My Brother Sam is Dead: Chapters 11–12

by James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier
In this historical novel set during the American Revolution, Tim Meeker must decide whether he should do as his father says and remain loyal to the British king or join his brother among the rebels.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–10, Chapters 11–12, Chapter 13–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. munition
    weapons considered collectively
    “They’re after the munitions stored in Danbury,” he said.
  2. gruff
    blunt and unfriendly or stern
    “I don’t know,” he said gruffly.
  3. grim
    harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
    Captain Betts looked grim and hard.
  4. toll
    ring slowly
    A few minutes later the church bell began to toll the alarm.
  5. spatter
    dash a liquid upon or against
    It was nearly full dark, and the rain spattered in squalls against my face.
  6. squall
    sudden violent winds, often accompanied by precipitation
    It was nearly full dark, and the rain spattered in squalls against my face.
  7. indistinct
    not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand
    It was hard to make out much, but indistinctly I could see a body of men coming toward us.
  8. insignia
    a badge worn to show official position
    In a moment I saw the insignia on his shoulder.
  9. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    I could see soldiers sprawled out in the pews and lying in the aisles, trying to sleep.
  10. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    Sam winced. It hurt him.
  11. badger
    annoy persistently
    “God, Mother,” he said, “I came to pay a visit and first Tim badgered me about Father and now you’re badgering me about coming home. I can’t come home until it’s over. It’s my duty to stay and fight.”
  12. pledge
    a binding commitment to do or give or refrain from something
    Then he said, “We’ve made a promise, a group of us, not to quit until the Redcoats are beaten. We’ve made a pledge to each other.”
  13. liable
    likely to be affected with
    The worst part was disease: if anybody got sick with anything serious, everybody on the ship was liable to get it.
  14. epidemic
    a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease
    That’s what had happened to Father: they’d had an epidemic of cholera on the prison ship he’d been on.
  15. ideal
    a principle or value that one hopes to attain or conform to
    It was the first time I’d ever heard her say anything against Sam and his ideals.
  16. scrawny
    being very thin
    However, Mother and I had been able to get hold of eight scrawny cows, mainly from people who owed us a lot of money.
  17. exchequer
    the funds of a government or institution or individual
    Not that I cared which side we sold them to, but the British were the ones who had money—they had the whole English exchequer behind them.
  18. siege
    an action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place
    No, it wasn’t at White Plains, it was at Horseneck. Yes, it was at White Plains after all, but the Rebels had it under siege.
  19. stoke
    (of a fire) stir up or tend
    Mother was out in the kitchen and I’d been stoking up the fire.
  20. adjutant
    an officer who acts as an assistant to a more senior officer
    An adjutant came around and asked if any of us were from this area and I said I was, and Colonel Parsons brought me into town this morning to show him around.
  21. unscrupulous
    without principles
    Some are unscrupulous when they’re hungry and some are unscrupulous by nature and they’ll take whatever they think they can get away with.
  22. compunction
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    Of course the majority of men are honest and won’t steal, but if they decide you’re Tories, they’ll have no compunction about taking your beef.
  23. shirk
    avoid one's assigned duties
    He’s a great patriot, but he’s rough and tough on men who shirk their duty.
  24. mortar
    a substance used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall
    In cold weather they had a lot of trouble getting the mortar to set.
  25. hew
    strike with an axe; cut down, strike
    The snow made hewing wood difficult, too.
  26. populace
    people in general considered as a whole
    Besides, he wants the people to come around to our side, and if he lets the troops forage, he’ll lose all sympathy with the populace.
  27. heifer
    young cow
    “You know what happened to Sally Myles’ heifer.”
  28. hovel
    small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    Mrs. Myles was a widow who lived alone in a tiny hovel in Redding.
  29. decisive
    forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis
    “I think something decisive will happen in the spring,” he said.
  30. mutiny
    open rebellion against constituted authority
    The other day some of the men were actually talking mutiny.
Created on Thu Oct 18 09:16:21 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Oct 30 10:32:23 EDT 2018)

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