Justin Morgan Had a Horse: Chapters 9–13

by Marguerite Henry
After Justin Morgan brings home a small colt named Little Bubb, his student Joel Goss trains the horse to become a world-famous breeding stallion.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–18
40 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. prowess
    a superior skill learned by study and practice
    “Morgan’s horse can pull like living quicksand.” Everywhere he became known as “Morgan’s horse,” and his prowess spread up and down the valley.
  2. tamp
    press down tightly
    He was told to bring his handspike along to dig the pockets for the kernels, but when he began covering them and tamping the earth with his boot, Mistress Chase went into a fury.
  3. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    It was tedious work, making a race track out of a rutted path, but the apprentice boys welcomed the change.
  4. grub
    dig or search about busily
    Joel worked with a fierceness, scraping harder than the other boys, grubbing out every root with his bare fingers to be sure there were no knobs or snags.
  5. in tandem
    with one beside or behind the other
    He was full of life and spirit, and at the drop of the hat he shot to the front with such a rush that the mare and the gelding just followed along, like horses hitched in tandem.
  6. abominate
    find repugnant
    “Beats me how he abominates dawgs; it’s like they all had the hydrophoby.”
    “Beats me how he disrelishes sorghum, but is sweet on maple sugar.”
  7. flourish
    a showy gesture
    With a flourish he held out the letter.
  8. lurch
    move haltingly and unsteadily
    He watched the messenger climb onto his box and the coach-and-four lurch down the lane like some hunchbacked bug.
  9. erstwhile
    belonging to some prior time
    It has come to my ears, through my erstwhile friend, Ezra Fisk, that the beast rented by him is owned by you.
  10. paltry
    contemptibly small in amount or size
    My partner & I know of the paltry salaries paid to schoolmasters (some, we hear, receiving but sixty-seven cents per week).
  11. stipulate
    make an express demand or provision in an agreement
    As our jockeys are hefty men, we stipulate that Fisk’s hired man act as jockey for your beast, and not any flyweight boy.
  12. edification
    uplifting enlightenment
    For your edification, there is a beaver pond just beyond the Green Dragon Inn at Brookfield. A race course has been built around this pond, & I understand it measures a half mile & provides footing as good as may be expected in your backwoods country.
  13. vehemence
    intensity or forcefulness of expression
    With a show of vehemence, he creased the letter in its original folds and thrust it into the tail of his coat.
  14. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    “Justin! What’s wrong?” Mister Jenks’s voice was full of concern as he noted the flushed face of the schoolmaster.
  15. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    "I’m all right. Just riled.”
  16. epistle
    a specially long, formal letter
    And whilst we’re jogging along, I’ve an epistle to read you...soon as I catch my wind.
  17. gander
    mature male goose
    When the schoolmaster arrived, the family was seated at the table, eating cold gander and hot bread.
  18. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    He read the letter once, and then to everyone’s dismay began all over again.
  19. brandish
    move or swing back and forth
    Ezra Fisk picked up the bare drumstick from his plate and brandished it like a club.
  20. gristle
    tough elastic tissue found in meat
    He signaled now to the schoolmaster to try to eat, and he himself nibbled the gristle at the joint of a drumstick to show how good it was.
  21. ague
    a fit of shivering or shaking
    “Often the nights be cold,” he said. “Were the creature to take chills and ague, his wind would suffer.”
  22. reconnoiter
    explore, often with a goal of finding something or somebody
    While Mister Jenks was yoking Nip and Tuck, Joel did a little reconnoitering.
  23. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Joel sidled up to the line, and as he listened, the fun inside him was shot through by little arrows of fear.
  24. trough
    a container from which cattle or horses feed
    Past sheds and troughs and wagons and horses he ran, his voice full of torment, crying: “They can’t hold a candle to Bub. They can’t! They can’t!”
  25. throng
    a large gathering of people
    There were stalls for some forty horses in the stable, but only two were hidden by throngs of people.
  26. sheen
    the visual property of something that shines
    Her forelock and mane were braided with gold and purple ribbons, and over her back she wore a gold and purple body cloth. What little he could see of her neck and legs was a sheen that told of endless currying.
  27. mince
    walk daintily
    There, mincing down the steps as lightly as ballet dancers, came the bewigged gentlemen—Jonathan Foppington and his partner, the Honorable James Montague, Esquire.
  28. gentry
    the most powerful members of a society
    And at the starting line, which was also the finish, a small stage had been erected for the judges and the dandies from New York, and other prominent gentry.
  29. dignitary
    an important or influential person
    These included the famous Lightning Rod, Jr., grandson of Benjamin Franklin; and Samuel Adams, publisher of a journal in Boston; as well as a legislator, a councilor, and several other dignitaries.
  30. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    Joel’s eyes flashed in indignation.
  31. din
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    “’Tain’t fair!” he shouted, but his voice was lost in the din.
  32. consort
    keep company with
    Come, Foppington, let us not consort with a trickster.
  33. jounce
    move up and down repeatedly
    They jounced along, each tasting his own memories.
  34. canter
    go at a smooth three-beat gait, of horses
    Justin Morgan weighed only half as much as Robert Evans, and as he rode from school to school, he allowed Bub to set his own pace—walk or trot or canter, as it pleased him.
  35. clamor
    utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
    But boys and girls both clamored to pet him and to feed him apples and horehound candy.
  36. tumult
    violent agitation
    And he laid a kind hand on the blond head when he saw the boy struggling with an inner tumult of tears.
  37. slovenly
    negligent of neatness especially in dress and person
    “Never knew a letter to bring good news,” she snapped, “and bad news means sloven work—or none at all. Time enough to read this when your chores be done.”
  38. cantankerous
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    “Likely the paddle’d be no-account anyway. Fergit it, boy. I don’t know what makes me so cantankerous. Go read yer letter and tell me what’s in it.”
  39. apprehend
    take into police custody
    Mister Rice is Sheriff of Woodstock and can use a horse to good purpose in apprehending thieves and miscreants.
  40. miscreant
    a person without moral scruples
    Mister Rice is Sheriff of Woodstock and can use a horse to good purpose in apprehending thieves and miscreants.
Created on Fri Apr 29 11:47:39 EDT 2022 (updated Fri May 06 15:46:38 EDT 2022)

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