The Bronze Bow: Chapters 6–11

by Elizabeth George Speare
In this award-winning work of historical fiction, a teenager from Galilee seeks vengeance against the Romans who killed his father.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–16, Chapters 17–24
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
    A vicious kick, missing its aim, sent a shower of drops through the air. “Impudent scum!” the man roared. “Fresh water!”
  2. headlong
    in a hasty and foolhardy manner
    He turned away, saw the door wavering and dissolving in the wall, took two steps toward it, and plunged headlong into blackness.
  3. grope
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    Then he remembered and struggled to move. Instantly the sick blackness roared over him. After a time it all started over again, the pain, the groping, the face of the girl still looking down at him.
  4. gruel
    a thin porridge
    “See, Daniel, I’ve brought some gruel for you. Can you eat a little?”
  5. exalted
    of high moral or intellectual value
    “And the Kings and the mighty and exalted and those who rule the earth
    Shall fall before Him on their faces...”
  6. scripture
    any writing that is regarded as sacred by a religious group
    But my mother never knew any foreign ways. She believed in the God of the Jews. She taught us verses from the scripture, and made us say them after her.
  7. halting
    limping; not able to walk steadily or properly
    The others did not speak, letting him find his difficult way back at his own halting pace.
  8. quarry
    a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate
    But my uncle had lost his head and tried to fight his way out, and the soldiers would not let him off. They said he would go to the quarries to work off his debt.
  9. humble
    marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
    He stopped, helpless in his longing to make them understand Leah. “She is very gentle and good,” he added, looking humbly at Malthace.
  10. exploit
    a notable achievement
    By the unfailing grapevine, word of his exploit in the town had reached the cave days before.
  11. chasm
    a deep opening in the earth's surface
    It was a special dagger that Rosh had carried for years as a talisman, and some mischance had sent it hurtling down a chasm.
  12. rivet
    a heavy metal pin used to fasten two pieces of metal
    “I don’t have the right tools,” he explained. “It needs a new collar and rivet. My forge doesn’t give heat enough.”
  13. smithy
    a workplace where metal is worked by heating and hammering
    The smithy was closed, a bar and padlock across the door.
  14. reproach
    a mild rebuke or criticism
    Perhaps this was the first time in his life, Daniel realized, that Joel had deliberately broken the Law. He too must have felt the carpenter’s words as a reproach.
  15. skinflint
    a selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend
    “He’ll be alone,” Rosh told him. “Always travels alone, the old skinflint, by the back roads. Pretends to be a beggar, whining at everyone he meets for a mite of bread for his next meal...."
  16. miser
    a stingy hoarder of money and possessions
    Why should one greedy old miser live like a king in Antioch while his fellow Jews toiled and starved?
  17. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    The man climbed slowly, with a wheezing sigh at each step. He would have fooled anyone, with his rags and his tottering gait.
  18. brooding
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    Samson, kneading the bellows, watched him broodingly.
  19. sultry
    characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
    Ebol, the sentry, brought the message to Daniel one sultry August morning, a single sentence scratched on a fragment of broken pottery, “Your grandmother is dying,” and signed “Simon.”
  20. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    With all his heart he longed to run from this silent house. Yet the fearful, demanding eyes of the three neighbors goaded him on.
  21. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    For an instant Leah’s eyes stared wildly from an ashen face.
  22. pallet
    a mattress filled with straw or a pad made of quilts
    Where the girl had crouched, on a pallet of straw, lay a shrunken gray shape.
  23. fetid
    offensively malodorous
    He kicked the door all the way open and let fresh air into the damp, fetid room.
  24. righteousness
    the quality of adhering to moral principles
    “‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want; He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.’”
  25. haunch
    the upper part of the leg of an animal, often used for food
    A rat came out of the shadows, sat on its haunches, and glared at them.
  26. meager
    deficient in amount or quality or extent
    Next morning a meager funeral procession straggled through the village toward the burial ground outside the gates.
  27. unfathomable
    impossible to come to understand
    She listened with wide unfathomable blue eyes, and he thought she understood.
  28. tactfully
    in a considerate, careful, and appropriate manner
    When every neighbor had tactfully vanished from the street, Daniel inveigled Leah into taking one look through the door.
  29. inveigle
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    When every neighbor had tactfully vanished from the street, Daniel inveigled Leah into taking one look through the door.
  30. pique
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    He could see that her curiosity was piqued. From time to time the blue eyes slanted toward the door.
  31. procure
    get by special effort
    He urged her to work at the loom, but though she was willing she had no notion where to procure the thread.
  32. deftly
    in an agile manner
    She patted the lump on a flat stone, rolled it deftly with a flat roller which she took from the shelf, and handed him the thin circle of dough, ready to plaster against the wall of the oven.
  33. leaven
    cause to puff up with a substance for fermentation
    She taught him how to save a bit of dough for leavening for the next day’s baking.
  34. trivial
    of little substance or significance
    At a moment when she seemed most contented, a knock at the door, a shout in the distance, the most trivial sound could reduce her to utter helplessness, and it might be hours or even days before she would so much as pick up a spoon.
  35. stilted
    artificially formal or stiff
    “My horse has a broken bridle ring,” the soldier said, in stilted, reasonably good Aramaic.
Created on Thu Sep 16 16:32:39 EDT 2021 (updated Tue Sep 28 12:54:52 EDT 2021)

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