Inkheart: Chapters 17-23

by Cornelia Funke
Mo has the power to bring characters from books into the real world; but when one of those characters kidnaps Mo, his daughter Meggie must embrace her own magical powers in order to rescue her father.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-5, Chapters 6-16, Chapters 17-23, Chapters 24-45, Chapters 46-59

Here is a link to our lists for The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. disembodied
    not having a material form
    It seemed to be everywhere, a malicious, disembodied creature that had just been waiting for the light to go out so it could steal close to her in the darkness and take her in its cold arms.
  2. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    He kept fiddling with his shotgun and glowered unpleasantly at the three of them as if he felt like shooting them on the spot.
  3. dub
    give a nickname to
    There was hardly anyone to be seen in the narrow alleys, only a few of the Black Jackets, as Meggie had secretly dubbed them, with skinny boys following them like puppies.
  4. lintel
    a horizontal beam over a door or window
    She could see no children playing or running after their mothers, only cats: black, white, ginger, tortoiseshell, tabby cats, lying in the warm sun on top of walls, in doorways, on lintels.
  5. vermilion
    of a vivid red to reddish-orange color
    The walls, the columns, even the ceiling, were vermilion, the color of raw meat or dried blood.
  6. plinth
    an architectural support or base, as for a column or statue
    The angel had probably once stood on the stone plinth in front of the first column; now she had had to give way to another statue, whose gaunt, waxen face seemed to look down at Meggie with a supercilious expression.
  7. nave
    the central area of a church
    Capricorn’s church contained no pews of the kind Meggie had seen in other churches, just two long wooden tables with benches, one on each side of the nave.
  8. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    “And as for this book,” said Capricorn, looking at Inkheart with as much dislike as if it had bitten his pale fingers, “this extremely tedious, stupid, and extraordinarily long-winded book, I can assure you I have no intention of ever again letting myself be spellbound by its story..."
  9. brazier
    large metal container in which coal or charcoal is burned
    To her left, at the foot of the steps, stood two drum-shaped iron braziers, rusty brown, with wood heaped up in them: pale, freshly cut firewood, log upon log.
  10. scrabble
    grope, scratch, or feel searchingly
    All those troublesome creatures, those fluttering fairies with their twittering voices, the swarming, scrabbling, stupid beasts everywhere, the smell of fur and dung.
  11. vagabond
    a wanderer with no established residence or means of support
    And then those endless muddy roads to the nearest town, if it could be called a town—that pack of well-born, finely dressed princes in their castles, those stinking peasants, so poor there was nothing to be gotten out of them, and the vagabonds and beggars with vermin dropping from their hair—oh, how sick I was of them all.
  12. torrent
    an overwhelming number or amount
    Elinor screamed and directed a torrent of curses at Basta that Meggie had never even heard before, but she herself could not move.
  13. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    There was still a smell of gasoline in the church, such an acrid smell that it made Meggie cough.
  14. pyre
    wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
    “You know what they say: When people start burning books they’ll soon burn human beings. Suppose we’re next to find ourselves on a pyre?”
  15. obstinacy
    resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires
    In the world on which we finally slammed the door today I frequently mingled with magicians, wizards, and witches, and I very often had to deal with their obstinacy.
  16. maraud
    raid and rove in search of plunder
    Capricorn's men climbed the steps and sat at their master's feet, Elinor among them like a pigeon with ruffled feathers in the middle of a mob of marauding crows.
  17. apprehension
    fearful expectation or anticipation
    They were looking at Mo with expressions of apprehension mingled with dislike.
  18. enrapture
    hold spellbound
    Flatnose was staring into space, enraptured, as if a pirate ship with all sails set were truly cruising in through one of the church windows.
  19. iridescent
    varying in color when seen in different lights
    A few iridescent blue beetles scuttled away, and the head of an emerald-green lizard emerged from a heap of tiny coins.
  20. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    She could see the trepidation even on Basta’s face, although he was doing his best to hide it by assuming a particularly bored expression.
  21. bate
    moderate or restrain; lessen the force of
    Once again, Capricorn’s men listened to Mo’s voice with bated breath, as if they were turned to stone.
  22. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    A boy was suddenly standing between the still smoldering braziers where Capricorn had burned the books.
  23. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    With a dour expression on her face, she pushed past Basta and put a mug and a thermos jug on the floor.
  24. ordeal
    a severe or trying experience
    “What have you done with the boy?" asked Mo.
    “Oh, I think he's next door to you. Capricorn hasn't decided what’s to become of him yet. Cockerell will try him out with a little ordeal by fire tomorrow, and then we'll know if he's of any use to us."
  25. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    “Yes, very!" said Meggie. “But it has a happy ending. Everything turns out all right, and we come home laden with treasure."
  26. sentry
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    “There's a sentry posted up in the church tower,” he whispered, “but the guards are keeping watch on the hills, not the village. The dogs are in their kennels, and even if we do have to deal with them, luckily they like me better than Basta.”
  27. crypt
    a cellar or vault or underground burial chamber
    “They put people condemned to death in the crypt under the church. Ever since I told Basta for a joke that a White Lady haunts the stone coffins down there, he turns white as a sheet whenever Capricorn sends him into the crypt.”
  28. breadth
    the extent of something from side to side
    He was taller than she was by almost a hand’s breadth.
  29. outstrip
    go far ahead of
    Dustfinger hurried on ahead as if trying to outstrip his own shadow.
  30. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    Once again, she noticed the many empty houses, the blank windows, the dilapidated doors.
  31. ingratiate
    gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts
    “I expect Basta's divided it out among Capricorn's maids. He likes to ingratiate himself with them.”
  32. desolate
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    Meanwhile, the sound of an engine, so curiously out of place in this desolate wilderness, was getting alarmingly loud.
  33. wrest
    obtain by seizing forcibly or violently, also metaphorically
    Elinor had her work cut out getting herself up the hillside, which was crisscrossed with low walls that had been built in a laborious attempt to wrest narrow fields and orchards from the poor soil, somewhere to grow a few olive trees and grapevines, anything that would bear fruit here.
  34. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    The tangled thornbushes growing among its gnarled roots were just tall enough to hide them.
  35. grope
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    They watched the van headlights emerge on the slope of the next hill: two fingers of light groping their way along an invisible road in the dark.
  36. disreputable
    lacking respectability in character, behavior or appearance
    They must have looked very disreputable in their dirty clothes, drenched with sweat, and torn by all the thornbushes.
  37. earnestly
    in a sincere and serious manner
    Elinor seemed to share Meggie’s fears, for she was to be seen several times talking earnestly to Mo—in the hotel corridor outside her room, at breakfast, at dinner.
  38. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    Dustfinger looked impassively at Mo's face.
  39. romp
    play boisterously
    One of the children who had been romping among the tables bent down and looked incredulously at the little horns.
  40. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    Dustfinger inspected his reddened fingers and felt the taut skin.
Created on Tue May 29 19:00:57 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Jun 05 10:44:59 EDT 2018)

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