The Thirty-Nine Steps (29 page)

Divan
NOUN
a Divan was originally a Turkish council of state – the name was transferred to the
couches they sat on and is used to mean this in English
Mr Brass applauded this picture very much, and the bed being soft and comfortable,
Mr Quilp determined to use it, both as a sleeping place by night and as a kind of
Divan by day
. (
The Old Curiosity Shop
by Charles Dickens)

divorcement
NOUN
separation
By all pains which want and divorcement
hath
(
On His Mistress
by John Donne)

dog in the manger
PHRASE
this phrase describes someone who prevents you from enjoying something that they
themselves have no need for
You are a dog in the manger, Cathy, and desire no one to be loved but yourself
(
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë)

dolorifuge
NOUN
dolorifuge is a word which Thomas Hardy invented. It means pain-killer or comfort
as a species of dolorifuge
(
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
by Thomas Hardy)

dome
NOUN
building
that river and that mouldering dome
(
The Prelude
by William Wordsworth)

domestic
PHRASE
here domestic means a person’s management of the house
to give some account of my domestic
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

dunce
NOUN
a dunce is another word for idiot
Do you take me for a dunce? Go on?
(
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll)

Ecod
EXCLAM
a slang exclamation meaning ‘oh God!’
“Ecod,” replied Wemmick, shaking his head, “that’s not my trade.”
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

egg-hot
NOUN
an egg-hot (see also ‘flip’ and ‘negus’) was a hot drink made from beer and eggs,
sweetened with nutmeg
She fainted when she saw me return, and made a little jug of egg-hot afterwards to
console us while we talked it over
. (
David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens)

encores
NOUN
an encore is a short extra performance at the end of a longer one, which the entertainer
gives because the audience has enthusiastically asked for it
we want a little something to answer encores with, anyway
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

equipage
NOUN
an elegant and impressive carriage
and besides, the equipage did not answer to any of their neighbours
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)

exordium
NOUN
an exordium is the opening part of a speech
“Now, Handel,” as if it were the grave beginning of a portentous business exordium,
he had suddenly given up that tone
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)