CHAPTER 28 — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from CHAPTER 28

abear

Dialectal form of "bear" meaning to endure or tolerate something painful or unpleasant.

druther

Dialectal contraction of "would rather"; to prefer one option over another.

shoal water

Shallow water that is difficult to navigate; used figuratively to mean a dangerous or tricky situation.

rapscallions

Dishonest or mischievous people; scoundrels or rascals.

sand

Courage, determination, or grit; the fortitude to face difficult situations.

erysiplas

Huck's spelling of "erysipelas," an acute bacterial skin infection causing raised, red, painful patches.

yeller janders

Dialectal pronunciation of "yellow jaundice," a condition causing yellowing of the skin and eyes due to liver disease.

consumption

The historical term for tuberculosis, a serious infectious disease that primarily affects the lungs.

ketching

Dialectal form of "catching," meaning contagious or able to spread from person to person.

harrow

A heavy farming implement with metal teeth dragged over plowed land to break up clods and smooth the soil. Huck uses it as an analogy for something impossible to escape.

obleeged

Dialectal form of "obliged," meaning required or compelled by duty or necessity.

pluribus-unum

Huck's comic misuse of "E pluribus unum" (Latin for "Out of many, one," the U.S. motto), used here as a nonsense intensifier meaning something dreadful.

muggins

A foolish or gullible person; a simpleton.

leather-face

A person with a hard, unreadable expression; someone whose face does not betray emotions.

generly

Dialectal form of "generally," meaning in most cases or on the whole.

girafft

Huck's dialectal spelling of "giraffe," used figuratively to describe the king's insatiable greed—swallowing everything like a giraffe with its long neck.