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redoubt ri-DOWT noun a stronghold; a defensive line or position 1882Theodore RooseveltThe Naval War of 1812The Louisiana herself took no part in this action. Patterson had previously landed some of her guns on the opposite bank of the river, placing them in a small redoubt. To match these the British also threw up some works and placed in them heavy guns, and all through New Year's day a brisk cannonade was kept up across the river between the two water-batteries, but with very little damage to either side.1902Helen KellerStory of My LifeThe harbour was our joy, our paradise. What glorious sails we had to Bedford Basin, to McNabb's Island, to York Redoubt, and to the Northwest Arm! And at night what soothing, wondrous hours we spent in the shadow of the great, silent men-of-war. Oh, it was all so interesting, so beautiful! The memory of it is a joy forever.1987Dean KoontzShadowfiresThe stillness of the mountain redoubt seemed less ominous than it had… 1988Jack L. ChalkerThe Maze in the MirrorPandross's security redoubt wasn't all that far…1997James AxlerSkydarkBut even with the wags travel was a high risk enterprise, and increasingly the mattrans units in the redoubts offered the best option for a change of scene or quick exit from a hotspot.Labels: Dean Koontz, Helen Keller, Jack L. Chalker, James Axler, Theodore Roosevelt
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auto-da-fé aw-to-duh-FAY noun execution of a heretic; burning at the stake; death sentence levied by the Spanish Inquisition 1932John SteinbeckThe Pastures of HeavenFor a moment I thought this auto-da-fé was serious.1989Gore VidalHollywood...I shall ask the governor, most respectfully, to refrain from his auto-da-fé until there is a new trial…1991James P. HoganEntoverse They're rounding up all the heretics for the great auto-da-fé.Labels: Gore Vidal, James P. Hogan, John Steinbeck
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frisson free-ZAWN noun a thrill; a brief episode of excitement 1905G. K. Chesterton Heretics When a French journalist desires a frisson there is a frisson; he discovers, let us say, that the President of the Republic has murdered three wives. 1991Roger ZelaznyPrince of ChaosAs I grew older, however, I, too, came to enjoy it, partly for the occasional frisson it provided my adolescence.1995Greg EganTap...a frisson of awe at the sheer Power of the Chip.2001Jeffery DeaverThe Blue NowhereHe would rather have had her close, Gillette decided, remembering during her visits how he'd loved to brush fingertips with her or press his shoe against the side of her foot, the contact producing an electric frisson that was akin to making love.Labels: G. K. Chesterton, Greg Egan, Jeffery Deaver, Roger Zelazny
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flibbertigibbet FLI-bur-tee-jib-uht noun a silly person; a person who changes their mind at the drop of a hat 1907O. HenryHeart of the WestHe shut himself in his room like some venomous kobold or flibbertigibbet, whining, complaining, cursing, accusing.1969Kurt VonnegutSlaughterhouse FiveAll this responsibility at such an early age made her a bitchy flibbertigibbet.1986Winston GroomForrest Gump'This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet,' Tom o'Bedlam say.Labels: Kurt Vonnegut, O. Henry, Winston Groom
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metteur en scène me-toor awn sen noun the director of a movie or of a stage play 1957Ian FlemingFrom Russia with LoveHe had been directly behind the mass executions of the 1930s when a million died, he had been metteur en scène of most of the great Moscow show trials, he had organized the bloody genocide in the Central Caucasus in February 1944…Labels: Ian Fleming
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gaumless GAWM-luhs adjective dull and stupid; vacuous 1847Emily BronteWuthering Heights'I've tied his tongue,' observed Heathcliff. 'He'll not venture a single syllable all the time! Nelly, you recollect meat his age—nay, some years younger. Did I ever look so stupid: so 'gaumless,' as Joseph calls it?' 1918F. W. MoormanSongs of the RidingsHe minds His business, does the Lord, An' wastes no gaumless words.Labels: Emily Bronte, F. W. Moorman
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equipollent ee-kwuh-PAW-luhnt adjective equivalent; equal in significance or power 1597Francis BaconThe Essays: Of Custom and EducationOnly superstition is now so well advanced, that men of the first blood, are as firm as butchers by occupation; and votary resolution, is made equipollent to custom, even in matter of blood.1822Sir Walter ScottThe Fortunes of Nigel'Doubtless, my lord, the having, as you say, deserved it, must be an excruciation to your own mind,' replied his tormentor; 'a kind of mental and metaphysical hanging, drawing, and quartering, which may be in some measure equipollent with the external application of hemp, iron, fire, and the like, to the outer man.'1869Albert G. MackeyThe Symbolism of FreemasonryThe ladder of Masonry, like the equipollent ladders of its kindred institutions, always had seven steps, although in modern times the three principal or upper ones are alone alluded to.Labels: Albert G. Mackey, Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Scott
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kermess KUR-muhs noun a fair or carnival that raises funds for charity 1865Mary Mapes DodgeHans Brinker or The Silver SkatesMen, women, and children go clattering about in wooden shoes with loose heels; peasant girls who cannot get beaux for love, hire them for money to escort them to the kermis, and husbands and wives lovingly harness themselves side by side on the bank of the canal and drag their pakschuyts to market.1894Anatole France The Red LilyIn the movement and the noise of the kermess she said…1911Gaston LerouxThe Phantom of the OperaBut the curtain rose on the kermess scene and Richard made a sign to the stage-manager to go away.Labels: Anatole France, Gaston Leroux, Mary Mapes Dodge
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targe tawrj noun a defensive shield 1903Ambrose BierceShapes of ClayAgainst abstractions evermore you charge | You hack no helmet and you need no targe.1913Quintus SmyrnaeusThe Fall of TroyAugeias' monstrous stable there was wrought | With cunning craft on that invincible targe; | And Hercules was turning through the same | The deep flow of Alpheius' stream divine,1987Paul Edwin ZimmerA Gathering of Heroes...a frail, leather-covered wood targe met the wide blade's lashing hammer-blow.Labels: Ambrose Bierce, Paul Edwin Zimmer, Quintus Smyrnaeus
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nonplus nawn-PLUHS noun, verb to be baffled or confused; to be rendered speechless or puzzled 1922I. A. R. WylieThe Dark HouseHe wanted to nonplus and disconcert her, if such a thing were possible.1969George MacDonald FraserFlashman'With poor Sir William gone, we are at a nonplus here,' he kept repeating, looking around dolefully for someone to agree with him.1972Dick FrancisSmokescreenEvan only knew how to deal with girls that young if he could bully them in front of a camera: and the idea that animals could be sweet instead of symbolic seemed to nonplus him.Labels: Dick Francis, George MacDonald Fraser, I. A. R. Wylie
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nubiferous noo-BIF-er-uhs adjective producing clouds 1930S. S. Van DineThe Scarab Murder CaseMy mind is...shot with mist and mizzle, with vapor and haze and steam; it is cirrous and nubiferous, cumulous and vaporous…1951A. E. Van VogtVoyage of the Space BeagleAnd its world was a narrow swamp, a gray, nubiferous environment, where it lived its contented, active, idyllic, almost mindless existence.Labels: A. E. Van Vogt, S. S. Van Dine
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prurient PRYOOR-ee-uhnt adjective an inordinate concern with the subject of sex; appealing to persons with a sex obsession 1876Anthony TrollopeThe Prime MinisterTo h—-with their prurient laws,' said Lopez, rising suddenly from his chair. 'I will neither appeal to them nor will I obey them.1922Margaret SangerPivot of CivilizationI have yet to hear any criticism of this term that is not based upon some false and hypocritical sense of modesty, or that does not arise out of a semi-prurient misunderstanding of its aim.1994Sue GraftonK is for KillerTo me, Lorna's prurient behavior left her short of 'near perfect' and put her closer to 'wanton.'Labels: Anthony Trollope, Margaret Sanger, Sue Grafton
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blandishment BLAN-dish-ment verb praise calculated to cajole; allurement; flattery 1978James A. MichenerChesapeakeIn the dark night the two men glared at each other, with Steed determined to resist the blandishments of his captain.1985Carl SaganContactBut he resisted many invitations and some proffered blandishments to found an electronic church.1989Ken FollettThe Pillars of the EarthTom's family pushed through the disconsolate crowd, ignoring the halfhearted blandishments of the sausage seller and the knife sharpener.Labels: Carl Sagan, James A. Michener, Ken Follett
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quod erat demonstrandum kwawd AER-awt de-muhn-STRAN-duhm phrase that which was to be demonstrated; used in mathematics at the end of proof and is often symbolized with a small square; abbreviation: QED 1829Honore De BalzacThe Girl With The Golden EyesIf this hurried glance at the population of Paris has enabled us to conceive the rarity of a Raphaelesque face, and the passionate admiration which such an one must inspire at the first sight, the prime interest of our history will have been justified. Quod erat demonstrandum—if one may be permitted to apply scholastic formulae to the science of manners.1897Henry Seton MerrimanThe Grey LadyAnd it is thus that the little habits are acquired, and the little habits make the woman, therefore the little habits make the match. Quod erat demonstrandum.1905Donald MacKenzie WallaceRussiaNow vot is evidently the same root as the German vat in Vater, and the English fath in father. Quod erat demonstrandum.1971Poul AndersonOperation Chaos'Remember, this is a gut issue. Nornwell manufactures a lot of police and defense equipment, like witchmark fluorescers and basilisk goggles. We're under contract to develop more kinds. The police and the armed forces serve the Establishment. The Establishment is evil. Therefore Nornwell must be shut down.' | 'Quod erat demonstrandum about,' she sighed.'Labels: Donald MacKenzie Wallace, Henry Seton Merriman, Honore De Balzac, Poul Anderson
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outre-mer oo-truh-maer noun unknown lands; distant territory; overseas 1842Caroline Matilda KirklandA New HomeHis outre-mer adventures are of no importance to my story—how, as he stood with two or three messmates, staring, like a true Yankee, at the Tower of London, a press-gang seized them all, and rowed them to a vessel which lay off the Traitor’s Gate, the Americans protesting themselves such, and the John Bulls laughing at them…1891Percival LowellNoto: An Unexplored Corner of JapanThe day had grown older and I wiser by the time my letters were read, with their strange perfume from outre-mer, the horses harnessed afresh, and we under way once more, clattering down the main street of the village.2002Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint and David FreerThe Shadow of the LionOr maybe hire on as a hand on an Outremer-bound ship?Labels: Caroline Matilda Kirkland, Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint and David Freer, Percival Lowell
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quand même kawn mem adverb nevertheless; in spite of; even so 1907Sarah BernhardtMy Double LifeI then stepped into the carriage which had caused such a sensation at the theatre, and drove away. On reaching home I took the contract to my mother. She signed it without reading it. I made my mind resolutely to be some one quand-même.1909Frank HarrisThe Man ShakespeareThe critics who have ignorantly praised his Hotspur and Bastard as if he had been a man of deeds as well as a man of words have only obscured the truth that Shakespeare the poet-philosopher, the lover quand même, only reached a sane balance of nature through his overflowing humour.1922E. E. CummingsThe Enormous Room'You're god damn right it's Malheureux,' I said, forgetting my French. 'Quand même, he has resisted authority.'1980Robert LudlumThe Bourne Identity'Merci bien. Je vais essayer quand même.'Labels: E. E. Cummings, Frank Harris, Robert Ludlum, Sarah Bernhardt
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tocsin TAWK-sin noun an alarm; a warning 1881James Macpherson Le Moine Picturesque Quebec Champlain, in his deposition, sworn to, on the 9th Nov. 1629, in London, before the Right Worshipful Sir Henry Martin, Knight, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, describes minutely, the armament and belongings of Fort St. Louis, on the 9th August 1629, when he surrendered it to the Kirkes: cannon such as they were, and ammunition he seems to have had in abundance, without forgetting what he styles 'the murderers with their double boxes or charges,' a not excessively deadly kind of mitrailleuse or Gatling gun, we should imagine; the Fort also contained a smith's forge, carpenter's tools, machinery for a windmill, and a handmill to grind corn, a brass bell—probably to sound the tocsin, or alarm, at the approach of the marauding savages of Stadacona, the array of muskets—(thirteen complete)—is not formidable.1919Frank L. PackardThe Further Adventures of Jimmie DaleThe Tocsin! Marie LaSalle to the world, she was always, and always would be, the Tocsin to him. Gone ! A hand unclenched and passed heavily across his eyes and flirted the hair back from his forehead.2004Sam VakninThe Suffering of Being KafkaMy grandmother fixated Dinah with a tocsin look.Labels: Frank L. Packard, James Macpherson Le Moine, Sam Vaknin
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orthogonal or-THAWG-uh-nuhl adjective at right angles; intersecting at right angles; irrelevant or extraneous, usually in reference to an issue or subject 1985Carl SaganContactThey're made of a niobium alloy, they have peculiar patterns cut into them, and they're obviously designed to rotate in three orthogonal directions very fast in a vacuum.1989Charles SheffieldProteus UnboundIf I wanted to talk fancy like Leo, I'd say it's like their science is orthogonal to ours. They move along a completely different axis of understanding.1998Michael CrichtonTimelineWhat we have developed is a form of space travel. To be precise, we use quantum technology to manipulate an orthogonal multiverse coordinate change.'2001Robert LudlumThe Sigma Protocol...she went into standard E&S, evasion and search, tactics. That meant flattening yourself against a wall with a pistol drawn, then shifting to an orthogonal wall, and repeating the process.Labels: Carl Sagan, Charles Sheffield, Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum
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faute de mieux FOT duh MYOOR adverb for lack of something better 1938C. S. LewisOut of the Silent PlanetNo hross, however, ate the weed (honodraskrud) for choice, though it might be used faute de mieux on a journey.1973Gore VidalBurr'Then Leggett is for Van Buren?' | 'Faute de mieux.'1988Umberto EcoFoucault's PendulumBut Belbo by now was an adept, and, like other adepts, not through enlightenment, but faute de mieux.Labels: C. S. Lewis, Gore Vidal, Umberto Eco
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koppie KAW-pee noun a small hill 1888H. Rider HaggardMaiwa's RevengeThese are separated one from another by glades of grass land, broken here and there with clumps of timber trees; and in some instances by curious isolated koppies, and even by single crags of granite that start up into the air as though they were monuments carved by man, and not tombstones set by nature over the grave of ages gone.Labels: H. Rider Haggard
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fossick FAW-sik verb to rummage; to prospect in worked over or abandoned areas 1896G. A. HentyIn the Heart of the Rockies'Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, and then go back when the Utes had quieted down.'1995Wilbur SmithSeventh ScrollStill, it gives us a wonderful excuse to fossick about in the bushes.1999Stephen OliverUnmanned...we found a hand-hold to jemmy open an illegal window, fossick the disused office…Labels: G. A. Henty, Stephen Oliver, Wilbur Smith
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picayune pi-kee-YOON adjective, noun something of little or no value; small or petty minded; a nit-picker 1903William Cowper BrannBrann The IconoclastAt a time when the industrial problem is pressing upon us with ever increasing power, it is discouraging to hear grown Americans prattling of 'unhorsing' economic adversaries—priding themselves on polemical fence, like shyster lawyers, and seeking victory through sophistry rather than truth by honest inquiry. That is not patriotism, but a picayune partisanship which I profoundly pity.1995Larry McMurtryDead Man's WalkMany Rangers thought Bigfoot's point somewhat picayune, since the Mexican could not have screamed louder if he had been being tortured by fifty men…2001David DrakeForeign LegionsWe in the Trade Commission do not feel that our concerns are either picayune or asinine!Labels: David Drake, Larry McMurtry, William Cowper Brann
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blague blawzh noun a lie; nonsense 1870Leo TolstoyAnna KareninaNo,' said Serpukhovskoy, frowning with vexation at being suspected of such an absurdity. 'Tout ca est une blague. That has always been, and always will be. There are no communists. But intriguing people have to invent a noxious, dangerous party. It's an old trick. No, what's wanted is a powerful party of independent men, like you and me.'1915Philip GibbsThe Soul of the WarThere was a good deal of blague in these annual ceremonies, laughed at by Frenchmen of common sense.Labels: Leo Tolstoy, Philip Gibbs
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ineluctable i-ni-LUHK-tuh-buhl adjective something inevitable; that which cannot be avoided; irresistible 1920Dewitt H. ParkerThe Principles of AestheticsFor even if we always do go on to something better in the future, the past had its unique value, and that is lost ineluctably.1946Paramhansa YoganandaAutobiography of a YogiNature herself is Maya; natural science must perforce deal with her ineluctable quiddity.1954Robertson DaviesLeaven of MaliceCan you conceive of any practical joke more tiresomely bourgeois, more quintessentially and ineluctably lower middle class, than shoving a fake engagement notice in the paper?1958Boris PasternakDoctor ZhivagoThese new things were not familiar, not led up to by the old, they were unchosen, determined by an ineluctable reality, and as sudden as an earthquake.1970James BlishCities in FlightThere were many corners of the galaxy which knew Earth only as a legend, a green myth floating unknown thousands of parsecs away in space, known and ineluctable thousands of years away in history.1982Janet MorrisEarth DreamsThere was never a moment so empty as to allow leisure to regret past occurrences—or failures; the future pressed ineluctably upon his consular 'now.'1994Stephen R. DonaldsonThe Gap Into Madness: Chaos and OrderThe roaring in her ears had become absolute night, carrying her ineluctably into its depths.2005Simon HouptThe Globe & Mail (Monday, 21 February 2005)[Peter] Carey is most at home with the ineluctable impossibility of connection.Labels: Boris Pasternak, Dewitt H. Parker, James Blish, Janet Morris, Paramhansa Yogananda, Robertson Davies, Simon Houpt, Stephen R. Donaldson
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kinnikinnick ki-ni-kuh-NIK noun an American berry; an American Indian mix of bark and leaves used for smoking 1919Henry Blake FullerBertram Cope's Year'Why, it's a sassafras. And this?'—she thrust her toe into a thick, lustrous bed of tiny leaves that hugged the ground. 'No, again? That's kinnikinnick. Oh, my poor boy, you have everything to learn. Brought up in the country, too!'1974James A. MichenerCentennialNow Broken Thumb prepared a calumet, keeping it on his knees while he mixed tobacco and kinnikinnick in prescribed amounts.Labels: Henry Blake Fuller, James A. Michener
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bienséance byan-say-awns noun a sense of the appropriateness of things; a sense of propriety 1830James Fenimore CooperThe Water-WitchFrancois proceeded to take such measures to arouse his mistress, as he believed to comport with his duty to her uncle, and his own ideas of bienséance.1888J. H. ShorthouseA Teacher of the Violin and Other StoriesI know, of course, that there are many who...view these flowery but dangerous paths with approbation; but I cannot think that Mademoiselle would tread them without violating the bienséance which alone makes life tolerable…1898Lord George Gordon ByronThe Letters and Journals of Lord ByronThough, after all, I doubt my temper, and fear I should not be so patient as becomes the bienséance of a married man in my station.Labels: J. H. Shorthouse, James Fenimore Cooper, Lord George Gordon Byron
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gasconade gas-kuh-NAYD noun boasting; blustering 1724Daniel DefoeThe Fortunate MistressAmy, an ambitious jade, who knew my weakest part, namely, that I loved great things and that I loved to be flattered and courted, said abundance of kind things upon this occasion which she knew were suitable to me and would prompt my vanity, and talked big of the Prince's gentleman having orders to come over to me with a procuration to marry me by proxy (as princes usually do in like cases), and to furnish me with an equipage and I know not how many fine things, but told me withal, that she had not yet let him know that she belonged to me still, or that she knew where to find me or to write to me, because she was willing to see the bottom of it, and whether it was a reality or a gasconade.1814Matthew FlindersA Voyage to Terra AustralisThis sullying of the French territory produced a fulminating proclamation from general De Caen, nearly similar in terms to that of the emperor Napoleon after the descent at Walcheren; its effect on the inhabitants, however, was not much, for on asking some of them what they thought of this second-hand gasconade, the reply was, 'Oh it is not to us, it is to Bonaparte that the proclamation is addressed;' meaning that it was a bait to catch his approbation.Labels: Daniel Defoe, Matthew Flinders
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xanthous ZAN-thos adjective yellowish; yellow-brown; yellow-red 1856Sir Richard Francis BurtonPersonal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & MeccahThe xanthous complexion is rare, though not unknown in cities, but the leucous does not exist.1890Ignatius DonnellyCaesar's ColumnShe evidently belonged to the great race of Nilsson and Lind. Her hair, a mass of rebellious, short curls, was of the peculiar shade of light yellow common among that people; it looked as if the xanthous locks of the old Gauls, as described by Cæsar, had been faded out, in the long nights and the ice and snow of the Northland, to this paler hue.1927S. S. Van DineThe Canary Murder CaseTherefore, when I saw this photograph of the xanthous Alys half hidden under the litter of papers on the escritoire…1995Greg CostikyanOne Quest, Hold the DragonsI suppose you're all pining for that xanthous beauty yourselves…Labels: Greg Costikyan, Ignatius Donnelly, S. S. Van Dine, Sir Richard Francis Burton
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anchorite an-KE-rait noun a hermit; a hermit like person 1812Lord George Gordon ByronChilde Harold's PilgrimageThe laughing dames in whom he did delight, | Whose large blue eyes, fair locks, and snowy hands, | Might shake the saintship of an anchorite1855Maturin MurrayThe Sea WitchThere is true poetry in such a scene as this, beauty fit to move the heart of an anchorite.1919W. Somerset MaughamThe Moon and SixpenceYour appearance doesn't suggest the anchorite.Labels: Lord George Gordon Byron, Maturin Murray, W. Somerset Maugham
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calumny KA-luhm-nee noun slander; defamatory statements 1757Benjamin FranklinPoor Richard 1757Act uprightly, and despise Calumny; Dirt may stick to a Mud Wall, but not to polish'd Marble1854Harriet Beecher StoweSunny Memories of Foreign LandsIn the conclusion of one of his speeches he says, 'Sir, it may not be given me to pass over this Jordan; other and better men have preceded me, and I entered into their labors; other and better men will follow me, and enter into mine; but this consolation I shall ever continue to enjoy—that, amidst much injustice and somewhat of calumny, we have at last lighted such a candle in England as, by God's blessing, shall never be put out.'1905Maxim GorkyThe March of ManIn the warmish heart of Friendship, Thought feels the calculating prudence, the cruel, empty curiosity, the foul ulcers of envy, with the germs of calumny in them.Labels: Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Maxim Gorky
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brutum fulmen broo-tuhm FUHL-men noun a toothless threat; a futile display 1908H. E. KrehbielChapters of OperaIn the picture of a storm which opens the opera the manipulator of the artificial lightning is not left to his discretion as to the proper moment for discharging his brutum fulmen;1909William JamesThe Meaning of TruthThe 'ought' would be a brutum fulmen unless there were a felt grain inside of our experience that conspired.1912Samuel ButlerThe Note-Books of Samuel ButlerWhile he is shaking his wings, there is brutum fulmen but the man goes on living, frightened, perhaps, but unhurt; pain and sickness may hurt him but the moment Death strikes him both he and Death are beyond feeling.1922Rafael SabatiniCaptain BloodIt was a brutum fulmen that inspired no terrors in Captain Blood.Labels: H. E. Krehbiel, Rafael Sabatini, Samuel Butler, William James
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