Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1 – The Portrait of a Lady (Khushwant Singh) Word Meaning

 

NCERT Solutions For Class 11 English

Hornbill

Chapter 1 – The Portrait of a Lady (Khushwant Singh)

 

Word Meaning

1. Absurd – Illogical
2. Beads – a small piece of glass or stone threaded with others to make a rosary or necklace
3. Bedlam – confusion
4. Blaze – a very large burning fire
5. Bothered- to be concerned 
6. Cherished – hold something dear
7. Clasped – hold tightly 
8. Contentment – a state of happiness and satisfaction
9. Corpse- dead body
10. Courtyard- verandah
11. Cremated – dispose of or burn a body after it is dead
12. Criss- cross – a pattern of intersecting straight lines
13. Crude – in a natural state, roughly made
14. Customary – traditional
15. Dilapidated – in a state of despair or ruin
16. Distressed – suffer from extremely sorrow, anxiety or pain
17. Earthen- made of baked or fired clay
18. Fables- fictitious stories with a moral teaching
19. Fetch – go for and then bring back something for someone
20. Frivolous – not having any serious purpose, light-hearted
21. Frivolous rebukes – light hearted scoldings
22. Gentlefolk – People of noble birth
23. Growling – making a low guttural sound in the throat 
24. Harlots – Prostitutes
25. Hobbled – walked in an awkward way
26. Imprint – impression or stamp 
27. Inaudible- unable to be heard
28. Lewd Association – Indecent or Obscene
29. Locks- hair
30. Mantelpiece- a structure of wood, marble, or stone above and around a fireplace.
31. Moist- wet
32. Monotonous – dull and boring
33. Omitted – leave out or exclude something
34. Overstraining- overdoing something
35. Pallor – an unhealthy pale appearance
36. Perched – alight or rest on something
37. Persuade – to talk someone into doing something, request
38. Plastered- covered with a layer of plaster
39. Portrait- painting or picture
40. Prophets- saints
41. Protested – express an objection against something or someone
42. Puckered – a face contract into wrinkles
43. Rebuke – disapproval of something or someone
44. Revolting – unpleasant
45. Rosary- a string of beads for keeping count of number of chants made of a religious prayer
46. Sagging – sinking downwards
47. Scattered – disorganized 
48. Scriptures – the sacred writings of a religion 
49. Seclusion – the state of being private and away from the people
50. Sentimental – a feeling of nostaglia, sadness or tenderness; an emotional feeling
51. Serenity – the state of being peaceful and calm
52. Shooed – make a person or animal go away by shouting or saying ‘shoo’
53. Shroud – a piece of cloth used to wrap a dead person
54. Slate- a flat plate of slate formerly used for writing on in schools
55. Snapped- break suddenly and completely 
56. Spinning-wheel – a household machine with a wheel attached to it for spinning yarn
57. spotless white – she wore clean, white coloured dresses
58. Stale- no longer fresh and pleasant to eat; hard, musty, or dry.
59. Stoop – bend one’s body forward
60. Thumped- hit
61. Undignified- disrespectful
62. Untidily – not neat
63. Veritable – use to describe something which is very interesting or unusual
64. Wrinkled- having lines or folds
65. Years rolled by- time passed