TKAMB Chap 1 vocab
Terms
undefined, object
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- corsets (n)
- a corset is a ladies undergarment designed to produce a particular effect on the figure. That effect usually results in a slim (or slimmer) waist and larger busts and hips, like the woman in this picture.
- scold (n.)
- A scold is a person who scolds; that is, someone who often finds fault with people or things (and usually lets you know about it under no uncertain terms)
- predilection (n.)
- a predilection is a preference, or a preferred way of doing something. Thus, the Radley's preferred way of spending a Sunday afternoon was to keep the doors closed and not receive visitors
- impudent (adj.)
- To be impudent is to be shamelessly bold, as if you don't care what anyone thinks about you. Since the Haverfords did something illegal in front of witnesses, Lee rightfully describes them as impudent.
- ramrod (adj.)
- rigid, severe, straight
- strictures (n.)
- conditions or rules
- impotent (adj.)
- powerless. Simon's fury and anger regarding the Civil War would certainly have been impotent because there would have been nothing he could have done about it.
- dictum (n.)
- in this case, a formal statement of principle
- picket (n)
- a pointed or sharpened pole or stake. Many pickets held together can make a picket fence.
- domiciled (vb.)
- A domicile is a house or a place where a person lives. If you are domiciled somewhere, that is where you live. The Finch family lived in the northern part of the county.
- human chattels (n.)
- slaves
- eaves (n.)
- the lower edges of a roof which usually project beyond the side of a building
- brethren (n.)
- in this case, members of a particular church or sect
- repertoire was vapid
- (n. + adj.): a repertoire is all the special skills a person has; vapid, in this case, means boring or uninteresting. So, when Scout says that their repertoire was vapid, she means that the games they had invented to pass the time had become old and had lost their interest.
- malevolent (adj.)
- evil
- ambled
- (vb.): to walk at a slow, leisurely pace.
- taciturn (adj.)
- almost always silent. Apparently, Aunt Alexandra's husband was a very quiet man.
- apothecary (n.)
- an early form of a pharmacist, apothecaries could also prescribe drugs.
- beadle (n.)
- a minor city official, lower in rank than either a sheriff or a policeman, whose main duties revolve around preserving order at various civil functions such as trials and town hall meetings.
- Methodists (n)
- members of a branch of a Protestant Christian denomination. Find out more about the United Methodist Church.
- assuaged (vb.)
- to assuage is to lessen or to calm. Therefore, if Jem's fears about being able to play football were assuaged, it means that he no longer feared that he wouldn't be able to play the sport.
- spittoon (n.)
- a jarlike container to spit into; usually used to spit tobacco juice into. See a picture of a spittoon.
- unsullied (adj.)
- something that is unsullied has been basically untouched or unused. The fact that Atticus's edition of the Code of Alabama is unsullied would, in this case, indicate that he seldom consults this book.
- foray (n.)
- When you make a foray, you go somewhere or do something that is unusual or not normal for you. It was certainly not Jem's usual behavior to go near the Radley house; thus, doing so was a foray for him.
- piety (n)
- devotion to religious duties and practices
- veranda (n)
- a portico or porch with a roof