Manacle

manacle
noun, usually 'manacles'. A metal band, chain, or shackle for fastening someone's hands or ankles.
verb, transitive, usually 'be manacled'. To fetter a person or a part of the body with manacles.
From Old French manicle, meaning 'handcuff' and from Latin manicula, a diminutive of manus, meaning 'hand'.

Panicking, he picked up the rifle and checked it for damage before he turned his attention to his painful wrist. It was probably sprained instead of broken. Time would tell. Only then did he roll onto his back, sit up and look at his feet to find the cause of his fall: a tangle of greenbriar vines wound around both ankles and manacled them. He tried to retract one foot and was surprised when the vine held. Tough plant.

Aware that the men he was tracking could be close, he whispered a curse and lay the rifle aside so he could use his hands to free his feet. Wincing as the thorns pricked his ungloved fingers, he worked the vines loose and drew both feet close so he could test his weight on them before he rose. No pain there, but he would have to avoid putting pressure on the wrist. Thank goodness it was the left one.

He was about to stand when he heard a twig snap. He settled into a crouch and swiveled slowly, scanning the trees and brush around him for a human silhouette.

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.

Lollygag

lollygag
verb, intransitive. To spend time aimlessly. To idle. To dawdle.

It wasn't long after Independence Day when Mother announced her decision.

"You girls have lollygagged around this house enough for now. It's time you learned how to sew."

Thus began a few weeks of focused work, an hour every day after lunch. She joined her three daughters in the family room, on the lowest floor of the split-level house, after putting their little brother down for his nap. In that large, cool space, she instructed them in the intricacies of hand-sewing, knowing she was imparting knowledge of a skill they would use for the rest of their lives.

Hemming, running-stitch, backstitch, blanket stitch, basting, sewing on buttons and snaps.... She demonstrated each one and supervised their practice. The oldest picked up the knack quickly, and Mother was a little dismayed when her competitive nature emerged. She was having a little too much fun showing off to her younger sisters.

"You have several years on them, Ruth," she remonstrated with the girl. "You also need to learn to be kind and generous."

The slow-moving summer days passed, and when the girls returned to school the day after Labor Day, Mother felt as if the holiday had not been a complete waste. All knew more than they had known on Memorial Day--all, including herself.

Definition adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008).

Kaleidoscope

kaleidoscope
noun. A toy consisting of a tube containing mirrors and pieces of colored glass or paper, whose reflections produce changing patterns that are visible through an eyehole when the tube is rotated. A constantly changing pattern or sequence of objects or elements.

The wind picked up, making her wonder how long she had been lost in the book. She looked around, hoping to see a deer at the verge of the woods, but she was alone. She marked her place, set the book aside, and shifted so she could lie down on the grass. Closing her eyes for a moment, she suddenly recalled one of her favorite ways to exercise her imagination--done since late childhood. She removed her glasses, placed them on the book, smiled to herself, then opened her eyes. Above her, the wind tossed the screen of leaves this way and that, while her nearsighted vision transformed the view into a kaleidoscope of golds, oranges and browns.

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.