The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [3636]
ATOMY - an atom; tiny being (insect)
ATONE - to reconcile, unite
ATTACH - to seize, lay hold on
ATTASKED - taken to task, reprehended
ATTEND - to listen to
ATTENT - attentive
ATTORNEY - an agent
ATTORNEY - agent, deputy; advocate or pleader
AUDACIOUS - spirited, daring
AUGUR (1) - carpenter's tool for creating holes in wood
AUGUR (2) - a prophet; to prophesy (vb)
AUGURE - augury
AUGURER - religious official among the Romans
AUNT - old woman; a gossip
AURICULAR - perceived by the ear
AUTHENTIC - of authority
AUSPICIOUS - favourable; spreading happiness
AVAUNT - order to be gone
AVE - shout of welcome (Latin for hail)
AVE-MARY - recited in saying the Rosary
AVERRING - confirming
AVOID - get rid of
AVOUCH - guarantee; an assurance
AWELESS - fearless; that inspires no awe
AWFUL - respectful; law-abiding
AWKWARD - adverse (invented by Shk), unfavourable; uncouth
AY - yes
AYE - ever
B
BABE - baby; a child's rag doll
BACCARE - stand back!
BACCHUS - the god of wine and the son of Zeus and Semele
BACCHANALS - drunken dance to Bacchus
BACKWARD - what lies behind; in the past
BACK - sound all the way through; rear of an army; support, backing; to mount (invented by Shk)
BACK-FRIEND - a bailiff (usually the bailiff approached from the back to arrest the criminal); false friend
BACKWARD - the past; behind
BACKWARDLY - perversely
BACON - a man from the country
BACON-FED - country-bred (the modern form is "chaw-bacon"); also slang for "fat"
BAFFLE - to disgrace
BAG - to retreat without surrender of any goods
BAIT - to harass (ie "bear-baiting")
BAKED-MEATS - meat-pies, pastry
BALD - naked; bare; bare-headed
BALDRICK - a belt
BALE - evil; mischief; injury
BALK (1) - to let slip; to dispute logic
BALK (2) - a little mound or heap
BALKED - heaped up
BALLOW - syn for cudgel
BALM - to anoint with oil; to sooth, heal (used 3 times in Shk)
BALMY - fragrant and soothing (invented by Shk)
BALSAM - balm
BAN - to curse
BAND - bond; obligation; agreement or promise
BANDY - to strike or throw; to fight; to beat to and fro like a tennis ball
BANE - poison; murder, destruction, cause of death of another
BANK - to coast, skirt
BARM - yeast
BARN (1) - a child
BARN (2) - to store in a barn
BARNACLE - species of goose supposed to be hatched from sea shells
BASE (1) - a boy's game, sometimes called "prisoners' base"
BASE (2) - reason
BASE (3) - dark-coloured; low-lying
BASE-COURT - outer court of a mansion or castle
BASES - pleated skirt of cloth, brocade, or velvet, reaching from waist to knee
BASE-VIOL - an early version of a modern cello
BASILISK - a reptile, said to kill with its breath; large cannon, made of brass
BASIMECU - negative term for a Frenchman
BASTARD (1) - sweet Spanish wine
BASTARD (2) - counterfeit; false
BATE (1) - strife
BATE (2) - a bird's beating wings
BATE (3) - to blunt; to reduce or diminish
BAT-FOWLING - catching birds in the dark with a bright light
BATLET - a small bat, used for beating clothes
BATTLE - army
BAVIN - brushwood
BAWCOCK - a fine fellow
BAWD - procurer
BAY - deep barking; to pursue with barking
BEADSMAN - one paid to pray for others (see hermits)
BEARING-CLOTH - child's christening robe
BEAT - to flutter; to think deeply or ponder
BEAVER - face guard of a helmet
BEDLAM - the Hospital of St Mary of Bethelem in London, used as an insane asylum
BED PRESSER - lazy person
BEEF-WITTED - thick-headed
BEETLE (1) - a kind of mallet
BEETLE (2) - overhang threateningly
BEETLE-BROWS - bushy eyebrows
BEING (1) - life, existence
BEING (2) - abode; dwelling
BELDAME - grandmother; hag
BELLONA - the goddess of war (Macbeth is "Bellona's bridegroom")
BE-METE - to measure
BE-MOILED - to befoul with dirt
BENDING - submissive
BENVENUTO - welcome
BESHREW - curse
BERGOMASK - a rustic dance (named after the people of Bergamo, Venice)
BESTRAUGHT - distracted
BETEEM - to grant
BETIDE - to happen
BEZONIAN - a beggar; rascal
BIDING - abiding-place
BIGGEN - a night-cap
BILBERRY - the whortleberry
BILBO - a sword Comes from the sword