Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: First Part: Chapters 17–24

by Jules Verne
Board the Nautilus and travel under the sea with the mysterious Captain Nemo as you learn these words from the science fiction novel by Jules Verne. Read the full text, translated from the original French by F.P. Walter, here.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: First Part: Chapters 1–8, First Part: Chapters 9–16, First Part: Chapters 17–24, Second Part: Chapters 1–7, Second Part: Chapters 8–14, Second Part: Chapters 15–23
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unique
    radically distinctive and without equal
    This forest was made up of big treelike plants, and when we entered beneath their huge arches, my eyes were instantly struck by the unique arrangement of their branches—an arrangement that I had never before encountered.
  2. bizarre
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
    I soon grew accustomed to this bizarre arrangement, likewise to the comparative darkness surrounding us.
  3. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    I observed that all these exhibits from the vegetable kingdom were attached to the seafloor by only the most makeshift methods.
  4. anomaly
    deviation from the normal or common order, form, or rule
    "It's an odd anomaly in this bizarre element!"
  5. illusion
    an erroneous mental representation
    to complete the illusion, minnows flitted from branch to branch like a swarm of hummingbirds, while there rose underfoot, like a covey of snipe, yellow fish from the genus Lepisocanthus with bristling jaws and sharp scales, flying gurnards, and pinecone fish.
  6. superb
    of surpassing excellence
    A wall of superb rocks stood before us, imposing in its sheer mass: a pile of gigantic stone blocks, an enormous granite cliffside pitted with dark caves but not offering a single gradient we could climb up.
  7. spectrum
    an ordered array of the components of an emission or wave
    With great promptness, the light reappeared and grew stronger; and the refraction of the sun, already low on the horizon, again ringed the edges of various objects with the entire color spectrum.
  8. magnificent
    characterized by grandeur
    It was a magnificent sea otter from the genus Enhydra, the only exclusively marine quadruped.
  9. adorn
    make more attractive, as by adding ornament or color
    I was full of wonderment at this unusual mammal, with its circular head adorned by short ears, its round eyes, its white whiskers like those on a cat, its webbed and clawed feet, its bushy tail.
  10. phosphorescent
    emitting light without appreciable heat
    I was stretched out on the seafloor directly beneath some bushes of algae, when I raised my head and spied two enormous masses hurtling by, throwing off phosphorescent glimmers.
  11. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    There our diving suits were removed, not without difficulty; and utterly exhausted, faint from lack of food and rest, I repaired to my stateroom, full of wonder at this startling excursion on the bottom of the sea.
  12. indescribable
    defying expression
    We stared at them through our thick glass windows: they swam backward with tremendous speed, moving by means of their locomotive tubes, chasing fish and mollusks, eating the little ones, eaten by the big ones, and tossing in indescribable confusion the ten feet that nature has rooted in their heads like a hairpiece of pneumatic snakes.
  13. lavish
    bestow or expend profusely
    During this crossing, the sea continually lavished us with the most marvelous sights.
  14. dumbstruck
    so surprised or shocked as to be unable to speak
    We stood dumbstruck, hearts pounding, before this shipwreck caught in the act, as if it had been photographed in its final moments, so to speak!
  15. accomplish
    achieve with effort
    While cruising along only a few cable lengths from the underpinning of Reao Island, I marveled at the gigantic piece of work accomplished by these microscopic laborers.
  16. achievement
    the action of accomplishing something
    These walls were the express achievements of madrepores known by the names fire coral, finger coral, star coral, and stony coral.
  17. amaze
    affect with wonder
    In reply to a question Conseil asked me about the growth rate of these colossal barriers, I thoroughly amazed him by saying that scientists put it at an eighth of an inch per biennium.
  18. elegant
    refined and tasteful in appearance, behavior, or style
    By December 15 we had left the alluring Society Islands in the west, likewise elegant Tahiti, queen of the Pacific.
  19. charming
    pleasing or delighting
    I rushed to the window and saw crusts of coral: fungus coral, siphonula coral, alcyon coral, sea anemone from the genus Caryophylia, plus myriads of charming fish including greenfish, damselfish, sweepers, snappers, and squirrelfish
  20. astonishing
    so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm
    The latest wonder is always the most astonishing, and if this progression keeps up, I can't imagine what its climax will be.
  21. curiosity
    something unusual, maybe worthy of collecting
    The local flora was represented by fine floating algae: sea tangle, and kelp from the genus Macrocystis, saturated with the mucilage their pores perspire, from which I selected a wonderful Nemastoma geliniaroidea, classifying it with the natural curiosities in the museum.
  22. remarkable
    unusual or striking
    The Nautilus drew near this island, which I can see to this day with its remarkable fringe of screw pines.
  23. profusion
    the property of being extremely abundant
    There were mimosas, banyan trees, beefwood, teakwood, hibiscus, screw pines, palm trees, all mingling in wild profusion; and beneath the shade of their green canopies, at the feet of their gigantic trunks, there grew orchids, leguminous plants, and ferns.
  24. lush
    produced or growing in extreme abundance
    After crossing a pretty lush prairie, we arrived on the outskirts of a small wood, enlivened by the singing and soaring of a large number of birds.
  25. allure
    dispose or incline or entice to
    Their undulating flight, the grace of their aerial curves, and the play of their colors allured and delighted the eye.
  26. hue
    the quality of a color determined by its dominant wavelength
    But it offered a wonderful mixture of hues: a yellow beak, brown feet and claws, hazel wings with purple tips, pale yellow head and scruff of the neck, emerald throat, the belly and chest maroon to brown.
  27. extraordinary
    highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable
    Two ringdoves rounded out this extraordinary menu.
  28. splendor
    a quality that outshines the usual
    For several hours I was left to myself, sometimes musing on the islanders—but no longer fearing them because the captain's unflappable confidence had won me over—and sometimes forgetting them to marvel at the splendors of this tropical night.
  29. seldom
    not often
    But just when I least expected it, I laid my hands on a wonder, a natural deformity I'd have to call it, something very seldom encountered.
  30. exception
    an instance that does not conform to a rule
    They're right–handed with only rare exceptions, and when by chance a shell's spiral is left–handed, collectors will pay its weight in gold for it.
  31. concoct
    make something by mixing
    "Begging master's indulgence," Conseil replied, "but our friend Ned is concocting a kangaroo pie that will be the eighth wonder!"
  32. sacred
    made, declared, or believed to be holy
    I thought about how this marvelous electric force not only gave motion, heat, and light to the Nautilus but even protected it against outside attack, transforming it into a sacred ark no profane hand could touch without being blasted; my wonderment was boundless, and it went from the submersible itself to the engineer who had created it.
  33. veneration
    a feeling of profound respect for someone or something
    Accordingly, their scaly ancestors infest the island's rivers and are the subjects of special veneration.
  34. dazzling
    amazingly impressive
    The Nautilus had drifted into the midst of some phosphorescent strata, which, in this darkness, came off as positively dazzling.
  35. luminous
    softly bright or radiant
    In the midst of these luminous sheets of water, I then glimpsed flashes of light, like those seen inside a blazing furnace from streams of molten lead or from masses of metal brought to a white heat—flashes so intense that certain areas of the light became shadows by comparison, in a fiery setting from which every shadow should seemingly have been banished.
  36. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    This light throbbed with unprecedented vigor and activity!
  37. wondrous
    extraordinarily good or great
    I immediately recognized the wondrous region in which Captain Nemo did the honors that day.
  38. fascinating
    capable of arousing and holding the attention
    I was familiar with the latest research on this bizarre zoophyte—which turns to stone while taking on a tree form, as some naturalists have very aptly observed—and nothing could have been more fascinating to me than to visit one of these petrified forests that nature has planted on the bottom of the sea.
  39. delicate
    exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing
    I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, which were adorned with delicate tentacles, some newly in bloom, others barely opened, while nimble fish with fluttering fins brushed past them like flocks of birds.
  40. inaccessible
    capable of being reached with great difficulty or not at all
    Captain Nemo and his men had come to bury their companion in this communal resting place on the inaccessible ocean floor!
Created on Fri Mar 03 13:43:11 EST 2017 (updated Tue Sep 25 15:22:41 EDT 2018)

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