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Full Glossary
Neolithic Age designating or of an Old World cultural period (c. 8000-3500 B.C.) characterized by polished stone tools, pottery, weaving, stock rearing, and agriculture.
niggling stingy.
Oligarchical having to do with a form of government in which the ruling power belongs to a few persons.
ossified settled or rigidly fixed in a practice, custom, attitude, etc.
palimpsest a parchment, tablet, etc. that has been written upon or inscribed two or three times, the previous text or texts having been imperfectly erased and remaining, therefore, still partly visible.
pannikin [Chiefly British] a small pan.
philologist someone who studies linguistics.
pig iron crude iron, as it comes from the blast furnace.
pneumatic tube an inner tube, as in a pneumatic tire.
premonitory advising or warning in advance; foreboding.
remonstrances protests, complaints, or expostulations.
ruminant of the cud-chewing animals.
sanguine of the color of blood; ruddy: said especially of complexions.
simian of or like an ape or monkey.
Socialism any of various theories or systems of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of society or the community sharing in the work and the products.
sordid meanly selfish.
spanner [Chiefly British] wrench.
stoneware a dense, opaque, glazed or unglazed pottery containing clay, silica, and feldspar and fired at a high heat.
stratified classified or separated into groups.
subjection a being under the authority or control of another.
superfluous being more than is needed, useful, or wanted; surplus; excessive.
thrush any of a large family of passerine birds, including the European song thrush and blackbird.
titular existing only in title; in name only.
truncheons [Chiefly British] sticks or billy clubs, as used by the police.
varicose ulcer an ulcer resulting from an abnormally and irregularly swollen or dilated vein ("varicose vein").
vilifies uses abusive or slanderous language about or of.