A Christmas Carol - Stave 1

Front 1

Apparition

Back 1

A ghostly figure; spectar.

The ________ walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open.

Front 2

Beguiled

Back 2

Charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way

Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and _______ the rest of the evening with his banker's-book, went home to bed.

Front 3

benevolence

Back 3

disposition to do good.

``Business!'' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ``Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and ____________, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!''

Front 4

bestow

Back 4

Confer or present (an honor, right, or gift):


No beggars implored him to ________ a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.

Front 5

bowels

Back 5

The part of the alimentary canal below the stomach; the intestine.

Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no _________, but he had never believed it until now.

Front 6

brazier

Back 6

A portable heater consisting of a pan or stand for holding lighted coals

In the main street, at the corner of the court, some labourers were repairing the gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a ____________, round which a party of ragged men and boys were gathered: warming their hands and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture.

Front 7

congealed

Back 7

Solidify or coagulate, esp. by cooling

The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowings sullenly _________, and turned to misanthropic ice.

Front 8

congenial

Back 8

Pleasant because of a personality, qualities, or interests that are similar to one's own.

Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more ________ frost.

Front 9

convey

Back 9

Transport or carry to a place.

``I have none to give,'' the Ghost replied. ``It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is _______ by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I tell you what I would. A very little more, is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. My spirit never walked beyond our counting-house -- mark me! -- in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me!''

Front 10

countenance

Back 10

A person's face or facial expression.

Scrooge's __________ fell almost as low as the Ghost's had done.

Front 11

cravat

Back 11

A strip of fabric worn around the neck and tucked inside an open-necked shirt.

Thus secured against surprise, he took off his _________; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his night-cap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel.

Front 12

deference

Back 12

Humble submission and respect.

``You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,'' Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and __________.

Front 13

dirge

Back 13

A mournful song

The spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful _________; and floated out upon the bleak, dark night.

Front 14

dismal

Back 14

Depressing; dreary.

``What right have you to be ________? what reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough.''

Front 15

executor

Back 15

A person or institution appointed by a testator to carry out the terms of their will

Scrooge was his sole _______, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner.

Front 16

fathom

Back 16

A unit of length equal to six feet

Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty _________ of iron cable: but he could see nothing.

Front 17

forbearance

Back 17

Patient self-control; restraint and tolerance.

``Business!'' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ``Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, ___________, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!''

Front 18

grope

Back 18

Feel about or search blindly or uncertainly with the hands.

The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to _______ with his hands.

Front 19

gruel

Back 19

A thin liquid food of oatmeal or other meal boiled in milk or water.

Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of _________ (Scrooge has a cold in his head) upon the hob.

Front 20

hideously

Back 20

Ugly or disgusting to look at.

The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so ______ in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.

Front 21

hob

Back 21

A flat metal shelf at the side or back of a fireplace, having its surface level with the top of the grate and used esp. for heating pans.

All as they should be. Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge has a cold in his head) upon the ___.

Front 22

humility

Back 22

A modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness.

``You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,'' Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with _________ and deference.

Front 23

immortal

Back 23

Living forever; never dying or decaying.

``not to know, that ages of incessant labour by __________ creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed.

Front 24

implore

Back 24

Beg someone earnestly or desperately to do something.

No beggars _________ him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.

Front 25

incessant

Back 25

(of something regarded as unpleasant) Continuing without pause or interruption

``The whole time,'' said the Ghost. ``No rest, no peace. ________ torture of remorse.''

Front 26

incoherent

Back 26

(of spoken or written language) Expressed in an incomprehensible or confusing way; unclear.

Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; ___________ sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory.

Front 27

incredulous

Back 27

(of a person or their manner) Unwilling or unable to believe something

Though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still ___________, and fought against his senses.

Front 28

inexplicable

Back 28

Unable to be explained or accounted for.

It was with great astonishment, and with a strange, ____________ dread, that as he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing.

Front 29

knocker

Back 29

somthing on a door you use to knock

Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the ________ on the door, except that it was very large.

Front 30

lamentation

Back 30

a cry of sorrow and grief

Not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of ___________ and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory.

Front 31

melancholy

Back 31

A deep, pensive, and long-lasting sadness.

Scrooge took his __________ dinner in his usual ___________ tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker's-book, went home to bed.

Front 32

obliged

Back 32

Make (someone) legally or morally bound to an action or course of action.

He was _________ to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel.

Front 33

obscuring

Back 33

Keep from being seen; conceal.

To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, ___________ everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.

Front 34

ominous

Back 34

Giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen

At the ______ word ``liberality'', Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.

Front 35

palpable

Back 35

Able to be touched or felt.

The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already: it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the __________ brown air.

Front 36

penance

Back 36

Voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong.

``That is no light part of my _________,'' pursued the Ghost. ``I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer.''

Front 37

remorse

Back 37

Deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed.

``The whole time,'' said the Ghost. ``No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of ___________.''

Front 38

rime

Back 38

frost

A frosty _________ was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.

Front 39

ruddy

Back 39

redish

The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already: it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like __________ smears upon the palpable brown air.

Front 40

solemnised

Back 40

Duly perform (a ceremony, esp. that of marriage).

And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and __________ it with an undoubted bargain.

Front 41

spectre

Back 41

apparition: a ghostly appearing figure

The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the ___________ voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones.

Front 42

transparent

Back 42

Allowing light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen.

Scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know whether a ghost so ___________ might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation.

Front 43

trifle

Back 43

A thing of little value or importance.

No beggars implored him to bestow a _________, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.

Front 44

vague

Back 44

Of uncertain, indefinite, or unclear character or meaning:

You may talk ________ about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young Act of Parliament; but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy.