Jackson,
pop. 180,000

Historically it was the goods, money or property that a bride brought to her husband at marriage

Use it for gargling

Adjective meaning curved inward, like the inside of a circle or sphere

An amphibian, or being pulled by a boat

Louisville,
pop. 556,000

A group of full-time employees, or the set of 5 horizontal lines on which notes of music are written

An entry-level restaurant job or a labor-saving appliance that does the same thing

Animal subphylum of chiefly aquatic arthropods covered by a hard shell

A path of travel, or a subterranean plant part

Bridgeport,
pop. 140,000

I'd like to call the meeting to order, but I need one of these small mallets

To cover up errors or wrongdoing; perhaps for Tom Sawyer?

Sound waves are used to heat and seal blood vessels in a 21st century version of this process from the Latin for "branding iron"

An adjective being permitted, or an adverb meaning communicated vocally

Manchester,
pop. 110,000

It once meant a notch used to record a tally in a game. That meaning is still used for the cuts that will make your sourdough bake and look better

Hyphenated term meaning lacking in decisiveness

A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction

A lineup for something, or a stick for a game of billiards

Burlington
pop. 39,000

From French for "to ward off", it means to ward off a blow, especially in fencing

Adventurous swordsman

A cruciverbal diversion

Negating adverb, or a half-hitch