Interesting Words

Interesting Words: Lord of the Isles

View this book on Amazon.comOne of the things I often do as I'm reading a novel or short story is keep track of words whose definitions I do not know or that I find interesting. Either way, these interesting words are ones I feel might be of use in my own writing. That, and it's good to expand one's vocabulary every once in a while.

These interesting words were found in David Drake's Lord of the Isles.

breechclouts: a cloth worn about the breech and loins; loincloth

brocade: thick heavy expensive material with a raised pattern

cordage: the ropes in the rigging of a ship

garret: floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage

gunwale: wale at the top of the side of boat; topmost planking of a wooden vessel

hawser: large heavy rope for nautical use

hobnailed: marked by the wearing of heavy boots studded with hobnail (hobnail: a short nail with a thick head; used to protect the soles of boots)

loofah: the dried fibrous part of the fruit of a plant of the genus Luffa; used as a washing sponge or strainer

oarlock: a holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

sluices: conduit that carries a rapid flow of water controlled by a sluicegate

transom: a horizontal crosspiece across a window or separating a door from a window over it

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