The War I Finally Won: Chapters 22–34

by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
In this sequel to The War That Saved My Life, Ada continues to weather World War II in a crowded house in the English countryside.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–21, Chapters 22–34, Chapters 35–49, Chapters 50–63
30 words 47 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. shilling
    a former monetary unit in Great Britain
    Each person in Britain, no matter whether they were rich or poor, was only allowed to spend one shilling per week on meat.
  2. sear
    burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
    Susan seared the chops in a hot pan with a sprinkling of pepper and rosemary and made a fancy kind of gravy.
  3. reprehensible
    bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
    Lady Thorton said, “I agree. Her behavior was reprehensible.”
  4. larder
    a small storeroom for storing foods or wines
    When Lady Thorton went into the sitting room, Susan went to the larder.
  5. censor
    a person authorized to suppress unacceptable material
    “None of your business. They have censors in the internment camp. If my mother wrote anything controversial, I wouldn’t have gotten the letter.”
  6. bleak
    unpleasantly cold and damp
    February continued cold and bleak.
  7. artillery
    large but transportable armament
    “And in every war before that. They’re not much use in modern times, though, not against tanks and aircraft and heavy artillery.”
  8. extensive
    large in spatial extent or range or scope or quantity
    “I traveled through Germany extensively when I was younger,” she said.
  9. conflate
    mix together different elements
    Susan made me sit at the table until I’d written the sentence “I will not continue to conflate lack of intelligence with lack of knowledge” one hundred times.
  10. loom
    appear very large or occupy a commanding position
    Lord Thorton was still scary, very tall in a looming sort of way, but now he spoke to me as though I was someone he knew well, and also as though he rather liked me.
  11. impose
    inflict something unpleasant
    “Susan could teach me like she teaches Ada and Jamie.”
    “Of course not,” Lady Thorton said. “We must not impose.”
  12. prudent
    marked by sound judgment
    Lady Thorton sipped her tea. “It would have been prudent,” she said.
    I looked it up. Prudent: acting with or showing care and thought for the future.
  13. fallacy
    a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning
    “That’s a logical fallacy,” Susan said when I told her. “Hitler himself could love horses for all we know.”
    Fallacy: a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument.
  14. incapacitated
    lacking in or deprived of strength or power
    "...Your mother was clearly incapacitated.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    Susan considered. “The root word comes from capacity, which means being able to hold. Your mother wasn’t able to take proper care of you. She didn’t have the ability to do it.”
  15. impertinence
    the trait of being rude and inclined to take liberties
    I could tell it was an accident, not an impertinence, but Lady Thorton rolled her eyes and sighed as though belching Germans were far too much for her to bear.
  16. sole
    single and isolated from others
    Also, I will not continue to be the referee in this house. Nor the sole cook, nor the tweeny.
  17. ration
    a fixed portion that is allotted
    Lady Thorton threw the entire week’s butter ration into a frying pan and cooked a vast omelet using all eight eggs.
  18. livid
    furiously angry
    Susan was going to be livid.
  19. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    He grinned ruefully. “I can’t afford that. Remember? There’s a war on.”
  20. slate
    thin layers of rock used for roofing
    I forgot to be afraid until I stumbled on a rough piece of slate and fell against the parapet wall.
  21. parapet
    a low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony
    I forgot to be afraid until I stumbled on a rough piece of slate and fell against the parapet wall.
  22. gristle
    tough elastic tissue found in meat
    Every day, Mrs. Elliston, the wife of the man who farmed the Thortons’ estate, collected her potato peels and gristle and other leftovers in a bucket.
  23. sprig
    a small branch or stem, usually with leaves or flowers
    She handed me several sprigs of parsley.
  24. competent
    properly or sufficiently qualified, capable, or efficient
    She rode with competent ease; Butter looked like he was smiling too.
  25. nary
    colloquial for 'not a' or 'not one' or 'never a'
    The sea stretched out wide and blue, with white waves close to shore and nary a fishing boat in sight.
  26. copse
    a dense growth of trees, shrubs, or bushes
    We circled a copse of trees and came upon a tractor stopped at the edge of the field.
  27. spanner
    a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt
    She banged the engine with a spanner.
  28. appraise
    consider in a comprehensive way
    Ruth looked at me appraisingly.
  29. martyr
    one who suffers for the sake of principle
    “I was named after her great-grandmother. Plain Margaret the Sensible. Not a saint, but also not a martyr.”
  30. curtail
    place restrictions on
    I made sure Ruth still got to ride Butter sometimes, but only by curtailing how much I rode myself.
Created on Thu Nov 05 12:16:07 EST 2020 (updated Mon Nov 16 16:27:46 EST 2020)

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