The City of Ember: Chapters 8–12

by Jeanne DuPrau
A city built to save humanity now faces dark times.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: The Instructions–Chapter 2, Chapters 3–7, Chapters 8–12, Chapters 13–16, Chapters 17–20
15 words 2170 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. taunt
    a cruel or scornful remark
    The laughing workers didn’t notice — they tossed a few more taunts at him and walked on — but Doon knew instantly what he’d done.
  2. crevice
    a long narrow depression in a surface
    Doon liked to sit on these clumps, running his fingers along the strange creases and crevices that must have been carved somehow by running or dripping water.
  3. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    No one was there except for the librarian, ancient Edward Pocket, who sat behind his desk writing something with a tiny pencil clutched in his gnarled hand.
  4. significance
    the quality of being important
    It would be something that another person had written down without understanding its significance, just a sentence or two that would be like a flash of light in Doon’s mind, fitting together with things he already knew to make a solution to everything.
  5. predicament
    an unpleasant or difficult situation
    All in the same boat
    Means "all in the same predicament."
  6. unpromising
    not likely to bring about favorable results or enjoyment
    Lina had been watering it every night because she’d promised Clary she would, but it was still nothing but dirt, flat and unpromising.
  7. impact
    the striking of one body against another
    A pause...and then the sound of an impact, a short, explosive breath, and a muttered word in a gruff, low voice.
  8. amble
    walk leisurely
    A couple of guards, in their red and brown uniforms, ambled across the square, laughing.
  9. taint
    place under suspicion or cast doubt upon
    It was the best meal Lina had had in a very long time — but her enjoyment of it was tainted just a little by the question of where it had come from.
  10. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    She was sauntering along looking in shop windows.
  11. delectable
    extremely pleasing to the sense of taste
    Pineapple! That delectable long-lost thing that her grandmother had told her about.
  12. hunker down
    take shelter
    The citizens of Ember were hunkering down, burrowing in.
  13. demonstrator
    someone participating in a public display of group feeling
    The signs said “WHAT solutions, Mayor Cole?” and “We want ANSWERS!” Every now and then the demonstrators would yell these slogans out loud.
  14. commit
    perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
    “But the mayor is the one committing the crime,” said Doon.
  15. hogwash
    nonsensical or ridiculous speech or writing
    “I don’t know. I think maybe those Instructions are just hogwash.”
    “Hogwash? What’s that?”
Created on Tue May 09 12:12:05 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Jul 29 18:29:25 EDT 2025)

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