A Wind in the Door: Chapters 11–12

by Madeleine L'Engle
In the second book of the Wrinkle in Time quintet, Meg and Calvin must work to save the life of Meg's younger brother and to restore harmony to the universe.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–10, Chapters 11–12
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dissonance
    disagreeable sounds
    Meg felt a sudden chill, a pulling back, a fading of the Deepened farae; there was dissonance in the harmony; the rhythm faltered.
  2. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    Again there came a slight irregularity in the steady pulsing. A faltering. A missed beat. Then it steadied, continued.
  3. reel
    walk as if unable to control one's movements
    She reeled, staggered, regained her balance.
  4. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    She felt emanating from him a dry, dusty acknowledgment of unpleasant fact.
  5. pliable
    capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking
    Meg turned in anguish towards Senex, calm and strong as an oak tree, but, unlike the oak, pliable, able to bend with wind and weather.
  6. minute
    infinitely or immeasurably small
    "But, as I understand it,” Mr. Jenkins continued, “we are a minutely immeasurable part of Charles Wallace?”
  7. indifference
    unbiased impartial unconcern
    Meg felt Mr. Jenkins’s total indifference to his own life. She was not yet willing to accept the burden of his concern for her.
  8. assail
    attack someone physically or emotionally
    A hideous screech of laughter assailed Meg’s ears.
  9. sear
    cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat
    Meg felt Proginoskes’s volcanic upheaving, felt a violent wind, searing tongues of flame.
  10. abhor
    feel hatred or disgust toward
    “Nature abhors a vacuum.”
  11. vacuum
    an empty area or space
    Calvin replied, “Then we must fill the vacuum. That is the only thing to do.”
  12. whinny
    make a characteristic sound, of a horse
    An Echthros-Jenkins whinnied with laughter.
  13. romp
    play boisterously
    “Fool. Once you Deepen and put down roots you won’t be able to romp around as you do now.”
  14. fuddy-duddy
    a person who is old-fashioned in attitude or appearance
    “You’ll be stuck in one place forever with those fuddy-duddy farae, and you won’t be able to run or move, ever again.”
  15. flaccid
    out of condition
    But the song of Yadah is no longer full and rich. It is flaccid, its harmonies meager.
  16. meager
    deficient in amount or quality or extent
    But the song of Yadah is no longer full and rich. It is flaccid, its harmonies meager.
  17. cloying
    overly sweet
    “If you come with us, you will be nothing,” the Echthros-Mr. Jenkins spoke in cloying kythe, “and nothing can happen to nothing.”
  18. naught
    a quantity of no importance
    “Come, Sporos, fly with the Echthroi. Then you will crackle across the universe. There are too many mitochondria in creation. There are too many stars in the heavens. Come with us to naught, to nought.”
  19. void
    an empty area or space
    The cherubim flung his kything across the void of the Echthros-Mr. Jenkins, like a rope flung from cliff’s edge to cliff’s edge.
  20. indispensable
    absolutely necessary
    “You are created matter, Sporos. You are part of the great plan, an indispensable part. You are needed, Sporos; you have your own unique share in the freedom of creation.”
  21. impetuous
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
    In her impetuous relief at having something to do, she did not feel the cherubim pulling her back, but plunged into the irrational tarantella and was immediately swept out of control.
  22. preclude
    make impossible, especially beforehand
    She heard only a silence which was not silence because within this vortex there was an emptiness which precluded the possibility of sound.
  23. hither
    to this place
    The scattered farandolae darted hither and thither in confusion.
  24. loathsome
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    A loathsome kything came to her in Mr. Jenkins’s tones superimposed on the whine of metal rubbing against metal.
  25. override
    reject or overturn a decision or an argument
    “Sing,” Sporos called to the Deepening farandolae, “sing with us. Our galaxy is in danger; we must save him.”
    Mr. Jenkins overrode him. “There is no hope except extinguishment. Let us hasten it.”
  26. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
    Mr. Jenkins’s thin, flabby arms beat at Calvin with steel-spring blows. Calvin, with his lithe wiriness, eluded most of the blows, and tried desperately to catch Mr. Jenkins by the wrists—
  27. elude
    escape, either physically or mentally
    Mr. Jenkins’s thin, flabby arms beat at Calvin with steel-spring blows. Calvin, with his lithe wiriness, eluded most of the blows, and tried desperately to catch Mr. Jenkins by the wrists—
  28. stagger
    walk as if unable to control one's movements
    Then the images of Calvin staggering from the blow, steadying himself, readying himself, vanished.
  29. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    Through it came a vivid image of Charles Wallace blue and gasping, her parents standing by his bed; Dr. Louise working the emergency oxygen tank; Fortinbras lying across the threshold as though to bar death from entering the room.
  30. convulsion
    a violent uncontrollable contraction of muscles
    Charles Wallace was sharing in that anguish, his parents helpless as his small body convulsed in spasms of pain. They struggled to hold him, the Murrys, the Louises, to hold him during the convulsions, to give the racked frame support.
  31. hackles
    a feeling of anger and animosity
    Fortinbras stood in the doorway growling, his hackles rising.
  32. obliterate
    make indistinct or invisible by obscuring or concealing
    Meg’s kythe was faint, almost obliterated by pain.
  33. tempest
    a strong storm with violent winds
    A tempest of wind. A lightning flash of fire across the cold, breaking, burning the cold and pain.
  34. behemoth
    someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
    Be, butterfly and behemoth,
    be galaxy and grasshopper,
    star and sparrow,
    you matter,
    you are,
    be!
  35. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Dr. Louise, her stethoscope swinging loosely about her neck, looking disheveled, exhausted, happy.
Created on Thu Sep 23 13:46:16 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Sep 27 12:48:08 EDT 2021)

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