The Midnight Children: Chapters 18–25

by Dan Gemeinhart
Twelve-year-old Ravani Foster is the only person in Slaughterville who sees seven children move into the house across the street and, wanting their friendship, he vows to protect their secret.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–17, Chapters 18–25, Chapters 26–35, Chapters 36–59
40 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. persistent
    continually recurring to the mind
    No matter who Ravani was talking to, or which porch he was badly missing with a newspaper, one word echoed like the persistent caw of a crow in his mind: Ragabonds. Ragabonds. Ragabonds.
  2. flamboyant
    tending to attract attention; marked by ostentatious display
    Fred Frotham had performed a flamboyant character on his café's patio, Ravani dimly remembered; a burly Russian bear trainer, he thought he recalled.
  3. lukewarm
    feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm
    Virginia’s face spread in a smile that on anyone else could have been called lukewarm, but on her counted as beaming.
  4. bile
    a digestive juice secreted by the liver
    "Can we go?” Ravani asked, still fighting the rising bile from his belly.
  5. befuddled
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    "Sell sauce?” Mr. Skinister repeated, befuddled. "There isn’t even any meat in it.”
  6. daub
    apply to a surface
    Colt pulled a bandanna out of his back pocket and daubed it along Ravani’s forehead.
  7. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    "Well...I mean...I don’t...well, Donnie always wins, anyway,” Ravani sputtered. He blew out an exasperated breath.
  8. incredulity
    doubt about the truth of something
    "Take me, for example. I have always wanted to say the words, Lay it on me, old man. And if the chance ever presents itself, you can be darn sure I ain’t gonna let it pass me by.”
    "'Lay it on me, old man’?” Virginia said with bored incredulity.
  9. skedaddle
    run away, as if in a panic
    "Let’s skedaddle. You two got some work to do. And my afternoon nap ain’t gonna take itself.”
  10. trough
    a container from which cattle or horses feed
    "Last year a team rowed the whole way in an old pig trough.”
  11. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    He stretched his candle arm out toward the shrouded shapes.
  12. plush
    characterized by extravagance and softness
    It was lined with plush red velvet.
  13. streamline
    contour economically or efficiently
    "It’s, like, streamlined,” Ravani said, grinning back at her. "It’s made for the water!”
  14. heft
    lift or elevate
    They hefted the casket up by its handles and lugged it over to the brightest patch of basement dirt, in the full sunlight of the cellar door.
  15. tarnish
    make or become dirty or dull, as by exposure to air
    Virginia pulled a screwdriver out of her back pocket and got to work unscrewing the tarnished hinges so they could yank the lid off.
  16. bow
    front part of a vessel or aircraft
    “The foot end can be the front,” she said.
    “You mean the bow?”
    “No. I mean the front. I’m not a sailor, Rav.”
  17. hearse
    a vehicle for carrying a coffin to a church or a cemetery
    “You’re putting the cart before the horse,” she said. “Or, before the hearse, I guess.”
  18. assume
    take to be the case or to be true
    “I’ve...never been in a coffin before.”
    “I’d assumed that, comrade.”
  19. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    She sat up gingerly and held on to the coffin's sides, then scooted forward a bit. “Now get in behind me. Don’t tip us.”
  20. casket
    box in which a corpse is buried or cremated
    He got one foot in, then stood there halfway into the casket, trying to get up the nerve to make the leap. The coffin started to float away.
  21. myriad
    too numerous to be counted
    She blinked, eyes wide, looking around at the myriad birdhouses of Haven Hollow.
  22. unscathed
    not injured
    He was five feet past Donnie and tantalizingly close to getting past him unscathed.
  23. pucker
    draw together into folds
    Virginia shook her head thoughtfully, mouth puckered.
  24. garish
    tastelessly showy
    She’d painted the words in big curly white letters and outlined them in black so they popped out boldly against the garish red coffin.
  25. dollop
    a soft lump or portion of something, especially food
    He kept his voice deep and unbroken, but at a shout he could add some scratchy gravel to it and a little sharp rasp. He put a dollop of southern flavor on it, too.
  26. tousle
    disarrange or rumple; dishevel
    "Make sure they don’t,” Colt said, tousling Ravani’s hair.
  27. pensive
    showing deep sadness
    Virginia nodded, brow furrowed pensively.
  28. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    Ravani stiffened, thinking she’d just given the whole ruse away.
  29. sliver
    (figurative) a small or narrow piece or slice
    The door opened just wide and long enough, though, to give a quick glimpse of a sliver of the kitchen, including a woman standing at the sink with her back to them.
  30. gripe
    complain
    "I wish we had known you were coming,” Beth griped theatrically through the door as Ravani made his exit.
  31. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    He scuttled, bent over and wheezing, around the corner of the Deerings’ house and up to the bush beneath the bathroom window.
  32. linoleum
    a floor covering made from linseed oil, cork, and resin
    He launched himself over the sill and through the window, bouncing off the toilet and sprawling with a wind-sucking thud onto the linoleum floor.
  33. recede
    pull back or move away or backward
    Footsteps, receding away down the steps.
  34. flurry
    a rapid active commotion
    The kitchen was a flurry of voices, elbows, and jostling bodies as the Deerings bustled, each doing their part.
  35. amble
    walk leisurely
    Benjamin and Winnie ambled away toward the front porch, Annabel and Beth walked out to the dining room, and then it was just Ravani and Virginia and Colt standing in the kitchen alone.
  36. flimsy
    lacking solidity or strength
    He looked down at the shabby keyboard—with its crumpled corners, and smeared crayon, and flimsy tape holding it all together—so he didn’t have to look in her eyes.
  37. sonorous
    full and loud and deep
    And he heard it. A note, faint and distant. Then another. The warm, sonorous voice of a piano.
  38. skepticism
    doubt about the truth of something
    “Yeah. It’s part of the magic, Rav. Every Ragabond, when they join, gets a Special. A power, sort of.”
    “You mean...like a superpower?” Ravani tried and failed to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
  39. forge
    make a copy of with the intent to deceive
    "He can fake signatures, forge forms, counterfeit documents. He makes us school records, birth certificates, whatever. The world runs on paperwork, Rav.”
  40. intriguing
    capable of arousing interest or curiosity
    One had been a travel agent’s office. Also intriguing. Into his notebook it went.
Created on Sat Mar 16 16:52:33 EDT 2024 (updated Sun Mar 17 14:45:21 EDT 2024)

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