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David Copperfield Dictionary

Words many people don't know when reading David Copperfield
There is a wish list - missing definitions you are very welcome to contribute

Read definitions of :
 * Capricious * Caul   * Doctors' Commons * Precipice
* Precipitation * Proctor * Remittance * Strait-waistcoat

Page 2

Caul 
From David Copperfield ch. 1:
"I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas."

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1) The inner embryonic membrane of higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth),

2) Part of the peritoneum attached to the stomach and to the colon and covering the intestines.

Barron's note: A caul is a piece of fetal membrane occasionally found on a baby's head at birth. Though it was considered good luck, David's birth hour was considered unlucky, so his prospects are already uncertain. A caul was said to protect against drowning; drowning will later play a significant role in the novel. 

 

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