vocab terms
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- lockjaw
- tetanus; an often fatal disease that ordinarily enters the body through a wound
- genteel
- refined; demonstrating good taste
- davenport
- large sofa that sometimes converts into a bed
- milliner
- person who designs or makes women's hats
- swanny
- swear (usually used by persons who because of religious beliefs, are prohibited from swearing an oath)
- heresy
- rejection of any part of the beliefs of a particular religion or denomination
- has swapped her religious birthright for a mess of matrimonial pottage
- a reference to genesis 25;29-34, in which Esau trades his rights as the firstborn son to hes brother Jacb for a bowl of soup
- chifforobe
- a tall cabinet for holding clothes, with drawers or shelves
- sharecropper
- someone who farms on another person's land and pays rent sometimes as a share of the crop
- privies
- outdoor toilets without plumbing, usually with a seat over a deep hole
- spittin' image
- a shortened form of spit and image, used to mean that someone looks exactly like another person
- prohibition
- period when the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was forbidden by an amendment to the United States Constitution enacted in 1920 and repealed in 1993
- tannery
- place where animal hides are made into leather
- gin
- cotton gin, machine used to seperate cotton fibers from the plant's seeds
- finishing school
- a school for young women, usually one that emphasizes proper behavior and social graces rather than academics
- suffragette
- woman who strongly advocates the extension of suffrage, or the right to vote, to women; in the United States, women did not gain the right to vote unil 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was enacted
- crony
- an old and close friend
- preordained
- determined or ordered beforehand
- take a pretty
- a shortened form of take a pretty penny, meaning "accept a considerable sum of money"
- obliged
- indebted, as for a favor or an act of kindness
- croker sack
- a sack made of burlap or a similar coarse fabric
- conniption fit
- a tantrum; a fit of anger
- demosthenes
- a greek orator a statesman
- carpetbaggers
- derogatory term for politicians and adventurers from the Northern United States who went to the South after the Civil War and took advantage of unstable social, economic, and political conditions;named for a type of old-fashioned traveling bag
- foundry
- a business where raw metal is shaped a forged into metal is shaped and forged into useful or decorative objects
- livery stable
- business that houses and feed horses for a fee; rents out horses and carriages
- shotgun houses
- long, narrow houses with rooms in a straight line, usually one behind another
- sullen
- gloomy and resentful
- TB
- tuberculosis; an infectious lung disease often fatal in the early twentieth century
- polecat
- a skunk
- commenced
- began; started
- doddery
- shaky especially due to advanced age
- barker
- person who stands in front of an event or business and tries to attract customers by talking in a loud, energetic voice
- Prodigal Son
- a refernce to the parable of Luke 15:11-32, in which a son who has abandoned his father and squandered his money returns home and is forgiven
- "Raw Head and Bloody Bones"
- name for a hobgoblin, a monster from nursery stories
- "aught-one or aught-two"
- 1901 or 1902
- stringer
- part-time local reperter for a newspaper or other publication
- blasphemous
- not reverent or respectful toward God
- "the lilies of the fiel"
- a reference to Luke 12:27-28, in which Jesus tells his followers that, although the lilies do not labor or spin, they are clothed in glory by God
- catechism
- book of questions and answers for teaching the fundamental beliefs and principles of a religion
- kowtow
- to show respect in a submissive way; to bow down
- contrite
- remorseful; showing regret or sorrow, especially for having sinned
- cabaret
- a restaurantor cafe that provides music, dancing, or comedy for the entertainment of its customers
- Graphophone
- trade name for a particular brand of early record player
- got her dander up
- made her lose her temper; made her angry
- jaunty
- perky; carefree, light-hearted; stylish
- oppressor
- one who keeps others down by the cruel use of power
- tithin'
- shortened pronunciation of tithing, the act of paying or levying a portion of one's income to support a church
- trousseau
- brides collection of clothing and linens
- tack room
- room near a stable in which saddles, bridles, and other equipment for horses is stored
- philanderer
- man who engages insincerely in love affairs
- groveled
- degraded oneself; behaved extremely humbly or crawled, as a servant before an authority figure
- disretion
- quality of taking care about what one says and does
- valor
- courage; bravery
- grip
- a small suitcase
- annulled
- invalidated; canceled or made no longer binding under law
- juned
- drove briskly; here, used to mean "worked quickly"
- mortified
- extremelyembarrassed, ashamed, or humiliated; made to lose one's pride
- speculate
- to guess or inferespecially from incomplete evidence or information
- repentant
- showing regret for something one has done or failed to do
- hasty puddin'
- shortened from hasty pudding, a kind of cornmeal mush that can be prepared quickly; here, the phrase refers to Grandpa Blakeslee's quick wedding
- pleurisy
- inflammation of tehe membrane that covers the lungs and lines the ches cavity, characterized by difficult, painfulbreathing
- cottonmouth
- water moccasin, a poisonous snake found in and around rivers and swamps
- gristmill
- a mill for grinding grain
- lien
- claim on one's property for the payment of a debt; here, a loan or credit secured by such a claim on a farmers future crops
- guano
- natural fertilizer made of manure, especially that of sea birds or bats
- sacrilegious
- showing disrespect toward a sacred person, place, thing, or idea
- katydids
- large, green, cricket-like insects; male katydids make a shrill sound by rubbing their forewings together
- tirade
- a long, angry speech, especially one of accusation or blame
- "tarred and feathered"
- smeared with tar and covered with feathers as a punishment or humiliation
- transgression
- the act of going beyond a limit, as in the breaking of a rule or commandment
- desecrated
- treated as not sacred; defiled; corrupted
- piece goods
- fabrics made in standard widths and sold by the yard
- brazen
- extremely bold; showing no shame
- impudent
- boldly disrespectful; insolent