Emily Dickinson Lexicon

child (-ren, -ren's, -'s), n. [OE cild < root kilth-, whence also Goth. kilthei, womb, inkilthô, pregnant woman.] (webplay: advanced, age, bearing, blow, cast, coldness, country, fear, first, God, grace, humble, ignorant, judgment, mere, morals, principles, race, remote, son, speak, strictness, strong, years, young).

1. Innocent; [fig.] saint; angel; celestial being; chosen one; pure in heart people (see Matt 18:3).
2. Minor; little one; [fig.] uninitiated; not yet confirmed; [metaphor] one of the least in the Kingdom of God (see Matthew 18:2-6; 25:40).
3. Young person of either sex below the age of puberty.
4. One weak in knowledge; a person of immature experience or judgment.
5. Descendants; offspring; posterity; [fig.] spiritual offspring of God.
6. Phrase. “the Chosen Child”: Jesus; the Messiah; the Christ; the anointed Son of God; [generalization] the saint; the disciple; the follower of the Lord.

childhood (-'s), n. [OE cild (see child) + hád, state, condition.] (webplay: belonging, child, country, first, God, grace, ignorant, years).

Early youth; period from birth to puberty; age of one to twelve years; time when a human is young and small; [fig.] innocence; time of physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.

childish, adj. [OE; see child.] (webplay: bearing, country, first, fear, God, speak, strong).

Young; small; [fig.] humble; innocent; naive; pure; trusting; [pejorative] immature; juvenile; petty; inexperienced; limited in scope.

chill (chillest), adj. [see chill, n.]

1. Coldest; most frigid; most frozen; having much freezing weather; [fig.] barren; desolate; lonely.
2. Cool; at a low temperature due to condensation; [fig.] deathly; ominous; foreboding.

chill, n. [OE ciele, cold, coldness.] (webplay: air, cold, day, earth, evening, formal, freeze, gayety, growth, life, warm).

1. Coolness; sensation of cold in the body; [fig.] desolation; bleakness; loneliness of losing a loved one.
2. Loss of body heat; gradual cooling of body temperature due to death.
3. Shiver; thrill of excitement.
4. Cool breeze; wintry wind.
5. Polite insensitivity; unfeeling attitude; emotionally distant aspect; [fig.] lack of warmth; paucity of real affection.
6. Shiver; [fig.] movement caused by a cool breeze.
7. Blast; cold front; column of cool air.

chilled, verbal adj. [see chill, n.]

Cold; exposed to cool elements in the weather; [fig.] alone; lacking the warmth of human contact.

chilly, adj. [see chill, n.] (webplay: day, stops, warm).

1. Frozen; freezing; [fig.] shrouding; death-like.
2. Frosty; icy; not warm; [fig.] aloof; austere; distant; formal; not alive.

Chimborazo, proper n. [Quechua chimpa, opposite shore + Peruvian rasu, snow.]

Volcano; snow-capped mountain in Ecuador; one of the highest peaks of the Andes; point farthest from the earth's center; [fig.] challenge; obstacle; adventure; [historical] Civil War hospital in Richmond, Virginia.

chime, v. [ME < L. cymbalum, cymbal.] (webplay: strike).

Ring; intone; resonate; sound out; produce a musical note from a bell by striking it.

chimney, n. [ME < OFr cheminée, fireplace, chimney < late L. caminus, furnace, forge, oven.] (webplay: corner, smoke).

1. Flue; fireplace passage; brick structure that conveys smoke out of a room; vertical stone channel by which the smoke from a fire escapes from a building.
2. Phrase. “chimney corner”: fireside place; side of a hearth; corner of an open fireplace; seat on each end of the fire grate; [fig.] cozy nook [see corner, n.].