Definition (Adjective) Having reached the stage of drunkenness characterized by tearful sentimentality and effusive displays of affection; characteristic of (the behaviour of) someone who has reached this stage. In Context "Gully is a neighbouring farmer who drinks at Shamus Henley's pub in Barntrosna where he grows ever more maudlin about his inability to find a wife." Peter Haining, Editor, Great Irish Drinking Stories, 2002.
Definition (Noun) A covered conveyance, usually for one person, consisting of a large box carried on two horizontal poles by four or six (rarely two) bearers, used especially in South, South-East, and East Asia. In Context "At this time of year the British preferred to travel even the shortest distance by palanquin, hoisted on the shoulders of four Indian bearers." Kate Teltscher, The High Road to China: George Bogle, the Panchen Lama and the First British Expedition to Tibet, 2006.
Definition (Adjective) Permeated or imbued with a smell or aroma; having a particular smell. Also: having a smell suggestive or reminiscent of some quality, feeling, etc. In Context "It is earthy and redolent of dark licorice, and has a pleasant oakiness." Howard G. Goldberg, "Goes with Turkey (or Duck)," The New York Times, November 18, 2012.
Definition (Noun) The feeling of mental weariness and dissatisfaction produced by want of occupation, or by lack of interest in present surroundings and employments. In Context "Young men reaching maturity in deferential and patriarchal societies found a soldier's career attractive precisely because it promised release from the restraints or ennui of the familiar." Dennis Showalter and William J. Astore, Soldiers' Lives Through History: The Early Modern World, 2007.
Definition (Adjective) Of a smell or taste: resembling that of garlic or onions, garlicky; also having such a smell or taste. In Context "In the Middle Ages in southern Europe, food tended to be alliaceous because garlic helped disguise the fact that warm temperatures had turned some of the ingredients bad." Mark Morton, Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities, Second Edition, 2004.
Definition (Adjective) Characterized by silence or disinclination to conversation; reserved in speech; saying little; uncommunicative. In Context "There were times when she was taciturn, but I thought she was still grieving for her mother." Julia Miles, Editor, WomensWork: Five New Plays from The Women's Project, 1989.
Definition (Noun) Smallness of quantity or size; thinness; the presence of something in only small amounts; scantiness; a small or scant quantity. In Context "He had the best library for miles around, yet still there was a paucity of books, a paucity that he turned into an opportunity." Robert L. Dorman, A Word for Nature: Four Pioneering Environmental Advocates, 1845-1913, 1998.
Definition (Adjective) Large or bulky of body; fleshy, fat. In Context "In a documentary I once saw on the BBC about British expatriates in Spain, there was an unforgettable image -- a corpulent Englishwoman in the tiny kitchen of her restaurant on the Costa Blanca, serving up English dinners with roast beef, gravy, three veg, and Yorkshire pudding, the poor woman pink and sweating in the heat of a Spanish summer." Paul Richardson, A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain, 2007.
Definition (Adjective) Having imperfect perception or discernment; lacking in or incapable of understanding or foresight; dim-witted; stupid. In Context "The purblind day was feebly struggling with the fog, when I opened my eyes to encounter those of a dirty-faced little spectre fixed upon me." Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1853.
Definition (Noun) An empty, idle boaster; a swaggerer. The talk of such a person, empty vaunting. In Context "A Berlin reviewer wrote of the film that 'there is an outpouring of more unbearable braggadocio here, more bloated bamboozlement and deceit than in a score of Hitler rallies.'" Steven Bach, Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl, 2007.
