"The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" By David Wroblewski

Janet S. (United States of America)
163 words 4 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. alder
    north temperate shrubs or trees having toothed leaves and conelike fruit; bark is used in tanning and dyeing and the wood is rot-resistant
  2. bracken
    large coarse fern often several feet high
  3. chink
    a narrow opening as e.g. between planks in a wall
  4. dispirited
    showing no enthusiasm
  5. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
  6. fiddlehead
    tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
  7. flagrantly
    in a flagrant manner
  8. gloaming
    the time of day immediately following sunset
  9. halloo
    a shout to attract attention
  10. heliograph
    an apparatus for sending telegraphic messages by using a mirror to turn the sun's rays off and on
  11. kisser
    someone who kisses
  12. lax
    without rigor or strictness
  13. malaise
    a feeling of mild sickness or depression
  14. melange
    a varied mixture or assortment of things
  15. Mendelism
    the theory of inheritance based on Mendel's laws
  16. mow
    cut with a blade or mower
  17. muzzle
    forward projecting part of the head of certain animals
  18. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
  19. panfish
    any of numerous small food fishes
  20. pragmatist
    an adherent of a theory of observable practical consequences
  21. primordial
    having existed from the beginning
  22. rapacious
    living by preying on other animals
  23. ruff
    a high tight collar
  24. scabrous
    rough to the touch, as if covered with scales or projections
  25. spinnaker
    a large and usually triangular headsail
  26. tannin
    any of various complex phenolic substances of plant origin
  27. twilight
    the time of day immediately following sunset
  28. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
  29. whelp
    young of any of various canines such as a dog or wolf
  30. zenith
    the highest point of something
  31. circuitous
    deviating from a straight course
  32. hackles
    a feeling of anger and animosity
  33. equanimity
    steadiness of mind under stress
  34. litany
    a prayer consisting of a series of invocations by the priest with responses from the congregation
  35. despondent
    without or almost without hope
  36. mullein
    any of various plants of the genus Verbascum having large usually woolly leaves and terminal spikes of yellow or white or purplish flowers
  37. eddy
    a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind
  38. vortex
    a powerful circular current of water
  39. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
  40. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
  41. postprandial
    following a meal, especially dinner
  42. lethargy
    inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy
  43. cuneiform
    an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia
  44. ransacked
    wrongfully emptied or stripped of anything of value
  45. larder
    a small storeroom for storing foods or wines
  46. amble
    walk leisurely
  47. slack
    not tense or taut
  48. pelt
    the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
  49. palpate
    examine (a body part) by tactual exploration
  50. mangled
    having edges that are jagged from injury
  51. ebb
    the outward flow of the tide
  52. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
  53. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
  54. aura
    distinctive but intangible quality around a person or thing
  55. muck
    any thick, viscous matter
  56. spigot
    a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid
  57. withers
    the highest part of the back at the base of an animal's neck
  58. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
  59. sated
  60. flay
    strip the skin off
  61. panoply
    a complete and impressive array
  62. aloft
    at or on or to the masthead or upper rigging of a ship
  63. noxious
    injurious to physical or mental health
  64. pilfer
    make off with belongings of others
  65. ruckus
    the act of making a noisy disturbance
  66. chigger
    small tropical flea
  67. cherubic
    having a sweet nature befitting an angel
  68. gluttonously
    in a gluttonous manner
  69. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
  70. orgiastic
    used of frenzied sexual activity
  71. fluke
    a stroke of luck
  72. lepidopteran
    insect that in the adult state has four wings more or less covered with tiny scales
  73. pliability
    the quality of yielding or adapting readily
  74. corona
    one or more circles of light seen around a luminous object
  75. empyreal
    of or relating to the sky or heavens
  76. splay
    widen or spread apart
  77. monolith
    a single great stone, often in the form of a column
  78. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
  79. scythe
    an edge tool for cutting grass
  80. stanchion
    any vertical post or rod used as a support
  81. lintel
    a horizontal beam over a door or window
  82. wick
    a loosely woven cord (in a candle or oil lamp) that draws fuel by capillary action up into the flame
  83. cantering
    riding at a gait between a trot and a gallop
  84. twinge
    a sudden sharp feeling
  85. renege
    fail to fulfill a promise or obligation
  86. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
  87. rivulet
    a small stream
  88. sally
    a military action in which besieged troops burst forth
  89. cowlick
    a tuft of hair in a different direction from the rest
  90. slobber
    let saliva dribble from the mouth
  91. tamp
    press down tightly
  92. apex
    the highest point of something
  93. apogee
    the farthest point in an orbit around the Earth
  94. deftly
    in an agile manner
  95. vehemently
    in a forceful manner
  96. flummox
    be a mystery or bewildering to
  97. blithely
    in a joyous, carefree, or unconcerned manner
  98. mastitis
    inflammation of a breast (or udder)
  99. silage
    fodder harvested while green and kept succulent by partial fermentation as in a silo
  100. hopper
    someone who leaps
  101. tanker
    a cargo ship designed to carry crude oil in bulk
  102. caboose
    a car on a freight train for use of the train crew
  103. throttle
    a valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine
  104. capacious
    large in the amount that can be contained
  105. culvert
    a transverse and enclosed drain under a road or railway
  106. shanty
    a small crude shelter used as a dwelling
  107. bog
    wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation
  108. gout
    a painful inflammation of the big toe and foot caused by defects in uric acid metabolism resulting in deposits of the acid and its salts in the blood and joints
  109. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
  110. fatalistic
    accepting that everything that happens is inevitable
  111. veering
    the act of turning aside suddenly
  112. accost
    approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
  113. retread
    use again in altered form
  114. laboriously
    in a laborious manner
  115. egret
    a white waterbird with long legs
  116. cache
    a hidden storage space
  117. pristine
    immaculately clean and unused
  118. gabble
    speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
  119. smelt
    extract by heating, as a metal
  120. mirth
    great merriment
  121. vehemence
    intensity or forcefulness of expression
  122. maudlin
    very sentimental or emotional
  123. sojourn
    a temporary stay
  124. sinuous
    curved or curving in and out
  125. cow
    female of domestic cattle
  126. ropy
    of or resembling rope (or ropes) in being long and strong
  127. scimitar
    a curved saber used in Eastern countries
  128. glint
    a momentary flash of light
  129. amassed
  130. cirrus
    a wispy white cloud at a high altitude
  131. archaic
    so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period
  132. cagey
    characterized by great caution and wariness
  133. fundament
    the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
  134. atone
    turn away from sin or do penitence
  135. ineptitude
    unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training
  136. gallivant
    wander aimlessly in search of pleasure
  137. sapling
    young tree
  138. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
  139. azimuth
    the azimuth of a celestial body is the angle between the vertical plane containing it and the plane of the meridian
  140. secant
    a straight line that intersects a curve at two or more points
  141. triangulation
    a trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points a known distance apart; useful in navigation
  142. essence
    the choicest or most vital part of some idea or experience
  143. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
  144. admonition
    a firm rebuke
  145. essence
    the choicest or most vital part of some idea or experience
  146. admonition
    a firm rebuke
  147. aurora
    bands of light caused by charged solar particles
  148. timothy
    grass with long cylindrical spikes grown in northern United States and Europe for hay
  149. rambunctious
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
  150. rabid
    marked by excessive enthusiasm for a cause or idea
  151. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
  152. reticent
    reluctant to draw attention to yourself
  153. facsimile
    an exact copy or reproduction
  154. eloquently
    with eloquence
  155. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
  156. atrocious
    shockingly brutal or cruel
  157. fissure
    a long narrow depression in a surface
  158. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
  159. tendril
    slender structure by which some plants attach to an object
  160. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
  161. encumbrance
    an onerous or difficult concern
  162. facile
    arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth
  163. assuage
    provide physical relief, as from pain
Created on Sun Apr 05 00:32:36 EDT 2009 (updated Sun Apr 26 19:11:58 EDT 2009)

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