The Old Man and the Sea: Pages 51–127

by Ernest Hemingway
Santiago is a luckless Cuban fisherman who struggles to land a giant marlin. In spare, searing prose, Hemingway transforms the story of one man's battle with nature into a heroic ordeal.

This list covers pages 51–127 in the Scribner 2003 edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2
15 words 1369 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gunwale
    a plank or ridge at the top of the side of a boat
    He heard the stick break and the line begin to rush out over the gunwale of the skiff.
  2. coagulate
    change from a liquid to a thickened or solid state
    The blood ran down his cheek a little way. But it coagulated and dried before it reached his chin and he worked his way back to the bow and rested against the wood.
  3. submerged
    beneath the surface of the water
    Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and kneeling carefully he washed his hand in the ocean and held it there, submerged, for more than a minute watching the blood trail away and the steady movement of the water against his hand as the boat moved.
  4. longitudinal
    running lengthwise
    He put one knee on the fish and cut strips of dark red meat longitudinally from the back of the head to the tail.
  5. rigor mortis
    temporary stiffness of joints and muscles after death
    “How do you feel, hand?” he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis.
  6. conscientious
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    Slowly and conscientiously he ate all of the wedge-shaped strips of fish.
  7. improvise
    manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand
    But what is his plan, he thought. And what is mine? Mine I must improvise to his because of his great size.
  8. undulation
    wavelike motion
    But he could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm.
  9. stern
    the rear part of a ship
    When the fish was at the stern, plunging and cutting from side to side in desperation, the old man leaned over the stern and lifted the burnished gold fish with its purple spots over the stern.
  10. sustenance
    the act of providing a means of subsistence or survival
    Also now I have gained on him in the question of sustenance.
  11. cede
    relinquish possession or control over
    He was ceding line but more slowly all the time.
  12. grudgingly
    in a reluctant manner
    Then it started out and the old man knelt down and let it go grudgingly back into the dark water.
  13. placid
    calm and free from disturbance
    On each calm placid turn the fish made he was gaining line and he was sure that in two turns more he would have a chance to get the harpoon in.
  14. shoal
    a stretch of shallow water
    First it was dark as a shoal in the blue water that was more than a mile deep.
  15. tiller
    lever used to turn the rudder on a boat
    The skiff was sailing well considering the handicaps and he steered with the tiller under his arm.
Created on Thu Jul 07 17:07:23 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Jun 27 14:50:46 EDT 2025)

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