Gone: Chapters 10–16

by Michael Grant
In the first book of the Gone series, the children of Perdido Beach wake up one morning to discover that everyone over the age of 14 has disappeared and many of town's remaining inhabitants have developed strange supernatural powers.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–16, Chapters 17–26, Chapters 27–37, Chapter 38–Final
40 words 10 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. conciliation
    the act of placating and overcoming distrust and animosity
    “That’s what I’m talking about, Sammy,” Howard said, spreading his hands wide in a gesture of conciliation.
  2. gangrene
    the localized death of living cells
    She’d heard of gangrene. It was what happened when flesh died or circulation was cut off. Her arm was dying. The smell was the odor of rotting human flesh.
  3. wry
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    She made a wry smile. “He’s a little intimidated by me. We can’t count much on that, though.”
  4. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
    The road wound through hillsides carpeted in desiccated grass and wilting yellow wildflowers.
  5. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    The power plant stood in perfect isolation, a vast, imposing complex of warehouselike buildings dominated by two immense, concrete bell-jar domes.
  6. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    Quinn performed a languid, mocking salute.
  7. contour
    any spatial attributes, especially as defined by outline
    “The red is the immediate area where the radiation would be intense. It gets data on wind patterns, the contours of the land, the jet stream, all that, and adjusts it.”
  8. plume
    anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
    “Yes. That’s the plume where the fallout would be above acceptable levels.”
  9. gurney
    a metal stretcher with wheels
    There were gurneys there, hospital beds on wheels.
  10. convulse
    contract involuntarily, as in a spasm
    His heart pounded. His lungs convulsed, sucking on nothing.
  11. pantomime
    act out without words but with gestures and bodily movements
    He pantomimed it, using two fingers for the pincers of the prosthetic arm.
  12. prosthetic
    relating to or serving as an artificial body part
    He pantomimed it, using two fingers for the pincers of the prosthetic arm.
  13. congeal
    solidify, thicken, or come together
    Sam kept moving till the crowd began to congeal.
  14. precariously
    in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
    Then he hopped up on the back of a park bench, balancing precariously but able to see over everyone’s head.
  15. convoy
    a procession of land vehicles traveling together
    The procession or parade or convoy or whatever it was drove up alongside the curb at the top of the plaza, just across the street from the town hall, and stopped.
  16. deprecate
    express strong disapproval of; deplore
    He gave a little self-deprecating wave, as if to say he couldn’t believe what he was doing.
  17. condescension
    showing arrogance by patronizing those considered inferior
    He radiated confidence, but without arrogance or condescension. In fact, he managed to seem genuinely humble even while standing alone, looking out over everyone else.
  18. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    Sam was mesmerized by the performance. In just a few minutes’ time, Caine had infused hope into a very frightened, dispirited bunch of kids.
    Astrid seemed mesmerized too, though Sam thought he detected the cool glint of skepticism in her eyes.
  19. cynical
    believing the worst of human nature and motives
    Caine’s eyes flickered from Sam to Quinn, and for just a millisecond there flashed a cynical, knowing look. But it was gone in a heartbeat, replaced by Caine’s practiced expression of humility and resolve.
  20. waylay
    wait in hiding to attack
    One of the Coates kids, a dark-eyed, very beautiful girl, waylaid Sam and held out her hand.
  21. parable
    a story told by Jesus to convey his religious message
    Of the six tall, peaked windows, three retained their original stained-glass representations of Jesus in various parables.
  22. rend
    tear or be torn violently
    But then came a rending sound, steel and wood twisting, and the crucifix separated from the wall.
  23. imperceptibly
    in a manner that is difficult to discern
    He formed a bare smile, and nodded imperceptibly to Diana.
  24. adjourn
    break from a meeting or gathering
    “This meeting is adjourned till we can help our wounded friend...what is his name? Cookie?”
  25. nuance
    a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
    Jack often missed nuance when people talked. But he didn’t miss her cold sarcasm.
  26. schematic
    diagram of an electrical or mechanical system
    His tone was condescending and he formed his hands into a schematic of a tower with beams radiating toward it. “Then it gets sent on to a satellite, then down to a router. But we can’t send signals to the satellite now, so—”
  27. abrade
    wear away
    She tried to climb straight back up to the road, but two skinned knees and two abraded palms later she admitted that wasn’t happening.
  28. ebb
    fall away or decline
    In one place the thorns couldn’t be avoided, and she had to work her way through with time-wasting caution, accumulating scratches that burned like fire on her bare legs. But once through she laid her hand on the scratches, and the pain ebbed.
  29. bramble
    any of various rough thorny shrubs or vines
    Her mind was on more pressing issues: how to scale this sudden rise, or skirt that bramble patch, or where, where, where in this parched landscape she could find water and food.
  30. baleful
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    It took what felt like an hour to climb the right-hand slope. All the while under the silent, baleful stare of the wall that Lana had come to think of as a living thing, a vast malevolent force determined to stop her.
  31. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
    It took what felt like an hour to climb the right-hand slope. All the while under the silent, baleful stare of the wall that Lana had come to think of as a living thing, a vast malevolent force determined to stop her.
  32. sheer
    very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front
    There was no sign of the road. No sign of the ranch. Just a sheer ridge and no more than a mile of flat land before she would have to start climbing.
  33. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
    Behind the cabin was a half-tumbled wooden shack. And a windmill of sorts, really just an airplane propeller placed atop a ramshackle tower twenty feet tall.
  34. garish
    tastelessly showy
    Sam took three steps to the fireman’s pole, wrapped his legs and arms around it, and dropped through the hole in the floor to land in the garishly lit garage below.
  35. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    “No one’s doing magic around here,” Quinn said, placating.
  36. sterile
    free of pathological microorganisms
    Edilio used the sterile wipes to clean the blood from her face, applied an antibiotic cream, and used two butterfly bandages to close the wound.
  37. competence
    the quality of being adequately or well qualified
    It was getting so he could barely stand Edilio. His cheerfulness. His competence at just about everything.
  38. wan
    lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
    Sam made a wan smile, the way he did when he was tired of being mad and expected everyone else to be tired of it, too.
  39. hinder
    prevent the progress or accomplishment of
    During this crisis no one should criticize, ridicule, or hinder any of the people performing their official duties.
  40. aggrieve
    cause to feel distress
    Quinn spread his hands wide in an expression of aggrieved innocence.
Created on Wed Aug 12 08:57:38 EDT 2020 (updated Wed Aug 19 11:12:19 EDT 2020)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.