A Long Way from Chicago: 1934–1942

by Richard Peck
During the Great Depression, Joey and Mary Alice Dowdel spend summers with their eccentric and adventurous grandmother.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–1930, 1931–1933, 1934–1942
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. valise
    a small overnight bag for short trips
    With a powerful arm, Grandma swung Mrs. Wilcox's bulging valise aboard, then a picnic hamper.
  2. distract
    draw someone's attention away from something
    At noon dinner that day Mary Alice and I distracted Grandma with all the excitement we'd left behind in Chicago.
  3. spree
    a brief indulgence of your impulses
    In July they'd killed John Dillinger, Public Enemy Number One. He'd been on a long spree, robbing banks throughout the middle west.
  4. bloat
    become swollen or puff up
    But he was so bloated and shot up that some people said it wasn't Dillinger at all.
  5. rumor
    gossip passed around by word of mouth
    Rumor had it that he was holed up somewhere.
  6. corpse
    the dead body of a human being
    Mary Alice and I had sulked because neither Mother nor Dad would take us to view the riddled corpse.
  7. cadaver
    the dead body of a human being
    When we got back to school in September, everybody would say they'd seen the cadaver.
  8. lope
    run easily
    "Men don't have any idea about women." So I loped uptown by myself, heading for Veech's Gas and Oil, which was man's country.
  9. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    The biggest was a drawing of the giant farm implement shed that Deere & Company was proposing to put up on the block where the old brickyard had been.
  10. rummage
    a jumble of things to be given away
    Next to it a handbill advertised a rummage sale at the United Brethren Church: BRING $ BUY Treasures, Trash, Bric-a-Brac Down-to-Earth Prices Lunch Provided by Our Ladies' Circle.
  11. anvil
    a heavy block on which hot metals are shaped by hammering
    Veech's garage had been the blacksmith shop, and they still kept the anvil inside.
  12. shimmer
    shine with a weak or fitful light
    She stood on the pavement in front of Veech's, shimmering in her loveliness.
  13. gander
    a quick look
    "You probably took a gander at the body the Chicago cops put on display. You reckon it was really Dillinger?"
  14. vicinity
    a surrounding or nearby region
    A car from out of town backfired in the vicinity of the bank, and everybody on the sidewalk dropped down and grabbed gravel.
  15. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    The banker pulled the purse strings of his mouth taut.
  16. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    "Who knows where a rumor starts?" Grandma mused. "Who knows where it'll end?
  17. ponder
    reflect deeply on a subject
    "But a nice state park wouldn't be bad either," Grandma pondered.
  18. gape
    be wide open
    Mr. Weidenbach's gaping mouth hung near his blotter now.
  19. falsify
    make false by mutilation or addition
    Mrs. Dowdel, you falsified those so-called Lincoln items. They're bogus.
  20. glimmer
    a flash of light
    A glimmer of hope showed in the banker's hard eye.
  21. worldliness
    the quality of being intellectually sophisticated
    We both assumed an air of weary worldliness as we climbed down off the Wabash Blue Bird one last time.
  22. bunting
    a loosely woven fabric used for flags, etc.
    The depot was swagged in red, white, and blue bunting.
  23. burrow
    move through by or as by digging
    Mary Alice burrowed under more tissue in the box.
  24. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    Grandma sprawled in her chair, the picture of ease.
  25. conspire
    act in agreement and in secret towards a deceitful purpose
    As I passed through the kitchen, I noticed Grandma and Mary Alice had their heads together, conspiring.
  26. recoil
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    Remembering cottonmouths, I recoiled.
  27. nigh
    near in time or place or relationship
    I drew nigh and planted the kitten on the table beside her.
  28. vermin
    any of various small animals or insects that are pests
    "Chicago people have pets," she said. "But there's a new litter living down in the cobhouse now, and I let 'em. They keep down the vermin.
  29. shrivel
    wither, as with a loss of moisture
    He waved two small, shriveled fists.
  30. medley
    a musical composition consisting of a series of songs
    They did a medley that included "Just a Song at Twilight" and after a round of applause, came back for "Sweet Adeline."
  31. fidget
    move restlessly
    Grandma wasn't about to clap for deputies. She began to fidget.
  32. mire
    an intractable difficulty or embarrassment
    Swing low, sweet Chariot
    And scoop me from the mire;
    Take me up to Glory,
    Snatched from Eternal Fire.
  33. titter
    laugh nervously
    "Crank it up, Lula," somebody called out, and the crowd tittered.
  34. throng
    press tightly together or cram
    While the dew was still on the roses, the road outside Grandma's house was thronged with people coming in from as far away now as Argenta and Farmer City for the parade.
  35. garb
    provide with clothes or put clothes on
    Surrounding him on the flatbed were Eastern Star ladies garbed in Grecian drapings.
  36. stature
    high level of respect gained by impressive achievement
    On a pile of pillows to give him stature sat Uncle Grady Griswold in full uniform.
  37. aloft
    high up in or into the air
    The sun sparkled off the tip of the sword he held aloft.
  38. brandish
    move or swing back and forth
    But by the time we were trundling past The Coffee Pot Cafe and Uncle Grady was brandishing his sword, the applause began.
  39. teeter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    We bumped. I reached for Mary Alice to keep her from tangling in her skirts and pitching off the float. Mrs. Wilcox teetered on her stool.
  40. brawl
    quarrel or fight noisily, angrily or disruptively
    Two of the oldest men alive were brawling in the street, tangled up in each other and Uncle Grady's sword, their small fists throwing punches.
Created on Sat Sep 17 20:01:36 EDT 2016 (updated Wed Sep 12 15:27:45 EDT 2018)

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