Into the Sunken City: Chapters 12–17

by Dinesh Thiru
In a future world, most cities are now deep underwater and inhabitants like Jin, her sister Thara, and their companions live sparingly by diving for treasure in these sunken cities. A ragtag team is assembled to find a massive stash of gold in the ruins of Vegas-Drowned, but many obstacles — corsairs, sea beasts, fear of diving — threaten their very lives.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–11, Chapters 12–17, Chapters 18–24
15 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ditty
    a short simple song
    “You know my mom has this saying: an eighth for a quarter for a half for a whole. Know what it means?”
    “No,” Taim says without glancing at Saanvi.
    “It’s a gambler’s ditty. Means there’s always hope. Even the smallest win can be turned into another and another, and before you know it, you’ve stolen the pot.”
  2. garish
    tastelessly showy
    The cabin is a compact, garish thing. A large ashen polywood desk lines the far wall with several maps, pens, and a squat lamp that offers a hazy green light. A few benches are in front of the desk with all of us smushed together on one.
  3. bulkhead
    a partition that divides a ship or plane into compartments
    Three round portholes fit the forward bulkhead and look out onto the weapons deck near the ship’s bow.
  4. pinion
    restrain or bind
    Thara’s behind me, silent; Silva released her once Taim’s wrists were zipped behind his back and ours pinioned in front of us.
  5. dapple
    color with streaks or blotches of different shades
    Thin puddles dapple the floor, giant spools of cable and rigging are piled starboard, barrels are stacked aft in rows, and in the center, there’s a square cage, six feet by six feet, with rusted iron bars running deck to overhead.
  6. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    Across from me, near the orlop’s foremost ladder, is a young, gangly corsair, Montserrat, slumped in a wishbone chair.
  7. brackish
    distasteful and unpleasant
    He dropped off dinner and some brackish tea late in the night.
  8. prow
    the front part of a vessel
    The mess is a spacious triangular compartment, consuming the entire main deck below the prow.
  9. fodder
    coarse food composed of plants or leaves and stalks
    “Well,” Izzy says, “then I’m afraid little Thara’s gonna be fodder for the kitefins too.”
  10. hovel
    small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    Is there a crater somewhere we can curl into? Someplace, any place, to hide. Between the mist and the pitch-black night, we just need a tiny hovel to shield us from view.
  11. provenance
    where something originated or started
    “Pick one, and I’ll tell you its provenance,” he says.
  12. promontory
    a natural elevation
    Before we can chart a course over Vegas-Drowned, we have to check in with the Guard, who’ve cordoned off the area. The check-in we’re using is at a promontory at the southern tip of Yucca Cape.
  13. din
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    Silva slams into me awkwardly, and my head clips the wet cabin door. My ears are ringing, but faintly over the din, I hear Silva. “Fool klutzy sea legs.”
  14. abalone
    a large edible marine gastropod with an ear-shaped shell
    Hitesh, Mayra, Khaddhi, and Silva all have on similar frames, probably aluminum alloy, though theirs are palest gray, like abalone, with bright blue bindings and steel helmets.
  15. veneer
    an outward appearance that is deliberately misleading
    My body’s taut, my hands clawed in my exo-gloves, my eyes staring him down, looking for that crack in the veneer, the one that will tell me—he’s lying, he’s lying, you know he’s lying.
Created on Mon Aug 17 20:47:16 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 08 11:30:51 EDT 2026)

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