Small Steps: Chapters 10–18

by Louis Sachar
In this sequel to the novel Holes, Theodore "Armpit" Johnson is hoping for a fresh start, but he gets caught up in a series of strange adventures when he reconnects with his old friend X-Ray.

Here are the links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–29, Chapters 30–36

Here is a link to our lists for Holes by Louis Sachar.
35 words 141 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. equipped
    provided with whatever is necessary for a purpose
    Kaira DeLeon’s bus was equipped with a flat-screen TV, a DVD player, two video game players, a refrigerator, a microwave, a treadmill, and a bathroom that included a shower as well as a makeup area.
  2. polite
    not rude
    Tim B, the lead guitarist, had given her a beer, but she didn’t like the taste and only took a few sips to be polite.
  3. monotonous
    tediously repetitious or lacking in variety
    She found the music monotonous but didn’t dare say so out loud.
  4. sacrilege
    blasphemous behavior
    That would have been sacrilege to these guys.
  5. orchestrate
    plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
    There was a kind of raw energy to the music, not like the polished songs she sang, in which every note was carefully planned and orchestrated.
  6. betray
    deliver to an enemy by treachery
    So besides the fact that Aileen would be betraying Kaira’s mother, Kaira just couldn’t imagine someone as smart and as cool as her being involved with someone as gross as El Genius.
  7. gaudy
    tastelessly showy
    Before Aileen started going along with Kaira’s mother on her shopping sprees, Kaira’s mother usually came home looking all gaudy and ridiculous.
  8. efficient
    being effective without wasting time, effort, or expense
    She was stylish, efficient, and compact, like a cell phone.
  9. crevice
    a long narrow opening
    A colony of more than a million Mexican free-tailed bats lived in the cracks and crevices on the underside of the bridge.
  10. swarm
    move in large numbers
    Several fancy hotels lined the banks of the lake—which actually was not a lake at all but a river—and tourists would gather at sundown to watch the bats swarm out from under the bridge as they went in search of food.
  11. obviously
    unmistakably
    Robbie obviously made up the speech as he went along, including the name of his armadillo.
  12. convince
    make realize the truth or validity of something
    By the time economics was over, Armpit had convinced himself that X-Ray had already sold the last two tickets and that he was going to have to buy two from a scalper for fifteen hundred dollars.
  13. soothing
    freeing from fear and anxiety
    “Not to worry, not to worry,” X-Ray said in a soothing voice.
  14. gape
    be wide open
    Ginny covered her gaping mouth with her hand.
  15. insist
    be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
    She insisted on it, which was fine with him, because if he took the X-Mobile they’d have to first take X-Ray home and they were running out of time.
  16. placard
    a sign posted in a public place
    He lifted the handicapped placard out of the pocket in the door beside him.
  17. throng
    a large gathering of people
    Inside, they had to maneuver their way through throngs of people all moving in different directions.
  18. personnel
    group of people willing to obey orders
    Besides all the people working on tour, there were record company executives, friends of record company executives, children of lawyers, brothers-in-law of security personnel.
  19. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    He winced in pain.
  20. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    Drool dripped from her mouth as her body writhed and twitched.
  21. subside
    wear off or die down
    her attack had subsided into tears and hiccups.
  22. gesture
    motion of hands or body to emphasize a thought or feeling
    “Would the gesture have been so threatening if he was white?”
  23. persecute
    cause to suffer
    “Instead of persecuting the victim,” the mayor went on, “you should be back out there, getting the names and phone numbers of everyone seated in that area. Somebody else may have bought tickets from the same scalper.”
  24. innocent
    free from sin
    "You’ve heard she’s naughty,
    You’ve heard she’s wild.
    You’ve heard she’s just
    A sweet innocent child!"
  25. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    The floor beneath him bounced with each beat of the drum, and he could feel the bass vibrating right down to his bones. He hoped it wasn’t too loud for Ginny, but she just stared at Kaira DeLeon, mesmerized.
  26. shimmer
    give off a weakly shining reflection, as of silk
    The spotlight on Kaira kept changing colors and her fringed outfit seemed to shimmer and change with each new color.
  27. sincere
    open and genuine; not deceitful
    As the concert went on, the songs changed from fast to slow, from funky to sincere, but Kaira maintained a magical hold over the crowd.
  28. punctuate
    stress or single out as important
    The drum punctuated each line and drove it home.
  29. vulnerable
    capable of being wounded or hurt
    Kaira, under a single spotlight, seemed especially alone and vulnerable as she half sang, half whispered the very last words.
  30. flinch
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    “Yes,” Ginny said, then flinched, startled either by the sound of her amplified voice or by the cheers of the audience.
  31. improvise
    perform without preparation
    The band tried to improvise a big finish, but in the end, the song just fizzled out.
  32. spontaneous
    said or done without having been planned in advance
    “We were having fun! Rock ’n’ roll is supposed to be spontaneous!”
  33. miniature
    being on a very small scale
    A small couch had been squeezed in between two walls, and a miniature refrigerator sat on the floor across from it.
  34. juvenile
    of or relating to children or young people
    “A juvenile correctional facility,” Ginny said, carefully pronouncing each word.
  35. hoarse
    deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness
    His voice was a little bit hoarse from the night before.
Created on Tue Mar 18 16:49:17 EDT 2014 (updated Mon Jul 30 15:21:42 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.