THE SILENT COMPANIONS-VOCABULARY

1) twitch = a short, sudden jerking or convulsive movement.

„Her hand twitched by her side, as if she longed to make the old sign against witchcraft.”
2) fortuitous=happening by a lucky chance; fortunate.
„A fortuitous day to start my new journal! Josiah is home early and he brings the best of
news.”
3) herald=a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen.
„The herald is below. Make ready.”
4) amass=gather together or accumulate (a large amount or number of material or things)
over a period of time.
„Ever since we amassed the money to build a great country estate, Josiah has been insisting
that The Bridge will be the making of us.”
5) pinnacle=the most successful point; the culmination.
„I wanted her to share in my joy at this, the pinnacle of our achievement.”
6) fen=a low and marshy or frequently flooded area of land.
„The master serves a King who drained the fens, and they all expect he’ll be after more ship
money soon.”
7) dowager=a dignified elderly woman.
„His mother was a dowager countess before she married his untitled father.”
8) quibble =a slight objection or criticism about a trivial matter.
„There was no quibble with this door; it opened smoothly, gliding over worn carpet without
a catch.”
9) valance=a length of decorative drapery hung above a window to screen the curtain
fittings.
„She pushed back the floor-length curtains, coughing as dust fell from the valances.”
10) refurbish=renovate and redecorate (something, especially a building).
„The horrid nursery would be completely refurbished.”
11) shrubbery =an area in a garden planted with shrubs.
„Harris tended the knot garden on his knees, trimming the shrubbery with precision and
raking the coloured gravel.”
12) surpass =exceed; be greater than.
„I taught her to plant, but she has surpassed me.”
13) tisane =a medicinal drink or infusion, originally one made with barley.
„Sometimes I think it is the tisane flowing through her veins, which causes her flowers to
bloom.”
14) bleat=the weak, wavering cry made by a sheep, goat, or calf.
„The pink, misshapen stump of her tongue moved and a sound came from her throat; not
like speech, more a bleat.”
15) entomb=bury or trap within something.
„A widow shied from the light and entombed herself with grief.”
16) crêpe=a light, thin fabric with a wrinkled surface.
„She became a mermaid drowning in black crêpe, like the Queen.”
17) seclusion=the state of being private and away from other people.
„She must be a terrible wife, for she did not long for seclusion.”
18) squab =the padded back or side of a vehicle seat.
„Sarah sat hunched on the squabs opposite, poring over a battered leather volume.”
19) crone=an ugly old woman.
„She’d been content in her little rut as companion to a crippled old lady until the crone
died.”
20) ratify=to confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction.
„He only seemed to recollect he owned an estate when the lawyers were ratifying their
marriage contract.”
21) envisage=contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.
„She envisaged herself nursing a baby.”
22) cobweb=a spider's web, especially when old and dusty.
"The clock on the mantel swathed in cobwebs.”
23) bramble=a prickly scrambling shrub of the rose family, especially a blackberry.
„Nature was coming into its own, reclaiming the space with brambles and moss.”
24) yank=a sudden hard pull.
„All we can do is yank at it and hope the horses do the rest.”
25) petticoat=an underskirt usually a little shorter than outer clothing and often made with a
ruffled, pleated, or lace edge
„She paused, petticoats lifted above her ankles.”
26) jut=cause (something) to protrude.
„A stringy neck supported its head and flies hovered over its jutting ribs.”
27) backgammon=a board game in which two players move their pieces around twenty-four
triangular points according to the throw of dice, the winner being the first to remove all their
pieces from the board.
„Did Mrs Crabbly ever teach you how to play backgammon, Sarah?”
28) apron=a protective garment worn over the front of one's clothes and tied at the back.
„Two wore white caps and aprons while the third was bare-headed, showing a coil of iron
hair.”
29) bombazine=a twilled fabric with silk warp and worsted filling
„Mud made the bombazine heavy and caused it to cling around her knees.”
30) splinter=a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, glass, or similar material broken off from a
larger piece.
„Splinters of gold flickered before her eyes.”