Wuthering Heights- Emily Brontë Flashcards
Weather-cock
“ What vain weather-cocks we are!”
-A person who is fickle or changeable
a WEATHERVANE a revolving pointer to show the direction of the wind, typically mounted on top of a building in the form of a cockerel
To strike the colours
” I, weak wretch, was finally compelled to strike my colours […]”
In marine jargon “ to surrender”
Flit
“ If he had meant to flit to Thrushcross Grange, as soon as he heard of a good tenant, he could not have borne to miss the chance of getting a few hundreds more”
-Move swiftly and lightly
-Act of moving house or escaping one’s home secretly
Dunnock
“ And Hareton had been cast out like an unfledged dunnock”
a small European songbird of the accentor family, with a dark grey head and a reddish-brown back.
Churl
“ He must have had some ups and downs in life to make him such a churl”
-A rude and mean-spirited person.
- A peasant ( archaic)
Whinstone
“ Rough as a saw-edge and hard as a whinstone! The less you meddle with him, the better”
A term used in the quarrying industry to describe any hard dark-coloured rock.
Interloper
“ And I pray that he may break your neck; take him, and be damned, you beggarly interloper!”
A person who becomes involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong.
Parson
“ He told me to put on my cloack and run to Gimmerton for the doctor and the parson”
-A beneficed member of the clergy; a rector or a vicar.
-Any member of the clergy, especially a Protestant one. ( Informal)
bonny
“ […] she had the bonniest eyes, and sweetest smile, and the lightest foot in the parishi[…]”
Attractive, beautiful ( Northern English- Scottish)
Peevish
“ His peevish reproofs wakened in her a naughty delight to provoke him[…]”
Having or showing an irritable disposition.
Yonder
“ […] you saw him, I dare say, up yonder”
adverb ARCHAIC•DIALECT
At some distance in the direction indicated; over there.
To flog
“ Heathcliff received no flogging, but he was told that the first word he spoke to Miss Catherine should ensure a dismissal”
- Beat (someone) with a whip or stick as a punishment
-INFORMAL•BRITISH
sell or offer for sale.
-nounINFORMAL•BRITISH
an arduous climb or struggle.
“a long flog up the mountainside
To prattle
“ She expressed pleasure, too, at finding a sister among her new acquaintance, and she prattled to Catherine[…]”
To talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way
To portend
“ […] I knew nothing of what these symptoms portended, and had no impulse to sympathize with her”
To be a sign or warning that (something, especially something momentous or calamitous) is likely to happen.
Mire
“ Therefore, not to mention his clothes, which had seen three months service in mire and dust, and his thick uncombed hair, the surface of his face and hand was dismally beclouded”
dirt or mud.
Sundry
“[…] Mr and Mrs Earnshaw were engaging Missy’s attention by sundry gay trifles bought for her to present to the little Lintons, as an acknoledgement of their kindness”
If someonereferstosundrypeople or things, they are referring to several people or things that are all different from each other.
Dour
“ He managed to continue work till nine o’clock, and then, marched dumb and dour to his chamber”
If you describe someone as dour, you mean that they are very serious and unfriendly.
Cur
“ Don’t get the expression of a vicious cur that appears to know the kicks it gets are its desert, and yet, hates all the world, as well as the kicker, for what it suffers”
A cur is anunfriendlydog,especiallya mongrel.
[old-fashioned]
Coxcomb
“ What, you are attempting the coxcomb, are you? “
A conceited dandy (informal)
To expostulate
“ You should not have spoken to him!” she expostulated with Master Linton
If you expostulate, you express strong disagreement with someone.
