The Prisoner of Zenda (38 page)

fox-fire
NOUN
fox-fire is a weak glow that is given off by decaying, rotten wood
what we must have was a lot of them rotten chunks that's called fox-fire
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

frozen sea
PHRASE
the Arctic Ocean
into the frozen sea
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

gainsay
VERB
to gainsay something is to say it isn't true or to deny it
“So she had,” cried Scrooge. “You're right. I'll not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!”
(
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens)

gaiters
NOUN
gaiters were leggings made of a cloth or piece of leather which covered the leg from the knee to the ankle
Mr Knightley was hard at work upon the lower buttons of his thick leather gaiters
(
Emma
by Jane Austen)

galluses
NOUN
galluses is an old spelling of gallows, and here means suspenders. Suspenders are straps worn over someone's shoulders and fastened to their trousers to prevent the trousers falling down
and home-knit galluses
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

galoot
NOUN
a sailor but also a clumsy person
and maybe a galoot on it chopping
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

gayest
ADJ
gayest means the most lively and bright or merry
Beth played her gayest march
(
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott)

gem
NOUN
here gem means jewellery
the mountain shook off turf and flower, had only heath for raiment and crag for gem
(
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë)

giddy
ADJ
giddy means dizzy
and I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly; you make one quite giddy. (
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll)

gig
NOUN
a light two-wheeled carriage
when a gig drove up to the garden gate: out of which there jumped a fat gentleman
(
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)

gladsome
ADJ
gladsome is an old word meaning glad or happy
Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks
(
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens)

glen
NOUN
a glen is a small valley; the word is used commonly in Scotland
a beck which follows the bend of the glen
(
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë)