Oliver Twist

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. beadle
    a minor parish official who serves smaller church functions
    But these impertinences were speedily checked by the evidence of the surgeon, and the testimony of the beadle; the former of whom had always opened the body and found nothing inside (which was very probable indeed), and the latter of whom invariably swore whatever the parish wanted; which was very self-devotional.
  2. thingummy
    something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known
    'It's all over, Mrs. Thingummy!' said the surgeon at last.
  3. fictitious name
    (law) a name under which a corporation conducts business that is not the legal name of the corporation as shown in its articles of incorporation
    TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BIRTH

    Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born; on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to t...
  4. stipendiary
    receiving or eligible for compensation
    Are you aweer, Mrs. Mann, that you are, as I may say, a porochial delegate, and a stipendiary?'
  5. oakum
    loose hemp or jute fiber obtained by unravelling old ropes
    'So you'll begin to pick oakum to-morrow morning at six o'clock,' added the surly one in the white waistcoat.
  6. stupefy
    make someone dazed or foolish
    He gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper.
  7. porringer
    a shallow metal bowl (usually with a handle)
    Of this festive composition each boy had one porringer, and no more--except on occasions of great public rejoicing, when he had two ounces and a quarter of bread besides.
  8. inflaming
    arousal to violent emotion
    'Bless him!' interposed Mrs. Mann, inflaming her left eye with the corner of her apron.
  9. humanely
    in a humane manner
    Upon this, the parish authorities magnanimously and humanely resolved, that Oliver should be 'farmed,' or, in other words, that he should be dispatched to a branch-workhouse some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws, rolled about the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental superintendence of an elderly female, who received the culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence...
  10. per diem
    a daily allowance for living expenses
    Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months: at last they got so voracious and wild with hunger, that one boy, who was tall for his age, and hadn't been used to that sort of thing (for his father had kept a small cook-shop), hinted darkly to his companions, that unless he had another basin of gruel per diem, he was afraid he might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next him, who happened to be a weakly youth of tender age.
  11. mollify
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    Although this invitation was accompanied with a curtsey that might have softened the heart of a church-warden, it by no means mollified the beadle.
  12. consolatory
    affording comfort or solace
    Apparently this consolatory perspective of a mother's prospects failed in producing its due effect.
  13. choleric
    characterized by anger
    Now, Mr. Bumble was a fat man, and a choleric; so, instead of responding to this open-hearted salutation in a kindred spirit, he gave the little wicket a tremendous shake, and then bestowed upon it a kick which could have emanated from no leg but a beadle's.
  14. indubitably
    in a manner or to a degree that could not be doubted
    Now, if, during this brief period, Oliver had been surrounded by careful grandmothers, anxious aunts, experienced nurses, and doctors of profound wisdom, he would most inevitably and indubitably have been killed in no time.
  15. pinioned
    (of birds) especially having the flight feathers
    The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arm; and shrieked aloud for the beadle.
  16. stipend
    a sum of money allotted on a regular basis
    So, she appropriated the greater part of the weekly stipend to her own use, and consigned the rising parochial generation to even a shorter allowance than was originally provided for them.
Created on Thu Apr 12 14:56:21 EDT 2012

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