Emily Dickinson Lexicon

scorning, verbal n. [ME < Du. 'ridicule, treat with contumely'.]

Unhappiness; suffering; contempt one experiences from other people; [fig.] doubting; lack of faith; disregard towards religion.

scourge (-d), v. [Fr. < L. excoriāta, strip off the hide.] (webplay: straight).

1. Push; beat; drive by blows.
2. Whip; drive by flogging; [fig.] condemn; punish; chastise; correct; pronounce guilty.
3. Force; compel; afflict.

scout (-s), n. [OFr 'action of listening, listener'.] (webplay: send, enemy, sound).

Spy; sentinel; lookout; one sent out ahead of the main force.

scowl (-ed), v. [prob. of Scandinavian origin, 'to look'.] (webplay: heaven).

Frown; draw eyebrows together; express disapproval, dissatisfaction, or displeasure with one's face.

scrabble, n. [Du. schrabbelen, a bad writer, scrawler.] (webplay: children).

Scribble; scrawl; irregular letters; meaningless writing; [fig.] scratching; abrasion; scrape; [possible word play on “rabble”]: mob; riffraff; drunkenness; disorderly conduct among the working class; [metaphor] noise; racket of a factory; commotion of an industry; [fig.] scrambling; struggle; disruption; madness; threat to order; [NW quotes 1 Samuel 21 about David's behavior: “And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.”]

scrap (-s), n. [ON. 'trifles'.]

1. Tatter; remnant; patch; remainder; rag; shred; piece of cloth; odds and ends; [fig.] tiny sparkle; shiny drops; sparkling particle.
2. Bit; left-over; broken piece; detached part; crumb fallen off a table; food remaining after a feast; [fig.] murmur; mumble; partial phrase; short expression; incoherent word.

scream (-ed, -s), v. [ME < OE 'cry, weep'.] (webplay: owl, away).

1. Shriek; emit a shrill sound; release a piercing cry.
2. Crow; make a loud noise.

screen (-s), v. [Of difficult origin.] (webplay: sight).

1. Disguise; conceal the identity of; change the appearance of.
2. Hide; conceal; [fig.] fade away; mitigate; cover the truth; shroud a vision in order to reveal it in a gradual and indirect way.

screw (-s), n. [OFr escroue, female screw, nut.] (webplay: pins, all).

1. Plug; peg; pin; pivot; textured nog; serrated nail used for fastening materials together; pointed fastener with a spiral surface; metal device with a slotted head and a spiral groove going round it from one end to the other; [fig.] nerve; sinew; tendon; [metonymy] body; physical being; material essence.
2. Press; apparatus for extracting the essence; [fig.] craftsmanship; artifice; artistic technical discipline.

scruple, n. [F. < L. 'rough or hard pebble, cause of uneasiness or anxiety'.] (webplay: a man, believe, foot, doubt, life, stop, thing).

1. Remorse; sense of guilt; [fig.] responsibility; sign of involvement.
2. Hesitation; uncertainty.