The Hiding Place: Chapter 12–Since Then

by Corrie ten Boom, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill
Holland native Corrie ten Boom had an unremarkable life until Nazi Germany invaded her family's world during World War II. Corrie became a Resistance heroine and survived Hitler's concentration camps in her true life story of faith triumphing over evil.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–11, Chapter 12–Since Then
15 words 6 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. trestle
    a supporting tower used to support a bridge
    An hour or more later the clack of the train changed pitch: we were crossing a trestle.
  2. salvo
    rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
    Almost every day a salvo of shots would send the anguished whispers flying: How many this time? Who were they?
  3. waif
    a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned
    Like waifs clustered around a blazing fire, we gathered about it, holding out our hearts to its warmth and light.
  4. tribulation
    an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
    “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
  5. recurrent
    happening again and again
    Fridays—the recurrent humiliation of medical inspection.
  6. phalanx
    a body of troops in close array
    Still we were forbidden even to wrap ourselves in our own arms, but had to maintain our erect, hands-at-sides position as we filed slowly past a phalanx of grinning guards.
  7. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    Eight acrid and overflowing toilets served the entire room; to reach them
  8. wan
    lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble
    Around our own platform area there was not enough light to read the Bible, but back here a small lightbulb cast a wan yellow circle on the wall, and here an ever larger group of women gathered.
  9. skein
    coils of worsted yarn
    I stood blinking in the center of the room. Then grabbing a skein of the dark gray wool, I dashed through the dormitory door.
  10. imperceptibly
    in a manner that is difficult to discern
    Was it coincidence that joy and power imperceptibly drained from my ministry?
  11. conscription
    compulsory military service
    It was several days before I perceived that most of these “girls” were young men in hiding from the forced-labor conscription, which had grown more ruthless than ever.
  12. ungainly
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    Even in the curtained gloom the ungainly bulk beside me was unmistakable.
  13. sequester
    keep away from others
    Since the start of the Nazi occupation, they had been sequestered by their families in back rooms, their schools and training centers shut down, hidden from a government that had decided they were not fit to live.
  14. perplexity
    trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
    I stopped. How could I explain what I did not understand?
    “From someone who’s been here,” she finished simply, not understanding my perplexity.
  15. indefatigable
    showing sustained enthusiasm with unflagging vitality
    John and I made some of those trips with her, the only way to catch this indefatigable woman long enough to get the information we needed to tell her story.
Created on Wed Jan 21 20:36:10 EST 2026 (updated Tue Mar 17 11:44:40 EDT 2026)

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