To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee Study Help Full Glossary for To Kill a Mockingbird

aberrations a deviation from the normal or the typical.

acquiescence the act of acquiescing; agreement or consent without protest.

acrimonious bitter and caustic in temper, manner, or speech.

aggregation a group or mass of distinct things or individuals.


ambidextrous able to use both hands with equal ease.

Appomattox town in central Virginia., near Lynchburg: In a former nearby village (Appomattox Court House), Lee surrendered to Grant (April 9, 1865), ending the Civil War.

asafoetida a bad-smelling gum resin obtained from various Asiatic plants of the umbel family it was formerly used to treat some illnesses or, in folk medicine, to repel disease.

bantam cock a small but aggressive person; a bantam is a small domestic fowl.

beadle [Obs.] a messenger of a law court.

Big Mules political term referring to modern Alabama power brokers.

Blackstone's Commentaries one of the most important books ever written on British law, written by Sir William Blackstone 1723-80; Eng. jurist & writer on law.

Braxton Bragg Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the summer of 1862 until the end of 1863. Bragg had the distinction of being both recklessly offensive as well as hesitant to the point of ineffectiveness at various times in his career — sometimes in the same battle.



caricatures a picture or imitation of a person, literary style, etc. in which certain features or mannerisms are exaggerated for satirical effect.



champertous having to do with champerty, an act by which a person not concerned in a lawsuit makes a bargain with one of the litigants to help maintain the costs of the suit in return for a share of any proceeds: illegal in most U.S. states.


chiffarobe a wardrobe with drawers or shelves on one side.


climber [Informal] a person who tries to advance socially or in business.

constructionist a person who interprets, or believes in interpreting, a law, document, etc. in a specified way.

cootie [Slang] common head lice.

corroborative making certain; confirming; corroborating.



crepey wrinkled like crepe cloth or paper.


divinity a soft, creamy kind of candy.

Dixie Howell popular University of Alabama football player in the 1930s.

ecclesiastical of the church, the organization of the church, or the clergy.


ex cathedra with the authority that comes from one's rank or office: often specif. with reference to papal pronouncements, on matters of faith or morals, regarded as having authoritative finality.

feral savage; wild.

fey strange or unusual in any of certain ways, as, variously, eccentric, whimsical, visionary, elfin, shy, otherworldly.


foot-washing Baptist rural missionary Baptists who essentially take the Bible literally.

fractious peevish; irritable; cross.

Franklin stove a cast-iron heating stove resembling an open fireplace, named for Benjamin Franklin who invented it.

frog-sticking a method of hunting frogs on bayou banks with a small pitchfork.

furtive done or acting in a stealthy manner, as if to hinder observation; surreptitious; stealthy; sneaky.


ground-itch an itchy allergic reaction caused when parasitic hookworms enter the body through bare feet.

habiliments clothing; dress; attire.

honed it down sharpened it.

hoodoo bad luck, or a person or thing that causes bad luck.




impudent shamelessly bold or disrespectful; saucy; insolent.


johnson grass a forage and pasture grass, widespread in the Southern U.S., often as a weed.

Kudzu a fast-growing, hairy perennial vine of the pea family, with large, three-part leaves: sometimes planted in the South for soil stabilization or forage.


largo slow and stately: a musical tempo.

lavation the act of washing.

lineaments any of the features of the body, usually of the face, esp. with regard to its outline.



Missouri Compromise a plan agreed upon by the United States Congress in 1820 to settle the debate over slavery in the Louisiana Purchase area. The plan temporarily maintained the balance between free and slave states.

monkey-puzzle bushes any araucaria tree; esp., a tall tree with stiff pointed leaves, edible nuts, and hard wood, widely grown as an ornamental.

morphodite comic slang pronunciation of hermaphrodite, a term used to describe a human or animal combining both male and female sexual characteristics or organs.




obstreperous noisy, boisterous, or unruly, esp. in resisting or opposing.

Ol' Blue Light nickname for Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general.


philippic a bitter verbal attack.

popped-the-whip this is in reference to a game in which a group of children line up together hand-in-hand; one end of the line slings itself forward, causing the child at the other end of the line to receive a violent snap.

privy a toilet; esp., an outhouse.

Quarters a particular district or section in a city.



rotogravure a printing process using photogravure cylinders on a rotary press.

ruination anything that ruins or causes ruin.

ruttin' referring to rut, the periodic sexual excitement, or heat, of certain mammals: applied esp. to males.

salt pork pork cured in salt; esp., fatty pork from the back, side, or belly of a hog.

scuppernongs a golden-green grape of the Southern U.S.

Shadrach [Bible] one of the three captives who came out of the fiery furnace miraculously unharmed: Dan. 3:12-27.

snipe hunt practical joke in which the victim is made to sit in the woods with a bag and two sticks in an attempt to capture a creature that doesn't exist.

solicitor in the U.S., a lawyer serving as official law officer for a city, department, etc.

spurious not true or genuine; false; counterfeit.


temerity foolish or rash boldness; foolhardiness; recklessness.

tenet principle, doctrine, or belief held as a truth, as by some group.

thrift any of a genus of dwarf, evergreen, perennial dicotyledonous plants (order Plumbaginales) with narrow leaves and small, white, pink, red, or purplish flowers.

tight [slang] drunk.


touchous [Dial.] touchy.

trousseau a bride's outfit of clothes, linens, etc.

umbrage offense or resentment.



wool short, thick, curly or crispy human hair.


Back to Top

Take the Quiz

By the end of the novel, Scout realizes that