All 3 Uses of
gaunt
in
Wuthering Heights
- Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun.†
p. 2.2 *
- After a short suspense, it was opened by a tall, gaunt man, without neckerchief, and otherwise extremely slovenly; his features were lost in masses of shaggy hair that hung on his shoulders; and HIS eyes, too, were like a ghostly Catherine's with all their beauty annihilated.†
p. 100.6
- 'This morning, when I came down, about half an hour before noon, Mr. Earnshaw was sitting by the fire, deadly sick; his evil genius, almost as gaunt and ghastly, leant against the chimney.†
p. 130.6
Definitions:
-
(1)
(gaunt) very thin and bony -- often from hunger or as though having been worn to the bone
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, gaunt can reference a place such as a landscape or a home, in which case it indicates that the place is bleak or barren.