Glossary

Glossary

wrecking - ruining, destroying (here, bankruptcy)

indict - accuse or charge someone for a crime and put on trial

testify - give evidence as a witness in court

governor - the way John addresses his father

go on the stand - testify during a trial in the court of law

smash-up - complete collapse (insolvency)

indignantly - angrily

perjure - swear falsely

haggle - argue, disagree

reckoned - calculated

misappropriate - to take other’s money dishonestly for one’s own use

nonplussed - confused, puzzled

baptized of his own ac cord - named, christened voluntarily, without compulsion

technicality - a minor detail

shams - people who cheat others

hypocrites - people who put on a false appearance, pretenders

apprehension - fear

buoyantly - cheerfully

piteously - sympathetically