Chapter 35 - The Mast-Head — Vocabulary
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville — key words and definitions
Vocabulary Words from Chapter 35 - The Mast-Head
- expatiate
- To speak or write at length or in great detail about a subject.
- progenitors
- Ancestors or forebears; those from whom a person or group is descended.
- truck
- A wooden cap or block at the top of a mast, often with holes for signal halyards.
- capstan
- A vertical rotating machine used on ships for winding rope or cable; here used to describe Nelson's pedestal.
- evinced
- Revealed or made evident; demonstrated clearly.
- cleats
- Pieces of wood or metal fastened to a surface to provide footholds or secure ropes.
- languor
- A state of physical or mental weariness; a dreamy, relaxed inactivity.
- inhabitiveness
- The quality of being inhabitable or homelike; a sense of domestic comfort (a phrenological term in Melville's era).
- tabernacle
- A dwelling place or sanctuary; in this context, the body as a vessel for the soul.
- tierce
- A cask or barrel holding about 42 gallons, one-third of a pipe.
- binnacle
- A stand or housing on a ship's deck for the compass and a lamp.
- monitions
- Warnings or cautionary advice; formal admonishments.
- ejaculates
- Exclaims suddenly and vehemently; utters abruptly.
- reverie
- A state of dreamy, abstracted meditation or musing.
- inscrutable
- Impossible to understand or interpret; mysterious and impenetrable.