The Hound of the Baskervilles: Chapters 1–5

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
After Charles Baskerville is found dead, legendary detective Sherlock Holmes is enlisted to protect his heir from the same fate. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15

Here are links to our lists for other works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Five Orange Pips, The Red-Headed League
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. pique
    cause to feel resentment or indignation
    He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to his methods.
  2. fallacy
    a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning
    I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance.
  3. covet
    wish, long, or crave for
    A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull.
  4. circumspect
    careful to consider potential consequences and avoid risk
    Learn then from this story not to fear the fruits of the past, but rather to be circumspect in the future, that those foul passions whereby our family has suffered so grievously may not again be loosed to our undoing.
  5. wanton
    not restrained or controlled
    This, in truth, his neighbours might have pardoned, seeing that saints have never flourished in those parts, but there was in him a certain wanton and cruel humour which made his name a byword through the West.
  6. daunt
    cause to lose courage
    At last in the stress of her fear she did that which might have daunted the bravest or most active man, for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and still covers) the south wall she came down from under the eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three leagues betwixt the Hall and her father's farm.
  7. forbear
    refrain from doing
    To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted.
  8. scion
    a descendent or heir
    In these days of nouveaux riches it is refreshing to find a case where the scion of an old county family which has fallen upon evil days is able to make his own fortune and to bring it back with him to restore the fallen grandeur of his line.
  9. corroborate
    support with evidence or authority or make more certain
    Their evidence, corroborated by that of several friends, tends to show that Sir Charles's health has for some time been impaired, and points especially to some affection of the heart, manifesting itself in changes of colour, breathlessness, and acute attacks of nervous depression.
  10. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    He leaned back, put his finger-tips together, and assumed his most impassive and judicial expression.
  11. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    "He had left his own marks all over that small patch of gravel. I could discern no others."
  12. reconcile
    bring into consonance or accord
    "Since the tragedy, Mr. Holmes, there have come to my ears several incidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature."
  13. congenial
    suitable to your needs
    Holmes returned to his seat with that quiet look of inward satisfaction which meant that he had a congenial task before him.
  14. coherent
    marked by an orderly and consistent relation of parts
    The thing takes shape, Watson. It becomes coherent.
  15. inexplicable
    incapable of being explained or accounted for
    Setting aside the whole grim story of Sir Charles's death, we had a line of inexplicable incidents all within the limits of two days, which included the receipt of the printed letter, the black-bearded spy in the hansom, the loss of the new brown boot, the loss of the old black boot, and now the return of the new brown boot.
Created on Thu Sep 08 19:05:40 EDT 2016 (updated Fri Jul 11 16:19:19 EDT 2025)

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