Vocabulary Dictionary
1. perfunctory—Done routinely and with
little interest or care: The operator answered the phone with a perfunctory greeting.
"Together they waged a perfunctory battle against the outrageous behavior of that place" (4).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/perfunctory
2. palsy—Complete or partial muscle paralysis, often accompanied by loss of sensation and uncontrollable body movements or tremors.
"Not only did she have to live out her yeas in a house palsied y the baby's fury . . ." (5).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Palsy
3. soughing—To make a soft murmuring or rustling sound.
"It shamed her—remembering the wonderful soughing trees rather than the boys" (6).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/sough
4. salsify—A European plant (Tragopogon porrifolius) having grasslike leaves, purple flower heads, and an edible
taproot.
"she who had to bring a fistful of salsify into Mrs. Garner's kitchen every day just to be able to work in it . . . " (22).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Salsify
5. quarry—An open excavation or pit from which stone is obtained by digging, cutting, or blasting.
"doing mule work in a quarry . . ." (41).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/quarry
6. privy—An outdoor toilet; an outhouse.
"to see her squatting in front of her own privy making a mudhole . . . " (51).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Privy
7. incontinence—Lacking normal voluntary control of excretory functions.
"Denver tended her, watched her sound sleep, listened to her labored breathing, and, out of love and a breakneck possessiveness that charged her, hid like a personal blemish Beloved's incontinence" (54).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/incontinence
8.croup—A pathological condition of the larynx, especially in infants and children, that is characterized by respiratory difficulty and a hoarse, brassy cough.
"She was breathing like a steam engine. 'Sounds like croup,' said Paul D . . . " (53).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/croup
9. waspish—Easily irritated or annoyed; irascible.
"turning waspish, though, when Sethe tried to help" (54).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/waspish
10. paterollers—White men hired to patrol the areas around slaveholdings in the pre-Civil War South. Greatly feared because they were often brutal in their treatment of slaves who were found outside alone, especially at night.
"like him, had buried themselves in slop and jumped in wells to avoid regulartors, raiders, paterollers, verterans, hill men, posses and merrymakers" (66).
11. lumbar--folk term for the lung congestion. Usual use: of or relating to or near the part of the back between the ribs and the hipbones
"She still sounds a little lumbar to me" (56).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/lumbar
12. riven—(rive) To rend or tear apart.
"children danced, woman laughed, children cried until, exhausted and riven, all and each lay about hte Clearing damp and gasping for breath" (88).
http://www.freescrabbledictionary.com/sentence-examples/with/riven
13. coffle—A group of animals, prisoners, or slaves chained together in a line.
"Brandywine was leading him, in a coffle with ten others, through Kentucky into Virginia" (106).
http://www.freescrabbledictionary.com/sentence-examples/codg-coll/coffle/
14.flay—To strip off the skin or outer covering of.
"No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it" (88).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Flay
15. roil—To make (a liquid) muddy or cloudy by stirring up sediment. To displease or disturb; vex: My roommate's off-putting habits began to roil me.
"the roiling blood was shaking him to and fro" (107).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/roil
16.dote--To show excessive fondness
or love: parents who dote on their only child.
"Who had not even escaped slavery—had, in fact, been
bought out of it by a doting son . . . " (137).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/dote
17. cobbler--One who mends or makes boots and shoes.
"'She's the best cobbler you ever see,' said Mr. Garner"
(145).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/cobbler
18. unshriven--not having obtained absolution for (oneself) by confessing and doing penance.
"Like the unshriven dead, zombies on the loose, holding the chains in their hands, they trusted the rain and the dark . . . "
(110).
16. indolent--Disinclined to exert oneself; habitually lazy.
"Where she was once indolent, resentful of every task, now she is spry, executing, even extending the assignments Sethe leaves for them" (121).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Indolent
17. rigor mortis--Muscular stiffening following death.
"The hot sun dried Sethe's dress, stiff, like rigor mortis" (153).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/rigor-mortis
18. offal--Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal.
"For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work, if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours . . . " (154).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/offal
19. fleet—Moving swiftly; rapid or nimble.
"why nobody sent a fleet-footed son to cut 'cross a field soon as they saw the four horses . . . " (157).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Fleet
20. cleave—To split with or as if with a sharp instrument.
"This here Sethe talked about love like any other woman; talked about baby clothes like any ohter woman, but what she meant could cleave
the bone" (164).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/cleave
21. upbraid—To reprove sharply; reproach.
"Mistaking her, upbraiding her, owing her, now he needed to let her know he knew, and to get right with her and her kin" (181).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Upbraid
22. shoat—A young pig just after weaning.
"Did you steal that shoat?" (190).
http://unusedwords.com/2013/05/17/shoat-or-geep/
23. juba—Morrison's apparent adaptation of an African word. Her meaning: a form of power. In its usual sense: A group dance, characterized by complex rhythmic clapping and body movements and practiced on plantations in the southern United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.
"Although it shouldn't have mattered because he understood the sound: hatred so loose it was juba" (227).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba
24. rheumy—(rheum) A watery or thin mucous discharge from the eyes or nose.
"Paul D's eyes were rheumy" (235).
http://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/sentences-with-the-word/rheumy.html
25. listless—Lacking energy or disinclined to exert effort; lethargic: reacted to the latest crisis with listless resignation.
"Listless and sleepy with hunger Denver saw the flesh between her mother's forefinger and thumb fade" (242).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Listless
little interest or care: The operator answered the phone with a perfunctory greeting.
"Together they waged a perfunctory battle against the outrageous behavior of that place" (4).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/perfunctory
2. palsy—Complete or partial muscle paralysis, often accompanied by loss of sensation and uncontrollable body movements or tremors.
"Not only did she have to live out her yeas in a house palsied y the baby's fury . . ." (5).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Palsy
3. soughing—To make a soft murmuring or rustling sound.
"It shamed her—remembering the wonderful soughing trees rather than the boys" (6).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/sough
4. salsify—A European plant (Tragopogon porrifolius) having grasslike leaves, purple flower heads, and an edible
taproot.
"she who had to bring a fistful of salsify into Mrs. Garner's kitchen every day just to be able to work in it . . . " (22).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Salsify
5. quarry—An open excavation or pit from which stone is obtained by digging, cutting, or blasting.
"doing mule work in a quarry . . ." (41).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/quarry
6. privy—An outdoor toilet; an outhouse.
"to see her squatting in front of her own privy making a mudhole . . . " (51).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Privy
7. incontinence—Lacking normal voluntary control of excretory functions.
"Denver tended her, watched her sound sleep, listened to her labored breathing, and, out of love and a breakneck possessiveness that charged her, hid like a personal blemish Beloved's incontinence" (54).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/incontinence
8.croup—A pathological condition of the larynx, especially in infants and children, that is characterized by respiratory difficulty and a hoarse, brassy cough.
"She was breathing like a steam engine. 'Sounds like croup,' said Paul D . . . " (53).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/croup
9. waspish—Easily irritated or annoyed; irascible.
"turning waspish, though, when Sethe tried to help" (54).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/waspish
10. paterollers—White men hired to patrol the areas around slaveholdings in the pre-Civil War South. Greatly feared because they were often brutal in their treatment of slaves who were found outside alone, especially at night.
"like him, had buried themselves in slop and jumped in wells to avoid regulartors, raiders, paterollers, verterans, hill men, posses and merrymakers" (66).
11. lumbar--folk term for the lung congestion. Usual use: of or relating to or near the part of the back between the ribs and the hipbones
"She still sounds a little lumbar to me" (56).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/lumbar
12. riven—(rive) To rend or tear apart.
"children danced, woman laughed, children cried until, exhausted and riven, all and each lay about hte Clearing damp and gasping for breath" (88).
http://www.freescrabbledictionary.com/sentence-examples/with/riven
13. coffle—A group of animals, prisoners, or slaves chained together in a line.
"Brandywine was leading him, in a coffle with ten others, through Kentucky into Virginia" (106).
http://www.freescrabbledictionary.com/sentence-examples/codg-coll/coffle/
14.flay—To strip off the skin or outer covering of.
"No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it" (88).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Flay
15. roil—To make (a liquid) muddy or cloudy by stirring up sediment. To displease or disturb; vex: My roommate's off-putting habits began to roil me.
"the roiling blood was shaking him to and fro" (107).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/roil
16.dote--To show excessive fondness
or love: parents who dote on their only child.
"Who had not even escaped slavery—had, in fact, been
bought out of it by a doting son . . . " (137).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/dote
17. cobbler--One who mends or makes boots and shoes.
"'She's the best cobbler you ever see,' said Mr. Garner"
(145).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/cobbler
18. unshriven--not having obtained absolution for (oneself) by confessing and doing penance.
"Like the unshriven dead, zombies on the loose, holding the chains in their hands, they trusted the rain and the dark . . . "
(110).
16. indolent--Disinclined to exert oneself; habitually lazy.
"Where she was once indolent, resentful of every task, now she is spry, executing, even extending the assignments Sethe leaves for them" (121).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Indolent
17. rigor mortis--Muscular stiffening following death.
"The hot sun dried Sethe's dress, stiff, like rigor mortis" (153).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/rigor-mortis
18. offal--Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal.
"For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work, if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours . . . " (154).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/offal
19. fleet—Moving swiftly; rapid or nimble.
"why nobody sent a fleet-footed son to cut 'cross a field soon as they saw the four horses . . . " (157).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Fleet
20. cleave—To split with or as if with a sharp instrument.
"This here Sethe talked about love like any other woman; talked about baby clothes like any ohter woman, but what she meant could cleave
the bone" (164).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/cleave
21. upbraid—To reprove sharply; reproach.
"Mistaking her, upbraiding her, owing her, now he needed to let her know he knew, and to get right with her and her kin" (181).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Upbraid
22. shoat—A young pig just after weaning.
"Did you steal that shoat?" (190).
http://unusedwords.com/2013/05/17/shoat-or-geep/
23. juba—Morrison's apparent adaptation of an African word. Her meaning: a form of power. In its usual sense: A group dance, characterized by complex rhythmic clapping and body movements and practiced on plantations in the southern United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.
"Although it shouldn't have mattered because he understood the sound: hatred so loose it was juba" (227).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba
24. rheumy—(rheum) A watery or thin mucous discharge from the eyes or nose.
"Paul D's eyes were rheumy" (235).
http://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/sentences-with-the-word/rheumy.html
25. listless—Lacking energy or disinclined to exert effort; lethargic: reacted to the latest crisis with listless resignation.
"Listless and sleepy with hunger Denver saw the flesh between her mother's forefinger and thumb fade" (242).
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/Listless