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Full Glossary
clout any piece of cloth, esp. one for cleaning.
coil commotion; turmoil.
colliers coal miners.
common bound ordinary limit, with a pun on "bound," as bound to leap about and to be confined.
complain lament as a lover.
conceal'd lady Juliet, Romeo's secret wife.
conceit thought.
conceive understand.
conduct guide.
conduct that is, the poison.
confusion's . . . confusions the solution is not to be found in this uncontrollable grief.
conjuration solemn entreaty.
conjure to summon a demon or spirit as by a magic spell. Mercutio attempts to raise or draw Romeo from his hiding place.
consorted associated with.
cop'st is willing to face or encounter.
cordial an invigorating medicine that stimulates the heart.
cords the rope ladder so that Romeo can climb up to Juliet's balcony.
cot-quean a man who usurped the place of the housewife. The Nurse teases Capulet for the pride and concern he takes in household affairs.
countervail to match or equal.
cousin loosely, any relative by blood or marriage.
cross to thwart.
crow a crowbar.
crystal scales Romeo's eyes are like the pans on a set of crystal scales.
culled picked out; selected.
culling of simples gathering herbs.
curfew bell the bell used especially in the medieval and renaissance periods, which rang in the morning and evening to signal curfew.
Cynthia's brow the moon.
dear employment important purpose.
dear import of serious concern.
death-darting eye of cockatrice a cockatrice is a fabulous serpent supposedly hatched from a cock's egg and having power to kill by a look.
death-mark'd doomed from the outset; fated.
deflowered by him having lost her virginity to him.
demesnes a region or domain. Here Mercutio uses it to refer bawdily to the female genitalia.
demesnes the land around a mansion; lands of an estate.
descry detect.
desperate tender bold offer.
dignity rank, or title.
discoloured bloodstained.
dishclout a cloth for washing dishes.
disparagement disrespect.
Displant a town transplant a town; that is, do the near-impossible.
disposition inclination.
distemperature a disordered condition, especially of the body or the mind.
divinest show excellent appearance.
do I live dead Romeo regards Rosaline's decision to remain chaste as a form of living death.
doff discard.
doom judgment.
doublet a man's close-fitting jacket with or without sleeves, worn chiefly from the 14th to the 16th centuries.
dram potion.
draw your neck out of collar Gregory puns on the word "draw" here, implying that Sampson will draw or slip his head out of a hangman's noose (collar).
drift intention.
drudge a person who does hard, menial, or tedious work.
dull earth Romeo's description of himself.
endart shoot as a dart.
enjoined ordered.
enmity hatred; hostility.
environ'd with surrounded by.
extremes severe difficulties.
faint cold fear fear causing a chilling faintness.
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