Flush: Chapters 6–10

by Carl Hiaasen
While his father sits in jail for eco-terrorism, Noah sets out to prove that a casino boat is illegally polluting a local harbor.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–21

Here is a link to our lists for Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
15 words 1636 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. accusation
    an assertion that someone is guilty of a fault or offense
    “Besides, the man’s got a right to defend himself. Your father’s made some serious accusations.”
  2. charter
    a contract to hire or lease transportation
    “We hid aboard one of the charter boats.”
  3. abandoned
    forsaken by owner or inhabitants
    “Bolted last night while I was in the shower. Took my Jeep, too. The cops found it abandoned this morning up near the toll plaza at Cutler Ridge.”
  4. overestimate
    assign too high a value to
    My father has a bad habit of overestimating his charm—and also my mother’s patience.
  5. mortified
    made to feel uncomfortable because of shame or wounded pride
    Apparently everybody else on the island had watched Dad’s big interview, and many of them wanted to share their reactions with Mom, who was mortified.
  6. rummage
    search haphazardly
    I’d been rummaging through the wheelhouse, hunting for any scrap of evidence that might help Dad—a note in the crew’s log, an order in Dusty’s handwriting to dump the tanks, whatever—when a mullet boat rumbled into the basin.
  7. ruthless
    without mercy or pity
    He said he was protesting the destruction of the oceans and rivers by “ruthless greedheads.”
  8. vandal
    someone who willfully destroys or defaces property
    Dad had also combed his hair and put on his wire-rimmed glasses, so he came off more like a college professor than a boat vandal.
  9. contaminate
    make impure
    He said that Dusty would never purposely contaminate the waters where his own son played.
  10. slanderous
    harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign
    The lawyer concluded by calling my father a “mentally unbalanced individual,” and challenged him to prove his “reckless and slanderous allegations.”
  11. incriminate
    suggest that someone is guilty
    I unhooked the incriminating bucktail jig from the dish and started scaling down the rain gutter.
  12. slacken
    become looser
    Every so often the line would hiss upward, slacken, and then a tremendous splash could be heard in the distance.
  13. prosecute
    bring a criminal action against
    “No, but he agreed to drop all the charges. He promised not to prosecute if you promise to stop spreading stories about him.
  14. anomaly
    deviation from the normal or common order, form, or rule
    “Don’t worry, son, it was a freak deal—what they call an atmospheric anomaly. Probably never happen here again in a million years.”
  15. hurtle
    make a thrusting forward movement
    One second I was pedaling full speed, the next I was hurtling over my handlebars.
Created on Fri Jan 31 20:01:08 EST 2014 (updated Wed Jul 30 13:45:40 EDT 2025)

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.