vocab 3

Tuppence: trivial sum “They did not care tuppence about the butterflies, and were only bade more angry when he told them of the beautiful breeze, which they were too heavy to climb up and feel.”

Confusticate: make (something) obscure, unclear, or unintelligible. The absence of a sign, made the road confusticated. 

Vexed: Irritated, distressed, or annoyed- “Asked Gandalf and Thorin, a bit vexed perhaps that even Eldron should have found this out  first.” 

Abominable: very bad or unpleasant. “He could only see the thing’s eyes, but he could feel its hairy legs as it struggled to wrap its abominable threads round and round him” (Tolkien 155). D

Quoits: a ring of iron, rope, or rubber thrown in a game to encircle or land as near as possible to an upright peg. “Even grown-up he had still spent a deal of time at quoits, dart throwing shooting at the wand, bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort- asking riddles and cooking, that I haven’t had time to tell you about. 

Stifling:  making one feel constrained or oppressed. “While Balin, who came last, made a great fuss about his air-hole and said he was stifling, even before his lid was on.”: Meaning:

Lichen: plantlike organism that typically forms a low crusty, leaflike, or branching growth on rocks, walls, and trees.” The entrance to the path was like a sort of arch leading into a gloomy tunnel made by two great trees that learnt together, too old and strangled with ivy and hung with lichen to bear more than a few blackened leaves.”

Frantically (Adverb)- in a distraught way owing to fear, anxiety, or other emotion. “After blundering frantically in the gloom, falling over logs, bumping into trees, and shouting and calling till they must have woken everything in the forest….”

Lamenting: mourn (a person’s loss or death). “They were still standing over him, cursing their ill luck, and Bombur’s clumsiness, and lamenting the loss of the boat.” 

parchingly (adverb): to make extremely, excessively, or completely dry, as heat, sun, and wind do. “That only reminded them that they were also parchingly thirsty, without doing anything to relieve them: you cannot quench a terrible thirst by standing under giant oaks and waiting for a chance drop to fall on your tongue.”

Gloaming: twilight, dusk —- “They dwelt most often by the edges of the woods, from which they could escape at times to hunt, or to ride and run over the open lands by moonlight or starlight; and after the coming of Men they took ever more and more to the gloaming and the dusk.”

Gnarled - knobby, rough, and twisted, especially with age.- “Their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, their leaves were dark and long.”

Downcast- Sad or dejected “Very well!” said Bilbo, very downcast and annoyed. 

Portcullis: A strong, heavy grating that can be lowered down grooves on each side of a gateway to block it. “But the portcullis was often open, for a good deal of traffic went out and in by the water-gate.” (Tolkien 170) 

Toppled: overbalance or become unsteady and fall slowly. “He had stumbled, thrusting the boat away from the bank, and then toppled back into the dark water, his hands slipping off the slimy roots at the edge, while he boat span slowly off and disappeared,” (pg. 135). 

Uncanny: Strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way. “They could not stand that, nor the huge bats, black as a top-hat, either; so they gave up fires and sat at night and dozed in the enormous uncanny darkness.” pg 131

Bough: A main branch of a tree “At any rate here the light was greener, and the boughs less thick and threatening, and they had a chance to rest and draw breath” (165).

Tuppence (Noun) – The sum of two pennies “They did not care tuppence about the butterflies, and were only made more angry when he told them of the beautiful breeze, which they were too heavy to climb up and feel.” (pg 158/159)