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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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krill kril noun small crustaceans; planktonic crustaceans 1978Wilbur SmithHungry as the SeaDuring the long voyage up from Shackleton Bay, Samantha had streamed a very fine-meshed net from Warlock's stern, collecting an incredible variety of krill and plankton and other microscopic marine life.1984William GibsonNew Rose HotelI spread crab-flavored krill paste on orange rice crackers.1999Clive CusslerAtlantis FoundWithout the algae to dine on, there would be no krill, the little shrimplike fellows, who in turn provide nourishment for every animal and fish in these southern waters from penguins to whales to phocids.Labels: Clive Cussler, Wilbur Smith, William Gibson
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felucca fuh-LOO-kuh noun a fast, narrow Mediterranean sailing vessel often propelled by oars or by a triangular lateen sail 1836Michael ScottTom Cringle's LogWhen he got on board he stood up and shook his clenched fist at Obed, shouting, 'Picaro, traidor, Ingleses hay abordo, quieres enganarnos!' He then held up the blade of his paddle, a signal which all the canoes answered in a moment in the same manner, and then pulled towards the land, from whence a felucca, invisible until that moment, now swept out, as if she had floated up to the surface by magic, for I could see neither creek nor indentation on the shore, nor the smallest symptom of any entrance to a port or cove.1913Sydney WaterlowShelleyIt is doubtful whether the unseaworthy craft was merely swamped, or whether, as there is some reason to suppose, an Italian felucca ran her down with intent to rob the Englishmen.2003Wilbur SmithBlue HorizonNow Verity stood at the ships side and watched the fast felucca conveying the general back to the shore.Labels: Michael Scott, Sydney Waterlow, Wilbur Smith
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gralloche gra-LAWSH verb to gut and clean an animal; to remove offal from an animal 2003Wilbur SmithBlue HorizonThey skinned the ewe and gralloched her, feasting on raw liver as they worked.Labels: Wilbur Smith
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bywoner BAI-wuhn-er noun laborer; a lowly farm worker 1986Wilbur SmithThe Power of the SwordOne of the poor white Afrikaners, Shasa recognized his type. A bywoner, a squatter's kid.Labels: Wilbur Smith
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ruck ruhk noun a scrum; a body of people; a throng 1901Rudyard KiplingKimThe ruck of passengers, busy, with their babies and their bundles, had not noticed the affair.1936George OrwellKeep the Aspidistra FlyingIt mightn't be a bad thing, if you could manage it, to feel yourself one of them, one of the ruck of men.1999Wilbur SmithMonsoonNone of their foes was able to lift his long musket in the close ruck of bodies…2003Wilbur SmithBlue HorizonHe could not see him in the ruck of fighting men…Labels: George Orwell, Rudyard Kipling, Wilbur Smith
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mawkish MAW-kish adjective overly sentimental; disgusting sense of style or taste 1866Fyodor DostoevskyCrime and PunishmentHe wore his hair cut short and had a large round head, particularly prominent at the back. His soft, round, rather snub-nosed face was of a sickly yellowish colour, but had a vigorous and rather ironical expression. It would have been good-natured except for a look in the eyes, which shone with a watery, mawkish light under almost white, blinking eyelashes. The expression of those eyes was strangely out of keeping with his somewhat womanish figure, and gave it something far more serious than could be guessed at first sight.1908Stewart Edward WhiteThe RivermanYou owe nothing to Heinzman; but something to what you would probably call repentance, but which is in reality a mawkish sentimentality of weakness.1913Theodore RooseveltAn AutobiographyNow I suppose some good people will gather from this that I favor men who commit crimes. I certainly do not favor them. I have not a particle of sympathy with the sentimentality—as I deem it, the mawkishness—which overflows with foolish pity for the criminal and cares not at all for the victim of the criminal. I am glad to see wrong-doers punished. The punishment is an absolute necessity from the standpoint of society; and I put the reformation of the criminal second to the welfare of society.1991Wilbur SmithElephant SongI take it that no mawkish sentiments complicate this relationship? That is, not on your side at least?Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Stewart Edward White, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilbur Smith
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kloof kloof noun a deep ravine 1916John BuchanGreenmantleSo Peter and I went up on each side of him, taking an arm apiece, as I had once seen done to a man with vertigo in the Kloof Chimney on Table Mountain.1917H. Rider HaggardFinishedIt stood on a green and swelling mound behind which was a wooded kloof where ran a stream that at last precipitated itself in a waterfall over a great cliff.1977Wilbur SmithA Sparrow Falls...Baines Kloof where the mountain fell away on his left hand sheer into the valley…Labels: H. Rider Haggard, John Buchan, Wilbur Smith
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braggadocio BRAG-uh-do-see-o noun vain and pretentious boasting; rodomontade; bluster 1931William FaulknerLight in AugustThere was something about it too assured and serenely confident to the braggadocio…1977Keith DouglassArctic FireThe Spetsnaz commander barked orders to his compatriots, his air of braggadocio considerably diminished at the thought of being stranded in the camp with no rations.1999Wilbur SmithMonsoonIn response they levelled their muskets and, despite his braggadocio, Tom felt a qualm of fear as he looked into the line of weapons aimed across the gap at him.Labels: Keith Douglass, Wilbur Smith, William Faulkner
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djinn jin noun a genie; a demon; a spirit with the power to negatively influence a person's life 1937Rudyard KiplingSomething of Myself For My Friends Known and UnknownUnder our united tobaccos it grew like the Djinn released from the brass bottle…1981Greg BearStrength of StonesShe had palmed three pieces of fruit and was looking for the best route to leave when the market square manager appeared in front of her like a djinn out of the dust.1991Wilbur SmithElephant SongThe helmsman was singing a soft repetitive refrain, an invocation to the spirits of the lake depths, the djinni who controlled the fickle winds that pushed the dhow across the dark waters.1996Neil GaimanNeverwhereOne stall was piled high with bottles, full bottles and empty bottles of every shape and every size, from bottles of booze to one huge glimmering bottle that could have contained nothing but a captive djinn…Labels: Greg Bear, Neil Gaiman, Rudyard Kipling, Wilbur Smith
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patois PA-twaw noun a group's jargon; a group's slang; a dialect considered inferior 1898Richard Harding DavisThe King's Jackal'It was good to see the clouds following each other across the old mountains and throwing black shadows on the campagna, and to hear the people's patois and to taste Messinian wine again and to know it was from your own hillside.1995Scott FrankGet ShortyMARTIN: Yeah. Kinda. Anyway, once I have the authentic sounds of speech, the rhythms, man, the patois…1999Jonathan KellermanMonsterI used a library pay phone, called, and participated in a confused ninety-second conversation with a man who sounded very old, very gentle, and, from his patois, probably black.2003Wilbur SmithBlue HorizonXhia switched into the patois of the colony, a mixture of all the languages.Labels: Jonathan Kellerman, Richard Harding Davis, Scott Frank, Wilbur Smith
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