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remonstrance ri-MAWN-struhns noun a protest; a complaint; a grievance 1861R. M. BallantyneThe Gorilla Hunters'O Peterkin,' said I, in a tone of remonstrance, 'how could you be so unkind as to waken me when I had just got to sleep? Shabby fellow!' 1906Lucas MaletThe Far HorizonAll day thunder had threatened, but had not broken. And, even yet, the face of heaven seemed less peaceful than remonstrant, a sullenness holding it as of troops in retreat denied satisfaction of imminent battle.1954J. R. R. TolkienThe Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersThey heard the gentle remonstrance of a kindly king with an erring but much-loved minister.1966Ian FlemingQuantum of SolaceOf course Masters himself, as he was to tell me later, went through the usual dreary sequence—remonstrance, bitter quarrel, furious rage, violence (he told me he damned nearly throttled her one night) and, finally, icy withdrawal and sullen misery.Labels: Ian Fleming, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lucas Malet, R. M. Ballantyne
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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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navvy NA-vee noun a menial worker; a lowly laborer; a drudge 1868AnonymousThe Dock and the ScaffoldThrough the long, dim streets, and past the tall rows of silent houses, the full tide of life eddied and poured in rapid current; stout burghers, closely muffled and staff in hand; children grown prematurely old, with the hard marks of vice already branded on their features; young girls with flaunting ribbons and bold, flushed faces; pale-faced operatives, and strong men whose brawny limbs told of the Titanic labours of the foundry; the clerk from his desk; the shopkeeper from his store; the withered crone, and the careless navvy, swayed and struggled through the living mass; and with them trooped the legions of want, and vice, and ignorance, that burrow and fester in the foetid lanes and purlieus of the large British cities: from the dark alleys where misery and degradation for ever dwell, and from reeking cellars and nameless haunts, where the twin demons of alcohol and crime rule supreme; from the gin-palace, and the beer-shop, and the midnight haunts of the tramp and the burglar, they came in all their repulsiveness and debasement, with the rags of wretchedness upon their backs, and the cries of profanity and obscenity upon their lips.1885R. M. BallantyneTwice Bought (a Tale of the Oregon Gold Fields)He laboured each day with pick and shovel with the energy of a hero and the dogged perseverance of a navvy, and each night he went to Lantry's store to increase his gains by gambling.1936John CampbellThe Ultimate WeaponHe had the body and muscles of a dock navvy, which Nature started out to make.Labels: Anonymous, John Campbell, R. M. Ballantyne
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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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hauteur haw-TUR noun arrogance; haughty behavior; an elevated sense of pride 1886R. M. BallantyneThe Prairie Chief'Is the fair-faced maiden,' said Rushing River, referring to the girl's comparatively light complexion, 'willing to share the wigwam of a Blackfoot chief?' Moonlight received this very decided and unusually civil proposal of marriage with becoming hauteur, for she was still ruffled by the undignified manner in which she had been carried off.1904J. M. BarriePeter Pan'A little!' she replied with hauteur. 'If I am no use I can at least withdraw,' and she sprang in the most dignified way into bed and covered her face with the blankets.1927Eugene O'NeillLazarus LaughedCALIGULA—(who has moved to Lazarus' side defensively—in a quick whisper) Beware of this man, Lazarus! (then advancing—with a condescending hauteur) Greeting, Marcellus!Labels: Eugene O'Neill, J. M. Barrie, R. M. Ballantyne
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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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calumet KAL-yuh-met noun a Native American ceremonial pipe; a peace pipe 1848R. M. BallantyneThe Hudson Bay CompanyStemaw has now concluded his arrangements: a small piece of dried deer's meat warms before the blaze; and, meanwhile, he spreads his green blanket on the ground, and fills a stone calumet (or pipe with a wooden stem) with tobacco, mixed with a kind of weed prepared by himself.1855Henry W. LongfellowThe Song of HiawathaAnd erect upon the mountains, | Gitche Manito, the mighty, | Smoked the calumet, the Peace-Pipe, | As a signal to the nations.1926Gilbert ParkerThe Power and the GloryWhen this was ended, the feast was brought—after the calumet pipe had been smoked by La Salle and the chief, and it had been passed to others.Labels: Gilbert Parker, Henry W. Longfellow, R. M. Ballantyne
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