Pictures of Hollis Wood: List 3

by Patricia Reilly Giff
After many years in foster care, 12-year-old Hollis is determined to stay with her new caretaker, Josie — but she also misses the Regan family.

This list covers "Ninth Picture"–"Fourteenth Picture."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
30 words 152 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    “Hey.” His eyes were earnest behind his glasses. “You don’t have to look like that.”
  2. bewildered
    extremely confused and uncertain what to do
    “I love to walk in the snow.” She was shivering again, looking up at me, suddenly bewildered. “But why aren’t we home? And what happened to Beatrice?”
  3. sprig
    a small branch or stem, usually with leaves or flowers
    Steven holding a sprig of holly out to me: “Peace, Holly.”
  4. smother
    envelop completely
    Ah, fish smothered in tomato sauce, and string beans jarred last summer.
  5. turban
    a headdress made of a long scarf wrapped around the head
    I found a towel in the hall closet to wrap around my head like a turban, and one of Izzy’s large sweaters to put over the whole thing.
  6. abominable
    exceptionally bad or displeasing
    “The abominable snowman,” I said, and then I was outside, trying to decide. I could fish from the bank or the Old Man’s bridge.
  7. teeter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    There was no movement on the other side: a scoop of snow slid off one of the branches; a blue jay teetered on another.
  8. poach
    hunt illegally
    Christmas was coming. Maybe it was someone cutting down a tree, or poaching in the Old Man’s woods.
  9. jubilant
    full of high-spirited delight
    I was happy. No, that doesn’t even describe it. I was...jubilant, ecstatic.
  10. ecstatic
    feeling great rapture or delight
    I was happy. No, that doesn’t even describe it. I was...jubilant, ecstatic.
  11. trim
    decorate, as with ornaments
    We’d trim the mantel with great heaps of green and tuck Josie’s ornaments in among the needles.
  12. mantel
    a shelf that projects from the wall above a fireplace
    We’d trim the mantel with great heaps of green and tuck Josie’s ornaments in among the needles.
  13. stalk
    recur constantly and spontaneously to
    All that time Henry was stalking me, a line between his eyes as if he were frowning.
  14. cinch
    any undertaking that is easy to do
    I put everything away carefully, my pad and pencils, cleaned up the tomato mess in the kitchen, put away the box of Mallomars, shut the refrigerator door, and all the time I was thinking, Three hours up, three hours back, a cinch.
  15. deceptive
    deliberately designed to mislead
    Mud. The Old Man was right: It was deceptive. I couldn’t tell it was there until I stepped into it, once covering the whole of my sneaker.
  16. incorrigible
    impervious to correction by punishment
    “Someone called me incorrigible.”
  17. taper
    diminish gradually
    Late that afternoon the snow tapered off and stopped.
  18. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    Then I trudged over to the shed for the Old Man’s saw and found Steven’s sweater hanging on the knob, encrusted with snow.
  19. encrust
    cover or coat with some material
    Then I trudged over to the shed for the Old Man’s saw and found Steven’s sweater hanging on the knob, encrusted with snow.
  20. prism
    optical device used to deviate a beam or invert an image
    I had caught movement outside as I hung the last clear prism.
  21. scramble
    move hurriedly
    I watched him for another moment, then scrambled out of the truck, feeling the pull of my ankle, telling myself I had to do it, had to go as quickly as I could.
  22. turret
    a small tower extending above a building
    Turret lights turned and glowed, and an ambulance came all the way from Walton, its siren screaming.
  23. cascade
    rush down in big quantities
    It was my tree figure, with her sea-grass hair cascading down her back, almost half the size of Josie.
  24. gouge
    make a groove in
    There’s a table in the center, someone’s initials, TR, gouged out of the wood.
  25. eaves
    the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
    Huge icicles hung from the eaves, and suddenly I was so cold I couldn’t stay outside anymore.
  26. grim
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    The Old Man, looking a little grim: He’s just discovered that Steven left his bedroom window open so the snow drifted in all winter, ruining the wall and buckling parts of the wood floor.
  27. feisty
    showing spirit and courage
    And Henry? Ancient, but still feisty. “That cats as tough as you are, ” Steven says to me.
  28. relieve
    free from a burden, evil, or distress
    I know they’re relieved to have me off their hands and settled.
  29. contented
    satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
    She looks quiet in the picture, contented, sucking on her thumb.
  30. bassinet
    a basket (usually hooded) used as a baby's bed
    We stand over her bassinet smiling at her, cooing.
Created on Wed Dec 02 20:41:07 EST 2020 (updated Mon Dec 07 15:12:01 EST 2020)

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