Friday, July 27, 2012

Jab

jab (jabbed, jabbing)
verb, transitive. To poke roughly or quickly, especially with something sharp or pointed
noun. A quick, sharp blow, especially with the fist. A hypodermic injection, especially a vaccination. A sharp painful sensation or feeling.

The guineas were loosely scattered about the yard in the dawn light, almost ghostly in the overgrown grass. As always, the flock stationed one of their number as a guard, head raised and constantly turning, alert for predators or any other threat. While the watch-guinea was on duty, the others were free to forage, moving systematically across the ground, jabbing their beaks at the turf wherever they spied evidence of insect life.

It didn’t take much for the guard bird to raise an alarm: a cat stalking nearby would do it. Once the guard spotted it, the chorus of “buckwheat, buckwheat” would start, increasing in volume as every guinea in the flock took up the cry. The flock would move closer together and often would approach the marauder, facing it and baffling it with their chorusing call and their mass of wriggling, soccer-ball-sized bodies. Was this how these birds’ ancesters had learned to survive on the African savannah? Did they develop this intimidating technique to face off a lion?

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Illude

illude
verb, transitive. To trick, to delude. From the Latin illudere “to mock”

She sat at her aging computer and fumed. Things had come to a pretty pass, hadn’t they? She was more annoyed with herself than with anyone or anything else. The bright promise of technology had proved to be a cruel bait-and-switch for one who lived so far outside urban areas. She had allowed it to illude her into thinking she could start and run a profitable business in her living room, while wearing a caftan and a pair of flip-flops. She should have known better. For the twenty years she had lived here, the electronic “hole” of her location had been a given: the sheriff’s radio didn’t even work here. She was lucky she was able to get satellite television. Thinking she could get 4G LTE service from a wireless internet provider was--and would remain--a dream.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Harangue

harangue
verb, transitive. To lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner
noun. A lengthy and aggressive speech

He fetched a profound sigh as he finished reading the poem, and set the book aside as he raised the paper cup to his lips and sipped. Wordsworth and fine coffee in the early morning. In the park. What more could a young professor want? The weather was perfect, there was no one about to interrupt him, and later this morning he would take charge of his first class of upperclassmen. Graduate school was behind him, his dissertation had been published, and he had already made respectable progress on a new book--a critical work on Cowper.

He sipped again and nodded. This was his time to blossom into the kind of teacher he had always aspired to be: one who would awaken a passion for poetry and literature in his students equal to his own, not one who got bogged down in haranguing them about missed concepts and late assignments. He cringed when he remembered the freshman class he had taught last year. What a pack of laggards! If there had been one bright mind in that bunch, he could have done so much better, but every one of them thought of nothing but eking out an average grade--no better--so he or she could move on to the classes that would ensure a high salary after graduation. Culture? Who needed it? Fine language arts? Useless.

As the old, familiar feelings of panic and desolation stabbed him, he drew the battered volume near his face again, set the cup down, and thumbed the stained edges of the pages. He had to regain that euphoric feeling of anticipation he had experienced only a few minutes ago. He had to incorporate it into his being before he faced his class, or this would be another lost year--he knew it.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Gabble

gabble
verb, intransitive. To talk rapidly and unintelligibly. To utter meaningless sounds.

She knew a stranger was approaching because of the gabble of the guineas as they hunted ticks and insects in the pasture across the road. They rarely sounded an alarm when one of their owners, or she or her husband was moving around outside. That reaction was reserved for the unknown: something or someone who might pose a threat to the flock.

She had learned to rely on the big birds’ judgment. Anything they considered alarming might turn out to be dangerous to her. Slowly, so as not to show any movement that could be seen from outside by someone approaching the house, she arose from the desk and moved to a window that was shielded by a sheer curtain. She didn’t approach the door; she knew it was locked. Age had rendered her paranoid, and even though the road past the house was rarely travelled by anyone outside their tiny community, she had begun to lock herself in the house when she was there alone, and to check the locks several times throughout the day. Every couple of months, you heard of a rural home invasion on the news, and you never knew, did you?

When she recognized the grizzled face of the man coming up the drive, she shuddered, then pressed her lips tightly together and tried to regain her self-possession. When had he gotten out? Why had no one called her?

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Fabulate

fabulate
verb, transitive. To relate an event or events as a fable or story.
verb, intransitive. To relate untrue or invented stories.

Detective Carson looked up from the report he was reading and glared at the rookie.

“I can’t believe you said such a thing to him,” he barked. “You were leading him. Didn’t they teach you anything?”

“I don’t think that’s true, Detective,” Officer Smith protested. “I felt it was important to establish the suspect’s wherabouts at the time of the murder. He was hesitating. All I did was suggest a list of choices.”

“That’s exactly what you never do!” Carson exploded. “If a suspect seems unsure of how to answer a question, you keep your mouth shut and wait. At all cost, you outwait him. The silence will make him nervous. Then, he’s more likely to blurt out something useful. Giving him suggestions does nothing but enourage him to fabulate. Once he starts doing that, our chances of getting the truth out of him diminish.”

Smith stared at his superior silently and, Carson thought, a little sadly.

“What?” Carson asked.

“Do you spend your free time reading a dictionary, sir? So you can intimidate people with words we’ve never heard before?”

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Envenom

envenom
verb, transitive. To make poisonous, to embitter.

She didn’t say anything for a long time. He forced himself to watch her; not to be distracted by the activity all around them in the café. It had taken him a long time to get up the courage to call her, then to meet her here. This time, he wasn’t going to give up until he had an answer.

When she finally spoke, it wasn’t an answer.

“Why did you come here?” she asked, her eyes still on her coffee mug. “What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you. I want you to tell me how you feel about me and why.” He swallowed, feeling the fear stab him in the stomach again. What he most wanted to do at that instant was leap from the spindly bentwood chair and run from the café and not look back, as if she was some vengeful fury who could pursue him through the air no matter how fast he fled. “I loved you. I still love you. I think we can put our relationship back together and go on; be stronger and better than before. But we have to be honest with each other before that can happen. I’ve done my part. Now, it’s your turn.”

She lifted her mug and took a sip. Her face twisted, as if his speech had envenomed the mug’s contents. She replaced it and put her hands into her lap. Still avoiding his eyes, she stated, “I cheated on you. I’m not sorry. We can’t go back to the way things were.”

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Dandle

dandle
verb, transitive. To move a baby or young child up and down in a playful or affectionate way. To move something gently up and down.

He kept his own counsel and simply observed her. She was her usual garrulous self, smiling and chatting about whatever popped into her head. His fascination was enhanced this time because of what she was doing: she had decided to dye her chambray skirt a dark indigo and was carrying out the plan in a fiberglass Sears utility sink. She caught his eye and launched into another slightly risqué story as she dandled the mass of fabric in and out of the inky fluid.

Later, he would be unable to recall a single sentence of the gossip she repeated; indeed, not a single word stayed with him. He was too transfixed by the sight of her ungloved hands, growing a darker shade of bluish gray each time they emerged from the dye bath, and the way the dark liquid sloshed up on the walls of the sink, leaving a stain behind.

As the skirt’s fabric took on the dye, he began to wonder how she was planning to transfer it from the utility sink to the clothesline outside. Surely she had a washtub. He pried his eyes away from her and her task for a moment to search the basement room, but didn’t see one. The only container vaguely suitable for what she would have to do was a plastic laundry basket--the kind with sizable holes pierced all over its sides--white, of course. His heart began to sink when he realized that the dye-saturated garment would be so heavy that she was probably going to demand his help to carry it to the line when she decided that the fabric was dark enough. He glanced down at his khaki Dockers and sighed.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Cashier

cashier
verb. to dismiss from an office, position or membership, usually in disgrace. (usually: be cashiered)
One mistake, that was all it took, she thought, glaring at her monitor unseeingly.

I made one mistake, and if this situation worsens, I’m liable to be cashiered for it, even after all this time with the company.

She thought about the conversation she had just had with her boss, which ended with him asking her why she would try to sabotage a million-dollar account. The accusation left her gasping in disbelief: “No! I would never do such a thing!” she had cried out in protest, trying but failing to quell her tears. "I love my job. I like you. I wouldn’t do that, ever!”

He had ended the meeting and she had returned to her own office then, bewildered and afraid. What happened? Where had it all gone wrong? Tears rolled down her face as she threaded a maze of memory, looking for the wrong turn, glad for once that her desk was positioned so that her back was to the entrance. She had just been removed from all responsibility for the most important account she had ever managed, and wondered how she would ever be able to redeem herself.

Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.