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Full Glossary
Tar-water a mixture of tar and water used as a disinfectant or a nasty medicine. Mrs. Joe likes to give this generously to Pip and Joe, whether they need or deserve it.
thowel primitive sort of rowlock or oarlock.
Timon of Athens and Coriolanus two of Shakespeare's plays. The hero of the first is known for speaking abusively and the hero of the second, the beadle, is known for arrogance.
toady fawning, overly interested and obedient to someone to the point of being obviously a liar and actually uncaring.
tobacco-stoppers used to push tobacco into the bowl of a pipe.
tract ornamented with a woodcut a tract was a pamphlet expounding on some topic, usually religious or political. Pictures were often applied by cutting a design into a block of wood, inking the wood, and then pressing it onto the paper.
Traveller's Rest a place that tramps, convicts, or people in hiding (such as a deserting soldier) would have used for a shelter.
trenchant forceful and vigorous. Mrs. Joe has a uniquely forceful way of buttering their bread.
two men up into the Temple to pray reference to the biblical parable from Luke 18:10-13, in which a Pharisee and a publican go into the temple to pray. The Pharisee is proud, while the publican is humble and asks God to forgive him because he is a sinner. Pip is thinking of these verses as he stands at Magwitch's deathbed. Magwitch has just died, and Pip concludes that the best prayer he can make is "Oh Lord, be merciful to him, a sinner!"
two One-Pound notes one-pound notes went out of circulation in England in 1821 because they were so easily and so often forged. This piece of information sets the timing for this part of the novel before 1821. It is also interesting because later in the novel the reader learns that Compeyson and Magwitch were arrested for forgery, though Dickens never confirms if they forged these notes.
vestry a room in a church where the clergy put on their vestments and the sacred vessels are kept. Pip is scared and wants to tell someone about the convict on the marshes. One possibility he thinks of is to wait for the minister to announce the banns of marriage — that is when they announce upcoming marriages and ask if anyone has any objections — and at that moment stand up and ask for a private conference in the vestry. However because it is Christmas, no banns are announced and Pip has no opportunity for help from the Church.
walk all the way to London from Pip's home area, this was a distance of about twenty-six miles.
weazen an obsolete word for weasand, meaning throat.
went upon @'Change the floor of the Royal Exchange — the London Stock Market. Lloyd's, a marine insurance business at the time, operated from this building.
whist a card game that was the forerunner to bridge.
whitewash a mixture of lime, whiting, size, water, and so on for whitening walls. Whiting is a chalk-like material and sizing is similar to glue. It would have been the commonly used material for painting walls in Pip's time.
wine-cooper someone involved in the retail wine trade, especially making, repairing, or filling wine barrels. This was Wemmick's first trade, a far cry from his current legal work.
young person in bed-furniture the person's clothes appear to be made from the curtains off of a four-poster bed.