court - to pay amorous attention to, seek to gain the affections of, pay addresses to, woo.
smut - indecent or obscene language
coram - a Latin preposition meaning 'before, in the presence of'.
ex - 'out of'
divorce - fig. To put away, remove, dispel
bedding - a collective name for the articles which compose a bed, esp. the mattress, feather-bed, or other article lain upon, and the bed-clothes.
give away - orig. U.S. slang. To betray, expose (oneself, another person) to detection or ridicule; to let slip (a secret), esp. through carelessness or stupidity.
maud - black woolen fabric (worn in southern Scotland); a hag, beldam.
ninny - a simpleton, a fool
blab - to tell, or reveal indiscreetly
bosom friend - a specially intimate or beloved friend
chore - 'a small piece of domestic work'; Formerly dial. and U.S., but more recently used colloq. of a piece of (time-consuming) drudgery.
madeleine - a (kind of) small rich cake baked in a shell-shaped tin. Sometimes (with allusion to Proust: Proust's Swann's Way I. 61 ''And suddenly the memory returns. The taste was that of the little crumb of madeleine my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea''.) taken as typical of something that strongly evokes memories or nostalgia. Also, in English cooking, a kind of baked pudding or small fancy cake.
ignorant - an ignorant person (Now rare.)
mostly - for the most part, in the main
corporator - a member of a corporation, esp. of a municipal corporation.
maudlin - characterized by tearful sentimentality, mawkishly emotional, weakly sentimental.
to give (a man) his due* - (fig.): to treat him or speak of him with justice, to do justice to any merits he may possess.
thence - from that place, from there; from that, as a source, origin, or cause; (as an inference) from those premisses or data; therefrom.
laundress - a woman whose occupation it is to wash and 'get up' linen.
muddle - to bathe or wallow in mud or muddy water; to mix up blunderingly or sophistically, to confuse together.
maggie - a girl; In full, Maggie Ann (also Maggy Anne): Margarine.
bawneen* - In Ireland: a sleeved waistcoat made from undyed flannel worn by farm-labourers.
Madge - pet-name for Margaret
brownie - a good natured goblin; a sweet bread made with brown sugar and currants; browny - inclining to brown.
Mag - playful shortening of the female name Margaret
ditcher - one who makes and repairs ditches
dastard - a mean, base, or despicable coward; in modern use, esp. one who does malicious acts in a cowardly, skulking way, so as not to expose himself to risk.
mulct - a fine imposed for an offence. Also occas. in wider sense, a compulsory payment (usually implying unfair or arbitrary exaction).
rent - the result of rending or tearing apart; a separation of parts produced by tearing or similar violence; esp. a large tear in a garment or piece of woven stuff.
foreclose - to close beforehand, to answer or settle by anticipation; Law of Mortgage. To bar or exclude (the person entitled to redeem) upon non-payment of money due.
aback - in a position to the rear, in that which is behind, in a backward position.
in arrears - behind in the discharge of duties or liabilities; in indebtedness, in debt.
homelet - a tiny or diminutive home
scald - to produce an injurious effect upon (something) similar to that produced by boiling water.
to beat the bounds - to trace out the boundaries of a parish, striking certain points with rods, etc., by way of a sensible sign patent to witnesses.
sammeln (d) - to gather
gang - any band or company of persons who go about together or act in concert.
allto - Employed in middle and early modern Eng. as an intensive to any verb.
fiver - a five-pound note. In U.S. a five-dollar note.
deuce - slang. Twopence
roamer - one who roams; a wanderer, rambler
caboose* - a hut or poor dwelling; a cooking-oven or fireplace erected on land.
oud - a form of lute or mandolin played principally in Arab countries out
parasang - Persian measure of length, usually reckoned as equal to between 3 and 312 English miles.
Cornish - the ancient language of Cornwall, a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages; it became extinct in the latter part of the 18th c.
token - characteristic, expression
Eastend - the easterly extremity of anything. In mod. use often spec. the eastern part of London.
patrolman - a policeman on patrol duty
towney = towny - of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the town; townish.
tanquam - something that has only an apparent existence, a mere seeming.
mac - a mild oath make
siccar - secure, safe, confident; assuredly, certainly sure
turkling = turtling - the action or occupation of 'fishing' for or catching turtle.
never so - especially, particularly; In conditional clauses, denoting an unlimited degree or amount.
cache - a hiding place, esp. of goods, treasure, etc.
livery - the dispensing of food, provisions, or clothing (cf. 2) to retainers or servants; hence gen., provision, allowance.