture to mount and walk upon my body, while one of my hands was at liberty, without trembling at the ( Read more... )

What's unwonted?
(un wôn' tid, -wōn'-, -wän'-, -wun'-)

An adjective for unusual, uncustomary, or uncommon.

Little Pearl's unwonted mood of sentiment lasted no longer; she laughed, and went capering down the hall so airily, that old Mr. Wilson raised a question whether even her tiptoes touched the floor.

From Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter..

What are ostents?
(äs tənts')

Ostents are expressions or indications.

Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts / To courtship and such fair ostents of love / As shall conveniently become you there.

Salerio, from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice; Act III, Scene 8.

 In Heart of Darkness, what does cipher mean?
(sī' fər)

As a noun, cipher is code or a message written in code. (To convert code into something readable, you decipher it.) As a verb, it means to do arithmetic.

Such a book being there was wonderful enough; but still more astounding were the notes pencilled in the margin, and plainly referring to the ( Read more... )