Term
Straggling
[image]
That wide grey sweep was the lawn, with the straggling trees of the orchard still dark beyond; the white squares were the roofs of the garage, the old barn, the rabbit hutches, the chicken coops. |
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Definition
| Escaping or stretching beyond proper limits, like the branches of a plant; to spread widely apart; shooting too far or widely in growth. |
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Term
Din
[image]
"The rooks are making an awful din today," James said. |
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Definition
| A continuous, loud, and clamourous sound. |
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Term
Lilting
[image]
He was woken by music. It beckoned him, lilting and insistent; delicate music, played by delicate instruments that he could not identify, with one rippling, bell-like phrase running through it in a gold thread of delight. |
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Definition
| Doing something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually music. |
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Term
Copse
[image]
He stood on a snow-mounded hill, with a copse of tall trees capping it far beyond, and two black birds drifting tiny to and fro above the trees. |
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Definition
| A thicket of small trees or shrubs. |
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Term
Consternation
[image]
Will spun round, staring in consternation at the hearth; there was no hint of smoke, or water, or any way in which the fire could possibly have died. |
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Definition
| Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay. |
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Term
Inexorably
[image]
As Merriman whirled him inexorably from one picture to the next, he saw suddenly with a flash of terror the brightest image of all: a masked man with a human face, the head of a stag, the eyes of an owl, the ears of a wolf, and the body of a horse. |
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Definition
| Unable to be persuaded; relentless; unrelenting. |
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Term
Peril
[image]
They hope to gain a hold over you while you are not yet grown into your full power. And this is only the beginning of the peril, Will. |
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Definition
| Imminent danger, exposure to the risk of harm or loss. |
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Term
Cleft
[image]
And in the gap cleft in the darkness there before them, while he still blinked dazzled eyes, stood the two great carved wooden doors through which he had first come into the hall. |
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Definition
| To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut. |
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Term
Thrum
[image]
No sooner did he realise it than he felt giddy, and staggered, clutching his head, a strange ringing sound beginning to thrum in his ears. |
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Definition
| To speak, repeat, or recite in a monotonous tone of voice; drone. |
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Term
Inscrutable
[image]
With the white hair hidden he was a dark figure suddenly, tall and inscrutable. |
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Definition
| Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. |
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