Ashes to Asheville: Chapters 8–16

by Sarah Dooley
Following the death of their mother, twelve-year old Fella and her sixteen-year old sister Zany travel from West Virginia to Asheville to try to unite their divided family.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–16, Chapters 17–28
25 words 0 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. aimlessly
    without a specific goal or focus
    I don’t know how we’re going to find a vet that’s open at this hour, just aimlessly driving around some small Virginia town, peering at signs.
  2. patron
    a regular customer
    The vet clinic turns out to be a small two-story building with a sign on the door urging patrons to call upstairs in case of emergency.
  3. croon
    sing softly
    “Sweet boy,” the vet croons at my grandmother’s dog, gathering him into her arms, and then I feel at ease enough to speak, because she doesn’t sound nearly as stern as she looks, although her cats are hissing and growling at Haberdashery.
  4. haberdashery
    a store where clothes designed for men are sold
    My grandmother keeps him all clipped and proper and sometimes she puts a bow tie on him, so my grandfather used to call him Haberdashery because that’s a fancy clothes store for men and he looked like a well-dressed gentleman.
  5. onomatopoeia
    using words that imitate the sound they denote
    In school I learned about onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are. Crash. Splash. Pop. Sizzle.
  6. wrought
    shaped to fit by altering the contours of a pliable mass
    I can’t tell whether it’s at the long, paved driveway or the wrought-iron patio railings or the little frosted windows on each side of the door, but she stares.
  7. potpourri
    a jar of mixed flower petals and spices used as perfume
    But I’ve been with Mrs. Madison for six months, and Mrs. Madison can blow twenty bucks on potpourri at the Family Dollar.
  8. prompt
    assist by suggesting the next words of something
    “What to say,” Zany prompts.
  9. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    I know she’s remembering, like I’m remembering, how she brushed her hair as soon as we got in the truck with Adam, how her purse was light and empty and she didn’t have to dig under anything as cumbersome as a camera to get at her hairbrush.
  10. grudge
    a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
    Once she starts holding a grudge, she’ll never stop.
  11. buggy
    a small lightweight carriage
    He seems to have noticed that Zany’s no longer laughing, and he’s heaving to push the overloaded buggy.
  12. loom
    come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
    I see the brick hospital looming and my stomach feels knotted up.
  13. stuffy
    excessively conventional or narrow-minded and hence dull
    The stuffy judge responsible for deciding my future would never have handed me to a crazy old lady with purple hair who smoked Cuban cigars.
  14. linoleum
    a floor covering made from linseed oil, cork, and resin
    My toes curled up, missing the blue linoleum in the kitchen.
  15. flimsy
    lacking solidity or strength
    When my hand came open, the plate slipped out. It was a flimsy paper plate, nothing breakable, but the way the ketchup and mustard splattered, I couldn’t stop looking.
  16. tinny
    thin, metallic, and displeasing in sound
    But then I hear a voice say, “Hello?” all distant and tinny, and it doesn’t sound like the police.
  17. flustered
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    I’m too flustered, and it’s too dark, and I can’t keep up.
  18. frantic
    excessively agitated; distraught with violent emotion
    “Oh my god. Where are you, Fella? Are you okay?” Mama Shannon can’t fit enough words into the fast talking she’s trying to do, but I get the idea. I know she’s frantic, but it’s almost a comfort to hear something other than tired sadness in her voice.
  19. frazzle
    exhaust physically or emotionally
    I guess it came out of his pocket, or he was so frazzled he forgot it.
  20. bellow
    shout loudly and without restraint
    “Good morning, y’all,” an energetic waitress bellows.
  21. weary
    physically and mentally fatigued
    “Good morning,” Zany says wearily, dragging herself into the nearest booth.
  22. checkered
    patterned with alternating squares of color
    Then she leaps from the booth to grab my hand and we spin around the diner between the syrup-sticky booths, feet slipping on the checkered floor.
  23. apparently
    seemingly; as far as one can tell
    I try to talk without moving my lips, which is apparently the going method for talking when there are police around.
  24. bleat
    talk whiningly
    His radio crackles and bleats, but never makes a noise I recognize, although he nods like he understands the sounds it makes.
  25. flurry
    a light brief snowfall
    We make it out into the swirling flurries, where Zany starts laughing frantically.
Created on Fri Mar 18 12:17:55 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Mar 25 11:59:32 EDT 2022)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.