May 10, 2006

reciprocate

1. To give or take mutually; interchange.

2. To show, feel, or give in response or return.

v.intr.

1. To move back and forth alternately.

2. To give and take something mutually.

3. To make a return for something given or done.

4. To be complementary or equivalent.


parlor

1. A room in a private home set apart for the entertainment of visitors.

2. A small lounge or sitting room affording limited privacy, as at an inn or tavern.

3. A room equipped and furnished for a special function or business: a tanning parlor.

I was glad to learn that our piano, our parlor organ, and our melodeon were to be the best instruments of the kind that could be had in the market.

titular

Relating to, having the nature of, or constituting a title.

I fell under that titular avalanche a torn and blighted thing.

berth

1. Sufficient space for a ship to maneuver; sea room: kept a clear berth of the reefs.

2. A space for a ship to dock or anchor: a steamship moored to its berth at the pier.

pre·mo·ni·tion (prm-nshn, prm-)

n.

1. A presentiment of the future; a foreboding.

2. A warning in advance; a forewarning.

I soon passed tranquilly out of all consciousness of the dreary experiences of the day and damaging premonitions of the future.

loiter

1. To stand idly about; linger aimlessly.

2. To proceed slowly or with many stops: loitered all the way home.

3. To delay or dawdle: loiter over a task.

in·sin·u·at·ing (n-sny-tng)

adj.

1. Provoking gradual doubt or suspicion; suggestive: insinuating remarks.

2. Artfully contrived to gain favor or confidence; ingratiating.

ad·mo·ni·tion (dm-nshn)

n.

1. Mild, kind, yet earnest reproof.

2. Cautionary advice or warning.

I loitered about awhile, and then, for want of something better to do, fell to carving a railing with my knife. Somebody said, in an insinuating, admonitory voice:

"Now, say -- my friend -- don't you know any better than to be whittling the ship all to pieces that way? You ought to know better than that."

sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous (sngkt-mn-s)

adj.

Feigning piety or righteousness: "a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg that looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity" Mark Twain.

feign (fn)

v. feigned, feign·ing, feigns

v.tr.1.

a. To give a false appearance of: feign sleep.

b. To represent falsely; pretend to:

Who is that spider-legged gorilla yonder with the sanctimonious countenance?

glib (glb)

adj. glib·ber, glib·best

1.

a. Performed with a natural, offhand ease: glib conversation.

b. Showing little thought, preparation, or concern: a glib response to a complex question.

2. Marked by ease and fluency of speech or writing that often suggests or stems from insincerity, superficiality, or deceitfulness.

They spoke glibly of the "after cabin," the "for'rard cabin," "port and starboard" and the "fo'castle."

prom·e·nade (prm-nd, -näd)

n.

1.

a. A leisurely walk, especially one taken in a public place as a social activity.

b. A public place for such walking.

2.

a. A formal dance; a ball.

b. A march of all the guests at the opening of a ball.

3. A square-dance figure in which couples march counterclockwise in a circle.

By 7 o'clock in the evening, dinner was about over; an hour's promenade on the upper deck followed; then the gong sounded and a large majority of the party repaired to the after cabin (upper), a handsome saloon fifty or sixty feet long, for prayers.