Shakespeare Dictionary
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Generate random Shakespearean insults
Shakespeare's word Meaning (in the sample usage) # Reference(s) Sample usage baffle cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant
knight 5 1. Rich II 1.1 2 HIV 5.3 1. I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here And shall good news be baffled? baggage strumpet, prostitute, woman of loose morals 9 Shrew Ind. MWW 4.2 Ye are a baggage: the Slys are no rogues; you witch, you hag, you baggage, you ... bags money-bags, wealth Shrew balk chop Shrew 1.1 barm froth on ale 1 Mids 2.1 make the drink to bear no barm bawcock fine fellow, literally fine bird 4 TN 3.4 how now, my bawcock! how dost thou, chuck? bemadding maddening, infuriating 1 Lear 3.1 Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow The king hath
cause to plain. bestraught distracted, out of one's mind Shrew Ind. bewray reveal, expose, give away 7 Lear 2.1 3 HVI 1.1 He did bewray his practise. ... the queen, whose looks bewray her anger blank center of a target or interest 18 Lear 1.1 Rich II 2.1 stood within the blank of his displeasure let ... me remain / The true blank of thine eye bolted, bolt refined, high quality, 11 Cor 3.3 1 HIV 3.3 so finely bolted didst thou seem is ill school'd in bolted language botcher tailor who does repairs 1 TN 1.4 let the botcher mend him bottled swollen (many other uses of 'bottle' in the modern sense) 2 Rich III 1.3 Rich III 4.4 bottled spider That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad! brach bitch hound 5 Lear 3.6 1 HIV 3.1 Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out, when
Lady the brach may stand by the fire and stink. ... rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish. brakes a thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with
undergrowth and ferns 16 Mids 2.1 hide me in the brakes brave fine, handsome ( the noted references are to this meaning, but WS also
used in modern sense of gallant & courageous) 149 Shrew Ind. 1 HIV 1.2 Mids 3.2 Lear 3.2 And brave attendants near him when ... O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge. hast thou kill'd him sleeping? O brave touch! This is a brave night to cool a courtezan. breathe, -ing 103 breeching of a young boy Shrew 3.1 bug bugbear, hobgoblin 5 Shrew 1.2 3 HVI 5.2 Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs. For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.
check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or
defeat; to thwart.
1 HIV 1.2
an I do not, call me villain and baffle
me.
a paper containing the substance of a legal
instrument, with spaces left for names, date, etc.
Oth 3.4
new exactions are devised, / As blanks,
benevolences, and I wot not what
sifted, as in flour - the original sense (see
unbolted)
Henry V 2.2
I have given them away to bakers' wives, and they
have made bolters of them.
live, living
breathe, in modern sense
say, vocalize
Shrew 1.1
Rich III 1.1
3 HVI 4.1What's here? one dead, or drunk? See, doth he breathe?
sent before my time/into this breathing
world
durst the traitor breathe out so proud
words?
The
most comprehensive work on this topic is Alexander Schmidt's
Shakespeare Lexicon, a typical turn-of-the-century tome, carried out
with Teutonic thoroughness. I wonder how the pre-computer-era scholars
tackled projects like this; lots of index cards and infinite patience,
I suppose.
Incredibly, the book provides EVERY instance of EVERY word, in context, used by Shakespeare. In any event, for anyone who really enjoys Shakespeare, it's fun to pore over this "volume of forgotten lore," read all the occurrences of "housewife", for example, and ponder the subtle differences of meaning from one usage to the next.
You can order the Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary by Alexander Schmidt (a Dover re-print, 1985) from Amazon.com:
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