A Pipe of Poe @ 200

a pipe of

The Portuguese word for barrel is pipa. A pipe is, in fact, a large, lengthy barrel or cask with tapered ends. It’s used for aging and shipping wine.

a priori

Found by deduction. Derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions.

abductor muscle

Any muscle used to pull a body part away from the midline of the body. For example, the abductor muscles of the legs spread the legs away from the midline and away from one another.

Abernethy

John Abernethy was a British surgeon known for being very blunt or even rude to his patients.
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abeyance

Suspension, temporary inactivity.

about a league

Originally, a league was the distance a person could walk in 1 hour, usually about 3 miles. In English units, during the 19th century, it was most often 3 nautical miles, or 3.45 miles. While the nautical mile is still used today, the league is no longer used to measure distance.

Most people know the term “league” from the title of the book by Jules Verne, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. The number in this story refers to the distance travelled by the fictional submarine, not how deep it went. The deepest part of any ocean on earth is just over 7 miles.

abstruse

Difficult to understand.

accede

To express approval or give consent; give in to a request or demand.

accoutred

dressed, clothed, outfitted.

acrid

Sharp and harsh or unpleasantly pungent in taste or odor.

acumen

Keenness and depth of perception. Power to see what is not evident to the average mind.

acute

1. An angle less than 90 degrees, like the angles of a triangle.
2. Characterized by sharpness or severity, such as acute pain.
3. Sensitive physical or intellectual perception, like an acute sense of smell or an acute thinker.

ad libitum

In accordance with desire.

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