Meaning of porpentine | Babel Free

Definitions

Porcupine.

archaic

Examples

“[T]hese wordes of his moue me as much, / As if a Goose should play the Porpintine, / And dart her plumes, thinking to pierce my brest, […]”

“I could a Tale vnfold, vvhoſe lighteſt vvord / VVould harrovv vp thy ſoule, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy tvvo eyes like Starres, ſtart from their Spheres, / Thy knotty and combined locks to part, / And each particular haire to ſtand an end, / Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine: […]”

“Odd that he [Hamlet's ghost] should have said porpentine when he meant porcupine. Slip of the tongue, no doubt, as so often happens with ghosts.”

CEFR level