| antebellum |
in or of the period prior to a war, especially the American Civil War. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| contumacious |
stubbornly disobedient; insubordinate; rebellious. |
| corporeal |
having to do with a physical body; bodily. |
| fracas |
a noisy disturbance or quarrel. |
| glabrous |
having no hair or fuzz; bald; smooth. |
| guttural |
articulated in the back of the mouth; velar. |
| imbricate |
overlapping in an even sequence, as roof tiles or fish scales. |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| intersperse |
to place or scatter among other things. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| mélange |
a mixture, usually of very dissimilar elements. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| requite |
to retaliate for; strike back on account of. |
| welter |
to roll about or wallow, as in mud or the open sea. |