The Knife of Never Letting Go: Part III

by Patrick Ness
Growing up in the extraterrestrial settlement of Prentisstown, Todd has always been taught that the virus that allows the men of his town to hear each other's thoughts is the same disease that killed the colony's girls and women. When Todd makes a discovery that endangers his safety, he flees his town and encounters a strange girl, Viola. Together they attempt to discover the truth about Prentisstown — while fighting for their lives.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Parts I–II, Part III, Parts IV-V, Part VI

Here is a link to our lists for A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. scrub
    dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes
    On this side of the river the path makes a slow turn away from the cliff side, heading into what looks like a landscape of scrub and brush, making its way around and away from the larger mountain, looming up at us on the left.
  2. terrain
    a piece of ground having specific characteristics
    The path is still pretty wide, wide enough for horses, but the terrain around us is getting rockier, the path twistier.
  3. crevice
    a long narrow opening
    Little prickly firs grow out of every crevice and yellow vines with thorns wrapping themselves around the firs' trunks and you can see and hear yellow razor lizards hissing at us as we pass.
  4. mutton
    meat from a mature domestic sheep
    I take some dried mutton outta my rucksack and use the knife to cut strips for me, for Manchee, and for the girl.
  5. synthetic
    not of natural origin; prepared or made artificially
    “They’re partially alive,” she says. “Synthetic human tissue. When you’re healed, they die.”
  6. spare
    lacking embellishment or ornamentation
    But she just looks up into the sky, blue and spare, with clouds that look like bones.
  7. roil
    be agitated
    “Well, stop just saying,” I frown, my Noise roiling enough to get Manchee on his feet.
  8. juncture
    a particular point in a process or activity
    “What’s foremost in my mind at this partickalar juncture,” says a voice rising from behind the gun, “is what do two little pups think they’re doing a-burning down my bridge?”
  9. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    “I’d quiet down yer beastie there,” says the rifle, his face obscured by looking down the sight straight at us.
  10. unnerve
    disturb the composure of
    “Oh, I heard of Prentisstown, all right,” says the rifle, reading my Noise with unnerving clarity and cocking the gun again, making it ready to shoot.
  11. clarity
    the quality of being coherent and easily understood
    “Oh, I heard of Prentisstown, all right,” says the rifle, reading my Noise with unnerving clarity and cocking the gun again, making it ready to shoot.
  12. dub
    give a nickname to
    “What might yer good mothers have dubbed ye?”
    Me and Viola exchange another glance. It seems like a price, giving up our names, but maybe it’s a fair exchange for the gun being lowered.
  13. prod
    push against gently
    She’s gotta be reading my Noise again but I can’t feel no prodding like I do when men try it.
  14. vexed
    troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances
    I feel a little vexed, if I’m honest.
  15. beckon
    summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
    She’s ready to go, ready to head off with the first quiet person she sees, ready to leave me behind at the first sweet beckoning.
  16. humble
    low or inferior in station or quality
    We haven’t had guests for dinner in many a moon, so ye’ll have to be a-scusing our humble shack.
  17. nigh
    slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
    Ain’t been no travelers thisaway for nigh on ten years nor more but yer welcome!
  18. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    “Well, now,” Hildy says, “Haven’s meant to be a-working on one. So people say.”
    “Which people?” Tam asks, sceptical.
  19. inclined
    having a preference, disposition, or tendency
    “You build yer houses with the first tools at hand.”
    “Quite so, pup,” Tam says. “Or ye make them works of art if yer so inclined.”
  20. reckon
    expect, believe, or suppose
    “Fine. Any two pups so close to adulthood could maybe be left to their own apologies, I reckon.”
  21. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    Viola makes a scoffing sound.
  22. vale
    a valley
    The road comes out on the top of a little vale.
  23. machete
    a large knife used as a weapon or for cutting vegetation
    Most are scattered working in the orchard, wearing heavy work aprons, all the men in long sleeves, the women in long skirts, cutting down pinelike fruits with machetes or carrying away baskets or working on the irrigashun pipes and so on.
  24. baffle
    be a mystery or bewildering to
    “I don’t see a boy pup nowhere,” Matthew says, his eyes starting to burn. He’s massively tall, shoulders like an ox and a thickened brow with lots of bafflement but not much tenderness.
  25. lurch
    move abruptly
    Matthew’s Noise is already lurching on me like hands pressing in, forcing its way into my own thinking, trying to ransack the room.
  26. subside
    wear off or die down
    Matthew’s Noise subsides, suddenlike but still roiling, without quite so much control as Tam but still more than any man in Prentisstown.
  27. speculation
    a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
    “You said there was a cure for Noise in Haven.”
    “Ach!” Hildy psshts. “That’s just rumors and speckalashuns.”
  28. heedless
    characterized by careless unconcern
    Chop, chop, chop and I’ll only give seven for the dozen and Listen to her sing there, just listen and That coop needs fixing tonight and He’s gonna fall right off of that and on and on and on, so heedless and safe-sounding to me it feels like taking a bath in comparison to the black Noise I’m used to.
  29. posse
    a temporary police force
    “Five men on horseback,” she says. “Not an army. Those were just the posse sent after our young pups here.”
  30. gorge
    a deep ravine, usually with a river running through it
    “And the river gorge crossing is down anyhow,” Hildy continues, “so there ain’t gonna be anyone a-coming into Farbranch any time soon.”
  31. worldly
    characteristic of secularity rather than spirituality
    “Yer a-forgetting we were church settlers,” Francia says, “getting away from worldly things to set up our own little utopia, so we let that kinda machinery go to rack and ruin as we got on with the business of surviving.”
  32. utopia
    ideally perfect state
    “Yer a-forgetting we were church settlers,” Francia says, “getting away from worldly things to set up our own little utopia, so we let that kinda machinery go to rack and ruin as we got on with the business of surviving.”
  33. strife
    bitter conflict; heated or violent dissension
    “Simple farmers, looking for a simpler way of life. That was the whole point in flying all this ridiculous way to get here. Setting down the things that caused such strife for people of old.”
  34. appalled
    struck with dread, shock, or dismay
    “Ivan says ye can work in the back a-sweeping up.”
    “Sweeping up?’’ I say, kinda appalled. “I know how farms work, mim, and I—”
  35. sheaf
    a package of several things tied together
    There’s a section with big rolls of silage, too, packed up to the ceiling with thin rope, and another section with huge sheaves of wheat ready to be ground into flour.
  36. chafe
    anger produced by some annoying irritation
    I can often hear their silences as they walk by outside and I can hear men’s Noise responding to it, too, sometimes with chafing but usually in a way that just gets on with things.
  37. percolate
    spread gradually
    His Noise is strange. It’s cautious but strong, like he’s checking me out. I don’t read no hostility, not toward me, anyway, but something’s percolating in it.
  38. embed
    fix or set securely or deeply
    I’m five steps away and still running when Matthew makes a two-handed strike down at the ground, embedding the tip of the machete into the wooden floor.
  39. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    “Manchee?” I say, frantically looking behind the sheaves and the piles of fruit baskets.
  40. brook
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    And here comes Matthew, coming on in slow steps, like he no longer has to hurry, his Noise reaching forward in a wave that don’t brook no argument.
Created on Sun Nov 18 12:14:40 EST 2018 (updated Thu Apr 25 09:48:36 EDT 2019)

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