The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  sense, physical feeling, sensuality, sexual desire, mental apprehension, mind, opinion

  senseless, without feeling or perception, free from sensual sin

  sensible, perceptible, tangible, substantial, having sensation, sensitive, endowed with feeling

  sensibly, having sensation, feelingly

  sentence, sententious saying, maxim

  septentrion, north

  sequel, series

  sequent, succeeding, following

  sequester, separation; to separate

  sequestration, separation, seclusion

  sere, dry, withered

  serpigo, a skin disease

  servanted, subject

  service, what is placed on the table for a meal

  setter, decoy

  several, distinct, different, individual, respective, various

  severally, separately, at different entrances or exits

  sewer, attendant in charge of service at a meal

  shadow, shade; to hide, shelter

  shame, to be ashamed

  shard, piece of broken pottery, patch of cow-dung

  shark, gather hastily together

  shaver, barber, extortioner

  shearman, one who shears woollen cloth

  sheaved, made of straw

  sheep-biter, sneaking rascal

  sheep-biting, sneaking

  shent, blamed, rebuked, reproved

  shift, expedient, resource, trick, set of clothes; for (a) shift, to serve a turn; make (a) shift, contrive, manage

  ship-tire, kind of head-dress

  shive, slice

  shoat, shallow, sand-bar

  shock, to meet with force

  shog, go, shift

  shoot, shooting movement

  shotten, that has spawned, lean

  shoulder-shotten, having a dislocated shoulder

  shove-groat, shovel-board

  shrewd, wicked, mischievous, bad-tempered, dangerous, evil, difficult

  shrewdly, sharply, grievously, intensely, very much

  shrieve, sheriff

  shrift, confession and absolution, penance

  shrill-gorged, shrill-throated

  shrive, to hear confession and absolve

  shroud, protection, sailropes; shelter, hide

  shuffle, use trickery, smuggle, shift

  siege, seat, rank, turd

  sight, visor

  sightless, unseen, unsightly

  silly, helpless, defenceless

  simple, medicinal herb, single ingredient in a compound

  simpleness, innocence, simplicity, foolishness

  simplicity, ignorance, silliness

  simular, pretended, plausible; counterfeiter

  sinfully, with sins unatoned for

  single, slight, trivial, sincere, simple

  singularity, eccentricity, own person

  sinister, left (hand), unfavourable, unjust

  sink, cause to fall, ruin; sewer, drain

  Sinon, a Greek who by guile persuaded the Trojans to take the Grecians’ wooden horse into Troy

  sirrah, form of address used mainly to inferiors

  sith, sithence, since

  size, allowance

  skill, judgement, reason, ability; to make a difference, matter

  skilless, ignorant

  skimble-skamble, confused, rubbishy

  skipper, flighty youth

  skirr, fly, scour

  slab, half-solid

  slander, ill-repute, disgrace, discredit; bring into disgrace, reproach

  slanderous, shameful, disgraceful

  slave, enslave, make subservient to oneself

  sleave, floss-silk, silk untwisted into line threads

  sleeve-hand, cuff

  sleided, (of silk) floss, untwisted into line threads

  sliding, slip

  slip, unleash

  slipper, shifty

  slippery, unstable, fickle

  slipshod, in slippers

  slobbery, sloppy, slovenly

  slops, wide breeches

  slovenly, nasty, disgusting

  slubber, sully, hurry over

  smatch, taste

  smatter, chatter

  smock, woman’s undergarment, woman

  smooth, flatter, gloss over

  smother suffocating smoke

  smug, trim, spruce

  sneap, snub, pinch with cold

  snuff, resentment

  sob, opportunity for a horse to recover his wind, respite

  sod, steeped, boiled

  soiled, fed with fresh-cut green fodder

  soilure, sullying, defilement

  sole, unique, mere, alone

  solely, alone, entirely

  solemnity, ceremony, festivity

  solicit, urging, entreaty; move, stir, bring something about

  sometime, at some time, sometimes, once, formerly

  sonance, sounding, signal

  sonties, saints

  sooth, truth, flattery

  soothe, humour, flatter

  soother, flatterer

  sop, bread or wafer dipped in wine, etc.

  sophister, one using false arguments

  sore, buck, deer, in its fourth year

  sorel, buck, deer, in its third year

  sort, lot, rank, company, group, way, state; allot, ordain, come about, turn out, be suitable, correspond, adapt, fit, classify, choose, contrive, go in company

  sortance, agreement, suitableness

  sound, utter, proclaim, keep sound

  souse, swoop on, pickle

  span-counter, game in which counters are thrown to lie within a hand’s span

  spavin, disease of horses consisting of swelling of joints, producing lameness

  specialty, special characteristic, possession, special contract under seal

  spectacles, organs of sight

  speculation, watcher, power of seeing, sight, looking on

  speculative, seeing

  speed, fortune, outcome, protection, assistance; to fare (well or ill), turn out, be successful, assist, favour

  speeding, successful, fruitful; lot, outcome, success

  spend, consume, exhaust

  sphere, orbit of a planet, one of the concentric globes supposed to revolve round the earth with a harmonious sound

  spherical, planetary

  spial, spy

  spigot, peg in faucet of a barrel

  spill, destroy

  spilth, spilling

  spin, spurt

  spinner, spider

  spinster, spinner

  spital, hospital

  spleen, bodily organ regarded as the seat of emotions; impetuosity, ill-humour

  spoil, plundering, prey, ruin; plunder, seize, destroy

  spot, stain, disgrace, embroidered pattern

  spring, fountain, source, shoot of a plant

  springe, snare for birds

  springhalt, disease of horse characterized by twitching and lameness

  spurn, kick, insult, blow; to kick, oppose scornfully

  square, fair, just; carpenter’s set-square, measure, rule; body of troops in square formation, square of material in bosom of a dress; to regulate, quarrel (among), be at variance

  squarer, quarreller

  squash, unripe peapod

  squiny, look asquint

  staff, shaft of lance, lance, stanza

  stagger, hesitate, waver

  staggers, giddiness

  stain, tinge, to eclipse, dim, be obscured

  stair, ladder

  stair-work, furtive love-making

  stale, decoy, bait, prostitute, laughing-stock, urine (of horses)

  stall, install, keep, dwell, bring (a hunted animal) to a stand

  stamp, stamping tool, coin, medal, distinguishing mark, imprint; to impress, mark with an impression, give approval to

  stanch, satisfy

  stanchless, insatiable

  stand, place where one stands in ambush or in hiding; confront,
oppose, stand firm; stand at a guard with, be fully protected against; stand on, upon, insist on, persist in, depend on, rely on, concern, be the duty or interest of; stand to, have an erection, support, maintain, be firm in, persist in; stand to it, maintain a cause, take a stand

  standard, standard-bearer

  staniel, kestrel

  stare, (of hair) stand on end

  start, sudden invasion, sudden flight, impulse; to startle, rush

  starting-hole, refuge, loop-hole

  starve, die, die of cold, kill or benumb with cold

  state, condition, condition of health or prosperity, rank, dignity, chair of state, throne, nobles, ruling body, government

  station, way of standing, attitude

  statist, statesman

  statute, bond, mortgage

  statute-cap, woollen cap ordered in 1571 to be worn on Sundays and holy days by all below a certain rank

  stay, obstacle; detain, stand, stand firm, wait (for), attend on

  stead, to be of use to, help

  stell, to fix, portray

  stern, rudder

  stew, brothel, stewpan

  stick, stab, be fastened or fixed, hesitate

  stickler-like, like an umpire

  stigmatic, deformed person

  stigmatical, deformed

  still, always, continually

  stillitory, apparatus for distillation

  stilly, softly

  sting, sexual desire

  stint, stop

  stithy, forge

  stoccado, thrust with a rapier

  stock, block of wood, person without feeling, stocking, dowry; set in the stocks

  stockfish, dried cod or other fish, beaten before cooking

  stockish, blockish, unfeeling

  stomach, appetite, inclination, temper, courage, pride, anger; resent

  stomacher, ornamental front over which the bodice was laced

  stone, mirror, thunderbolt, testicle; turn to stone

  stone-bow, cross-bow used for shooting stones

  stoop, (of a bird of prey) swoop

  stop, hole in a wind-instrument, stopped to produce a difference in pitch, fingering of musical chords, fret of a lute; staunch, heal

  store, breeding, increase; to populate

  stout, bold, strong, proud

  stoutness, stubborn pride

  stover, fodder for cattle

  strain, race, character, kind, class, tune; clasp, force, constrain; urge

  strait, narrow, tight-fitting, strict, niggardly; narrow place, difficulty

  strange, foreign, new, not knowing, unfriendly, cold, shy

  strange-achieved, gained at a distance and for others

  strange-disposed, of unusual character

  strangely, coldly, without greeting, as a stranger, to an extraordinary degree, in an unusual way

  strangeness, behaving as a stranger, aloofness, reserve

  strappado, torture in which victim was hoisted up by his arms, which were tied behind his back, then let down halfway with a jerk

  stratagem, deed of violence

  straw, wisp of straw, mark of disgrace for a scolding woman

  stray, body of stragglers; lead astray

  strength, authority, legal power, body of troops

  strewment, strewing of flowers

  stricture, strictness

  strike, to lower (sail), blast, destroy, tap (a cask)

  strong-house, fortified residence, castle

  strossers, trousers

  stubborn, inflexible, stiff, rude, harsh, ruthless

  stuff, semen; cloth

  style, title

  subduement, conquest

  subjection, duty as, or of, a subject

  submission, confession of error

  subscribe, sign, write down, assent, acknowledge, admit, submit, yield up, answer

  subscribed, endorsed with signatures

  subscription, submission

  substantial, sturdy

  substractor, slanderer

  subtle, thin, fine, cunning, treacherous, tricky

  subtlety, illusion

  success, outcome, result, good or bad fortune, succession

  successfully, likely to succeed

  succession, following on, successors, success

  successive, hereditary, descending by succession

  successively, by inheritance

  sufferance, suffering, damage, patient endurance

  suffice, content, satisfy

  sufficient, able, able to meet liabilities, solvent

  suggest, tempt, prompt to evil, insinuate to

  suggestion, prompting to evil, temptation

  sumless, incalculable

  summoner, officer who summoned offenders to an ecclesiastical court

  sumpter, driver of pack-horse, pack-horse

  superflux, superabundance, surplus

  supernal, heavenly

  superscript, superscription, address or direction on letter

  superstitious, idolatrously devoted

  supervise, perusal; look over

  suppliance, pastime

  supply, help, reinforcements

  supposal, opinion

  suppose, supposition, expectation; believe, imagine, guess

  supposition, doubt

  surcease, cessation; cease

  sure, safe, beyond power of doing harm, reliable, united

  surety, confidence of safety, certainty, stability, warrant

  sur-reined, overridden

  suspect, suspicion

  suspire, breathe, draw breath

  sutler, one who sells provisions to soldiers

  swagger, rant, bluster, quarrel

  swaggerer, blusterer, quarreller

  swaggering, quarrelling

  swart, dark, swarthy

  swasher, blustering ruffian

  swashing, swaggering, slashing

  sway, direction, control, sovereignty; to rule, move

  swayed, curved in

  swear, swear out, forswear

  sweat, sweating sickness, sweating cure; take a sweating cure

  sweet, scented; scent

  sweet-gorged, crammed full with sweet foods

  sweeting, sweet variety of apple, term of endearment

  swim, float

  swinge, thrash

  swinge-buckler, roisterer

  sworder, cut-throat, gladiator

  ‘Swounds, by God’s wounds (a strong oath)

  sympathize, to be similarly affected, agree (with), match

  table, tablet for an inscription, writing-tablet, flat surface on which a picture is painted, quadrangular space between chief lines on palm of hand

  table-book, notebook

  tables, backgammon

  tabor, small drum

  tackled stair, rope ladder

  tag, tag-rag, rabble

  tailor, ? sex organ

  take, strike, strike with disease or enchantment, catch, take effect, reckon, measure, write down, accept as true, catch fire, perceive, understand, esteem, take away, conclude; take head, deviate, run off its course; take in, capture; take me with you, speak so that I can understand you; take it on, assume authority; take on, rage, show great distress, pretend; take out, make a copy of; take up, lift, enlist, arrest, buy on credit, rebuke, reprimand, oppose, encounter, make up (a quarrel)

  taking, blasting; state of great excitement or alarm, malignant influence

  tale, numbering one after another, talk, story, falsehood

  talent, measure for a large sum of money

  tall, long, lofty, goodly, line, brave

  tally, stick marked with notches for keeping accounts

  ’tame, broach (a cask)

  tang, ring out

  tardy, delay

  targe, light shield

  tarre, urge, incite

  tarriance, delay, waiting

  tarry, wait, await, remain, delay

  B, tax, impose a task on, occupy, put a strain on, put to proof

 
; tasking, challenge

  tassel-gentle, tercel, male hawk

  tawdry-lace, silk lace or ribbon for the neck

  tax, accusation; blame, accuse, charge

  taxation, claim, demand, slander

  teem, conceive, bring forth, bear children, be fruitful

  teen, affliction, grief, sorrow

  tell, count

  temper, disposition, temperament, mental balance, hardness and elasticity imparted to steel; to compound, mix, persuade

  temperance, mildness of temperature, calmness, chastity

  temperate, chaste, secular

  temporary, secular

  tempt, test, risk

  tenant, vassal

  tend, listen, watch over, attend on, wait (for)

  tendance, attending to, service, people in attendance

  tender, offer, thing offered, care; to exhibit, pay down, care for; sensitive, compassionate

  tender-hafted, tender-hested, gently framed

  tent, probe; to probe, cure (a wound), lodge

  Tereus, see PHILOMEL

  Termagant, violent character, supposedly god of the Mohammedans, in old miracle plays

  termination, expression, term

  termless, indescribable

  tertian, fever returning every third day

  tester, sixpenny piece

  tetter, skin disease

  text, capital letter

  thane, Scottish title or rank, somewhat lower than earl

  thankful, deserving thanks

  theoric, theory

  therefor, for that

  Thetis, a sea-goddess, the sea

  thews, bodily parts, strength

  thick, rapid, dim

  thills, shafts of a cart

  thing, sexual organ

  think, seem

  thought, anxiety, sorrow

  thrasonical, boastful

  three-farthings, thin silver coin, having a profile of Queen Elizabeth with a rose behind the ear

  three-nooked, three-cornered

  threne, threnos, dirge

  thrift, profit, gain, advantage

  thriftless, profitless

  thrum, thread left at end of a warp

  thunder-stone, thunderbolt

  tickle, unstable, precarious; please, provoke, vex, thrash, flatter

  tick-tack, game in which pegs were put into holes; fornication

  tide, time, course

  tidy, plump

  tight, sound, able

  tilt, thrust, fight, encounter

  timeless, untimely, premature

  timely, early, in due season

  tinct, colour, elixir of the alchemists

  tire, equipment, dress, head-dress; attire, prey (on), feed greedily

  tis, this (dialectal)

  tisick, consumptive cough

  Titan, god of the sun, the sun

  titely, quickly, speedily, swiftly

  tithe, tenth; to take the tenth part; tribute

  tithing, district

  tittle, dot