The Prisoner of Zenda (59 page)

starlings
NOUN
a starling is a wall built around the pillars that support a bridge to protect the pillars
There were states of the tide when, having been down the river, I could not get back through the eddy-chafed arches and starlings of old London Bridge
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

startings
NOUN
twitching or night-time movements of the body
with midnight's startings
(
On His Mistress
by John Donne)

stomacher
NOUN
a panel at the front of a dress
but send her aunt the pattern of a stomacher
(
Emma
by Jane Austen)

stoop
VERB
swoop
Once a kite hovering over the garden made a swoop at me
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

succedaneum
NOUN
a succedaneum is a substitute
But as a
succedaneum
(
The Prelude
by William Wordsworth)

suet
NOUN
a hard animal fat used in cooking
and your jaws are too weak For anything tougher than suet
(
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll)

sultry
ADJ
sultry weather is hot and damp. Here sultry means unpleasant or risky
for it was getting pretty sultry for us
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

summerset
NOUN
summerset is an old spelling of somersault. If someone does a somersault, they turn over completely in the air
I have seen him do the summerset
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

supper
NOUN
supper was a light meal taken late in the evening. The main meal was dinner which was eaten at four or five in the afternoon
and the supper table was all set out
(
Emma
by Jane Austen)

surfeits
VERB
to surfeit in something is to have far too much of it, or to overindulge in it to an unhealthy degree
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy
(
Doctor Faustus chorus
by Christopher Marlowe)

surtout
NOUN
a surtout is a long close-fitting overcoat
He wore a long black surtout reaching nearly to his ankles
(
The Old Curiosity Shop
by Charles Dickens)

swath
NOUN
swath is the width of corn cut by a scythe
while thy hook Spares the next swath
(
Ode to Autumn
by John Keats)