The War I Finally Won: Chapters 50–63

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 29 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. rail
    complain bitterly
    Maggie railed and shouted and wept.
  2. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    Susan fell again into one of her bleak periods, listless and dull.
  3. tend
    have care of or look after
    Jamie tended his chickens and Mrs. Rochester.
  4. etch
    carve or cut a design or letters into
    Her bedroom was frightfully cold, and frost etched lines across the windowpanes, but when I touched Susan’s cheek it was blazing hot.
  5. astringent
    acidic or bitter in taste or smell
    She dumped something sharp-smelling and astringent from the bottle into the bowl, then added hot water from the kettle.
  6. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    She groaned once, and gave a labored cough, but otherwise hardly seemed to care what was happening.
  7. amend
    make revisions to
    “Susan’s all right,” Lady Thorton said.
    We looked at her.
    “Not entirely,” she amended. “She’s very sick. But they have a new type of medicine they’re giving her and they hope it will start to show results soon..."
  8. orthopedic
    of or relating to the treatment of bones or joints
    “Children’s orthopedics might bend the rules,” Lady Thorton said. “Women’s pulmonary never will.”
  9. pulmonary
    relating to or affecting the lungs
    “Children’s orthopedics might bend the rules,” Lady Thorton said. “Women’s pulmonary never will.”
  10. ogle
    stare or look at, especially with amorous intentions
    “Don’t ogle,” she said.
    I dropped my eyes and moved to stand beside her.
  11. drab
    lacking brightness or color; dull
    Even in war, even with sandbags lining the sidewalks and storefronts, and glass missing from windows and whole chunks of buildings bombed, even in drab winter, this London was prettier and greener than I ever imagined.
  12. quaver
    give off unsteady sounds
    Lady Thorton told me it was called a piano. I’d not seen one before, though it looked similar to the organ at church. Its music wasn’t quavery like church music.
  13. pantomime
    a performance using gestures and movements without words
    “Of course! It was a completely different world, before the war. Margaret and I used to come up for weekends. I took her to pantomimes, the zoo, all sorts of things. We had grand adventures.”
  14. ecstatic
    feeling great rapture or delight
    Elephants. Camels. Giraffes. A hippopotamus. I’d never imagined animals could look like this. “I wish Jamie were here,” I said. He would be ecstatic.
  15. abbey
    a church or building associated with a monastery or convent
    She showed me the Tower of London, and the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, which was like a church but with all the tombstones inside.
  16. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    When I wrote to Jamie on the fancy hotel stationery I told him about little things, not big ones.
  17. imperious
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    Lady Thorton grew even more imperious. “What do you mean, ‘trains don’t run there’? We are talking about the city of London, not the back of beyond.”
  18. blitz
    a swift military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment
    We drove past the burned shell of a department store that had caught fire in the Blitz.
  19. cascade
    rush down in big quantities
    There was no longer even a street, no longer a clear path between the piles of rubble that cascaded from both sides.
  20. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    A makeshift flag flew from the top of one pile. Nothing else moved.
  21. engage
    carry on, as a war, battle, or campaign
    Spitfires from our airfield rose up to engage the German planes.
  22. falter
    move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
    My heart hammered but my footsteps never faltered.
  23. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    Through sheer luck no houses had been destroyed.
  24. subside
    wear off or die down
    Half the village watched, the only noise the crackle of the flames. As they began to subside, Lady Thorton stepped forward and ducked to look into the wreck.
  25. desolate
    crushed by grief
    The head continued to protest. Maggie looked desolate.
  26. in vain
    without a successful result or effect
    “I’ll never say Jonathan’s death was worth it—I can’t say that—but I can say that I know for sure that Jonathan died fighting for the side of right. I can say that no one on our side will have died in vain.”
  27. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    “I hope this isn’t an overnight excursion,” she said.
  28. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    They were bedraggled and limp, the sort of flowers you had to make do with, in war.
  29. choleric
    characterized by anger
    “He died in the war,” I said.
    “I doubt it had to do with the war,” Susan said. “He was a choleric sort of man.”
  30. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    Mrs. Montgomery made an exasperated noise. “This wretched war. I know I should have written..."
Created on Thu Nov 05 12:17:04 EST 2020 (updated Tue Nov 17 08:47:28 EST 2020)

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