- fastenedverbChapter 1 →
Tied or secured tightly so that something cannot move. Here it means Gulliver's limbs have been bound to the ground by the tiny Lilliputians using ropes and pegs.
“I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground”
- foot-clothnounChapter 1 →
A large decorative or practical cloth laid on the floor, used as a mat or rug in an important room. The Lilliputians compare a piece of fabric they find to such a floor covering.
“large enough to be a foot-cloth for your Majesty's chief room of state”
- philosophersnounChapter 1 →
Thinkers who reason carefully about the nature of the world. Swift uses the word in its older sense of learned scholars who make general observations about reality.
“Undoubtedly philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison”
- private AudiencesphraseChapter 2 →
Secret or closed meetings held with a ruler, away from the public court. Having a private audience with the Emperor means meeting him alone, without witnesses.
“Flimnap the Treasurer had private Audiences with the Emperor”
- imprudentadjectiveChapter 2 →
Unwise or reckless in a way that causes trouble for oneself. Gulliver uses it to admit that refusing the Emperor's request was a mistake that put him in danger.
“I was so imprudent as to refuse”
- InstrumentnounChapter 2 →
A tool or means used by someone else to carry out their purpose. Gulliver refuses to be the device through which a free people are forced into slavery.
“I would never be an Instrument of bringing a free and brave People into Slavery”
- ChagrinnounChapter 2 →
A feeling of annoyance, embarrassment, or wounded pride caused by disappointment. The Empress feels this but hides it, showing she is offended by Gulliver's actions.
“The Empress herself was not without some Chagrin, which she concealed with Difficulty”
- fopperiesnounChapter 3 →
Silly, trivial performances or tricks done to amuse others. Gulliver is forced to repeat the same foolish displays over and over for paying audiences.
“as often forced to act over again the same fopperies, till I was half dead with weariness and vexation”
- vexationnounChapter 3 →
A state of irritation and frustration caused by being repeatedly bothered or inconvenienced. It pairs with weariness to show Gulliver is both tired and deeply annoyed.
“till I was half dead with weariness and vexation”
- perniciousadjectiveChapter 4 →
Causing serious harm or destruction, often in a gradual or subtle way. The King uses it to condemn the English as a dangerously harmful species.
“the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth”
- odiousadjectiveChapter 4 →
Extremely unpleasant and deserving of strong dislike or disgust. It intensifies the King's contempt for humanity alongside the word 'pernicious.'
“the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin”
- VerminnounChapter 4 →
Small creatures considered filthy, destructive, and worthless, such as rats or insects. The King applies the word to human beings to express his utter contempt for them.
“the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth”
- reclinedverbChapter 5 →
Tilted or leaning to one side rather than held upright. The Laputans' heads are permanently tilted because they are lost in abstract thought and ignore the physical world.
“Their heads were all reclined either to the right or the left”
- zenithnounChapter 5 →
The point in the sky directly overhead, straight above one's head. One of the Laputan's eyes stares upward toward this highest point of the sky.
“the other directly up to the zenith”
- phraseologynounChapter 5 →
The particular set of words, expressions, and manner of speaking used by a group of people. Gulliver learns the Laputans' specialized vocabulary, which is built around mathematics and music.
“great assistance in acquiring their phraseology, which depended much on that science and on music”
- hermetically sealedphraseChapter 6 →
Closed so completely airtight that no air or gas can enter or escape. The scientist traps sunbeams in glass bottles stopped up in this way to preserve them.
“which were to be put into Vials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the Air”
- extractingverbChapter 6 →
Drawing out or removing something from a source, especially by a scientific or mechanical process. The projector's absurd goal is to pull the energy of sunlight out of cucumbers.
“Eight Years upon a Project for extracting Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers”
- mortifyingadjectiveChapter 6 →
Deeply distressing or humiliating, causing a feeling of shame or horror. Gulliver finds the sight of the immortal Struldbruggs deeply upsetting rather than merely embarrassing.
“They were the most mortifying Sight I ever beheld”
- AntipathynounChapter 7 →
A strong, instinctive feeling of dislike or disgust toward something or someone. Gulliver feels this powerful natural revulsion the moment he sets eyes on the Yahoos.
“one against which I naturally conceived so strong an Antipathy”
- comelyadjectiveChapter 7 →
Attractive and pleasant in appearance. Gulliver uses it to describe the mare as well-formed and good-looking by the standards of the Houyhnhnms.
“I saw a very comely Mare, together with a Colt and Foal, sitting on their Haunches”
- HaunchesnounChapter 7 →
The hips and upper thighs, or the hindquarters of an animal. The horses sit resting on the back part of their bodies, in a posture that mirrors how humans sit.
“a Colt and Foal, sitting on their Haunches upon Mats of Straw”
- EnormitiesnounChapter 8 →
Extremely wicked or monstrous acts. Gulliver fears his master will charge him with the terrible crimes and vices that the servant Yahoo has described about human behaviour.
“I expected every Moment, that my Master would accuse me of those Enormities whereof his Servant had given him a faithful Account”
- prostrateverbChapter 8 →
To throw oneself face-down on the ground as a gesture of total submission and reverence. Gulliver performs this act of deep respect before his Houyhnhnm master at their parting.
“as I was going to prostrate myself to kiss his Hoof”
- QuadrupedsnounChapter 9 →
Four-footed animals. Gulliver uses this formal term to refer to the Houyhnhnms, emphasising their animal bodies while praising their superior moral virtues.
“the many virtues of those excellent Quadrupeds placed in opposite view to human corruptions”
- breach of modestyphraseChapter 9 →
A violation of proper humility; claiming more credit for oneself than is considered acceptable or polite. Gulliver argues that his travels genuinely entitle him to claim superiority without it counting as boasting.
“without breach of modesty, pretend to some superiority, in virtue of my travels”
Gulliver's TravelsNovel by Jonathan Swift