Everything, Everything: List 4: TTYL - Select All, Delete

by Nicola Yoon
Diagnosed with a rare immune disorder, Madeline is unable to experience the world outside her protective bubble. But when Olly moves in next door, she must decide whether to risk everything for love.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1: The White Room-Astronaut Ice Cream, List 2: Everything's A Risk-Upside Down, List 3: Skin-Infected, List 4: TTYL-Select All, Delete, List 5: Pretending-This Life

Here is a link to our lists for Nicola Yoon's novel The Sun Is Also a Star
45 words 58 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. loquacious
    full of trivial conversation
    Q: Which is the best seat: window, center, or aisle?
    A: Window, definitely. The world is quite a sight from 32,000 feet above it. Note that a window means your traveling companion may then be stuck next to a spectacularly loquacious bore.
  2. paradoxical
    seemingly contradictory but nonetheless possibly true
    Q: How is it possible that humans invented something as amazing as an airplane and something as awful as a nuclear bomb?
    A: Human beings are mysterious and paradoxical.
  3. turbulence
    instability in the atmosphere
    Q: Will I encounter turbulence?
    A: Yes. Into all lives a little turbulence must fall.
  4. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
    “I've decided baggage carousels are a perfect metaphor for life,” Olly says from atop the edge of a nonmoving one.
  5. elaborate
    add details to clarify an idea
    He’s in a crackpot-theory mood, just waiting for me to ask him to elaborate.
  6. magnanimous
    generous and understanding and tolerant
    I gesture magnanimously for him to continue.
  7. contraption
    a small mechanical device or tool
    “You’re born. You get thrown onto this crazy contraption called life that just goes around and around.”
  8. premature
    uncommonly early or before the expected time
    “Sometimes you fall off prematurely. Sometimes you get so damaged by other pieces of luggage falling on your head that you don’t really function anymore. Sometimes you get lost or forgotten and go around forever and ever.”
  9. context
    the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation
    “Be careful,” Olly calls out from somewhere behind me.
    I’m not sure what that means in this context. Be careful because I may drown? Be careful because I may get sick? Be careful because once you become a part of the world it becomes a part of you, too?
  10. complimentary
    costing nothing
    She gives us a key and property map and tells us about the complimentary continental breakfast buffet.
  11. efficiency
    skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort
    “The very model of modern-day, space-saving efficiency. The height of style and comfort, of convenience and practicality. I give you the Murphy bed.”
  12. vertigo
    a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall
    I start to climb onto the bed, but stop when the room sways a little. I try again and another wave of vertigo unbalances me.
  13. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    “I’m going to get this for Carla,” I say, brandishing the calendar. “And chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. And one of those dresses for myself.”
  14. memento
    a reminder of past events
    What kind of memento do you get for the mother who has loved you your whole life, who has given up the world for you?
  15. humidity
    wetness in the atmosphere
    Humidity has made my hair bigger than normal.
  16. subdue
    hold within limits and control
    I gather it up and plait it into a long braid to subdue it. I look back to the mirror. The only way to subdue this suit is to wear more, possibly all my clothing at once.
  17. eventually
    after an unspecified period of time or a long delay
    I do eventually have to leave this bathroom, but I’m too nervous.
  18. sushi
    cold rice and vinegar topped or rolled with raw fish
    “Deep-sea fishing actually.” My voice shakes only slightly.
    “Fantastic. We’ll have sushi for—”
    I pull the door open quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid.
  19. euphoric
    characterized by a feeling of well-being or elation
    Listening to the magnified sound of my own breath is peaceful and strangely euphoric.
  20. vibrant
    (of colors) bright and striking
    Most of the fish are clustered around the coral reef. I’ve never seen colors so intense, not just blue and yellow and red, but the deepest blues and brightest yellows and most vibrant reds you’ve ever seen.
  21. mutual
    common to or shared by two or more parties
    I feel Olly’s eyes on me when he thinks I’m not noticing, but we are a mutual admiration society—I’m secretly ogling him, too.
  22. ogle
    stare or look at, especially with amorous intentions
    I feel Olly’s eyes on me when he thinks I’m not noticing, but we are a mutual admiration society—I’m secretly ogling him, too.
  23. misinterpret
    construe in the wrong way
    Olly misinterprets my shiver and steps close to me to add his towel to my shoulders.
  24. merciless
    lacking pity, compassion, or forgiveness
    “A little drowning never hurt anybody,” says the boy who once warned me that the sea was merciless and unforgiving.
  25. pivotal
    being of crucial importance
    I wave back and then close my eyes to take stock of my situation, because jumping off a cliff seems like a pivotal moment where a little stock-taking should be done.
  26. flail
    thrash about
    Here’s what happens when you jump feetfirst and arms flailing off of a thirty-foot cliff into the Pacific Ocean.
  27. mirth
    great merriment
    His laugh reminds me of Carla’s—unselfconscious, a little too loud, and full of mirth.
  28. preoccupied
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    “You guys are funny,” Olly says, almost smiling, but obviously preoccupied.
  29. resent
    feel bitter or indignant about
    I resent that she’s logged into my private e-mails. I resent that now Olly and I will have even less time than I thought.
  30. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    I decide not to bring up my mom’s impending visit.
  31. default
    an option that is selected automatically
    Given my lack of choices, what if I’ve just chosen him by default?
  32. languidly
    in a lethargic manner
    I come awake slowly, languidly, until I realize what we’ve done.
  33. precarious
    fraught with danger
    His position looks precarious, even though he’s holding on to the railing with both hands.
  34. ragged
    worn out from stress or strain
    He breaks our kiss and we stand there, drawing ragged breaths, foreheads and noses touching, his hands gripping too hard on my hips, my hands flat against his chest.
  35. inarticulate
    without or deprived of the use of speech or words
    “Um, you too,” I say, inarticulate. All the words in my head have been replaced with one—Olly.
  36. cataclysm
    a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
    According to the Big Bang theory, the universe came into being in one single moment—a cosmic cataclysm that gave birth to black holes, brown dwarfs, matter and dark matter, energy and dark energy.
  37. marinate
    soak food in a seasoned or flavorful liquid before cooking
    We’re both starving from all the activity of the day, so we order every appetizer on the menu: poke (tuna marinated in soy sauce), crab cakes, coconut shrimp, lobster pot stickers, and Kalua pork.
  38. douse
    wet thoroughly
    Someone has doused me in kerosene and lit a match.
  39. lucid
    transparently clear; easily understandable
    At first I think I must be dreaming, but my dreams are never this lucid.
  40. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    The ambulance. Being stabbed in the leg once. Then twice. Adrenaline shots to restart my heart.
  41. vigil
    a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe
    Machines beeping and blinking all day and all night keeping vigil.
  42. antiseptic
    a substance that destroys harmful microorganisms
    Women and men in white uniforms. Stethoscopes and needles and antiseptics.
  43. nauseous
    feeling about to vomit
    I’m dizzy and nauseous at once.
  44. translucent
    allowing light to pass through diffusely
    Her skin is pale, almost translucent, and it’s stretched too tight across her face. A painful-looking blue vein stretches down from her hairline to her eyelid. I can see other blue veins just under the skin of her forearms and wrists.
  45. fierce
    marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions
    But the sight of my mom’s face earlier, all the desperate love in her eyes, won’t leave me. I decide then that love is a terrible, terrible thing. Loving someone as fiercely as my mom loves me must be like wearing your heart outside of your body with no skin, no bones, no nothing to protect it.
Created on Thu Aug 24 14:12:05 EDT 2017 (updated Wed Sep 13 08:55:52 EDT 2017)

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