The Prisoner of Zenda (24 page)

antic
ADJ
here antic means horrible or grotesque
armed and dressed after a very antic manner
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

antics
NOUN
antics is an old word meaning clowns, or people who do silly things to make other people laugh
And point like antics at his triple crown
(
Doctor Faustus 3.2
by Christopher Marlowe)

appanage
NOUN
an appanage is a living allowance
As if loveliness were not the special prerogative of woman–her legitimate appanage and heritage!
(
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë)

appended
VERB
appended means attached or added to
and these words appended
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

approver
NOUN
an approver is someone who gives evidence against someone he used to work with
Mr. Noah Claypole: receiving a free pardon from the Crown in consequence of being admitted approver against Fagin
(
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

areas
NOUN
the areas is the space, below street level, in front of the basement of a house
The Dodger had a vicious propensity, too, of pulling the caps from the heads of small boys and tossing them down areas (
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

argument
NOUN
theme or important idea or subject which runs through a piece of writing
Thrice needful to the argument which now
(
The Prelude
by William Wordsworth)

artificially
ADJ
artfully or cleverly
and he with a sharp flint
sharpened very artificially
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

artist
NOUN
here artist means a skilled workman
This man was a most ingenious artist
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

assizes
NOUN
assizes were regular court sessions which a visiting judge was in charge of
you shall hang at the next assizes
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

attraction
NOUN
gravitation, or Newton's theory of gravitation
he predicted the same fate to
attraction
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

aver
VERB
to aver is to claim something strongly
for Jem Rodney, the mole catcher, averred that one evening as he was returning homeward
(
Silas Marner
by George Eliot)