Bookshops & Bonedust

Question 1

Galvanic

Answer 1

adjective
1. relating to or involving electric currents produced by chemical action.

2. sudden and dramatic.
“a searing, galvanic experience”

Question 2

Scant

Answer 2

adjective
barely sufficient or adequate.
“companies with scant regard for the safety of future generations”

verb NORTH AMERICAN
provide grudgingly or in insufficient amounts.
“he does not scant his attention to the later writings”

Question 3

Astringent

Answer 3

adjective
1. causing the contraction of skin cells and other body tissues.
“an astringent skin lotion”

2. (of taste or smell) slightly acidic or bitter.
“fresh blackcurrants have a rather astringent flavour”

noun
an astringent lotion applied to the skin to reduce bleeding from minor abrasions or as a cosmetic to make the skin less oily.

Question 4

Hedge

Answer 4

noun
1.a fence or boundary formed by closely growing bushes or shrubs.
“a privet hedge”

2. a way of protecting oneself against financial loss or other adverse circumstances.
“index-linked gilts are a useful hedge against inflation”

3. a word or phrase used to avoid overprecise commitment, for example etc., often, or sometimes.

verb
1. surround with a hedge.
“a garden hedged with yew”

2. enclose something.
“the cathedral is closely hedged in by other buildings”

3. limit or qualify (something) by conditions or exceptions.
“they hedged their story about with provisos”

4. avoid making a definite statement or commitment.
“he hedged at every new question”

5. protect oneself against loss on (a bet or investment) by making balancing or compensating transactions.
“the company hedged its investment position on the futures market”

Question 5

Vested interest

Answer 5

noun
1. a personal reason for involvement in an undertaking or situation, especially an expectation of financial or other gain.
“banks have a vested interest in the growth of their customers”

LAW
2. an interest (usually in land or money held in trust) recognized as belonging to a particular person.

Question 6

Bandolier

Answer 6

noun
a shoulder belt with loops or pockets for cartridges.

Question 7

Thwarted

Answer 7

adjective
disappointingly unsuccessful.
“his best efforts were thwarted”

Question 8

Strident

Answer 8

adjective
1. (of a sound) loud and harsh; grating.
“his voice had become increasingly strident”

2. presenting a point of view, especially a controversial one, in an excessively forceful way.
“public pronouncements on the crisis became less strident”

Question 9

Errant

Answer 9

adjective
FORMAL•HUMOROUS
1. erring or straying from the accepted course or standards.
“an errant husband coming back from a night on the tiles”

2. not in the right place; having moved from the correct position or course.
“an errant strand of hair”

ZOOLOGY
3. (of a polychaete worm) of a predatory kind that moves about actively and is not confined to a tube or burrow.

ARCHAIC•LITERARY
4. travelling in search of adventure.
“that same lady errant”

Question 10

Surreptitious

Answer 10

adjective
kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of.
“low wages were supplemented by surreptitious payments from tradesmen”

Question 11

Pinion

Answer 11

noun
the outer part of a bird’s wing including the flight feathers.

verb
1. restrain or immobilize (someone) by tying up or holding their arms or legs.
“he was pinioned to the ground”

2. cut off the pinion of (a wing or bird) to prevent flight.

Question 12

Stolid

Answer 12

adjective
calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation.
“a stolid bourgeois gent”

Question 13

Glacial

Answer 13

adjective
1. relating to or denoting the presence or agency of ice, especially in the form of glaciers.
“thick glacial deposits”

2. very cold; icy.
“glacial temperatures”

3. extremely slow (like the movement of a glacier).
“an official described progress in the talks as glacial”

CHEMISTRY
4. denoting pure organic acids (especially acetic acid) which form ice-like crystals on freezing.

noun GEOLOGY
a glacial period.

Question 14

Misbegotten

Answer 14

adjective
1. badly conceived or planned.
“someone’s misbegotten idea of an English country house”

2. contemptible (used as a term of abuse).
“you misbegotten hound!”

ARCHAIC
3. (of a child) illegitimate.

Question 15

Burnished

Answer 15

adjective
(especially of metal) polished by rubbing.
“highly burnished armour”

Question 16

Revenant

Answer 16

noun
a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.
“he was three hundred years old, a terrible living revenant”

Question 17

Cantrip

Answer 17

noun ARCHAIC•SCOTTISH
a mischievous or playful act; a trick.

Question 18

Pugilist

Answer 18

noun DATED•HUMOROUS
a boxer, especially a professional one.

Question 19

Morass

Answer 19

noun
1. an area of muddy or boggy ground.
“in midwinter the track beneath this bridge became a muddy morass”

2. a complicated or confused situation.
“she would become lost in a morass of lies and explanations”

Question 20

Quail

Answer 20

noun
1. a small short-tailed Old World game bird resembling a tiny partridge, typically having brown camouflaged plumage.

2. a small or medium-sized New World game bird, the male of which has distinctive facial markings.

verb
feel or show fear or apprehension.
“she quailed at his heartless words”

Question 21

Osseous

Answer 21

adjective
composed of or containing bone.
“osseous tissue”

Question 22

Desultory

Answer 22

adjective
1. lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm.
“a few people were left, dancing in a desultory fashion”

2. (of conversation or speech) going from one subject to another in a half-hearted way.
“the desultory conversation faded”

3. occurring randomly or occasionally.
“desultory passengers were appearing”

Question 23

Extremity

Answer 23

noun
1. the furthest point or limit of something.
“the peninsula’s western extremity”

2. the degree to which something is extreme.
“the extremity of the violence concerns us”

Question 24

Abide

Answer 24

verb
1. accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation).
“I said I would abide by their decision”

2. be able to tolerate (someone or something).
“if there is one thing I cannot abide it is a lack of discipline”

3. (of a feeling or memory) continue without fading or being lost.
“at least one memory will abide”

ARCHAIC
live; dwell.
“many unskilful Men do abide in our City of London”

Question 25

Bridle

Answer 25

noun
the headgear used to control a horse, consisting of buckled straps to which a bit and reins are attached.
“grooms came at once to take the bridles”

verb
1. put a bridle on (a horse).
“five horses, saddled and bridled, were tied by the reins to branches of trees”

2. show one’s resentment or anger, especially by throwing up one’s head and drawing in one’s chin.
“she bridled at his tone”

Question 26

Replete

Answer 26

adjective
1. filled or well-supplied with something.
“sensational popular fiction, replete with adultery and sudden death”

2. very full of or sated by food.
“I went out into the sun-drenched streets again, replete and relaxed”

Question 27

Listlessness

Answer 27

noun
the feeling of having no energy and enthusiasm and being unwilling to do anything needing effort.
“a lack of iron in the body can lead to listlessness and a lack of concentration”

Question 28

Trestle

Answer 28

noun
1. a framework consisting of a horizontal beam supported by two pairs of sloping legs, used in pairs to support a flat surface such as a table top.

2. short for trestle table.

3. an open braced framework used to support an elevated structure such as a bridge.

Question 29

Askance

Answer 29

adverb
with an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval.
“the reformers looked askance at the mystical tradition”

Question 30

Belabor/belabour

Answer 30

verb
1. attack (someone) physically or verbally.
“Bernard was belabouring Jed with his fists”

2. argue or discuss (a subject) in excessive detail.
“there is no need to belabour the point”

Question 31

Sepulchral

Answer 31

adjective
relating to a tomb or interment.
“sepulchral monuments”

gloomy; dismal.
“a speech delivered in sepulchral tones”

Question 32

Stipple

Answer 32

verb
(in drawing, painting, and engraving) mark (a surface) with numerous small dots or specks.
“to finish, stipple the picture with the original base colour”

noun
the process or technique of stippling a surface, or the effect so created.
“these pictures combine his favourite techniques—wash, line, and stipple”

Question 33

Misgiving

Answer 33

noun
a feeling of doubt or apprehension about the outcome or consequences of something.
“we have misgivings about the way the campaign is being run”

Question 34

Bluff

Answer 34

noun
1. an attempt to deceive someone into believing that one can or is going to do something.
“the offer was denounced as a bluff”

2. a steep cliff, bank, or promontory.

CANADIAN
3. a grove or clump of trees.

verb
1. try to deceive someone as to one’s abilities or intentions.
“he’s been bluffing all along”

2. survive a difficult situation by maintaining a pretence.
“there’s no point in trying to bluff it out”

adjective
1. direct in speech or behaviour but in a good-natured way.
“a big, bluff, hearty man”

2. (of a cliff or a ship’s bows) having a vertical or steep broad front

Question 35

Promontory

Answer 35

noun
1. a point of high land that juts out into the sea or a large lake; a headland.
“a rocky promontory”

ANATOMY
2. a protuberance on an organ or other bodily structure.

Question 36

Grouse

Answer 36

noun
1. a medium to large game bird with a plump body and feathered legs, the male being larger and more brightly coloured than the female.

2. the flesh of the grouse as food.

3. a complaint or grumble.
“our biggest grouse was about the noise of construction work”

verb
complain about something trivial; grumble.
“she heard him grousing about his assistant”

adjective INFORMAL•AUSTRALIAN
very good (used as a general term of approval).
“the car was a grouse tomato red which everyone liked”

Question 37

Incensed

Answer 37

adjective
very angry; enraged.
“Leonora glared back at him, incensed”

Question 38

Newel

Answer 38

noun
1. the central supporting pillar of a spiral or winding staircase.

2. a post at the head or foot of a flight of stairs, supporting a handrail.

Question 39

Conducive

Answer 39

adjective
making a certain situation or outcome likely or possible.
“the harsh lights and cameras were hardly conducive to a relaxed atmosphere”

Question 40

Poniard

Answer 40

noun
a dagger with a slender blade.

verb
stab with a poniard.

Question 41

Rheumy

Answer 41

adjective
(of a person’s eyes) watery.
“she was small and wizened, with rheumy eyes and bad teeth”