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Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" (advanced) 236 words

Advanced vocabulary study list for Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet."

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  1. death cap
    extremely poisonous usually white fungus with a prominent cup-shaped base; differs from edible Agaricus only in its white gills
    O life! not life, but love in death Cap. Despis'd, distressed, hated, martyr'd, kill'd!
  2. Lammastide
    the season of Lammas
    How long is it now To Lammastide?
  3. unfirm
    not firmly or solidly positioned
    So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread (Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves) But thou shalt hear it.
  4. medlar tree
    small deciduous Eurasian tree cultivated for its fruit that resemble crab apples
    Now will he sit under a medlar tree And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.
  5. passado
    (fencing) an attacking thrust made with one foot forward and the back leg straight and with the sword arm outstretched forward
    Ah, the immortal passado! the punto reverse! the hay.
  6. abroach
    of a cask or barrel
    Mon. Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach?
  7. amerce
    punish with an arbitrary penalty
    I have an interest in your hate's proceeding, My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding; But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine That you shall all repent the loss of mine.
  8. absolver
    someone who grants absolution
    How hast thou the heart, Being a divine, a ghostly confessor, A sin-absolver, and my friend profess'd, To mangle me with that word 'banished'?
  9. deck up
    put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive
    Go thou to Juliet, help to deck up her.
  10. marchpane
    almond paste and egg whites
    Good thou, save me a piece of marchpane and, as thou loves me, let the porter let in Susan Grindstone and Nell.
  11. deflower
    deprive of virginity
    See, there she lies, Flower as she was, deflowered by him.
  12. tetchy
    easily irritated or annoyed
    But, as I said, When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!
  13. catling
    a long double-edged knife used for amputations
    What say you, Simon Catling? 1.
  14. cock-a-hoop
    exhibiting self-importance
    You will set cock-a-hoop! you'll be the man!
  15. pomegranate tree
    shrub or small tree native to southwestern Asia having large red many-seeded fruit
    Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.
  16. aqua vitae
    strong distilled liquor or brandy
    Give me some aqua vitae.
  17. packthread
    a strong three-ply twine used to sew or tie packages
    Meagre were his looks, Sharp misery had worn him to the bones; And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, An alligator stuff'd, and other skins Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves A beggarly account of empty boxes, Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses Were thinly scattered, to make up a show.
  18. sluttish
    casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior
    This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish, hairs, Which once untangled much misfortune bodes This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage.
  19. whoreson
    the illegitimate offspring of unmarried parents
    Cap. Mass, and well said; a merry whoreson, ha!
  20. harlotry
    offering sexual intercourse for pay
    A peevish self-will'd harlotry it is.
  21. dateless
    having no known beginning and presumably no end
    Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss A dateless bargain to engrossing death!
  22. torchbearer
    a leader in a campaign or movement
    Enter Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio, with five or six other Maskers; Torchbearers.
  23. ladybird
    small round bright-colored and spotted beetle that usually feeds on aphids and other insect pests
    What, lamb! what ladybird!
  24. untangled
    not tangled
    This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish, hairs, Which once untangled much misfortune bodes This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage.
  25. tempest-tossed
    pounded or hit repeatedly by storms or adversities
    In one little body Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind: For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea, Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs, Who, raging with thy tears and they with them, Without a sudden calm will overset Thy tempest-tossed body.
  26. prorogue
    adjourn by royal prerogative; without dissolving the legislative body
    My life were better ended by their hate Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
  27. cockatrice
    monster hatched by a reptile from a cock's egg; able to kill with a glance
    Say thou but 'I,' And that bare vowel 'I' shall poison more Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.
  28. aweary
    physically and mentally fatigued
    I am aweary, give me leave awhile.
  29. fleer
    someone who flees from an uncongenial situation
    What, dares the slave Come hither, cover'd with an antic face, To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
  30. Lammas
    commemorates Saint Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison; a quarter day in Scotland; a harvest festival in England
    Even or odd, of all days in the year, Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen.
  31. after-hours
    after closing time especially a legally established closing time
    So smile the heavens upon this holy act That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!
  32. simpleness
    the quality of being simple or uncompounded
    God's will, What simpleness is this.-
  33. deliciousness
    extreme appetizingness
    The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness And in the taste confounds the appetite.
  34. hazelnut
    any of several shrubs or small trees of the genus Corylus bearing edible nuts enclosed in a leafy husk
    She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; Her traces, of the smallest spider's web; Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little worm Pri...
  35. medlar
    small deciduous Eurasian tree cultivated for its fruit that resemble crab apples
    Now will he sit under a medlar tree And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.
  36. glooming
    depressingly dark
    A glooming peace this morning with it brings.
  37. beshrew
    wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
    Beshrew your heart for sending me about To catch my death with jauncing up and down!
  38. charnel house
    a vault or building where corpses or bones are deposited
    Jul. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of yonder tower, Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears, Or shut me nightly in a charnel house, O'ercover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls; Or bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud- Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble- And I will do it without fear or doubt, To l...
  39. earliness
    quality of coming early or earlier in time
    Therefore thy earliness doth me assure Thou art uprous'd with some distemp'rature; Or if not so, then here I hit it right- Our Romeo hath not been in bed to-night.
  40. waverer
    one who hesitates (usually out of fear)
    But come, young waverer, come go with me.
  41. fee simple
    a fee without limitation to any class of heirs; they can sell it or give it away
    Ben. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the fee simple of my life for an hour and a quarter.
  42. masterless
    having no lord or master
    What mean these masterless and gory swords To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?
  43. angelical
    of or relating to angels
    Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!
  44. eyeless
    lacking eyes or eyelike features
    Tell me, good my friend, What torch is yond that vainly lends his light To grubs and eyeless skulls?
  45. mannerly
    socially correct in behavior
    Jul. Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.
  46. smell out
    recognize or detect by or as if by smelling
    Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose, And then dreams he of smelling out a suit; And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail Tickling a parson's nose as 'a lies asleep, Then dreams he of another benefice.
  47. dispraise
    the act of speaking contemptuously of
    Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn, Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue Which she hath prais'd him with above compare So many thousand times?
  48. fettle
    a state of fitness and good health
    Mistress minion you, Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds, But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church, Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
  49. addle
    mix up or confuse
    Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat; and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg for quarrelling.
  50. masker
    a participant in a masquerade
    Enter Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio, with five or six other Maskers; Torchbearers.
  51. scathe
    the act of damaging something or someone
    This trick may chance to scathe you.
  52. dissembler
    a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
    There's no trust, No faith, no honesty in men; all perjur'd, All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers.
  53. montage
    a paste-up made by sticking together pieces of paper or photographs to form an artistic image
    Capulet, Montage, See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
  54. Saint Francis
    (Roman Catholic Church) an Italian and the Roman Catholic monk who founded the Franciscan order of friars (1181-1226)
    Holy Saint Francis!
  55. heartsick
    full of sorrow
    Rom. Not I; unless the breath of heartsick groans, Mist-like infold me from the search of eyes.
  56. minim
    a United States liquid unit equal to 1/60 fluidram
    He fights as you sing pricksong-keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom! the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist! a gentleman of the very first house, of the first and second cause.
  57. untangle
    become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of
    This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish, hairs, Which once untangled much misfortune bodes This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage.
  58. therewithal
    together with all that; besides
    This letter doth make good the friar's words, Their course of love, the tidings of her death; And here he writes that he did buy a poison Of a poor pothecary, and therewithal Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
  59. maidenhead
    a fold of tissue that partly covers the entrance to the vagina of a virgin
    Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads.
  60. rough in
    prepare in preliminary or sketchy form
    Ben. Alas that love, so gentle in his view, Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!
  61. countervail
    compensate for or counterbalance
    But come what sorrow can, It cannot countervail the exchange of joy That one short minute gives me in her sight.
  62. mandrake
    a plant of southern Europe and North Africa having purple flowers, yellow fruits and a forked root formerly thought to have magical powers
    Or, if I live, is it not very like The horrible conceit of death and night, Together with the terror of the place- As in a vault, an ancient receptacle Where for this many hundred years the bones Of all my buried ancestors are pack'd; Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth, Lies fest'ring in his shroud; where, as they say, At some hours in the night spirits resort- Alack, alack, is it not like that I, So early waking- what with loathsome smells, And shrieks like mandrakes torn ou...
  63. surcease
    a stopping
    Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off; When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse Shall keep his native progress, but surcease; No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest; The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall Like death when he shuts up the day of life; Each part, depriv'd of supple government, Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death; And ...
  64. wild-goose chase
    the fruitless pursuit of something unattainable
    Mer. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.
  65. pule
    cry weakly or softly
    Day, night, late, early, At home, abroad, alone, in company, Waking or sleeping, still my care hath been To have her match'd; and having now provided A gentleman of princely parentage, Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd, Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts, Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man- And then to have a wretched puling fool, A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender, To answer 'I'll not wed, I cannot love; I am too young, I pray you pardon me'!
  66. purblind
    having greatly reduced vision
    Cry but 'Ay me!' pronounce but 'love' and 'dove'; Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word, One nickname for her purblind son and heir, Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim When King Cophetua lov'd the beggar maid!
  67. swash
    the movement or sound of water
    Gregory, remember thy swashing blow.
  68. unmade
    (of a bed) not having the sheets and blankets set in order
    Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, An hour but married, Tybalt murdered, Doting like me, and like me banished, Then mightst thou speak, then mightst thou tear thy hair, And fall upon the ground, as I do now, Taking the measure of an unmade grave.
  69. gentlemanlike
    befitting a man of good breeding
    I will tell her, sir, that you do protest, which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer.
  70. rearward
    located in or toward the back or rear
    But with a rearward following Tybalt's death, 'Romeo is banished'- to speak that word Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet, All slain, all dead.
  71. Balthasar
    (New Testament) one of the three sages from the east who came bearing gifts for the infant Jesus
    Enter two other Servingmen [Abram and Balthasar].
  72. mocker
    someone who jeers or mocks or treats something with contempt or calls out in derision
    Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name.
  73. truckle
    a low bed to be slid under a higher bed
    I'll to my truckle-bed; This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep.
  74. thievish
    given to thievery
    Jul. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of yonder tower, Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears, Or shut me nightly in a charnel house, O'ercover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls; Or bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud- Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble- And I will do it without fear or doubt, To l...
  75. conjuration
    a ritual recitation of words or sounds believed to have a magical effect
    Par. I do defy thy, conjuration And apprehend thee for a felon here.
  76. pennyworth
    the amount that can be bought for a penny
    You take your pennyworths now!
  77. misgive
    suggest fear or doubt
    Rom. I fear, too early; for my mind misgives Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night's revels and expire the term Of a despised life, clos'd in my breast, By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
  78. prolixity
    boring verbosity
    Ben. The date is out of such prolixity.
  79. unsavoury
    morally offensive
    Come, bitter conduct; come, unsavoury guide!
  80. hereabout
    in this general vicinity
    Bal. [aside] For all this same, I'll hide me hereabout.
  81. duellist
    a person who fights duels
    He fights as you sing pricksong-keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom! the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist! a gentleman of the very first house, of the first and second cause.
  82. jointure
    the act of making or becoming a single unit
    This is my daughter's jointure, for no more Can I demand.
  83. jest at
    subject to laughter or ridicule
    Rom. He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
  84. lenten
    of or relating to or suitable for Lent
    Mer. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent He walks by them and sings.
  85. buy food
    purchase prepared food to be eaten at home
    Buy food and get thyself in flesh.
  86. arbitrate
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    Therefore, out of thy long-experienc'd time, Give me some present counsel; or, behold, 'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife Shall play the empire, arbitrating that Which the commission of thy years and art Could to no issue of true honour bring.
  87. doff
    remove
    Romeo, doff thy name; And for that name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.
  88. fiddlestick
    a bow used in playing the violin
    Here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance.
  89. bawd
    a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
    Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd!
  90. griping
    acute abdominal pain (especially in infants)
    'When griping grief the heart doth wound, And doleful dumps the mind oppress, Then music with her silver sound'-
    Why 'silver sound'?
  91. muffle
    deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
    Rom. Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, Should without eyes see pathways to his will!
  92. orison
    reverent petition to a deity
    Jul. Ay, those attires are best; but, gentle nurse, I pray thee leave me to myself to-night; For I have need of many orisons To move the heavens to smile upon my state, Which, well thou knowest, is cross and full of sin.
  93. maidenhood
    the childhood of a girl
    Come, civil night, Thou sober-suited matron, all in black, And learn me how to lose a winning match, Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods.
  94. loggerhead
    very large carnivorous sea turtle; wide-ranging in warm open seas
    Thou shalt be loggerhead.
  95. tuner
    an electronic receiver that detects and demodulates and amplifies transmitted signals
    Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting fantasticoes- these new tuners of accent!
  96. teat
    the small projection of a mammary gland
    Were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat.
  97. swing about
    turn abruptly and face the other way, either physically or metaphorically
    In the instant came The fiery Tybalt, with his sword prepar'd; Which, as he breath'd defiance to my ears, He swung about his head and cut the winds, Who, nothing hurt withal, hiss'd him in scorn.
  98. caitiff
    a cowardly and despicable person
    Noting this penury, to myself I said, 'An if a man did need a poison now Whose sale is present death in Mantua, Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him.'
  99. shrift
    the act of being shriven
    Mon. I would thou wert so happy by thy stay To hear true shrift.
  100. digging up
    the act of digging something out of the ground (especially a corpse) where it has been buried
    So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread (Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves) But thou shalt hear it.
  101. womanish
    having characteristics associated with women and considered undesirable in men
    Thy form cries out thou art; Thy tears are womanish, thy wild acts denote The unreasonable fury of a beast.
  102. amble
    walk leisurely
    I am not for this ambling.
  103. tyrannous
    marked by unjust severity or arbitrary behavior
    Ben. Alas that love, so gentle in his view, Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!
  104. doomsday
    (New Testament) day at the end of time following Armageddon when God will decree the fates of all individual humans according to the good and evil of their earthly lives
    Rom. What less than doomsday is the Prince's doom?
  105. trencher
    a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved
    He shift a trencher! he scrape a trencher! 2.
  106. misapply
    apply to a wrong thing or person; apply badly or incorrectly
    Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, And vice sometime's by action dignified.
  107. digress
    wander from a direct or straight course
    Thy noble shape is but a form of wax Digressing from the valour of a man; Thy dear love sworn but hollow perjury, Killing that love which thou hast vow'd to cherish; Thy wit, that ornament to shape and love, Misshapen in the conduct of them both, Like powder in a skilless soldier's flask, is get afire by thine own ignorance, And thou dismemb'red with thine own defence.
  108. inauspicious
    not auspicious; boding ill
    O, here Will I set up my everlasting rest And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh.
  109. mickle
    (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
    O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities; For naught so vile that on the earth doth live But to the earth some special good doth give; Nor aught so good but, strain'd from that fair use, Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.
  110. new-made
    newly made
    Jul. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of yonder tower, Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears, Or shut me nightly in a charnel house, O'ercover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls; Or bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud- Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble- And I will do it without fear or doubt, To l...
  111. ravening
    excessively greedy and grasping
    Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb!
  112. head ache
    pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs
    Lord, how my head aches!
  113. dowdy
    lacking in smartness or taste
    Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen wench (marry, she had a better love to berhyme her), Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, This be a gray eye or so, but not to the purpose.
  114. charnel
    gruesomely indicative of death or the dead
    Jul. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of yonder tower, Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears, Or shut me nightly in a charnel house, O'ercover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls; Or bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud- Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble- And I will do it without fear or doubt, To l...
  115. deadly sin
    an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace
    O deadly sin!
  116. crotchet
    a sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook
    I will carry no crotchets.
  117. turn the tables
    cause a complete reversal of the circumstances
    More light, you knaves! and turn the tables up, And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot.
  118. waddle
    walk unsteadily
    And since that time it is eleven years, For then she could stand high-lone; nay, by th' rood, She could have run and waddled all about; For even the day before, she broke her brow; And then my husband (God be with his soul!
  119. drivel
    saliva spilling from the mouth
    For this drivelling love is like a great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole.
  120. prompter
    someone who assists a performer by providing the next words of a forgotten speech
    We'll have no Cupid hoodwink'd with a scarf, Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath, Scaring the ladies like a crowkeeper; Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spoke After the prompter, for our entrance; But, let them measure us by what they will, We'll measure them a measure, and be gone.
  121. scape
    erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip
    And if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl, For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.
  122. immoderately
    without moderation; in an immoderate manner
    Par. Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death, And therefore have I little talk'd of love; For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.
  123. wagoner
    the driver of a wagon
    She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; Her traces, of the smallest spider's web; Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little w...
  124. choler
    a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the liver and to cause irritability and anger
    I mean, an we be in choler, we'll draw.
  125. pestilent
    likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease
    Mus. What a pestilent knave is this same? 2.
  126. mangle
    destroy or injure severely
    Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?
  127. signior
    used as an Italian courtesy title; can be prefixed to the name or used separately
    'Signior Martino and his wife and daughters; County Anselmo and his beauteous sisters; The lady widow of Vitruvio; Signior Placentio and His lovely nieces; Mercutio and his brother Valentine; Mine uncle Capulet, his wife, and daughters; My fair niece Rosaline and Livia; Signior Valentio and His cousin Tybalt; Lucio and the lively Helena.'
  128. bawdy
    humorously vulgar
    Mer. 'Tis no less, I tell ye; for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.
  129. tush
    the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
    Cap. Tush, I will stir about, And all things shall be well, I warrant thee, wife.
  130. osier
    any of various willows having pliable twigs used in basketry and furniture
    Non, ere the sun advance his burning eye The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry, I must up-fill this osier cage of ours With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
  131. unmake
    deprive of certain characteristics
    Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, An hour but married, Tybalt murdered, Doting like me, and like me banished, Then mightst thou speak, then mightst thou tear thy hair, And fall upon the ground, as I do now, Taking the measure of an unmade grave.
  132. sententious
    concise and full of meaning
    R is for the- No; I know it begins with some other letter; and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would do you good to hear it.
  133. seasick
    experiencing motion sickness
    Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on The dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark!
  134. soonest
    with the least delay
    Ben. A right fair mark, fair coz, is soonest hit.
  135. jocund
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
  136. lenity
    mercifulness as a consequence of being lenient or tolerant
    Away to heaven respective lenity, And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now!
  137. spider web
    a web spun by spiders to trap insect prey
    She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; Her traces, of the smallest spider's web; Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little w...
  138. unhallowed
    not hallowed or consecrated
    Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague!
  139. laid low
    put out of action (by illness)
    I saw her laid low in her kindred's vault And presently took post to tell it you.
  140. topgallant
    a sail set on a yard of a topgallant mast
    Within this hour my man shall be with thee And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair, Which to the high topgallant of my joy Must be my convoy in the secret night.
  141. unhallow
    remove the consecration from a person or an object
    Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague!
  142. mattock
    a kind of pick that is used for digging; has a flat blade set at right angles to the handle
    Enter Romeo, and Balthasar with a torch, a mattock, and a crow of iron.
  143. seize on
    adopt
    They may seize On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand And steal immortal blessing from her lips, Who, even in pure and vestal modesty, Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin; But Romeo may not- he is banished.
  144. direful
    causing fear or dread or terror
    I am the greatest, able to do least, Yet most suspected, as the time and place Doth make against me, of this direful murther; And here I stand, both to impeach and purge Myself condemned and myself excus'd.
  145. severing
    the act of severing
    Look, love, what envious streaks Do lace the severing clouds in yonder East.
  146. Saint Peter
    disciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles; regarded by Catholics as the vicar of Christ on earth and first Pope
    Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn The gallant, young, and noble gentleman, The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church, Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.
  147. untaught
    lacking in schooling
    Mon. O thou untaught! what manners is in this, To press before thy father to a grave?
  148. drier
    a substance that promotes drying (e.g., calcium oxide absorbs water and is used to remove moisture)
    Sirrah, fetch drier logs.
  149. breathe in
    draw in (air)
    Shall I not then be stifled in the vault, To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in, And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?
  150. unteach
    cause to disbelieve; teach someone the contrary of what he or she had learned earlier
    Mon. O thou untaught! what manners is in this, To press before thy father to a grave?
  151. bestride
    get up on the back of
    O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, As is a winged messenger of heaven Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds And sails upon the bosom of the air.
  152. braggart
    a very boastful and talkative person
    Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetic!
  153. grindstone
    a revolving stone shaped like a disk; used to grind or sharpen or polish edge tools
    Good thou, save me a piece of marchpane and, as thou loves me, let the porter let in Susan Grindstone and Nell.
  154. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    [To Servant, giving him a paper] Go, sirrah, trudge about Through fair Verona; find those persons out Whose names are written there, and to them say, My house and welcome on their pleasure stay- Exeunt [Capulet and Paris].
  155. smatter
    speak with spotty or superficial knowledge
    Smatter with your gossips, go!
  156. unsubstantial
    lacking material form or substance; unreal
    Shall I believe That unsubstantial Death is amorous, And that the lean abhorred monster keeps Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
  157. joiner
    a person who likes to join groups
    She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; Her traces, of the smallest spider's web; Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little worm Pri...
  158. visor
    a brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes
    A visor for a visor!
  159. demesne
    territory over which rule or control is exercised
    By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, That in thy likeness thou appear to us!
  160. bird nest
    nest where birds lay their eggs and hatch their young
    Hie you to church; I must another way, To fetch a ladder, by the which your love Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark.
  161. holy order
    the sacrament of ordination
    By my holy order, I thought thy disposition better temper'd.
  162. exhale
    expel air
    Jul. Yond light is not daylight; I know it, I. It is some meteor that the sun exhales To be to thee this night a torchbearer And light thee on the way to Mantua.
  163. timeless
    unaffected by time
    Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.
  164. singleness
    the quality of concentrating on one central objective
    Rom. O single-sold jest, solely singular for the singleness!
  165. restorative
    tending to impart new life and vigor to
    Haply some poison yet doth hang on them To make me die with a restorative.
  166. unpleasing
    lacking graciousness
    It is the lark that sings so out of tune, Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
  167. tickling
    the act of tickling
    Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose, And then dreams he of smelling out a suit; And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail Tickling a parson's nose as 'a lies asleep, Then dreams he of another benefice.
  168. beseem
    accord or comport with
    Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets And made Verona's ancient citizens Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments To wield old partisans, in hands as old, Cank'red with peace, to part your cank'red hate.
  169. riband
    a ribbon used as a decoration
    Didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter, with another for tying his new shoes with an old riband?
  170. paramour
    a woman's lover
    Shall I believe That unsubstantial Death is amorous, And that the lean abhorred monster keeps Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
  171. disparagement
    a communication that belittles somebody or something
    I would not for the wealth of all this town Here in my house do him disparagement.
  172. rancour
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    In one respect I'll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households' rancour to pure love.
  173. beggarly
    marked by poverty befitting a beggar
    Meagre were his looks, Sharp misery had worn him to the bones; And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, An alligator stuff'd, and other skins Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves A beggarly account of empty boxes, Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses Were thinly scattered, to make up a show.
  174. Pentecost
    seventh Sunday after Easter; commemorates the emanation of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles; a quarter day in Scotland
    'Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio, Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, Some five-and-twenty years, and then we mask'd. 2.
  175. beggary
    the state of being a beggar or mendicant
    Famine is in thy cheeks, Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes, Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back: The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law; The world affords no law to make thee rich; Then be not poor, but break it and take this.
  176. lady of the house
    a wife who manages a household while her husband earns the family income
    Marry, bachelor, Her mother is the lady of the house.
  177. churl
    a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
    O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after?
  178. drizzle
    very light rain; stronger than mist but less than a shower
    Cap. When the sun sets the air doth drizzle dew, But for the sunset of my brother's son It rains downright.
  179. wormwood
    any of several low composite herbs of the genera Artemisia or Seriphidium
    'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years; And she was wean'd (I never shall forget it), Of all the days of the year, upon that day; For I had then laid wormwood to my dug, Sitting in the sun under the dovehouse wall.
  180. doting
    extravagantly or foolishly loving and indulgent
    For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.
  181. mumble
    talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
    Cap. Peace, you mumbling fool!
  182. wedding day
    the day of a wedding
    Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed; Prepare her, wife, against this wedding day.
  183. rote
    memorization by repetition
    O, she knew well Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.
  184. sirrah
    formerly a contemptuous term of address to an inferior man or boy; often used in anger
    [To Servant, giving him a paper] Go, sirrah, trudge about Through fair Verona; find those persons out Whose names are written there, and to them say, My house and welcome on their pleasure stay- Exeunt [Capulet and Paris].
  185. agate
    an impure form of quartz consisting of banded chalcedony; used as a gemstone and for making mortars and pestles
    She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; Her traces, of the smallest spider's web; Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little w...
  186. lath
    a narrow thin strip of wood used as backing for plaster or to make latticework
    We'll have no Cupid hoodwink'd with a scarf, Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath, Scaring the ladies like a crowkeeper; Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spoke After the prompter, for our entrance; But, let them measure us by what they will, We'll measure them a measure, and be gone.
  187. garish
    tastelessly showy
    Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-brow'd night; Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.
  188. Dido
    (Roman mythology) a princess of Tyre who was the founder and queen of Carthage; Virgil tells of her suicide when she was abandoned by Aeneas
    Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen wench (marry, she had a better love to berhyme her), Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, This be a gray eye or so, but not to the purpose.
  189. blazon
    the official symbols of a family, state, etc.
    Rom. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both Receive in either by this dear encounter.
  190. shed blood
    lose blood from one's body
    Prince, as thou art true, For blood of ours shed blood of Montague.
  191. misshapen
    so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
    Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
  192. gossamer
    a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
    A lover may bestride the gossamer That idles in the wanton summer air, And yet not fall; so light is vanity.
  193. bedeck
    decorate
    Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit, Which, like a usurer, abound'st in all, And usest none in that true use indeed Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit.
  194. love song
    a song about love or expressing love for another person
    Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead! stabb'd with a white wench's black eye; shot through the ear with a love song; the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft; and is he a man to encounter Tybalt?
  195. inconstant
    likely to change frequently often without apparent or cogent reason; variable
    Mer. True, I talk of dreams; Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy; Which is as thin of substance as the air, And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes Even now the frozen bosom of the North And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence, Turning his face to the dew-dropping South.
  196. bauble
    cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing
    For this drivelling love is like a great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole.
  197. make bold
    take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
    That I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter,
    dry-beat the rest of the eight.
  198. affray
    a noisy fight
    Some say the lark and loathed toad chang'd eyes; O, now I would they had chang'd voices too, Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray, Hunting thee hence with hunt's-up to the day!
  199. ell
    an extension at the end and at right angles to the main building
    Mer. O, here's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad!
  200. plat
    a map showing planned or actual features of an area (streets and building lots etc.)
    This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish, hairs, Which once untangled much misfortune bodes This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage.
  201. gory
    covered with blood
    What mean these masterless and gory swords To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?
  202. lineament
    the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin
    Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight writ there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content; And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes, This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him only lacks a cover.
  203. sorted
    arranged into groups
    Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child; One who, to put thee from thy heaviness, Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy That thou expects not nor I look'd not for.
  204. nipple
    the small projection of a mammary gland
    But, as I said, When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!
  205. canker
    an ulceration (especially of the lips or lining of the mouth)
    Two such opposed kings encamp them still In man as well as herbs- grace and rude will; And where the worser is predominant, Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.
  206. dishonourable
    lacking honor or integrity; deserving dishonor
    Mer. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!
  207. misadventure
    an instance of misfortune
    Your looks are pale and wild and do import Some misadventure.
  208. mumbling
    indistinct enunciation
    Cap. Peace, you mumbling fool!
  209. abed
    in bed
    I promise you, but for your company, I would have been abed an hour ago.
  210. raise up
    change the arrangement or position of
    That were some spite; my invocation Is fair and honest: in his mistress' name, I conjure only but to raise up him.
  211. forswear
    formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
    She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow Do I live dead that live to tell it now.
  212. sort out
    arrange or order by classes or categories
    Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child; One who, to put thee from thy heaviness, Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy That thou expects not nor I look'd not for.
  213. unbound
    not restrained or tied down by bonds
    Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight writ there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content; And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes, This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him only lacks a cover.
  214. dank
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    Non, ere the sun advance his burning eye The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry, I must up-fill this osier cage of ours With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
  215. penury
    a state of extreme poverty or destitution
    Noting this penury, to myself I said, 'An if a man did need a poison now Whose sale is present death in Mantua, Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him.'
  216. rood
    representation of the cross on which Jesus died
    And since that time it is eleven years, For then she could stand high-lone; nay, by th' rood, She could have run and waddled all about; For even the day before, she broke her brow; And then my husband (God be with his soul!
  217. vestal
    a chaste woman
    Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it.
  218. wrenching
    causing great physical or mental suffering
    Rom. Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
  219. angelica
    any of various tall and stout herbs of the genus Angelica having pinnately compound leaves and small white or greenish flowers in compound umbels
    Look to the bak'd meats, good Angelica; Spare not for cost.
  220. flecked
    having a pattern of dots
    The grey-ey'd morn smiles on the frowning night, Check'ring the Eastern clouds with streaks of light; And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels.
  221. spinner
    someone who spins (who twists fibers into threads)
    She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep; Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers; Her traces, of the smallest spider's web; Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little w...
  222. steerage
    the act of steering a ship
    But he that hath the steerage of my course Direct my sail!
  223. afeard
    a pronunciation of afraid
    I am afeard, Being in night, all this is but a dream, Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
  224. monger
    someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold
    Why, is not this a lamentable thing, grandsir, that we should be thus afflicted with these strange flies, these fashion-mongers, these pardona-mi's, who stand so much on the new form that they cannot sit at ease on the old bench?
  225. sisterhood
    the kinship relation between a female offspring and the siblings
    Come, I'll dispose of thee Among a sisterhood of holy nuns.
  226. phaeton
    large open car seating four with folding top
    Such a wagoner As Phaeton would whip you to the West And bring in cloudy night immediately.
  227. disobedient
    unwilling to submit to authority
    Cap. Hang thee, young baggage! disobedient wretch!
  228. miscarry
    suffer a miscarriage
    All this I know, and to the marriage Her nurse is privy; and if aught in this Miscarried by my fault, let my old life Be sacrific'd, some hour before his time, Unto the rigour of severest law.
  229. pure gold
    100 per cent gold
    Mon. But I can give thee more; For I will raise her Statue in pure gold, That whiles Verona by that name is known, There shall no figure at such rate be set As that of true and faithful Juliet.
  230. at odds
    in disagreement
    Par. Of honourable reckoning are you both, And pity 'tis you liv'd at odds so long.
  231. peruse
    examine or consider with attention and in detail
    Let me peruse this face.
  232. poultice
    a medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.
    Is this the poultice for my aching bones?
  233. aqua
    a shade of blue tinged with green
    Give me some aqua vitae.
  234. curfew
    an order that after a specific time certain activities (as being outside on the streets) are prohibited
    The second cock hath crow'd, The curfew bell hath rung, 'tis three o'clock.
  235. hie
    move fast
    Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell; There stays a husband to make you a wife.
  236. quince
    small Asian tree with pinkish flowers and pear-shaped fruit; widely cultivated
    They call for dates and quinces in the pastry.