The Maltese Falcon: Chapters 18–20

by Dashiell Hammett
In this classic of noir fiction, detective Sam Spade is hired to protect a client in her search for a priceless artifact, but as she refuses to tell him the whole truth, the job becomes more and more dangerous.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1-4, Chapters 5-9, Chapters 10-13, Chapters 14-17, Chapters 18-20
15 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. quiescent
    being quiet or still or inactive
    The appearance of Gutman and his companions seemed to have robbed her of that freedom of personal movement and emotion that is animal, leaving her alive, conscious, but quiescent as a plant.
  2. up to my neck
    deeply involved
    “They’re not asleep, Gutman. They’re lying low, waiting. Try to get that. I’m in it up to my neck and they know it.”
  3. recalcitrant
    stubbornly resistant to authority or control
    He spoke in the manner of one reasoning with a recalcitrant, but not altogether unreasonable, friend.
  4. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
    Gutman wagged his head sidewise in a slow smiling gesture of benign disapproval.
  5. malevolence
    the quality of threatening evil
    The indelible youngness of his face gave an indescribably vicious—and inhuman—turn to the white-hot hatred and the cold white malevolence in his face.
  6. dispassionate
    unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice
    Spade smiled at the Levantine and answered him evenly: “You people want the falcon. I’ve got it. A fall-guy is part of the price I’m asking. As for Miss O’Shaughnessy”—his dispassionate glance moved to her white perplexed face and then back to Cairo and his shoulders rose and fell a fraction of an inch—“if you think she can be rigged for the part I’m perfectly willing to discuss it with you.”
  7. desperado
    a bold outlaw
    Spade addressed Gutman: “I hope you’re not letting yourself be influenced by the guns these pocket-edition desperadoes are waving.”
  8. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    His voice, like his smile, was frankly rueful.
  9. plumb
    completely
    And when he turned into the alley he ran right plumb smack into Captain Jacobi running away with the falcon under his arm.
  10. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    Spade was patient but resolute.
  11. desultory
    marked by lack of definite plan, purpose, or enthusiasm
    Brigid O’Shaughnessy, in the armchair, dozed, listened to the fat man’s comments, and carried on wide-spaced desultory conversations with Spade.
  12. turgid
    abnormally swollen especially by fluids or gas
    His face became turgid with hot blood.
  13. memento
    a reminder of past events
    "And to you, Miss O'Shaughnessy, adieu. I leave you the rara avis on the table as a little memento."
  14. minutely
    in painstaking detail
    He described the boy minutely.
  15. predecessor
    one who goes before you in time
    “What of it? I should trust you? You who arranged that nice little trick for—for my predecessor, Thursby?”
Created on Thu Jan 08 08:54:11 EST 2026 (updated Fri Jan 09 12:55:52 EST 2026)

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