A Study in Scarlet Glossary

Glossary of Terms

bemoaning

to express deep grief or distress over

bodkin

a sharp slender instrument for making holes in cloth

bumptious

presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive; obtrusive

chaffed

teased good-naturedly

chimerical

existing only as the product of unchecked imagination; fantastically visionary or improbable

covert

hiding place; shelter; a masking or concealing device

desultory

marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose

enteric fever

typhoid fever

guaiacum

any of a genus (Guaiacum) of the caltrop family of tropical American evergreen trees and shrubs having pinnate leaves, usually blue flowers, and capsular fruit

ineffable

incapable of being expressed in words; indescribable

infallible

incapable of error; unerring; not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint

minatory

having a menacing quality; threatening

necromancer

someone involved with the conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events

paradoxes

a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true

petulant

characterized by temporary or capricious ill humor; peevish

piquant

engagingly provocative

prognathous

being or having an upper or lower jaw that projects abnormally forward

querulously

fretfully; whining

rusticate

to go into or reside in the country

superseded

to taken the place over; displaced in favor of another