White Fang: Part 1

by Jack London
Half dog, half wolf, White Fang struggles to survive in the wilderness — and to navigate the complicated world of humans. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
15 words 1324 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. indomitable
    impossible to subdue
    But at front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two men who were not yet dead.
  2. evince
    give expression to
    The wolf-dogs, clustered on the far side of the fire, snarled and bickered among themselves, but evinced no inclination to stray off into the darkness.
  3. salient
    conspicuous, prominent, or important
    He looked over the remainder of the team with a speculative eye that summed up instantly the salient traits of each animal.
  4. epitaph
    an inscription in memory of a buried person
    And this was the epitaph of a dead dog on the Northland trail — less scant than the epitaph of many another dog, of many a man.
  5. pervade
    spread or diffuse through
    A flush of angry blood pervaded Bill’s face.
  6. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    It looked at them in a strangely wistful way, after the manner of a dog; but in its wistfulness there was none of the dog affection.
  7. admonish
    warn strongly; put on guard
    “You needn’t stray off too far in doin’ it,” his partner admonished.
  8. marauder
    someone who attacks in search of loot
    So near did the wolves approach, that the dogs became frantic with terror, and it was necessary to replenish the fire from time to time in order to keep the adventurous marauders at safer distance.
  9. foreboding
    an unfavorable omen
    Bill seemed to have forgotten his forebodings of the previous night, and even waxed facetious with the dogs when, at midday, they overturned the sled on a bad piece of trail.
  10. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    The two men were bent over the sled and trying to right it, when Henry observed One Ear sidling away.
  11. ingratiating
    calculated to please or gain favor
    She seemed to smile at him, showing her teeth in an ingratiating rather than a menacing way.
  12. resilience
    the ability to recover readily from adversity or change
    At last he arose in a weary manner, as though all the resilience had gone out of his body, and proceeded to fasten the dogs to the sled.
  13. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    At such moments, when his dogs snarled, the whole circle would be agitated, the wolves coming to their feet and pressing tentatively forward, a chorus of snarls and eager yelps rising about him.
  14. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    Never had he been so fond of this body of his as now when his tenure of it was so precarious.
  15. semblance
    the outward or apparent appearance or form of something
    His stout mittens temporarily protected his hands, and he scooped live coals into the air in all directions, until the campfire took on the semblance of a volcano.
Created on Mon Dec 16 16:35:43 EST 2019 (updated Mon Jun 23 18:48:54 EDT 2025)

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