Vocabulary Review

The Man Who Was Poe by Avi

APPARITION

noun a supernatural appearance of a person or

thing, especially a ghost; a specter or phantom; wraith

EXAMPLE: a ghostly apparition at midnight.

BASIN

noun a circular container with a greater width

than depth, becoming smaller toward the bottom, used chiefly to hold water or other liquid, especially for washing.

a partially enclosed, sheltered area along a shore, often partly man-made or dredged to a greater depth, where boats may be moored

EXAMPLE: a yacht basin.

DECREPIT

adjective weakened by old age; feeble; infirmEXAMPLE: a decrepit man who can hardly

walk.

CONJURE

verb to affect or influence by or as if by invocation

or spell.to bring to mind; recall (usually followed by

up)EXAMPLE: to conjure up the past.

DAGUERREOTYPE

noun [duh-gair-uh-tahyp], an obsolete photographic process, invented in

1839, in which a picture made on a silver surface sensitized with iodine was developed by exposure to mercury vapor.

BALUSTRADE

Noun a railing with supporting balusters.

STENCH

noun an offensive smell or odor; stink.

PAUPER

noun a person without any means of support,

especially a destitute person who depends on aid from public welfare funds or charity.

INQUEST

noun a legal or judicial inquiry, usually before a

jury, especially an investigation made by a coroner into the cause of a death; an investigation or examination.

DESOLATE

Adjective having the feeling of being abandoned by

friends or by hope; forlorn.

VORACIOUS

adjective craving or consuming large quantities of

food: a voracious appetite; exceedingly eager

MEDDLE

verb to involve oneself in a matter without right or

invitation; interfere officiously and unwantedly

EXAMPLE: Stop meddling in my personal life

PERIL

noun exposure to injury, loss, or destruction; grave

risk; jeopardy; danger

QUAY

noun a landing place, especially one of solid

masonry, constructed along the edge of a body of water; wharf.

LOITER

verb to linger aimlessly or as if aimless in or about a

place: to loiter around the bus terminal; to move in a slow, idle manner, making purposeless stops in the course of a trip, journey, errand, etc.

EXAMPLE: to loiter on the way to work; to waste time or dawdle over work: He loiters over his homework until one in the morning.

MAUSOLEUM

noun a burial place for the bodies or remains of

many individuals, often of a single family, usually in the form of a small building.

TENEMENT

noun a run-down and often overcrowded apartment

house, especially in a poor section of a large city.

FLORID

adjective reddish; ruddy; rosy: a florid complexion;

flowery; excessively ornate; showyEXAMPLE: florid writing.

PLIGHT

noun a condition, state, or situation, especially an

unfavorable or unfortunate one:EXAMPLE: to find oneself in a sorry plight.

VENGEANCE

noun infliction of injury, harm, humiliation, or the

like, on a person by another who has been harmed by that person; violent revenge

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: But have you the right to vengeance?