The Thirty-Nine Steps (17 page)

Accoucheur
NOUN
a male midwife or doctor
I think my sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom
an Accoucheur Policemen had taken up (on my birthday) and delivered over to her
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

addled
ADJ
confused and unable to think properly
But she counted and counted till she got that addled
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

admiration
NOUN
amazement or wonder
lifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

afeard
ADJ
afeard means afraid
shake it – and don’t be afeard
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

affected
VERB
affected means followed
Hadst thou affected sweet divinity
(
Doctor Faustus 5.2
by Christopher Marlowe)

aground
ADV
when a boat runs aground, it touches the ground in a shallow part of the water and
gets stuck
what kep’ you? – boat get aground?
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

ague
NOUN
a fever in which the patient has alternate hot and cold shivering fits
his exposure to the wet and cold had brought on fever and ague
(
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

alchemy
ADJ
false or worthless
all wealth alchemy
(
The Sun Rising
by John Donne)

all alike
PHRASE
the same all the time
Love, all alike
(
The Sun Rising
by John Donne)

alow and aloft
PHRASE
alow means in the lower part or bottom, and aloft means on the top, so alow and aloft
means on the top and in the bottom or throughout
Someone’s turned the chest out alow and aloft
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

ambuscade
NOUN
ambuscade is not a proper word. Tom means an ambush, which is when a group of people
attack their enemies, after hiding and waiting for them
and so we would lie in ambuscade, as he called it
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

amiable
ADJ
likeable or pleasant
Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)