Moon Over Manifest: List 2

by Clare Vanderpool
During the Great Depression, Abilene Tucker tries to solve a mystery in her father's hometown of Manifest, Kansas, while also learning about Manifest's fascinating past.

This list covers "A Bargain is Struck"–"The Victory Quilt," or pages 68-129 in the 2010 Yearling edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1,List 2,List 3,List 4,List 5
40 words 376 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. purveyor
    someone who supplies provisions, especially food
    What kind of purveyor of the future could only tell stories from the past?
  2. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
    She made a guttural, scoffing sound.
  3. restitution
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
    I gave it a strong look but knew I’d broken her pot and needed to make restitution.
  4. tandem
    an arrangement of objects or persons one behind another
    He ended up with seven dollars and fifty cents and bought us a tandem bicycle.
  5. ill-conceived
    poorly thought out
    I choked a little on the biscuit brick, wondering how Shady knew of my ill-conceived agreement with the diviner, when he went over to a box in the corner of the room and pulled out a wire-bristle brush, one glove, a half-full bag of chewing tobacco, and a cracked mirror.
  6. bristly
    having or covered with protective barbs or spines
    I smiled back, feeling the rough and bristly rope.
  7. convivial
    occupied with or fond of the pleasures of good company
    I hope all of you are having a festive and convivial fall.
  8. matriculate
    enroll as a student
    I suppose having matriculated to my nineteenth year has provided me with a depth of insight which I am only beginning to excavate.
  9. rumination
    a calm, lengthy, intent consideration
    My ruminations were particularly profound at church last Sunday when Pastor Mankins illuminated us all.
  10. indigent
    poor enough to need help from others
    I had no idea there was such a need for calamine lotion among the indigent, but that selfless act of charity will be forever embalmed on my mind.
  11. commodious
    large and roomy
    A thesaurus is a commodious tool for any reporter.
  12. penultimate
    next to the last
    So, for all the whos, whats, whys, whens, and wheres, refer to the penultimate page every Sunday (except Sunday next).
  13. wayward
    resistant to guidance or discipline
    “They are a match from the start. Jinx is cocky and streetwise. He knows a con for every day of the week. But he knows little of friendship and home. Ned provides both. He takes Jinx to Shady’s place, where many a wayward soul is welcome and no questions are asked.”
  14. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    This time she left off all the divining gyrations and jingle-jangle antics and just started her story, plain and simple.
  15. immaculate
    completely neat and clean
    Mr. Devlin was dressed in a large pinstripe suit and an immaculate celluloid collar.
  16. celluloid
    flammable substance used in motion-picture and X-ray film
    Mr. Devlin was dressed in a large pinstripe suit and an immaculate celluloid collar.
    Before the 1950s, celluloid (a type of plastic) was the material from which film was made for movies and some types of photographs. However, celluloid can also be used to make other products, including ping pong balls and guitar picks. Celluloid collars, which were detachable and easily cleaned, were introduced in the 1870s.
  17. fetching
    very attractive; capturing interest
    “Suit yourself. But I did see Pearl Ann Larkin trying on a fetching hat at the millinery today. Big pink thing with feathers. She waved at me through the window.”
    A millinery is a shop that specializes in women's hats — precisely the sort of place where Pearl Ann might try on a fetching "pink thing with feathers."
  18. alfalfa
    plant with trifoliate leaves mostly grown to feed livestock
    Farmers had finished harvesting their soybeans, milo, and alfalfa and had planted their winter wheat.
  19. tout
    advertise in strongly positive terms
    The Swedes served up braided bread and hard baked pretzels, while the Germans and Austrians touted their strudels and bierochs.
  20. placard
    a sign posted in a public place
    A few booths over, a placard read JASPER HINKLEY, PYROTECTIC.
  21. exuberant
    joyously unrestrained
    The exuberant Mr. Hinkley worked a crowd of young boys who apparently had plenty of money to spend.
  22. feigned
    not genuine
    Jinx stuck out his bottom lip and spoke with a feigned country-bumpkin accent.
  23. layman
    someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
    “This little fella, he starts to burning when the shell goes up. When he’s all used up, kapow! You got yourself a mighty fine pyrotectic display. That’s fireworks in layman’s terms.”
    Mr. Hinkley describes his work in "layman's terms," but he is less skilled at using technical terms: pyrotectic is not an actual word. Mr. Hinkley means pyrotechnic, "relating to the craft of making fireworks."
  24. bona fide
    not counterfeit or copied
    “Course, you got to be a bona fide pyrotectic to handle these little darlings. I apprenticed with a full-fledged Chinaman up in Omaha.”
  25. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    “Go ahead, give him another dime. You’re good at it,” Jinx coaxed.
  26. hanker
    desire strongly or persistently
    I was glad to have the afternoon off, but I was sort of hankering to know what was going to happen with the Manchurian Fire Thrower.
  27. ornery
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    “Yes, Billy. She had a tough go of it, but she’s a strong woman. She must be to keep an ornery boy like you in line.”
  28. headlong
    at breakneck speed
    “Johnny likes sunshine, I like rain. Johnny likes to ride his bike—” I bolted from the bushes and ran headlong into a tall figure dressed in black.
  29. bevy
    a large gathering of people of a particular type
    Pearl Ann stood with a bevy of women bragging about their sons and nephews in the army and all a-twitter over the coming New Year’s festivities.
  30. proceeds
    the income or profit arising from a transaction
    Proceeds will go toward the purchase of Liberty Bonds to support our young men in arms.
  31. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Ned sidled up to Pearl Ann.
  32. paisley
    a fabric with a colorful swirled pattern of curved shapes
    “Every girl’s got to do her part in supporting our boys in arms,” she said, waving a swatch of paisley fabric.
  33. dapper
    marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners
    Just then, Arthur Devlin, wearing a dapper pin-striped suit and sporting a sleek black cane, approached Mrs. Larkin.
  34. jaunty
    marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners
    The boys, who normally sported their high school letter sweaters, were dressed in smart brown military uniforms and jaunty hats.
  35. smoldering
    showing scarcely suppressed anger
    “Going to a costume ball?” Ned said, still smoldering.
  36. endeavor
    a purposeful or industrious undertaking
    The abandoned mine shaft Shady used for mixing hooch became a convenient hideout for a new shady endeavor.
  37. mole
    a spy who works against enemy espionage
    “I was the mole. I’d have some malady and Finn was the person with the cure for what ailed me. Sometimes I’d be blind. Other times crippled. But it was always something that would be visible to everyone there..."
  38. malady
    impairment of normal physiological function
    “I was the mole. I’d have some malady and Finn was the person with the cure for what ailed me. Sometimes I’d be blind. Other times crippled. But it was always something that would be visible to everyone there..."
  39. haphazard
    marked by great carelessness
    Maybe he wouldn’t notice if I did a haphazard job on the tying.
  40. wallow
    roll around
    Fortunately for him, he was wallowing in the mud pen when his lean-to had a hole blasted through the roof boards.
Created on Fri May 18 14:29:34 EDT 2018 (updated Mon May 21 10:39:06 EDT 2018)

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