The Merry Wives of Windsor: Act 5

by William Shakespeare
In this comedy, two women scorn the romantic overtures of Sir John Falstaff (friend of Prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2).

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. prattle
    speak about unimportant matters rapidly and incessantly
    Prithee, no more prattling. Go. I’ll hold.
  2. nativity
    the event of being born
    They say there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death.
  3. mince
    walk daintily
    Hold up your head, and mince.
  4. grievous
    shockingly brutal or cruel
    I will tell you, he beat me grievously, in the shape of a woman; for in the shape of man, Master Brook, I fear not Goliath with a weaver’s beam, because I know also life is a shuttle.
  5. truant
    someone who shirks duty
    Since I plucked geese, played truant, and whipped top, I knew not what ’twas to be beaten till lately.
  6. dispatch
    complete or carry out
    When you see your time, take her by the hand; away with her to the deanery, and dispatch it quickly.
  7. chafe
    feel extreme irritation or anger
    My husband will not rejoice so much at the abuse of Falstaff as he will chafe at the doctor’s marrying my daughter.
  8. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    Better a little chiding than a great deal of heartbreak.
  9. lechery
    unrestrained indulgence in sexual activity
    Against such lewdsters and their lechery,
    Those that betray them do no treachery.
  10. omnipotent
    having unlimited power
    O omnipotent love, how near the god drew to the complexion of a goose!
  11. complexion
    texture and appearance of the skin of the face
    O omnipotent love, how near the god drew to the complexion of a goose!
  12. provocation
    a means of arousing or stirring to action
    Let the sky rain potatoes, let it thunder to the tune of “Greensleeves,” hail kissing-comfits, and snow eryngoes; let there come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me here.
  13. haunch
    the upper part of the leg of an animal, often used for food
    Divide me like a bribed buck, each a haunch.
  14. bequeath
    leave or give, especially by will after one's death
    I will keep my sides to myself, my shoulders for the fellow of this walk, and my horns I bequeath your husbands.
  15. restitution
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
    Why, now is Cupid a child of conscience; he makes restitution.
  16. strew
    spread by scattering
    Strew good luck, aufs, on every sacred room,
    That it may stand till the perpetual doom
    In state as wholesome as in state ’tis fit,
    Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
  17. extant
    still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost
    FALSTAFF: I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.
    FORD: Ay, and an ox too. Both the proofs are extant.
  18. scruple
    an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action
    Why, Sir John, do you think though we would have thrust virtue out of our hearts by the head and shoulders, and have given ourselves without scruple to hell, that ever the devil could have made you our delight?
  19. entrails
    internal organs collectively
    MISTRESS PAGE: A puffed man?
    PAGE: Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails?
  20. slanderous
    harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign
    FORD: And one that is as slanderous as Satan?
    PAGE: And as poor as Job?
  21. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    I am dejected. I am not able to answer the Welsh flannel.
  22. affliction
    a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity
    Over and above that you have suffered, I think to repay that money will be a biting affliction.
  23. folly
    a stupid mistake
    Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you how you should know my daughter by her garments?
  24. shun
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    Th’ offense is holy that she hath committed,
    And this deceit loses the name of craft,
    Of disobedience, or unduteous title,
    Since therein she doth evitate and shun
    A thousand irreligious cursèd hours
    Which forcèd marriage would have brought upon her.
  25. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    What cannot be eschewed must be embraced.
Created on Tue Jun 15 14:28:48 EDT 2021 (updated Thu Jun 24 17:06:34 EDT 2021)

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