The moral power of this verb stands out against Victor's ineffectual name-calling,
reminding us that in some sense "curiosity" (a word with considerable resonance in
the first volume) is sport, as are all open-ended intellectual endeavors associated
with the imagination. The pejorative sense of the word as used here against Victor
is, appropriately, the sense invoked by Victor himself in silently indicting the Creature
during the trial of Justine (I:7:11).