But the hands of one of the gentleman were laid on K.’s throat, while the other pushed the knife deep into his heart and twisted it there, twice. As his eyesight failed, K. saw the two gentlemen cheek by cheek, close in front of his face, watching the result. “Like a dog!” he said, it was as if the shame of it should outlive him.

CLASSIC LITERATURE: WORDS AND PHRASES
adapted from the Collins English Dictionary

Accoucheur NOUN a male midwife or doctor I think my sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom an Accoucheur Policemen had taken up (on my birthday) and delivered over to her (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

addled ADJ confused and unable to think properly But she counted and counted till she got that addled (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

admiration NOUN amazement or wonder lifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

afeard ADJ afeard means afraid shake it – and don’t be afeard (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

affected VERB affected means to assume the appearance of Hadst thou affected sweet divinity (Doctor Faustus 5.2 by Christopher Marlowe)

aground ADV when a boat runs aground, it touches the ground in a shallow part of the water and gets stuck what kep’ you? – boat get aground? (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

ague NOUN a fever in which the patient has alternate hot and cold shivering fits his exposure to the wet and cold had brought on fever and ague (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

alchemy ADJ false or worthless all wealth alchemy (The Sun Rising by John Donne)

all alike PHRASE the same all the time Love, all alike (The Sun Rising by John Donne)

alow and aloft PHRASE alow means in the lower part or bottom, and aloft means on the top, so alow and aloft means on the top and in the bottom or throughout Someone’s turned the chest out alow and aloft (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

ambuscade NOUN ambuscade is not a proper word. Tom means an ambush, which is when a group of people attack their enemies, after hiding and waiting for them and so we would lie in ambuscade, as he called it (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

amiable ADJ likeable or pleasant Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

amulet NOUN an amulet is a charm thought to drive away evil spirits. uttered phrases at once occult and familiar, like the amulet worn on the heart (Silas Marner by George Eliot)

amusement NOUN here amusement means a strange and disturbing puzzle this was an amusement the other way (Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe)