Humpty Dumpty Vocab

Once again I ran into a book that had me reaching for the dictionary. This time it was Humpty Dumpty: An Oval by Damon Knight.

Widdershins – in a left-handed, wrong, or contrary direction

Lysing – to cause to undergo lysis

so I needed to look up-
Lysis – the gradual decline of a disease process (as fever)

Volute – a spiral or scroll-shaped form

Conge – a formal permission to depart
- a ceremonious bow

Plaice – any of various flatfishes

Jalousie – a blind with adjustable horizontal slats for admitting light and air while excluding direct sun and rain

Bibelot – a small household ornament or decorative object

Actinic – of, relating to, resulting from, or exhibiting chemical changes produced by radiant energy especially in the visible and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum

Verbena – any of numerous garden vervains of hybrid origin widely grown for their showy spikes of white, pink, red, or blue flowers which are borne in profusion over a long season

Pantechnicon – short for pantechnicon van (Okay, I'm still not sure. Some sort of transportation anyway. If you're really interested the article at wikipedia might help.)

Odalisque – a female slave
- a concubine in a harem

Oleaginous – resembling or having the properties of oil
- marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality

Courgette - zucchini

Knobkerrie – a short wooden club with a knob at one end used as a missile or in close attack especially by Zulus of southern Africa

Dernier cri – the newest fashion

Cloche – a transparent plant cover used outdoors especially for protection against cold
- a woman’s close-fitting hat usually with deep rounded crown and narrow brim

Boluses – a rounded mass; a large pill; a soft mass of chewed food
- a dose of a substance (as a drug) given intravenously; a large does of a substance given by injection for the purpose of rapidly achieving the needed therapeutic concentration in the bloodstream

Dado – the part of a pedestal of a column above the base; the lower part of an interior wall when specially decorated or faced; the decoration adoring this part of a wall
- a rectangular groove cut to make a joint in woodworking

Bolide – a large meteor; fireball: especially one that explodes

All the definitions came from Webster.com.