1 clear a strip surrounding a clearing which will be burnt to prevent the fire from spreading.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

“I suppose you know what I’ve come about,” she said, a little shamefacedly.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

During the pathetic appeal with which it concludes, a stifled sob attracted our attention to Perdita, the cessation of the music recalled her to herself, she hastened out of the hall—I followed her.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Most persons, at their first entrance, felt impelled to remove their hats, and pay such reverence as was due to the richly-dressed and beautiful young lady who seemed to stand in a corner of the room, with oaken chips and shavings scattered at her feet.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

[63] Without begging any question concerning the origin, ethnology, or homogeneity of those who are called ‘Picts’ in history, from the times of Ammianus Marcellinus and Claudian until Kenneth MacAlpine united the Pictish kingdom with the Scottish, we can nevertheless accept the fact that the name ‘Pict’ has been popularly applied to some pre-Celtic race or races, to whom certain ancient structures, such as ‘vitrified forts’ and ‘Picts’ houses’ have been attributed.
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. (Walter Yeeling) Evans-Wentz

Baby seemed quite used to this mode of proceeding, for he put his thumb in his mouth (as if it were quite a thing of course), and seemed soon absorbed in his own reflections, while the mother seated herself, and taking out a long stocking of mixed blue and white yarn, began to knit with briskness.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

SYN: Smooth, pacify, compose, allay, still, soothe, appease, assuage, quiet, tranquilize.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

To begin with, at its base there was a square of blue cardboard, representing a temple with porticoes, colonnades, and stucco statuettes all round, and in the niches constellations of gilt paper stars; then on the second stage was a dungeon of Savoy cake, surrounded by many fortifications in candied angelica, almonds, raisins, and quarters of oranges; and finally, on the upper platform a green field with rocks set in lakes of jam, nutshell boats, and a small Cupid balancing himself in a chocolate swing whose two uprights ended in real roses for balls at the top.
— from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

“I hope you’ll call again,” she said, as he was saying good night to her brothers.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London

Her father, inveterate smoker that he was, lit his cigarette and sat silent and self-absorbed for a long time.
— from If Sinners Entice Thee by William Le Queux

‘The generous bearing of Francisco Gonzales, and the high deeds of Ruy Diaz the Cid, are still sung amongst the fastnesses of the Sierra Morena.’
— from The Pocket George Borrow Passages chosen from the works of George Borrow by George Borrow

Within a few moments she appeared––a symphony of blonde broadcloth set in black furs, very charming and chic, and so solicitous about Aunt Belle’s recently removed mole and the scar left by the electric needle, and so admiring of the two newly beautified ladies that they were quite won in spite of themselves.
— from The Gorgeous Girl by Nalbro Bartley

The chauffeur alone smiled skeptically as he examined the spark plugs of his engine.
— from Georges Guynemer: Knight of the Air by Henry Bordeaux

When Sir John Lawrence returned to London, one of the first things he did was to call at South Street, and leave, with a little note, “a small shawl of the fine hair of the Thibet goat.”
— from The Life of Florence Nightingale, vol. 2 of 2 by Cook, Edward Tyas, Sir

It irked him to separate himself from pipe and newspaper, baggy coat and slouchy slippers, and his corpulent frame objected to stairs; but when he had guests he considered it his duty to toil up after them, in patent shoes and dining costume, and sit amongst them until music or card games were on the way, when he would retire as unobtrusively as his size and heavy footstep permitted.
— from Sisters by Ada Cambridge

The captain lit another cigar, and sat smiling at his paper until the dawn crept up from the east.
— from The Spider and the Fly; or, An Undesired Love by Charles Garvice

Soda glass is mainly a mixture of calcium and sodium silicates, and is distinguished by its low melting point, which makes it easy to work at moderate temperatures.
— from Acids, Alkalis and Salts by George Henry Joseph Adlam

[Pg 121] “Yes, it’s them good-for-nothin’—” began Aunt Maria; but she gulped and something warm and wet trickled down her wrinkled cheeks, as she stopped and pulled two dear-loved heads, one green and the other black, into her arms.
— from Wild Folk by Samuel Scoville