Love Medicine: List 4

by Louise Erdrich
This award-winning novels traces the lives of several Native American families over six decades.

This list covers "Love Medicine"–"Crossing the Water."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
35 words 39 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. discrepancy
    a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions
    Besides the dictionary, which I’m constantly in use of, I had this Bible once. I read it. I found there was discrepancies between then and now.
  2. pert
    characterized by a lightly saucy or impudent quality
    Right now, she eyed the Lamartine’s pert flowery dress with such a look it despaired me.
  3. hanker
    desire strongly or persistently
    Now what was mostly our problem was not so much that he was not all there, but that what was there of him often hankered after Lamartine.
  4. layman
    someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
    These love medicines is something of an old Chippewa specialty. No other tribe has got them down so well. But love medicines is not for the layman to handle.
  5. quack
    medically unqualified
    I used to think it was a color clothing quack doctors had to wear so you could tell them from the good ones.
  6. rectory
    housing that a church provides for its clergy
    I wanted to get official blessings from the priest, but when Father answered the door to the rectory, wiping his hands on a little towel, I could tell he was a busy man.
  7. uncanny
    surpassing the ordinary or normal
    “What you want me to eat this for so bad?” he asked her uncannily.
  8. underpin
    support from beneath
    Then they fold and you see how fragile were the stones that underpinned them. You see how instantly the ground can shift what you thought was solid.
  9. speculate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    I was not going to speculate where the blame was put for Grandpa’s death. We was in it together.
  10. bereavement
    state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one
    They were struck down with grief and bereavement to be sure, every one of them.
  11. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    “Hey, Mom,” said Gordie again, his voice lower, tentative.
  12. fervor
    the state of being emotionally aroused and worked up
    His lips went red and he used his face, talked with animated fervor, his arms propped underneath his chest.
  13. amenities
    things that make you comfortable and at ease
    “Do you mean they might be lacking..."
    “...some of the amenities.” Johnson nodded.
    “And what,” asked June, “would those be?”
    Johnson shrugged. “Running water, for one. Bathrooms. Beds.”
  14. nicker
    a soft sound made by a horse
    Lights shone far off on the opposite shore and there was no sound but the nicker of a horse beyond Johnson’s house.
  15. oppressive
    weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
    The air was still heavy with the day's heat, oppressive. He tried to breathe deeply and calmly, but it was hard to pump the air in and out of his chest.
  16. rapture
    a state of elated bliss
    She stepped next to him, bent over with the lamp, and smelled the harsh rapture of the Lysol on his breath.
  17. grackle
    a long-tailed blackbird with iridescent black feathers
    I’d see the oil slick on the wing of a grackle.
  18. riffraff
    common or disreputable people
    After I had figured that out, I went to Pillager and later, when he did not follow me to town, married a riffraff Morrissey for hurt and spite.
  19. fathom
    come to understand
    I know the grand scheme of the world is beyond our brains to fathom, so I don’t try, just let it in.
  20. restitution
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
    “Restitution for Lamartine,” they said. “Monetary settlement.”
  21. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    Time went fleetingly by until every one of my boys was a grown-up man.
  22. venerate
    regard with feelings of respect and reverence
    I bought the classic called Plunge of the Brave, which everyone had whether they liked Kashpaw and wanted to venerate his youth, or did not like him and therefore made fun of his naked leap.
  23. derelict
    a person without a home, job, or property
    I was able to walk the streets like the younger derelicts.
  24. gall
    irritate or vex
    I couldn’t bear going back home to the rez, where every damn Kashpaw cousin knew the secret of my background all those years. I was too galled.
  25. surly
    unfriendly and inclined toward anger or irritation
    She had a surly look about her.
  26. derange
    throw out of mental balance; make insane
    Maybe they were fighting or maybe it was the deranging effects of this apartment.
  27. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    Newsbreak came on, sure enough, and that’s when I had my inkling of what was bothering King, what was strange here all along, maybe even why he was on the wagon.
  28. at large
    having escaped, especially from confinement
    Federal criminal Gerry Nanapush escaped while being transferred to the North Dakota State Penitentiary. He is believed to be at large in the tri-state region.
  29. prefigure
    indicate by signs; be an early indication of
    I thought so, but when I glanced over at King and Lynette they were still gazing slack-jawed into the ions like their futures was prefigured in the flashing shapes.
  30. placid
    not easily irritated
    His grin flashed now, wolf white and sharp, in his big placid face.
  31. harrowing
    causing extreme distress
    He laughed a good long time. It was a loud joyful comforting sound to Lipsha Morrissey, but to King and Lynette it must have been harrowing.
  32. ascertain
    learn or discover with confidence
    It hadn’t taken more than a quick look-see through that apartment for them to ascertain that Gerry wasn’t there.
  33. mote
    a tiny piece of anything
    Owls and bees, two-toned Ramblers, buzzards, cottontails, and motes of dust.
  34. scud
    run or move very quickly or hastily
    He was the clouds scudding over the moon, the wings of ducks banging in the slough...
  35. slough
    a stagnant swamp
    He was the clouds scudding over the moon, the wings of ducks banging in the slough...
Created on Thu Mar 18 11:33:26 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Mar 22 14:47:48 EDT 2021)

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