packthreads strong, thick thread or twine for tying bundles, packages, etc.
pastern the part of the foot of a horse just above the hoof.
pikes advanced a pike is a weapon used by foot soldiers, consisting of a metal spearhead on a long, wooden shaft; here, the weapons are held in an attacking position.
pillion a cushion attached behind a saddle for an extra rider.
play a jig to perform a fast, gay, springy sort of dance, usually in triple time.
pocket-glass a small telescope; spyglass.
pocket-perspective another type of spyglass.
postillion a person who rides the left-hand horse of the leaders of a four-horse carriage.
prodigy an extraordinary happening; here, meaning that a "brute animal" (the Yahoo, Gulliver) could show possibilities of being a "rational creature."
pudenda the external genitals of the female.
quadrant an instrument similar to the sextant, used by naivgators for measuring the angular distance of the sun, a star, etc. from the horizon.
rack a box of some type for holding grain or some other commodity.
raillery light, good-natured ridicule or satire; banter.
recluse a person who lives a secluded, solitary life; the kind of life hoped for by Gulliver at this time.
Redriff Gulliver's family's home (estate).
repletion the state of having eaten and drunk to excess.
retinue a body of assistants, followers, or servants attending a person of rank or importance.
royal diadems crowns.
rudiments of reason fundamentals of thinking; here, meaning that the Houyhnhnms felt that the Yahoo, Gulliver, might have the possibility of learning how to think.
