The Thirty-Nine Steps (18 page)

amulet
NOUN
an amulet is a charm thought to drive away evil spirits.
uttered phrases at once occult and familiar, like the amulet worn on the heart
(
Silas Marner
by George Eliot)

amusement
NOUN
here amusement means a strange and disturbing puzzle
this was an amusement the other way
(
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe)

ancient
NOUN
an ancient was the flag displayed on a ship to show which country it belongs to.
It is also called the ensign
her ancient and pendants out
(
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe)

antic
ADJ
here antic means horrible or grotesque
armed and dressed after a very antic manner
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

antics
NOUN
antics is an old word meaning clowns, or people who do silly things to make other
people laugh
And point like antics at his triple crown
(
Doctor Faustus 3.2
by Christopher Marlowe)

appanage
NOUN
an appanage is a living allowance
As if loveliness were not the special prerogative of woman – her legitimate appanage
and heritage!
(
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë)

appended
VERB
appended means attached or added to
and these words appended
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

approver
NOUN
an approver is someone who gives evidence against someone he used to work with
Mr. Noah Claypole: receiving a free pardon from the Crown in consequence of being
admitted approver against Fagin
(
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

areas
NOUN
the areas is the space, below street level, in front of the basement of a house
The Dodger had a vicious propensity, too, of pulling the caps from the heads of small
boys and tossing them down areas (
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

argument
NOUN
theme or important idea or subject which runs through a piece of writing
Thrice needful to the argument which now
(
The Prelude
by William Wordsworth)

artificially
ADJ
artfully or cleverly
and he with a sharp flint sharpened very artificially
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

artist
NOUN
here artist means a skilled workman
This man was a most ingenious artist
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)