settings
Catch-22 vocabulary
268 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
help & settings
[x]
-
keening
-
notes:
{v}
► definition
Definition:a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead. In Ireland and Scotland it is customary for women to wail or keen at funerals. Keening has also been used as part of civil disobedience and protest.Written sources that refer to the practice in Ireland and Gaelic Scotland appear from the sixteenth century on.The Irish tradition of keening over the body during the funeral procession and at the burial site is distinct from the wake — the practice of watching over the corpse – which takes place the night before the burial, and may last for more than one night.text from Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike
► uses
Uses:
The women paint their faces white and wear white shroudlike garments and cry in a high keening voice.
---
"I used to think it was immoral to be unhappy," he continued, as though keening aloud in solitude.
Joseph Heller. Catch-22, p.301 (1961)
---
"What is Esperanza praying for now?" Father Octavio asked Pepe, because the cleaning worman's keening voice could be heard from the Hereafter, too - or at least from as far away as the sidewalk in front of the Jesuit temple.
John Irving. Avenue of Mysteries, p.76 (2015)
---
All the morning long Mat Murnane’s coffin lay on four chairs by his cabin, with a kneeling ring of dishevelled women keening round it.
Humours of Irish Life: Frank Mathew. Their Last Race
---
“Ah, well. It’s an old tale, is all. Why plovers cry as they do, and run keening about their nests like that.” He motioned to the far side of the tarn, where another plover was doing exactly that. He watched the bird for a few moments, abstracted.
Diana Gabaldon. Outlander (1991)
---
—A myriadminded man, Mr Best reminded. Coleridge called him myriadminded.
Amplius. In societate humana hoc est maxime necessarium ut sit amicitia inter multos.
—Saint Thomas, Stephen began...
—Ora pro nobis, Monk Mulligan groaned, sinking to a chair.
There he keened a wailing rune.
—Pogue mahone! Acushla machree! It's destroyed we are from this day! It's destroyed we are surely!
James Joyce. Ulysses
---
The scream came again. And again. And Elizabeth realized what it was. The singing rocks. The sirocco had risen in intensity as was blowing through them, making that terrible keening sound, over and over.
Sidney Sheldon. Bloodline, p.439 (1977)
help with search