The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Glossary

Amnesia

Loss of memory

Apocryphal

Of questionable authorship or authenticity.

Battenberg cake

A sponge cake with a pink-and-yellow checkered pattern.

Dachshund dog

A small dog with short legs and a long body.

Ecosystem

A biological system composed of all the organisms found in a particular physical environment, interacting with it and with each other.

Giddy

Dizzy, overwhelmed, prone to vertigo.

Hypotenuse

In a right triangle, the side opposite the right angle.

Hypothetical

Conjectural, supposed or assumed.

Luminous

Full of light; emitting or casting light; shining, bright.

Marks and Spencer

A British chain of department stores, specializing in clothing and luxury food.

Metaphor

A comparison that does not use "like" or "as."

Pellet

A small, round substance.

Pythagoras' theorem

A basic theorem of Euclidean geometry, describing the relationship between the sides of any right triangle. The sum of the square of the two sides that make up the right angle, the theorem says, will equal the square of the remaining side.

Resonant frequencies

Some particles will oscillate more widely at some frequencies than at others - such a frequency is said to be the resonant frequency.

Rhetorical question

A figure of speech in which a question is posed for effect, rather than in expectation of a reply.

Schizophrenic

A mental disorder often characterized by vivid hallucinations.

Silhouette

The tracing of a person's shadow to create a portrait.

Simile

A comparison using 'like' or 'as'.

Stanley knife

A cutting tool used for a variety of purposes.

Swiss Army Knife

A multi-tool pocket knife.