Parked: List 2

by Danielle Svetcov
Jeanne Ann and her mother are living out of a van and struggling to make ends meet — but when Jeanne Ann befriends a wealthy boy, she resists his offers of help.

This list covers the section "Feeding the Meter."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
35 words 16 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. matron
    a married woman who is staid and dignified
    “Keep those smiles tight and keep your eyes peeled for a group of matrons in matching blue hats and shirts. They will require VIP treatment.”
  2. upstanding
    meriting respect or esteem
    He looks sincerely upset, like I’ve tarnished his reputation as an upstanding homeless citizen.
  3. proceeds
    the income or profit arising from a transaction
    We’ll do laundry with first proceeds.
  4. decadent
    relating to indulgence in something pleasurable
    I grab the bag and plunge my hand inside, clamp onto a donut. Is it possible for intestines to cry? I will never spend my book money on something this decadent.
  5. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    The guy two vans down who dotes on his grocery cart, filled to the brim with tin cans and fastened with a bike lock to his cracked fender?
  6. dubious
    fraught with uncertainty or doubt
    Jeanne Ann looks dubious, like how can this woman who makes you wear a stupid jacket also be good at something worthwhile?
  7. truss
    tie the wings and legs of a bird before cooking it
    I know how to chiffonade lettuce and truss a chicken now.
  8. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    Cal and Bad Chuck have materialized like phantoms out of the mid-morning fog.
  9. gauge
    judge tentatively or form an estimate of
    It’s hard to gauge time out here. It’s very slow or very fast, depending on how hungry or tired or exposed you feel.
  10. nonconformist
    someone who refuses to conform to standards of conduct
    “Oh! Interesting. The whole world is texting, and you go the other way. A nonconformist. I like it.”
  11. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    56 DAYS TILL SCHOOL STARTS! The countdown number keeps getting replaced, like a baseball scoreboard. Except more ominous.
  12. indispensable
    absolutely necessary
    “She was a librarian, where I volunteered. I read under her desk. She said I was ‘indispensable,’ and here I am, vanished, without a word.”
  13. deputize
    appoint as a substitute
    “You don’t know that for sure. Any librarian is going to love you. You'll probably be deputized or something.”
  14. argyle
    a design consisting of a pattern of varicolored diamonds
    Nathan is wearing an argyle vest over his camp shirt, and a straw hat.
  15. funky
    having an offensive or unpleasant smell
    The breeze from outside carries in something ripe and funky, like old cheese mixed with...dog.
  16. throng
    a large gathering of people
    Cal’s watching the throngs of people on the marina green.
  17. marginal
    just barely adequate or within a lower limit
    In a little bit, I will have to slink away to the public bathroom, hover over the sink, and plunge parts of my body into ice-cold water to get marginally cleaner.
  18. disgruntled
    in a state of sulky dissatisfaction
    If this were the restaurant, and these were disgruntled patrons, she'd offer them a free tiramisu for dessert and wish them a good night.
  19. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    Nathan has pulled out his imaginary spyglass and is looming over the threshold, inspecting my pants.
  20. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    Cal sounds a little exasperated.
  21. lurch
    move abruptly
    I feel something lurch inside me.
  22. expedite
    process fast and efficiently
    Mom, thrilled about her decision to send me to Marina Pacific Middle School, has still pointed out all the inefficiencies. Like how there should be three lines, not one, and “we should get to be in a special, expedited line because we completed all of our paperwork in advance.”
  23. registrar
    the administrator responsible for student records
    The registrar looks to Principal Dan and then us.
  24. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    I don’t want to think about Jeanne Ann’s spark. It’s likely smoldering right now, looking for a liar to incinerate.
  25. backlog
    an accumulation of jobs not done or materials not processed
    In the meantime, read up, as we'll require a backlog of book reviews when we reach you.
  26. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    The book with the fig picture has sentences like: “We lunched on foraged fiddle ferns, swelled soufflés, and heirloom lettuces tangled like exquisite limbs.”
  27. exquisite
    delicately beautiful
    “Exquisite limbs" reminds me of novels I had to re-shelve at the Sulzer branch library in Chicago, in the romance section.
  28. upholster
    provide furniture with comfortable padding or covers
    The walls are upholstered—like couches.
  29. appraise
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    Cal appraises the place calmly.
  30. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    The kitchen is a quarter the size of Greenery’s, with low ceilings and a gray-green glow emanating from the floor.
  31. urn
    a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
    Every few seconds a member of the committee carries an object out of the shed—a wicker basket, a bag of potting soil, a shovel, a string of lights, an urn—and deposits it on the lawn under the sign that reads PRIVATE: MARINA BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE GARDEN SUPPLY ANNEX.
  32. impound
    take temporary possession of by legal authority
    “I cannot move the camper till I pay my outstanding tickets. And if I don’t pay soon, they’ll impound it.”
  33. broach
    bring up a topic for discussion
    With one eye on Bad Chuck’s mom and one on me, Sandy continues to whisper, “I’ve wanted to broach this for a while, Jeanne Ann...”
  34. barren
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    I can’t decide if I’d rather live on a barren planet and wear a suit that recycles my pee, or in a van, on Earth, with no good place to pee.
  35. voucher
    a negotiable certificate that can be redeemed as needed
    When I open my eyes, a voucher appears through a slot near her head, accompanied by the sounds of a printer, powering up and down.
Created on Wed Jun 30 11:31:02 EDT 2021 (updated Thu Jul 01 12:54:31 EDT 2021)

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.