The Thirty-Nine Steps (45 page)

piquet
NOUN
piquet was a popular card game in the C18th
Mr Hurst and Mr Bingley were at piquet
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)

plaister
NOUN
a plaister is a piece of cloth on which an apothecary (or pharmacist) would spread
ointment. The cloth is then applied to wounds or bruises to treat them
Then, she gave the knife a final smart wipe on the edge of the plaister, and then
sawed a very thick round off the loaf: which she finally, before separating from the
loaf, hewed into two halves, of which Joe got one, and I the other
. (
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

plantations
NOUN
here plantations means colonies, which are countries controlled by a more powerful
country
besides our plantations in America
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

plastic
ADV
here plastic is an old term meaning shaping or a power that was forming
A plastic power abode with me
(
The Prelude
by William Wordsworth)

players
NOUN
actors
of players which upon the world’s stage be
(
On His Mistress
by John Donne)

plump
ADV
all at once, suddenly
But it took a bit of time to get it well round, the change come so uncommon plump,
didn’t it?
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

plundered
VERB
to plunder is to rob or steal from
These crosses stand for the names of ships or towns that they sank or plundered
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

pommel
VERB
to pommel someone is to hit them repeatedly with your fists
hug him round the neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible affection!
(
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens)
NOUN
a pommel is the part of a saddle that rises up at the front
He had his gun across his pommel
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

poor’s rates
NOUN
poor’s rates were property taxes which were used to support the poor
“Oh!” replied the undertaker; “why, you know, Mr. Bumble, I pay a good deal towards
the poor’s rates.”
(
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)