[begin page 452]
ash-hopper] Funnel-shaped bin in which wood ashes were leached of their alkali, which was in turn used to make soap.
[begin page 453] bar] Sand bar, any deposit of river sediment that forms a shallow place (shoal) or an island.
beat] Idler, loafer, good-for-nothing. Short for “dead beat.”
beatenest] Unsurpassable, not able to be “beaten”; hence, most extraordinary, inexplicable, unaccountable.
big water] The Mississippi River, a translation of the Indian name for the river, from which “Mississippi” is supposed to derive. Huck also says “the old regular Muddy” to refer to the river (129.23).
bitts] Sturdy posts for securing cables on a steamboat. They were fastened in pairs to the deck. About three feet high, the bitts had a cross-piece above the midpoint, forming an H. Kemble has drawn what a riverman would call a “kevel” (illustration on page 89).
blister] Nuisance, irritating creature, characterized by an overweening, irrational persistence.
boom] To go at full speed, roar along.
booming] Splendid, grand, superb (135.16); very, extremely (208.35).
boss] Term of address used toward ostensible superiors, strangers, often by blacks speaking to whites (103.20); best, first-rate, supreme (215.16).
bottoms] Alluvial flood plain of a river, the “river bottom” during flood-stage. Usually fertile, low-lying, and flat. See Huck’s description of the “Illinois bottom” (60.12).
break-down] See the explanatory note to 111.38–112.1.
by de back] Thoroughly. Apparently a reference to marked cards, as in one of Mark Twain’s columns in the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise: “Mr. McCormick, who should be on the detective force regularly, but as yet is there only by brevet, can tell an obscene photograph by the back, as a sport tells an ace from a jack” (“San Francisco Letter,” dated 19 December 1865, clipping in YSMT, 42A). Similarly, in Following the Equator: “I know you—I know you ‘by the back,’ as the gamblers say” (chapter 28).
captain’s door] Door by which the captain entered and left his room in the texas. Huck’s description places it in the center of the forward wall. See diagram, page 405.
[begin page 454] chimbly-guy] Chimney-guy: a thin cable or wire used to steady the chimneys (or smokestacks) of the steamboat. See diagram, page 405.
chute] Narrow channel or bayou outside the main part of the river, navigable only in middle to high water.
close place] Uncomfortably delicate or dangerous position. Huck also says “tight place” (239.6) and “close-fit” (257.15) to mean the same thing.
coarse-hand] Block, as opposed to cursive, lettering. Huck also says “coarse print” (242.20) to mean the same thing.
coase comb] Coarse comb: a comb with large or widely spaced teeth, the opposite of a fine-tooth comb. Used as a crude musical instrument by wrapping it in paper and blowing against the side.
come any such game on] To play any such trick on.
Congress-water] Mineral water bottled at Congress Spring in Saratoga, New York.
cross-hall] Narrow hallway at right angles to the texas hall, opening through a door onto the hurricane deck on both sides of the texas. Usually about two-thirds of the way from the captain’s door to the stern of the texas. See diagram, page 405.
crossing] See the explanatory note to 78.23–29.
cross off] To thwart, obstruct, hinder.
dam] To bear young.
dead beat] Worthless idler who never pays his own way, sponger, loafer.
dog my cats] Mild imprecation (“dog” for “damn”), suggesting surprise or annoyance. It can also be found in the contemporary dialect writing of Clemens’s friends John Hay and Joel Chandler Harris (Hay 1871, 22; Joel Chandler Harris 1883a, 9).
double-hull ferry boat] Steam ferryboat in which the deck is supported by two distinct hulls, with the paddle-wheel situated between them.
down in de bills] Written down in the specifications, hence predestined, foreordained.
down the banks] Scolding, reprimand.
fox-fire] Rotten wood that emits phosphorescent light (caused by fungi).
freeze] To yearn, long for intensely (169.15); to cling to, hold firmly or tenaciously (282.10).
[begin page 455] gabble] Intimate, eager conversation (264.25); to jabber, prate, talk rapidly and foolishly (274.20).
gars] Long, spear-like fish of various kinds, commonly deemed inedible.
gone to grass] Gone to the devil, expired, ruined.
grand bulge] Most difficult or critical phase of an enterprise.
gumption] Sense, practical understanding, quick perception of the right thing to do under unusual circumstances.
hark from the tomb] Serious or earnest reproof, as in Isaac Watts’s “A Funeral Thought”:“Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound; | My ears, attend the cry— | ‘Ye living men, come, view the ground | Where you must shortly lie.’ ”
have it for breakfast] To save or postpone something.
hive] To capture, catch, get (14.33); to appropriate, take without permission, steal (225.33).
holt] Hold, grip, grasp. A “best holt” is one’s specialty or title to attention (161.4); “let go all holts” means to relax one’s grip, hence to abandon all restraint (284.23).
hollow] See the explanatory note to 15.3.
horse-bill] Handbill advertising a stallion available for breeding.
hunch] To nudge.
jackstaff] Pole on the bowsprit of a steamboat, used as a steering aid by the pilot, who aligned it with a given point on the horizon. See diagram, page 405.
janders] Jaundice.
jour printer] Journeyman printer: one who has completed his apprenticeship and is qualified to practice the trade, usually taking work by the day. See the explanatory note to 160.37.
juice-harp] Jew’s harp.
law] Lord (also “laws”). “Lawsy” (128.5) derives from “Lordy,” “law sakes” (278.6) from “for the Lord’s sake”; “laws-a-me” (278.18) and “lawsamercy” (348.38) derive from “Lord have mercy.”
meeky] To move in a retiring manner.
melodeum] Melodion (or melodium): a reed organ, resembling a small square piano, popular in the nineteenth century. One variety, when the single foot-pump was operated inexpertly, produced a displeasingly uneven sound.
[begin page 456] mud-cat] Variety of catfish abounding in the Mississippi River, not highly prized for eating because of its coarse, muddy-tasting flesh.
mullet-headed] Stupid, dull. A mullethead is a variety of freshwater fish known for its stupidity.
nigger-head] Strong, black tobacco of an inferior grade, twisted or pressed into a flat cake or plug.
pat juba] See the explanatory note to 111.37–38.
pilot house] Topmost structure on a steamboat, housing the wheel and signaling devices used by the pilot. It was usually situated above the texas, far forward on the texas deck, with windows on all sides—all but the forward side glassed in. See diagram, page 405.
pow-wow] To hold a meeting for discussion, to confer (14.35); any kind of din, uproar, loud noise or racket (158.22).
quarter] To sustain a position behind a vessel. The view from any vessel is divided into four parts: the port bow and starboard bow forward, and the port quarter and starboard quarter astern.
sand in my craw] Pluck, courage, determination. Huck also says “sand” for short (244.11). A bird’s craw uses sand to digest hard morsels like seeds; hence, to have “sand in your craw” is to be able to digest or face something difficult.
scoop] To grab, gather up without ceremony, often surreptitiously (15.7); to vanquish, gain the advantage of, beat (326.24).
scrouch] To scrooch, crouch, or huddle down.
shake the reefs out of my hind legs] To put on speed. From the nautical expression “to shake out a reef,” that is, to enlarge a sail by unfurling one of its smaller reef sections, thereby increasing speed.
show up] To present (oneself) for scrutiny or examination.
size their style] To equal or match their characteristic manner; to estimate correctly their level of sophistication.
skylight] Short for “skylight roof,” the part of the texas deck covering the skylight, a row of transom-like windows (often stained or etched) that ran the length of or even wholly encompassed the main cabin. See diagram, page 405.
slept in our cravats] Were hanged.
slop] To plod, tramp, or travel through a place in mud or slush. At 75.28–29 Huck “slopped through the timber” to gain dry land, and at 149.32 the Grangerford’s slave “slopped” back through the swamp where he [begin page 457] and Huck had just “waded ancle deep as much as half a mile.” Contrasts with “slope,” to make off, decamp, or leave suddenly (see The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, chapter 34: “Tom, we can slope, if we can find a rope”).
soul-butter] Pious and sentimental words, perhaps in the sense of unctuous self-flattery.
spread around] To assume airs, show off.
spread-eagle] Extravagant (170.7).
stand from under] To avoid something falling or thrown from aloft, hence to get to a safe place, avoid danger or punishment.
swap around] To change from one place or subject to another (2.13) (also “swap about,” 45.13). To “swap knives” is to change plans or tactics (282.4).
texas] Officers’ cabin of a steamboat, situated on the hurricane deck, usually below the pilothouse and above the main cabin (see diagram, page 405).
tow-head] Small, recently formed island. Huck defines it as “a sand-bar that has cotton-woods on it as thick as harrow-teeth” (77.25). Mark Twain elsewhere wrote “tow-head (i.e., new island),” a definition for which he recorded the supposed etymology: “Towhead means infant—an infant island, a growing island—so it is said” (Life on the Mississippi, chapter 23; N&J2, 471).
tow-linen] Coarse cloth woven from spun flax, hemp, or jute.
trot-line] Long, sturdy fishing line to which shorter hooked lines are attached at intervals. Secured at one end to the river bank, it was used primarily to catch bottom feeders, such as catfish.
up to the hub] Deeply, fully, without reservation. The reference is to a wheel sunk up to the axle in mud.
valley] Valet.
whollop] Wallop.
without a j’int started] Effortlessly, without strain, without displacing a single joint.
wood-flat] Raft or barge for transporting wood.
wood-rank] Stacked firewood, wood-pile.
yaller-jackets] Gold coins. Huck also says “yaller-boys” to mean the same thing (214.15).
GLOSSARY
Among the lasting achievements of Huckleberry Finn is the ready accessibility of its language: most of its words and idiomatic expressions still require no gloss. We have, therefore, confined the entries here to words and phrases about which there is likely to be genuine uncertainty, or about which we have specialized knowledge pertinent to Mark Twain’s meaning. When vernacular words or phrases (most oaths, for example) are wholly intelligible, we have not defined them. When words or phrases are to a degree obscure and are not readily found in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, we have included them. If a word has more than one meaning (for instance, “spread-eagle”), some of which are in Webster’s and some not, we define only the omitted meaning. A few troublesome dialect spellings are glossed only with the canonical spelling, as an aid to finding the definition in Webster’s. A few words and phrases have proved more readily defined in the explanatory notes, to which the reader is referred in each case. All entries have been alphabetized letter by letter, always beginning with the first word of a phrase, even when that is a preposition.
The following dictionaries, glossaries, and other sources have been used to prepare the definitions: Bartlett; Bates; Burchfield; Century Dictionary; Clapin; Craigie; De Vere; Farmer; Farmer and Henley; Gove; Louis C. Hunter; Maitland; Mitford M. Mathews; Neilson, Knott, and Carhart; OED 1933; Partridge; Ramsay and Emberson; Smyth; Thornton; Watts; Way; Webster [1870], 1884, 1889, and 1894; Wentworth; and Worcester.
allycumpain] Elecampane: hardy, European herb naturalized in the United States and commonly used in folk medicine. A white powder made by boiling the root is applied externally or internally, for lung diseases and for skin disorders, such as psoriasis and eczema. Spelling varied widely in the nineteenth century: elicampene, alycompaine, allicampane.ash-hopper] Funnel-shaped bin in which wood ashes were leached of their alkali, which was in turn used to make soap.
[begin page 453] bar] Sand bar, any deposit of river sediment that forms a shallow place (shoal) or an island.
beat] Idler, loafer, good-for-nothing. Short for “dead beat.”
beatenest] Unsurpassable, not able to be “beaten”; hence, most extraordinary, inexplicable, unaccountable.
big water] The Mississippi River, a translation of the Indian name for the river, from which “Mississippi” is supposed to derive. Huck also says “the old regular Muddy” to refer to the river (129.23).
bitts] Sturdy posts for securing cables on a steamboat. They were fastened in pairs to the deck. About three feet high, the bitts had a cross-piece above the midpoint, forming an H. Kemble has drawn what a riverman would call a “kevel” (illustration on page 89).
blister] Nuisance, irritating creature, characterized by an overweening, irrational persistence.
boom] To go at full speed, roar along.
booming] Splendid, grand, superb (135.16); very, extremely (208.35).
boss] Term of address used toward ostensible superiors, strangers, often by blacks speaking to whites (103.20); best, first-rate, supreme (215.16).
bottoms] Alluvial flood plain of a river, the “river bottom” during flood-stage. Usually fertile, low-lying, and flat. See Huck’s description of the “Illinois bottom” (60.12).
break-down] See the explanatory note to 111.38–112.1.
by de back] Thoroughly. Apparently a reference to marked cards, as in one of Mark Twain’s columns in the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise: “Mr. McCormick, who should be on the detective force regularly, but as yet is there only by brevet, can tell an obscene photograph by the back, as a sport tells an ace from a jack” (“San Francisco Letter,” dated 19 December 1865, clipping in YSMT, 42A). Similarly, in Following the Equator: “I know you—I know you ‘by the back,’ as the gamblers say” (chapter 28).
captain’s door] Door by which the captain entered and left his room in the texas. Huck’s description places it in the center of the forward wall. See diagram, page 405.
[begin page 454] chimbly-guy] Chimney-guy: a thin cable or wire used to steady the chimneys (or smokestacks) of the steamboat. See diagram, page 405.
chute] Narrow channel or bayou outside the main part of the river, navigable only in middle to high water.
close place] Uncomfortably delicate or dangerous position. Huck also says “tight place” (239.6) and “close-fit” (257.15) to mean the same thing.
coarse-hand] Block, as opposed to cursive, lettering. Huck also says “coarse print” (242.20) to mean the same thing.
coase comb] Coarse comb: a comb with large or widely spaced teeth, the opposite of a fine-tooth comb. Used as a crude musical instrument by wrapping it in paper and blowing against the side.
come any such game on] To play any such trick on.
Congress-water] Mineral water bottled at Congress Spring in Saratoga, New York.
cross-hall] Narrow hallway at right angles to the texas hall, opening through a door onto the hurricane deck on both sides of the texas. Usually about two-thirds of the way from the captain’s door to the stern of the texas. See diagram, page 405.
crossing] See the explanatory note to 78.23–29.
cross off] To thwart, obstruct, hinder.
dam] To bear young.
dead beat] Worthless idler who never pays his own way, sponger, loafer.
dog my cats] Mild imprecation (“dog” for “damn”), suggesting surprise or annoyance. It can also be found in the contemporary dialect writing of Clemens’s friends John Hay and Joel Chandler Harris (Hay 1871, 22; Joel Chandler Harris 1883a, 9).
double-hull ferry boat] Steam ferryboat in which the deck is supported by two distinct hulls, with the paddle-wheel situated between them.
down in de bills] Written down in the specifications, hence predestined, foreordained.
down the banks] Scolding, reprimand.
fox-fire] Rotten wood that emits phosphorescent light (caused by fungi).
freeze] To yearn, long for intensely (169.15); to cling to, hold firmly or tenaciously (282.10).
[begin page 455] gabble] Intimate, eager conversation (264.25); to jabber, prate, talk rapidly and foolishly (274.20).
gars] Long, spear-like fish of various kinds, commonly deemed inedible.
gone to grass] Gone to the devil, expired, ruined.
grand bulge] Most difficult or critical phase of an enterprise.
gumption] Sense, practical understanding, quick perception of the right thing to do under unusual circumstances.
hark from the tomb] Serious or earnest reproof, as in Isaac Watts’s “A Funeral Thought”:“Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound; | My ears, attend the cry— | ‘Ye living men, come, view the ground | Where you must shortly lie.’ ”
have it for breakfast] To save or postpone something.
hive] To capture, catch, get (14.33); to appropriate, take without permission, steal (225.33).
holt] Hold, grip, grasp. A “best holt” is one’s specialty or title to attention (161.4); “let go all holts” means to relax one’s grip, hence to abandon all restraint (284.23).
hollow] See the explanatory note to 15.3.
horse-bill] Handbill advertising a stallion available for breeding.
hunch] To nudge.
jackstaff] Pole on the bowsprit of a steamboat, used as a steering aid by the pilot, who aligned it with a given point on the horizon. See diagram, page 405.
janders] Jaundice.
jour printer] Journeyman printer: one who has completed his apprenticeship and is qualified to practice the trade, usually taking work by the day. See the explanatory note to 160.37.
juice-harp] Jew’s harp.
law] Lord (also “laws”). “Lawsy” (128.5) derives from “Lordy,” “law sakes” (278.6) from “for the Lord’s sake”; “laws-a-me” (278.18) and “lawsamercy” (348.38) derive from “Lord have mercy.”
meeky] To move in a retiring manner.
melodeum] Melodion (or melodium): a reed organ, resembling a small square piano, popular in the nineteenth century. One variety, when the single foot-pump was operated inexpertly, produced a displeasingly uneven sound.
[begin page 456] mud-cat] Variety of catfish abounding in the Mississippi River, not highly prized for eating because of its coarse, muddy-tasting flesh.
mullet-headed] Stupid, dull. A mullethead is a variety of freshwater fish known for its stupidity.
nigger-head] Strong, black tobacco of an inferior grade, twisted or pressed into a flat cake or plug.
pat juba] See the explanatory note to 111.37–38.
pilot house] Topmost structure on a steamboat, housing the wheel and signaling devices used by the pilot. It was usually situated above the texas, far forward on the texas deck, with windows on all sides—all but the forward side glassed in. See diagram, page 405.
pow-wow] To hold a meeting for discussion, to confer (14.35); any kind of din, uproar, loud noise or racket (158.22).
quarter] To sustain a position behind a vessel. The view from any vessel is divided into four parts: the port bow and starboard bow forward, and the port quarter and starboard quarter astern.
sand in my craw] Pluck, courage, determination. Huck also says “sand” for short (244.11). A bird’s craw uses sand to digest hard morsels like seeds; hence, to have “sand in your craw” is to be able to digest or face something difficult.
scoop] To grab, gather up without ceremony, often surreptitiously (15.7); to vanquish, gain the advantage of, beat (326.24).
scrouch] To scrooch, crouch, or huddle down.
shake the reefs out of my hind legs] To put on speed. From the nautical expression “to shake out a reef,” that is, to enlarge a sail by unfurling one of its smaller reef sections, thereby increasing speed.
show up] To present (oneself) for scrutiny or examination.
size their style] To equal or match their characteristic manner; to estimate correctly their level of sophistication.
skylight] Short for “skylight roof,” the part of the texas deck covering the skylight, a row of transom-like windows (often stained or etched) that ran the length of or even wholly encompassed the main cabin. See diagram, page 405.
slept in our cravats] Were hanged.
slop] To plod, tramp, or travel through a place in mud or slush. At 75.28–29 Huck “slopped through the timber” to gain dry land, and at 149.32 the Grangerford’s slave “slopped” back through the swamp where he [begin page 457] and Huck had just “waded ancle deep as much as half a mile.” Contrasts with “slope,” to make off, decamp, or leave suddenly (see The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, chapter 34: “Tom, we can slope, if we can find a rope”).
soul-butter] Pious and sentimental words, perhaps in the sense of unctuous self-flattery.
spread around] To assume airs, show off.
spread-eagle] Extravagant (170.7).
stand from under] To avoid something falling or thrown from aloft, hence to get to a safe place, avoid danger or punishment.
swap around] To change from one place or subject to another (2.13) (also “swap about,” 45.13). To “swap knives” is to change plans or tactics (282.4).
texas] Officers’ cabin of a steamboat, situated on the hurricane deck, usually below the pilothouse and above the main cabin (see diagram, page 405).
tow-head] Small, recently formed island. Huck defines it as “a sand-bar that has cotton-woods on it as thick as harrow-teeth” (77.25). Mark Twain elsewhere wrote “tow-head (i.e., new island),” a definition for which he recorded the supposed etymology: “Towhead means infant—an infant island, a growing island—so it is said” (Life on the Mississippi, chapter 23; N&J2, 471).
tow-linen] Coarse cloth woven from spun flax, hemp, or jute.
trot-line] Long, sturdy fishing line to which shorter hooked lines are attached at intervals. Secured at one end to the river bank, it was used primarily to catch bottom feeders, such as catfish.
up to the hub] Deeply, fully, without reservation. The reference is to a wheel sunk up to the axle in mud.
valley] Valet.
whollop] Wallop.
without a j’int started] Effortlessly, without strain, without displacing a single joint.
wood-flat] Raft or barge for transporting wood.
wood-rank] Stacked firewood, wood-pile.
yaller-jackets] Gold coins. Huck also says “yaller-boys” to mean the same thing (214.15).
[begin page 458] [begin page 459] [begin page 460]