Gloss for the spit-clean
torchlight: when horses fixate on a distant sound
filament: changing from one hand to another
forge: marking of borders with white flowers
otter: archaic word for the fine hair of an infant
spigot: finely carved mantle of walnut
canopied: the size of cotton balls and the color of coffee
saltarello: praying over a case of green figs
madder: a murderess with a vindictive nod
silvered: drips down the walls of your drawing room
thwacking: to go about in a narrow-rimmed hat
mirth: trusting the result of a boat race
linnets: pious maidens, each with a box of French linen
jalousied: draped about with grey moss
coax: to put away sacred relics
patois: large canning houses
bairn: an ecstatic gurgle
deluge: throat troubles
voudoo: blots of shadow and fish
brodequin: to fashion a sort of doll from old clothing
crock: instrument played with a bow or the thumb
parchment: the inlaying of color tiles
lintel: a silver archer's ring
emporium: foot-coverings
trousseau: a footstool in Persian knot-work
traveler: caps for elderly ladies
brackish: want of humidity
mackinaw: beds of salt left by rivers
perduellion: to lead, slyly, in the direction of a nursery
oscillate: to fall a-chatter at sunrise
joule: wrapped in fieldstone and twine
moonraker: waxing of a widow's walk
balustrade: milk station queue
gladdening: descended from the Incas
hawk: fine stone and glass building
timber: a feather-man in a round wheel
cotswold: opera box curtain
queen: vine-hung
carrion: pretty iron fences
autoclave: miniature castle with out-of-doors theatre
sapsago: suffering from exposure
facet: footman's elbow
effigy: at harvest time, to gift with a fine yearling
miterbox: fur wrap, worn for dining
rivulet: to go bareheaded
parapet: time spent in perpetual shiver
triflle: wooden box or cradle which swings out and in
menagerie: suburban sleighing party
gunwale: bearing the mark of an acorn
tablet: female streetcar conductor
jaunty: white flannel skirt
aperture: harbor, in midwinter
widgeon: taking on the appearance of a clergyman
ornament: perpendicular mountain ridge
cleft: carts drawn by four oxen
liveried: adorned with gold anchors
vitreous: open at the throat
kirtle: old German love-song
foundling: a triptych in oil, overpainted
vignette: interior wings
eschew: soliciting the advice of a hermit
swickle: stand upon cracked ice
grosgrain: onset of St. Anthony's fire
ergot: counterfeit bones
shuttlecock: bells worn by sacred animal
alpenstock: making a cooling elixir
laccolith: part bark and part fish
garisol: five percent of the estimated cost
quatrefoil: to telegraph from the road
wuthering: a vague longing to please
Meg Cowen is the author of If Tigers Do Not Come (Palettes and Quills, 2012) and When Surrounded By Fire (Dancing Girl Press, 2012). Her recent work can be found in Passages North, Whiskey Island, interrupture and PANK. She lives, paints, builds furniture, and edits the online journal Pith in the mountains of rural New Hampshire.