Last modified on June 28, 2021, at 15:50

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1890) is one of the most famous American short stories, as written by Ambrose Bierce. Alfred Hitchcock produced a segment on this as part of his television series, on December 20, 1959,[1] and The Twilight Zone had an episode devoted to this on February 28, 1964.[2]

Word count and vocabulary used

This short story has a word count of 3,804 words, and is in the public domain available on the internet.[3]

Its word choice includes:[4]

  • acclivity (upward slope)
  • adorn (add something attractive)
  • archaic (outdated)
  • ardent (done with intense or enthusiastic emotion)
  • chafe (make sore by rubbing, or figuratively)
  • dictum (a statement by a court of law beyond the narrow issue at hand)
  • diminuendo (steady decrease in loudness in music)
  • efface (removal by erasing or rubbing off)
  • embrasure (an opening through which to fire)
  • frock coat (a knee-length man's coat, front and back)
  • gesticulate (speak through hand movements)
  • idler (one who does not work)
  • obsolete (not used anymore)
  • oscillate (swinging back and forth)
  • poignant (sparking emotion)
  • preternatural (beyond nature)
  • roseate (having a color that is dusty purplish pink)
  • sentinel (one hired to watch for something)
  • vulgar (associated with common people)

References