 Spires: tapering conical or piramidal structure on the top of a building (esp.

church towers)
 Scrolled: having an ornamental design or carving resembling a scroll of parchment
 Cotton gins: machine that separates cotton from its seed
 Encroached: intrude on (a person’s territory or a thing considered a right); advance
gradually beyond usual/acceptable limits
 Obliterated: destroy utterly, wipe out; cause to become invisible or indistinct, blot out
 Coquettish: behaving in such a way as to suggest a playful sexual attraction, flirtatious
 Eyesore: very ugly, a building that disfigures a landscape
 Cedar-bemused: full of cedars
 Bemused: puzzled, confused, bewildered
 Edict: official order/proclamation issued by a person in authority
 Alderman: elected member of a municipal council
 Deputation: group of people appointed to undertake a mission/take part in a formal
process in representation of a larger group
 Dim: not shining brightly/clearly
 Dank smell: disagreeably damp, musty, typically cold
 Parlor: sitting room
 Sluggish: slow moving, inactive; lacking energy/alertness
 Tarnished: lose/cause to lose luster, as a result of exposure to air or moisture
 Gilt: covered thinly with gold leaf/paint
 Easel: self-supporting wooden frame for holding an artist’s work while it is painted or
drawn
 Plumpness: quality of having a full rounded shape
 Bloated: swollen with fluid or gas
 Hue: color or shade (matiz)
 Stumbling: tripping or losing balance while walking
 Halt: bring/come to an abrupt stop
 Vanquished: defeat thoroughly (venceido)
 Teeming: be full/swarming with (repleto)
 Diffident: modest or shy because of lack of self-confidence
 Deprecation: to express earnest disapproval of; to urge/protest reasons against; to
depreciate
 Lawn: short, mown grass in a yard/garden/park
 Slunk: move smoothly and quietly with gliding steps, in a stealthy/sensuous manner
 Burglars: person that commits burglary/steals
 Cellar: room below ground level in a house used for storing wine/coal
 Sowing: gerund or present simple of sew (plant seed by scattering it on or in the earth)
 Locusts: large and tropical grasshopper with strong flying powers (langostas)
 Slender: gracefully thin
 Spraddled: (past participle) spread (one’s legs) far apart
 Foreground: part of view nearest to the observer(picture/photograph); make something
the most prominent/important feature
 Clutching: grasp/seize; become nervous/panicked
 Vindicated: clear (someone) of blame/suspicion
 Thrill: sudden feeling of excitement and pleasure; vibratory movement/resonance heard
through a stethoscope
 Despair: complete loss or absence of hope
 Grief: deep sorrow, specially caused by someone’s death; trouble or annoyance
 Robbed: past tense of rob
 Livery stable: stable where horses are kept at livery or let out for hire
 Kinsfolk: “kinfolk”, a person’s blood relation; a group of people related by blood
 Kin: one’s family and relations; related
 Rustling: gerund or present participle of rustle: soft, muffled crackling sound (like the
movement of dry leaves or paper); round up and steal
 Craned: past tense of crane: stretch out one’s body or neck in order to see something;
move (a heavy object) with a crane
 Earthiness: crudity, naturalness, robustness, uninhibitedness
 Imperviousness: incapacity of allowing entrance or passage, of being damaged or harmed,
of getting wet
 Haughty: arrogantly superior and disdainful
 Eyesocket: cavity in the skull which encloses and eyeball with its surrounding muscles
 Glittering: shining with a shimmering/sparkling light; impressively successful or elaborate
 Reins: long, narrow strap attached at one end to a horse’s bit, used to guide or check a
horse’s direction while riding
 Blood-kin: kinned by blood reason
 Cabal: secret political clique or faction
 Circumvent: find a way around: overcome a problem or difficulty in a clever and
surreptitious way; deceive, avoid, outwit, evade
 Thwarted: past tense of thwart: prevent someone from accomplish something
 Virulent: (of a disease or poison) extremely severe or harmful in its effects; bitterly hostile
 Remitted: past tense of remit: cancel/refrain something from exacting or inflicting; send
money in payment or as a gift
 Backbone: the spine, series of vertebrae extending from the skull to the pelvis; chief
support of a system or organization, the mainstay
 Stooped: having the head and shoulders habitually bent forward
 Niche: shallow recess, especially one in a wall to display a statue or other ornament,
comfortable/suitable position in life/employment (nouns); denoting or relating to
products, services that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population (adjective);
place or position something in a niche (verb)
 Impervious: not allowing fluid to pass through
 Doddering: (gerund or present participle) tremble or totter, typically because of old age
 Walnut: large wrinkled edible seed of a deciduous tree consisting of two halves contained
within a hard shell which is enclosed in a green fruit; the tall tree that produces the seed
(nuez; nogal)
 Propped: (past and past participle of prop) position something underneath (someone or
something) for support; underprop
 Moldy: covered with a fungal growth that causes decay, due to age or damp conditions
(moho); tediously old-fashioned; (Brit, informal) dull or depressing
 Hushed: having a calm and still silence; (of a voice/conversation) quiet and serious
 Sibilant: making/characterized by a hissing sound (adj); sibilant speech sound (noun)
 Musing: period of reflection or thought; characterized by it
 Bier: movable frame on which a coffin or a corpse is placed before burial or cremation or
on which it is carried to the grave (féretro)
 Diminishing: (gerund/present participle of diminish) make, become or seem (someone or
something) less (impressive or valuable)
 Meadow: piece of grassland, especially one used for hay; piece of low ground near a river
 Pervading: (gerund or present participle of pervade) (of a smell) spread through and be
perceived in every part of; (influence, feeling or quality) be present and apparent
throughout
 Acrid: irritating, sharp and unpleasant smell
 Pall: cloth on a coffin; a dark cloud of smoke or dust
 decked: (past of deck) decorate or adorn brightly or festively; (inf) knock someone to the
ground with a punch
 Valance: length of decorative drapery attached to the canopy or a frame of a bed in order
to screen the structure or the space beneath it
 Mute: refraining from speech or temporarily speechless; deaden, muffle, or soften to the
sound of
 Profound: (of a state, quality or emotion) very great or intense; (of a person or statement)
having or showing great knowledge or insight; (literary noun) vast depth of the ocean or
the mind
 Lain: past participle of lie
 Grimace: ugly, twisted expression on someone’s face, typically expressing disgust, pain or
wry amusement (mueca, gesto); to make a grimace
 Wry: using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humor
 Cuckolded: (past, past participle of cuckold) (of a man) make another man a cuckold by
having a sexual relationship with his wife
 Rotted: (past, past participle) (chiefly of animal or vegetable matter) decay or cause to
decay by the action of bacteria and fungi; decompose; gradually deteriorate through lack
of attention or opportunity
 Biding: (gerund or present participle) remain or stay somewhere
 Indentation: action of being indenting or the state of being indenting; a deep recess or
notch on the edge or surface of something