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Quiz Monkey |
See also Definitions, Adjectives, Prefixes and Suffixes.
Note that the suffix "–ocracy" actually means "power", while "–archy" means "rulership".
Q: What is (a/an) |
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A: |
Ablution |
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Washing (used especially in a religious context) |
Acolyte |
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Lowly servant or attendant (originally a church official) |
Aglet |
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Alb |
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Long white tight–sleeved vestment, worn by a priest |
Amanuensis |
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One who writes to dictation (or copies written documents) |
Ambisinistrous |
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Equally clumsy with both hands (opposite of ambidextrous) |
Anchorite |
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Hermit (from the Greek meaning to withdraw) |
Aphonia |
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Loss of voice |
Aquaculture |
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Farming of aquatic organisms (fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants) |
Arbalest |
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Mediaeval crossbow |
Arras |
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Tapestry (hanging from a wall – named after the city in Picardy,
Northern France) |
Atavism |
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Reversion to ancestral type |
Aureate |
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Golden or gilded |
Autonym |
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Real name (not a pseudonym) |
Ayah |
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Native Hindu nurse, or nanny, for European children |
Baldric(k) |
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Belt or shoulder sash, worn by a warrior (or a Morris dancer!) |
Barouche |
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Horse–drawn carriage (four wheels, two seats plus one for the driver) |
Basinet or basnet |
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Helmet (sometimes with a visor) |
Bassinet |
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Cradle (of wicker–work) |
Bastinado |
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Caning the soles of someone's feet, as punishment |
Benefice |
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Church living held by vicar or rector |
Besom |
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Broom (made from a bunch of twigs) |
Biretta |
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Priest’s hat |
Bombast |
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Raw cotton used as stuffing |
Breviary |
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Book of prayers, hymns, psalms etc. – condensed for daily use |
Brougham |
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Horse–drawn carriage |
Burlap |
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Coarse fabric ( hemp) |
Cadaver |
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Corpse |
Canula |
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Tube |
Carboy |
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Large globular coloured glass jar, enclosed in basket–work |
Carrack |
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Merchant ship sailed in the Mediterranean in the 15th and 16th centuries |
Cartography |
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Map–making |
Cartomancy |
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Telling fortunes with cards |
Catachresis |
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Misuse of a word (e.g. ‘flaunt’ for ‘flout’) |
Cenotaph (literally) |
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Empty tomb |
Centesimal |
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One hundredth (of something) |
Chambray |
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Fabric |
Charnel House |
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Place for storing corpses (or bones) |
Chiromancy |
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Palmistry (telling fortunes from people's palms) |
Clepsydra |
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Consanguinity |
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Blood relationship |
Crapulence |
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Excessive consumption (of food or alcohol) |
Creel |
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Wicker–work basket (worn on the back or suspended from the shoulder,
used especially by anglers for carrying fish) |
Cruciverbalist |
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Someone who is interested in (setting or solving) crossword puzzles |
Cuneiform |
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Wedge–shaped |
Cutpurse |
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Pickpocket |
Dactylogram |
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Fingerprint |
Dandy–horse |
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Early type of bicycle (driven by kicking the ground) |
Destrier |
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Horse (knight’s charger) |
Digamy |
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(Legal) second marriage |
Dottle |
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The wet and sour–smelling mass of unburned tobacco found at the
bottom of a tobacco pipe |
Dragée (dra–JAY) |
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Small edible cake decoration (e.g. sugared almonds, silver balls) |
Drakkar |
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Viking longship |
Drupe |
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Dysphonia |
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Disturbance of normal vocal function; difficulty in speaking |
Eagre or eager |
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Tidal bore (as on the Severn or Nile) |
Encomium |
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Hymn of praise (eulogy) |
Ephemeral |
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Lasting for only one day |
Epidiascope |
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Overhead projector (strictly speaking, a predecessor to the
'modern' instrument) |
Eructation |
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Belch (or burp) |
Felucca |
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Small fishing vessel, used on the Nile |
Feretory: contains |
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Relics of saints |
Fipple |
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Plug in mouth of wind instruments |
Fumitory |
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Fast–growing wild plant |
Funambulist |
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Tightrope walker |
Gallivat |
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Small armed vessel, used on the coast of Malabar (India) |
Gamin |
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Street urchin; a precocious or mischievous child |
Ger |
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Portable dwelling (tent) used by nomads in the steppes of central Asia (cf.
Yurt) |
Gospel |
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Good news (from the Greek, via Old English) |
Grimalkin |
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(Old English word for a) (she) cat |
Guipure |
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Lace |
Ha–ha |
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Sunken fence |
Haruspicy: telling fortunes by |
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Animal entrails |
Hassock |
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Stuffed stool for kneeling on (or a tuft or tussock of grass, etc.) |
Hebdomad |
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A group of seven, including seven days – a week |
Howdah |
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Seat on an elephant |
Hummum |
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Turkish bath |
Hydroponics |
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Growing plants without soil (usually in water, using mineral solutes) |
Imbroglio |
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Confused, tangled affair – an embroilment |
Incumbent |
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Clergyman in receipt of a benefice |
Karateka |
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Someone who practices karate |
Kilim
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Oriental rug |
Killick |
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Small anchor |
Knout |
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Whip (made of knotted rope) |
Lapidation |
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Stoning to death |
Leman |
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Mistress, lover (archaic, poetical) |
Libation |
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Drink (originally a liquid offering to the Gods) |
Lorgnette |
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Loupe |
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Magnifying lens (as used by jewellers etc.) |
Lycanthrope |
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Werewolf |
Mahout |
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Elephant driver or handler |
Mandoline |
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Tool for slicing food (e.g. vegetables, eggs) |
Mangonel |
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Mediaeval siege catapult |
Martingale |
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Part of a horse’s harness |
Mastication |
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Chewing |
Mattamore |
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Subterranean dwelling or storehouse |
Merkin |
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Pubic wig |
Metempsychosis |
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Reincarnation |
Miniver |
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White fur (ermine) |
Misogamy |
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Fear or dislike of marriage |
Mop (West Country) |
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(Hiring) fair |
Motley (used as a noun) |
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Multicoloured cloth; hence a jester’s costume, or jester |
Nacre |
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Mother of pearl |
Natation (natatorium) |
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Swimming (pool) |
Necropolis |
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Cemetery |
Nephogram: photograph of a |
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Cloud |
Nictation |
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Winking |
Numnah |
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Saddle–cloth pad |
Obideau |
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Sluice gate |
Odalisk |
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Female slave or concubine |
Orogenesis: formation of |
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Mountains |
Orrery |
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Mechanical model of the Solar System |
Osculation |
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Kissing (also, in geometry, something to do with curves touching circles) |
Ossification: formation of |
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Bones |
Paean |
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Hymn of praise or thanksgiving |
Palanquin |
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Enclosed chair carried on the shoulders of two men |
Palfrey |
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Horse (with a smooth gait instead of a trot – often ridden by a woman) |
Palliasse |
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Straw mattress |
Parsimony |
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Meanness |
Pedagogue |
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Teacher |
Pelerine |
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Shoulder cape with elongated sides |
Pelotherapy |
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Therapeutic use of mud |
Peruke |
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Wig (from the French perruque) |
Phaeton |
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Open four–wheeled carriage, drawn by one or two horses |
Philtre |
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Love potion |
Poltergeist (literally) |
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Noisy spirit |
Polyandry |
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Polyglot |
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Speaks more than one language |
Polygraph |
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Polygyny (poly–GUY–nee) |
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Poniard |
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A long, lightweight thrusting knife or dagger |
Portmanteau |
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Trunk or suitcase |
Postern |
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Gateway (especially a sealed one) |
Postilion |
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One who rides a post horse or one of the horses pulling a carriage |
Prairie schooner |
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Covered wagon |
Promnesia |
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Deja vu |
Propinquity |
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Proximity, nearness |
Proselyte |
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Religious convert (especially to Judaism) |
Psalter |
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Book of psalms |
Pug or pugmark (of an animal) |
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Footprint |
Ramekin |
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Small, glazed ceramic dish used for serving (individual portions of)
food |
Recabite |
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Tee–totaller (after Recab in the Bible) |
Redd (Scottish) |
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Spawning ground (in a river) or the spawn itself |
Reflexology |
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Treatment of ills by manipulating the soles of the feet |
Reliquary |
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Place where religious relics are kept |
Reticule |
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Lady’s handbag |
Rhabdomancy |
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Water divining |
Rugosity |
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Wrinkle |
Sabra |
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Jew born in Israel (from the Hebrew for a prickly pear) |
Samovar |
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Tea urn |
Saraband |
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Dance (slow, stately Spanish) |
Scuttlebut (to a sailor) |
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Drinking vessel |
Shawm |
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Musical instrument |
Silviculturalist |
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Tree specialist |
Sommelier |
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Butler or wine waiter (from the French) |
Somnambulism |
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Sleepwalking |
Somniloquy |
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Sleeptalking |
Spurtle (Scots) |
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Stick (or spoon) used to stir porage; or a sword |
Stich |
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Line of poetry |
Stoup: another word for a |
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Baptismal font |
Surtout (19th century – sur–too) |
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Overcoat or frock coat |
Susurration |
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Whispering or murmuring |
Symposium (originally – Greek) |
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Drinking party |
Tachycardia |
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Rapid pulse rate or heartbeat |
Tachygraphy |
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Shorthand |
Tachypnoeia |
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Rapid breathing |
Tandoor |
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Clay oven |
Tanka |
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Japanese poem (five lines) |
Tarpan |
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Horse |
Tasseography |
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Telling fortunes from tea leaves, coffee grounds or wine sediment (etc.) |
Termagant |
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Boisterous bully (especially a woman) |
Thurible |
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Incense burner |
Thurifer |
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Someone that swings a thurible |
Tintinnabulation |
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The sound of bells ringing |
Toposcope |
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A graphic tablet at a viewpoint (typically on top of a hill or mountain), showing
the direction and distance to notable locations |
Toque |
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Close–fitting cap |
Toque blanche |
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Chef's hat |
Toxophily, toxophilite |
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Archery, archer |
Treen |
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Wooden artefact(s) |
Triskelion |
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Three–legged symbol (e.g. Isle of Man, Sicily) |
Troglodyte |
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Cave dweller |
Turophile |
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Tyg |
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Two–handled drinking cup |
Ululate |
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To howl or wail with grief |
Utopia (literally) |
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No place (nowhere) |
Uxoricide |
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Murder of one’s wife |
Valetudinarian |
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An invalid, or a hypochondriac |
Vaticinisation |
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Prophecy (power of) |
Ventriloquism (literally) |
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Speaking from the stomach |
Wicca |
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Pagan religion or witchcraft |
Xebec |
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Sailing ship (used on the Mediterranean) |
Yacuza |
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Japanese gangster (or organised crime gang) |
Yurt |
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Turkish name for the Mongolian ger |
Zamarra |
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Spanish sheepskin jacket |
Zuona |
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Turkish bagpipe |
© Haydn Thompson 2017–23