Vocabulary Words

Front 1

gamin

Back 1

–noun a neglected boy left to run about the streets; street urchin.
Origin:
1830–40; < F, orig. boy assisting a glassblower, young boy; of uncert. orig.

Front 2

scapegrace

Back 2

–noun a complete rogue or rascal; a habitually unscrupulous person; scamp.

Front 3

cornice

Back 3

–noun 1. Architecture. a. any prominent, continuous, horizontally projecting feature surmounting a wall or other construction, or dividing it horizontally for compositional purposes.
b. the uppermost member of a classical entablature, consisting of a bed molding, a corona, and a cymatium, with rows of dentils, modillions, etc., often placed between the bed molding and the corona.

2. any of various other ornamental horizontal moldings or bands, as for concealing hooks or rods from which curtains are hung or for supporting picture hooks.
3. a mass of snow, ice, etc., projecting over a mountain ridge.

–verb (used with object) 4. to furnish or finish with a cornice.

Front 4

parapet

Back 4

–noun 1. Fortification. a. a defensive wall or elevation, as of earth or stone, in a fortification.
b. an elevation raised above the main wall or rampart of a permanent fortification.

2. any low protective wall or barrier at the edge of a balcony, roof, bridge, or the like.

Front 5

grapeshot

Back 5

–noun a cluster of small cast-iron balls formerly used as a charge for a cannon.

Front 6

effrontery

Back 6

–noun, plural -ter⋅ies. 1. shameless or impudent boldness; barefaced audacity: She had the effrontery to ask for two free samples.
2. an act or instance of this.

Front 7

will-o'-the-wisp

Back 7

–noun 1. ignis fatuus (def. 1).
2. anything that deludes or misleads by luring on.

Front 8

ig⋅nis fat⋅u⋅us

Back 8

–noun, plural ig⋅nes fat⋅u⋅i  /ˈɪgniz ˈfætʃuˌaɪ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ig-neez fach-oo-ahy] Show IPA . 1. Also called friar's lantern, will-o'-the-wisp. a flitting phosphorescent light seen at night, chiefly over marshy ground, and believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter.
2. something deluding or misleading.

Front 9

prodigious

Back 9

–adjective 1. extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.: a prodigious research grant.
2. wonderful or marvelous: a prodigious feat.
3. abnormal; monstrous.

Front 10

parthenon

Back 10

name of the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, from Gk., lit. "temple of the virgin goddess" (Athene), from parthenos "virgin," of unknown origin.

Front 11

pantheon

Back 11

–noun 1. a domed circular temple at Rome, erected a.d. 120–124 by Hadrian, used as a church since a.d. 609.
2. (lowercase) a public building containing tombs or memorials of the illustrious dead of a nation.
3. (lowercase) the place of the heroes or idols of any group, individual, movement, party, etc., or the heroes or idols themselves: to earn a place in the pantheon of American literature.
4. (lowercase) a temple dedicated to all the gods.
5. (lowercase) the gods of a particular mythology considered collectively.

Front 12

onionskin

Back 12

–noun a thin, lightweight, translucent, glazed paper, used esp. for making carbon copies.

Front 13

faubourg

Back 13

n. A district lying outside the original city limits of a French-speaking city or a city with a French heritage, such as New Orleans.

Front 14

cockney

Back 14

–noun 1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of the East End district of London, England, traditionally, one born and reared within the sound of Bow bells.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) the pronunciation or dialect of cockneys.
3. Obsolete. a. a pampered child.
b. a squeamish, affected, or effeminate person.

Front 15

sabot

Back 15

–noun, plural sab⋅ots  /ˈsæboʊz; Fr. saˈboʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [sab-ohz; Fr. sa-boh] Show IPA . 1. a shoe made of a single block of wood hollowed out, worn esp. by farmers and workers in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, etc.
2. a shoe with a thick wooden sole and sides and a top of coarse leather.

Front 16

abut

Back 16

–verb (used without object) 1. to be adjacent; touch or join at the edge or border (often fol. by on, upon, or against): This piece of land abuts on a street.

Front 17

heath

Back 17

–noun 1. a tract of open and uncultivated land; wasteland overgrown with shrubs.
2. any of various low-growing evergreen shrubs common on such land, as the common heather, Calluna vulgaris.
3. any plant of the genus Erica, or of the family Ericaceae.

Front 18

carbuncle

Back 18

–noun 1. Pathology. a painful circumscribed inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue, resulting in suppuration and sloughing, and having a tendency to spread somewhat like a boil, but more serious in its effects.
2. a gemstone, esp. a garnet, cut with a convex back and a cabochon surface.

Front 19

brigand

Back 19

–noun a bandit, esp. one of a band of robbers in mountain or forest regions.

Front 20

demagogue

Back 20

–noun 1. a person, esp. an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.
2. (in ancient times) a leader of the people.

Front 21

abet

Back 21

–verb (used with object), a⋅bet⋅ted, a⋅bet⋅ting. to encourage, support, or countenance by aid or approval, usually in wrongdoing: to abet a swindler; to abet a crime.

Front 22

modicum

Back 22

–noun a moderate or small amount: He hasn't even a modicum of common sense.

Front 23

cavil

Back 23

–verb (used without object) 1. to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually fol. by at or about): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say.

Front 24

billow

Back 24

–noun 1. a great wave or surge of the sea.
2. any surging mass: billows of smoke.

Front 25

shagreen

Back 25

–noun 1. an untanned leather with a granular surface, prepared from the hide of a horse, shark, seal, etc.

Front 26

epaulet

Back 26

–noun an ornamental shoulder piece worn on uniforms, chiefly by military officers.

Front 27

billet-doux

Back 27

a love letter.

Front 28

bivouac

Back 28

–noun 1. a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire.

Front 29

fakir

Back 29

–noun 1. a Muslim or Hindu religious ascetic or mendicant monk commonly considered a wonder-worker.
2. a member of any Islamic religious order; dervish.