to quip	to make witty or sarcastic remarks
to renounce	to give up
to lay sb up	to cause sb to stay in bed
to posit	to postulate/ to assume sth as a fact
masterly	skillful
to cull	to kill weaker animals
to cotton on	to come to understand
ulterior	hidden
in terms of	as regards
insular	narrow-minded and avoiding contact with other people
construct	an idea formed in one's mind
to evince	to show sth clearly
hokum	nonsense
stopgap	sth that is a temporal substitute for another
harrowing	distressing
chagrin	a feeling of disapproval or annoyance
unversed	inexperienced
listings	an entry in a list or dictionary
harbinger	sth that announces sth
to exude	to flow out slowly
to fall into place	to become clear
utilitarian	practical
to raise sb's hackles	to cause sb to be angry
to jog one's memory	to make sb remember sth (idiom)
hubris	arrogant pride
uncanny	extraordinary
to give the game away	to reveal sb's feelings or a secret
to come clean with	to make an honest confession (idiom)
like-minded	having the same interests, beliefs
to get a word in edgeways	to interrupt sb who is very talkative (idiom)
to prostrate oneself	to lie face down
to perpetuate	to continue
to be in one's good graces	to be favoured (idiom)
deliverance from sth	an instance of being free or rescued from sth
unseemly	unbecoming
to burn one's fingers at	to suffer because of one's foolish behaviour (idiom)