The Thirty-Nine Steps Read online

  farthing NOUN a farthing is an old unit of British currency which was worth a quarter of a penny Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you. (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  farthingale NOUN a hoop worn under a skirt to extend it A bell with an old voice – which I dare say in its time had often said to the house, Here is the green farthingale (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  favours NOUN here favours is an old word which means ribbons A group of humble mourners entered the gate: wearing white favours (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  feigned VERB pretend or pretending not my feigned page (On His Mistress by John Donne)

  fence NOUN a fence is someone who receives and sells stolen goods What are you up to? Ill-treating the boys, you covetous, avaricious, in-sa-ti-a-ble old fence? (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens) NOUN defence or protection but honesty hath no fence against superior cunning (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  fess ADJ fess is an old word which means pleased or proud You’ll be fess enough, my poppet (Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy)

  fettered ADJ fettered means bound in chains or chained “You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?” (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  fidges VERB fidges means fidgets, which is to keep moving your hands slightly because you are nervous or excited Look, Jim, how my fingers fidges (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  finger-post NOUN a finger-post is a sign-post showing the direction to different places “The gallows,” continued Fagin, “the gallows, my dear, is an ugly finger-post, which points out a very short and sharp turning that has stopped many a bold fellow’s career on the broad highway.” (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  fire-irons NOUN fire-irons are tools kept by the side of the fire to either cook with or look after the fire the fire-irons came first (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

  fire-plug NOUN a fire-plug is another word for a fire hydrant The pony looked with great attention into a fire-plug, which was near him, and appeared to be quite absorbed in contemplating it (The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens)

  flank NOUN flank is the side of an animal And all her silken flanks with garlands dressed (Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats)

  flip NOUN a flip is a drink made from warmed ale,sugar, spice and beaten egg The events of the day, in combination with the twins, if not with the flip, had made Mrs. Micawber hysterical, and she shed tears as she replied (David Copperfield by Charles Dickens)

  flit VERB flit means to move quickly and if he had meant to flit to Thrushcross Grange (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)

  floorcloth NOUN a floorcloth was a hard-wearing piece of canvas used instead of carpet This avenging phantom was ordered to be on duty at eight on Tuesday morning in the hall (it was two feet square, as charged for floorcloth) (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  fly-driver NOUN a fly-driver is a carriage drawn by a single horse The fly-drivers, among whom I inquired next, were equally jocose and equally disrespectful (David Copperfield by Charles Dickens)

  fob NOUN a small pocket in which a watch is kept “Certain,” replied the man, drawing a gold watch from his fob (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  folly NOUN folly means foolishness or stupidity the folly of beginning a work (Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe)

  fond ADJ fond means foolish Fond worldling (Doctor Faustus 5.2 by Christopher Marlowe)

  fondness NOUN silly or foolish affection They have no fondness for their colts or foals (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  for his fancy PHRASE for his fancy means for his liking or as he wanted and as I did not obey quick enough for his fancy (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  forlorn ADJ lost or very upset you are from that day forlorn (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  foster-sister NOUN a foster-sister was someone brought up by the same nurse or in the same household I had been his foster-sister (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)

  fox-fire NOUN fox-fire is a weak glow that is given off by decaying, rotten wood what we must have was a lot of them rotten chunks that’s called fox-fire (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  frozen sea PHRASE the Arctic Ocean into the frozen sea (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  gainsay VERB to gainsay something is to say it isn’t true or to deny it “So she had,” cried Scrooge. “You’re right. I’ll not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!” (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  gaiters NOUN gaiters were leggings made of a cloth or piece of leather which covered the leg from the knee to the ankle Mr Knightley was hard at work upon the lower buttons of his thick leather gaiters (Emma by Jane Austen)

  galluses NOUN galluses is an old spelling of gallows, and here means suspenders. Suspenders are straps worn over someone’s shoulders and fastened to their trousers to prevent the trousers falling down and home-knit galluses (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  galoot NOUN a sailor but also a clumsy person and maybe a galoot on it chopping (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  gayest ADJ gayest means the most lively and bright or merry Beth played her gayest march (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)

  gem NOUN here gem means jewellery the mountain shook off turf and flower, had only heath for raiment and crag for gem (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

  giddy ADJ giddy means dizzy and I wish you wouldn’t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly; you make one quite giddy. (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

  gig NOUN a light two-wheeled carriage when a gig drove up to the garden gate: out of which there jumped a fat gentleman (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  gladsome ADJ gladsome is an old word meaning glad or happy Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  glen NOUN a glen is a small valley; the word is used commonly in Scotland a beck which follows the bend of the glen (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)

  gravelled VERB gravelled is an old term which means to baffle or defeat someone Gravelled the pastors of the German Church (Doctor Faustus 1.1 by Christopher Marlowe)

  grinder NOUN a grinder was a private tutor but that when he had had the happiness of marrying Mrs Pocket very early in his life, he had impaired his prospects and taken up the calling of a Grinder (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  gruel NOUN gruel is a thin, watery cornmeal or oatmeal soup and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob. (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  guinea, half a NOUN a half guinea was ten shillings and sixpence but lay out half a guinea at Ford’s (Emma by Jane Austen)

  gull VERB gull is an old term which means to fool or deceive someone Hush, I’ll gull him supernaturally (Doctor Faustus 3.4 by Christopher Marlowe)

  gunnel NOUN the gunnel, or gunwhale, is the upper edge of a boat’s side But he put his foot on the gunnel and rocked her (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  gunwale NOUN the side of a ship He dipped his hand in the water over the boat’s gunwale (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  Gytrash NOUN a Gytrash is an omen of misfortune to the superstitious, usually taking the form of a hound I remembered certain of Bessie’s tales, wherein figured a North-of-England spirit, called a ‘Gytrash’ (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

  hackney-cabriolet NOUN a two-wheeled carriage with four seats for hire and pulled by a horse A hackney-cabriolet was in waiting; with the same vehemence which she had exhibited in addressing Oliver, the girl pulled him in with her, and drew the curtains close. (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  hackney-coach NOUN a four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for hire The twilight was beginning to close in, when Mr. Brownlow alighted from a hackney-coach at his own door, and knocked softly. (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  haggler
NOUN a haggler is someone who travels from place to place selling small goods and items when I be plain Jack Durbeyfield, the haggler (Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy)

  halter NOUN a halter is a rope or strap used to lead an animal or to tie it up I had of course long been used to a halter and a headstall (Black Beauty by Anna Sewell)

  hamlet NOUN a hamlet is a small village or a group of houses in the countryside down from the hamlet (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  hand-barrow NOUN a hand-barrow is a device for carrying heavy objects. It is like a wheelbarrow except that it has handles, rather than wheels, for moving the barrow his sea chest following behind him in a hand-barrow (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  handspike NOUN a handspike was a stick which was used as a lever a bit of stick like a handspike (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  haply ADV haply means by chance or perhaps And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne (Ode on a Nightingale by John Keats)

  harem NOUN the harem was the part of the house where the women lived mostly they hang round the harem (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  hautboys NOUN hautboys are oboes sausages and puddings resembling flutes and hautboys (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  hawker NOUN a hawker is someone who sells goods to people as he travels rather than from a fixed place like a shop to buy some stockings from a hawker (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  hawser NOUN a hawser is a rope used to tie up or tow a ship or boat Again among the tiers of shipping, in and out, avoiding rusty chain-cables, frayed hempen hawsers (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  headstall NOUN the headstall is the part of the bridle or halter that goes around a horse’s head I had of course long been used to a halter and a headstall (Black Beauty by Anna Sewell)

  hearken VERB hearken means to listen though we sometimes stopped to lay hold of each other and hearken (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  heartless ADJ here heartless means without heart or dejected I am not heartless (The Prelude by William Wordsworth)

  hebdomadal ADJ hebdomadal means weekly It was the hebdomadal treat to which we all looked forward from Sabbath to Sabbath (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

  highwaymen NOUN highwaymen were people who stopped travellers and robbed them We are highwaymen (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  hinds NOUN hinds means farm hands, or people who work on a farm He called his hinds about him (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  histrionic ADJ if you refer to someone’s behaviour as histrionic, you are being critical of it because it is dramatic and exaggerated But the histrionic muse is the darling (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  hogs NOUN hogs is another word for pigs Tom called the hogs ‘ingots’ (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  horrors NOUN the horrors are a fit, called delirium tremens, which is caused by drinking too much alcohol I’ll have the horrors (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  huffy ADJ huffy means to be obviously annoyed or offended about something They will feel that more than angry speeches or huffy actions (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)

  hulks NOUN hulks were prison-ships The miserable companion of thieves and ruffians, the fallen outcast of low haunts, the associate of the scourings of the jails and hulks (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

  humbug NOUN humbug means nonsense or rubbish “Bah,” said Scrooge. “Humbug!” (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  humours NOUN it was believed that there were four fluids in the body called humours which decided the temperament of a person depending on how much of each fluid was present other peccant humours (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  husbandry NOUN husbandry is farming animals bad husbandry were plentifully anointing their wheels (Silas Marner by George Eliot)

  huswife NOUN a huswife was a small sewing kit but I had put my huswife on it (Emma by Jane Austen)

  ideal ADJ ideal in this context means imaginary I discovered the yell was not ideal (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)

  If our two PHRASE if both our If our two loves be one (The Good-Morrow by John Donne)

  ignis-fatuus NOUN ignis-fatuus is the light given out by burning marsh gases, which lead careless travellers into danger it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it; and, if discovered and responded to, must lead ignis-fatuus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication. (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

  imaginations NOUN here imaginations means schemes or plans soon drove out those imaginations (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  impressible ADJ impressible means open or impressionable for Marner had one of those impressible, self-doubting natures (Silas Marner by George Eliot)

  in good intelligence PHRASE friendly with each other that these two persons were in good intelligence with each other (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  inanity NOUN inanity is sillyness or dull stupidity Do we not wile away moments of inanity (Silas Marner by George Eliot)

  incivility NOUN incivility means rudeness or impoliteness if it’s only for a piece of incivility like to-night’s (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  indigenae NOUN indigenae means natives or people from that area an exotic that the surly indigenae will not recognise for kin (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)

  indocible ADJ unteachable so they were the most restive and indocible (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  ingenuity NOUN inventiveness entreated me to give him something as an encouragement to ingenuity (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  ingots NOUN an ingot is a lump of a valuable metal like gold, usually shaped like a brick Tom called the hogs ‘ingots’ (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  inkstand NOUN an inkstand is a pot which was put on a desk to contain either ink or pencils and pens throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

  inordinate ADJ without order. To-day inordinate means ‘excessive’. Though yet untutored and inordinate (The Prelude by William Wordsworth)

  intellectuals NOUN here intellectuals means the minds (of the workmen) those instructions they give being too refined for the intellectuals of their workmen (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  interview NOUN meeting By our first strange and fatal interview (On His Mistress by John Donne)

  jacks NOUN jacks are rods for turning a spit over a fire It was a small bit of pork suspended from the kettle hanger by a string passed through a large door key, in a way known to primitive housekeepers unpossessed of jacks (Silas Marner by George Eliot)

  jews-harp NOUN a jews-harp is a small, metal, musical instrument that is played by the mouth A jews-harp’s plenty good enough for a rat (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

  jorum NOUN a large bowl while Miss Skiffins brewed such a jorum of tea, that the pig in the back premises became strongly excited (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  jostled VERB jostled means bumped or pushed by someone or some people being jostled himself into the kennel (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  keepsake NOUN a keepsake is a gift which reminds someone of an event or of the person who gave it to them. books and ornaments they had in their boudoirs at home: keepsakes that different relations had presented to them (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

  kenned VERB kenned means knew though little kenned the lamplighter that he had any company but Christmas! (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  kennel NOUN kennel means gutter, which is the edge of a road next to the pavement, where rain water collects and flows away being jostled himself into the kennel (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  knock-knee ADJ knock-knee means slanted, at an angle. LOT 1 was marked in whitewa
shed knock-knee letters on the brewhouse (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

  ladylike ADJ to be ladylike is to behave in a polite, dignified and graceful way No, winking isn’t ladylike (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)

  lapse NOUN flow Stealing with silent lapse to join the brook (The Prelude by William Wordsworth)

  larry NOUN larry is an old word which means commotion or noisy celebration That was all a part of the larry! (Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy)

  laths NOUN laths are strips of wood The panels shrunk, the windows cracked; fragments of plaster fell out of the ceiling, and the naked laths were shown instead (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

  leer NOUN a leer is an unpleasant smile with a kind of leer (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

  lenitives NOUN these are different kinds of drugs or medicines: lenitives and palliatives were pain relievers; aperitives were laxatives; abstersives caused vomiting; corrosives destroyed human tissue; restringents caused constipation; cephalalgics stopped headaches; icterics were used as medicine for jaundice; apophlegmatics were cough medicine, and acoustics were cures for the loss of hearing lenitives, aperitives, abstersives, corrosives, restringents, palliatives, laxatives, cephalalgics, icterics, apophlegmatics, acoustics (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  lest CONJ in case. If you do something lest something (usually) unpleasant happens you do it to try to prevent it happening She went in without knocking, and hurried upstairs, in great fear lest she should meet the real Mary Ann (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

  levee NOUN a levee is an old term for a meeting held in the morning, shortly after the person holding the meeting has got out of bed I used to attend the King’s levee once or twice a week (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

  life-preserver NOUN a club which had lead inside it to make it heavier and therefore more dangerous and with no more suspicious articles displayed to view than two or three heavy bludgeons which stood in a corner, and a ‘life-preserver’ that hung over the chimney-piece. (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)