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oblation o-BLAY-shuhn noun offering something in worship; the act of making an offering or sacrifice 1852Catherine Parr Traill Canadian CrusoesThe Indians offered the first of the birds as an oblation to the Great Spirit, as a grateful acknowledgment of his bounty in having allowed them to gather food thus plentifully for their families; sometimes distant tribes with whom they were on terms of friendship were invited to share the sport and partake of the spoils. 1932Hugh Walpole The FortressShe dropped a sixpence into the little monkey's cup as a sort of oblation. 1948Cornell Woolrich Rendezvous In BlackSuddenly, in a flash of anger, he went over to it, pitched it shoulder-high in venomous oblation, and downed it, flat as it was.Labels: Catherine Parr Traill, Cornell Woolrich, Hugh Walpole
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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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ineffable i-NE-fuh-buhl adjective indescribable; inexpressible 1894W. W. JacobsMany CargoesThe eyes of all were turned upon their youthful deliverer, those of Mr. Smith being painfully prominent. It was a proud moment for Billy, and he sat silent for some time, with a look of ineffable wisdom and thought upon his face.1922Zane GreyTo The Last ManThe nest where she lay was warm and sweet. No eye save that of nature saw her in her abandonment. An ineffable and exquisite smile wreathed her lips, dreamy, sad, sensuous, the supremity of unconscious happiness.1943Ayn RandThe Fountainhead...he imagined a giant of a man, with a rich mane of hair, perhaps just turning gray, with bold, broad features of an ineffable benevolence…1947Cornell WoolrichWaltz Into DarknessHis head fell upon her breast in ineffable surrender.Labels: Ayn Rand, Cornell Woolrich, W. W. Jacobs, Zane Grey
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ameliorate a-MEE-lee-uh-rayt verb to improve something; to get better 1874R. M. BallantyneThe Ocean and its WondersFull to overflow with the gifts of its new companions, it hastens to bestow of its superabundance on less favoured particles; joins the great army of the ocean's currents; enters, perchance, the Gulf of Mexico, where it is turned back, and hastens along with the Gulf Stream, with all its natural warmth of character, to ameliorate the climate of Great Britain and the western shores of Europe.1945Cornell WoolrichNight Has A Thousand EyesThen, sensing her own awkwardness of posture, aggravated rather than ameliorated it by sidling downward into the nearest armless chair and perched stiffly on that, too far out from the back of it and too rigidly erect to be either rested or restful to others.1972Warren Murphy and Richard Ben SapirMafia FixOne time, while ameliorating a Teamster dispute, Mr. Gasso was hit in the face by a truck driver with a sledge hammer.Labels: Cornell Woolrich, R. M. Ballantyne, Warren Murphy and Richard Ben Sapir
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salver SAL-vur noun a food or beverage tray 1883Sir Richard Francis BurtonTo the Gold Coast for GoldAfter the manner of Spanish churches, which love to concentrate dazzling colour at the upper end, the high altar is hung with crimson velvet curtains; and its massive silver lamps (one Italian, presented by Cardinal Ximenes), salvers, altar-facings, and other fixings are said to have cost over 24,000 francs.1905E. W. HornungA Thief in the NightAnd I could only think that he was inspired by the same impulse toward the bronzed salvers and the tarnished teapots with which I found him surrounded, until my eyes lit upon the enormous silver-chest into which he was fitting them one by one.1947Cornell WoolrichWaltz Into DarknessThere was no trace of the remnants of one, on the usual salvers she used.1985Jim AikinWalk the Moons RoadAnd only after messengers had come and gone bearing notes sealed with wax on silver salvers did Zhe-nuvnili find herself for the first time sitting demurely across from Qob Qobba and Ranga Strell as Li Ranii set out her position.Labels: Cornell Woolrich, E. W. Hornung, Jim Aikin, Sir Richard Francis Burton
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