Terms from Great Expectations

TERMS FROM GREAT EXPECTATIONS

STAGE ONE ague – fever marked by regularly recurring chills. battery – a military fortification equipped with guns.

Beggar my Neighbor – a card game in which the object is to acquire all of the opponent’s cards; to beggar means “to make poor” and also “to make seem inadequate.”

Bildungsroman – a novel that deals with the development of a young person usually from adolescence to maturity. bolting – eating too fast and swallowing food whole. bound out of hand – made an apprentice immediately. corn-chandler – a grain merchant farden – dialect for farthing, a coin equal to one fourth of a penny. forge – a place where metal is heated; a blacksmith shop. gibbet – a structure like a gallows, from which the corpses of criminals would be hung as a warning to others.

Hulks – an old ship, no longer seaworthy, used as a prison. indentures – contracts binding people to work for another person for a specified period of time. larks – “good times” n.b. – stands for a Latin term “note bene.” It means “Note well” or “Pay attention.” portmanteau – a stiff leather suitcase that opens into two compartments. tar water – an unpleasant tasting liquid made from the bark of a tree. STAGES 2 AND 3 beadle – messenger of a law court.

Botany Bay – the site of a former British penal colony near Sydney, Australia.

“Change” the Royal Exchange in London, where merchants met to conduct business. coddleshell – mispronunciation of codicil, an addition to a will. collier – a ship for carrying coal.

Covent Garden – a market area of London, famous for its many theaters and fashionable coffee houses. freehold – real estate that can be passed on through inheritance.

Lloyd’s – an association of merchants that specialized in insuring ships and publishing shipping information.

Newgate – the principal prison of London from the thirteenth century until it was torn down in 1902. It was rebuilt after rioters burned it in 1780. Public executions were carried out in front of its gates from 1783 to 1867.

Nore – a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames where it meets the sea. packet-boat – a boat that travels a regular routes carrying passengers, freight, and mail. plummet – a lead weight.

The Temple – a large complex of buildings with apartments, located on the Thames.

Thames – the large river that flows through London.