We'll Fly Away: List 5

by Bryan Bliss
Before he was convicted of a terrible crime, Luke and his best friend Toby dreamed of escaping their small town. Moving between Luke's letters to Toby from prison and flashbacks to the boys' senior year of high school, this novel explores the challenges and choices that led Luke to death row.

This list covers Chapter 24–February 2.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
30 words 8 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dire
    fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
    Since everybody else had a cell phone, the only people who went to the office were usually in some kind of dire situation.
  2. ratchet
    move by degrees in one direction only
    He looked horrified, which would normally be enough for Toby to ratchet it up another level...
  3. carafe
    a bottle with a stopper
    Toby waited as Lily looked for coffee, then filters. He waited as the machine warmed up and slowly began dripping into the glass carafe.
  4. flair
    distinctive and stylish elegance
    “You did help me,” Toby said. “And that’s why I’m here. You could break free too. Start over. In Iowa.”
    He threw his arms out, announcing a state neither of them had been to with the sort of flair reserved for the circus and late-night infomercials.
  5. staccato
    marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds
    The words were a staccato blur, and with every one of them, she tried to pull away.
  6. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    As soon as she said it, Annie grimaced.
  7. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    Before, him not showing up would elicit a National Guard-sized response in Luke.
  8. indifference
    the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care
    The next time Toby came by—be it a beating or because Lily had dropped him in the way Luke knew she would—he would meet him with indifference for the first time in their lives.
  9. rangy
    tall and thin and having long slender limbs
    As he was standing there, the tall, rangy guy joined Toby and Lily, giving Luke the eye.
  10. gauge
    judge tentatively or form an estimate of
    Luke looked at Toby, gauging his reaction to Lily’s words.
  11. implicate
    bring into intimate and incriminating connection
    Even if the deputies didn’t believe their convenient account, even if Toby wouldn’t say a word to implicate Luke, it didn’t matter.
  12. wallop
    a severe blow
    “He took a wallop, that’s for sure. But you know what that’s like, don’t you?”
  13. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    Jimmy mulled it over. “Who am I to argue with the law?”
  14. ransack
    steal goods; take as spoils
    He didn’t have any money, but he could probably ransack the trailer for enough pawn-worthy stuff to get him to Tennessee, at least.
  15. torrential
    relating to or resulting from the action of a downpour
    It was a sudden torrential rain, overfilling the river, and Toby couldn’t stop the water from coming over the banks.
  16. bluster
    a swaggering show of courage
    All of Toby’s bluster was gone.
  17. pretense
    feign or make believe with intention to deceive
    “I’m in,” Toby said, wanting to skip all the pretense.
  18. proverb
    a condensed but memorable saying embodying an important fact
    He rubbed his chin, like he was pondering an ancient proverb.
  19. righteousness
    the quality of adhering to moral principles
    Lily’s righteousness faded.
  20. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    Lily reached her hand toward Toby tentatively.
  21. rig
    a truck consisting of a tractor and trailer together
    The sheer size of the rig stopped him in his tracks.
  22. generality
    an idea or conclusion having wide application
    He may have used generalities, “What if a boy got in a fight…” to keep all the angles open until he’d investigated every single one.
  23. gawk
    look with amazement
    Every few minutes, a car would pass slowly, gawking at the scene.
  24. livid
    furiously angry
    The whole time, he was trying to figure out how to deal with his bigger problem. Jimmy would be livid.
  25. mea culpa
    an acknowledgment of your error or guilt
    If Toby went to the apartment right now, a mea culpa on his lips, Luke would forgive him.
  26. rustle
    a light noise, like the noise of leaves blowing in the wind
    Behind him, there was a rustle of leaves. Probably the wind or some squirrel.
  27. abomination
    an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence
    Jimmy staring at the plane now was a kick to the stomach. An abomination.
  28. cleave
    separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
    Jimmy swung the tire iron again, cleaving off the nose in one swipe.
  29. punctuate
    insert marks to clarify meaning
    “You may want to join us in here,” he said, using the Bible to punctuate the sentence.
  30. distraught
    deeply agitated especially from emotion
    Annie sat up, her face going from distraught to seriously pissed in a matter of seconds.
Created on Mon Oct 15 14:44:58 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Oct 16 10:41:16 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.