The Turtle of Oman: List 3

by Naomi Shihab Nye
When eight-year-old Aref Al-Amri is told that his family will move halfway around the world from Muscat, Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan, he refuses to pack, until his grandfather helps to create memories that can be carried into a new life.

This list covers "Homeward, with Turtles"–"Strange Animal."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
40 words 66 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gully
    a deep ditch cut by running water
    Driving out of the desert across the hills and gullies of sand was as difficult as driving in.
  2. whir
    make a soft continuous sound, as of something in motion
    Sometimes the wheels spun and the jeep made a whirring sound.
  3. axle
    a shaft on which a wheel rotates
    Aref liked the swishing of the jeep tires and the creak of the axle when the jeep hit a dip.
  4. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    More summer school students on a field trip, maybe? Some of them waved at the jeep. Aref waved back, proud to be on a private excursion with his grandpa, but wondering what they were all talking about inside the bus.
  5. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    The lady stood up with great difficulty and hobbled over to the jeep.
  6. inspire
    serve as the inciting cause of
    Aref felt his feelings about juicy tangerines might be changing—when he peeled two more for Sidi, he felt inspired to eat one himself.
  7. reverberation
    an echo
    Were the sleeping turtles dreaming? Were they aware, through tiny reverberations in the earth, when cars, trucks and buses passed by on the roads?
  8. intricate
    having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate
    Aref had learned that turtles had intricate systems of tactile perception—they could feel the thudding of your feet on the ground, if you got close enough.
  9. tactile
    of or relating to or proceeding from the sense of touch
    Aref had learned that turtles had intricate systems of tactile perception—they could feel the thudding of your feet on the ground, if you got close enough.
  10. crest
    the top line of a hill, mountain, or wave
    “Look there, far up at the crest of the waves! When a wave rolls over, you can see big turtles inside it, paddling hard.”
  11. suspended
    supported or kept from sinking or falling by buoyancy
    Aref looked and saw blurred, beautiful turtles, suspended in the moving water.
  12. circulation
    the movement of blood through the heart and blood vessels
    Now Sidi bent over and stretched his arms out again. He tipped to the left and to the right.
    “Ahhh, this feels so good for circulation. I am stiff.”
  13. craggy
    having a steep, rough, and rocky surface
    Monsieur carried them past slopes and cliffs and hillsides. Craggy caves and purple flowering bushes.
  14. awning
    a canvas canopy to shelter people or things from rain or sun
    Sidi’s funny old shop with the green and white awning and rows of brown sandals lined up on shelves behind the window.
  15. shuttle
    public transport plying back and forth between two points
    A large shuttle van beeped and roared around them.
  16. stately
    impressive in appearance
    They passed the stately white Marine Science and Fisheries Centre.
  17. steep
    set at a high angle (of a slope)
    “Remember when we climbed down those hundreds of stairs,” said Sidi, “and I was clinging on to the handrail, while you ran like an oryx to the pool of water at the bottom? That was a steep climb! And I was even younger then. It was gorgeous.”
  18. casual
    appropriate for ordinary or routine occasions
    Crowds of lunchtime workers in dishdashas and dresses, suits and casual clothes, crossed the street.
  19. nuzzle
    gently rub or push one's nose or face against something
    She hugged Aref while Mish-Mish nuzzled his ankles.
  20. trill
    sing or play alternating with the half note above or below
    Sidi started singing “The Happy Song,” the song he always sang when Aref or his parents visited his house. His notes echoed off the high ceiling. The words had some curly parts in them, where Sidi would trill.
  21. lilt
    articulate in a very careful and rhythmic way
    Walking around the rooms, he let his voice lilt and quaver on the notes the way Sidi did when he sang in Arabic.
  22. quaver
    sing or play with trills
    Walking around the rooms, he let his voice lilt and quaver on the notes the way Sidi did when he sang in Arabic.
  23. philosophy
    any personal belief about how to live
    “Don’t you know that by now? What makes a house smile is—people. When they come in and out. When people talk and laugh together, the house is having a good dream.”
    Aref was quiet. He knew Sidi’s philosophies so well.
  24. stubborn
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    “I don’t fly. I am the falcon without wings and I must stay here to protect everything in the nest, remember? I have to guard the frankincense trees and the date palms. We have a special relationship. Anyway, Monsieur would cry.”
    Aref shook his head. His grandfather was stubborn and silly.
  25. spigot
    a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid
    And there, in the bathroom, under the shower spigot, right over the drain, in the center of the new turquoise tiles that Sidi was so proud of...was the silver bucket.
  26. lush
    characterized by extravagance and profusion
    Inside it was a brand-new elegant blue hat with stitched golden threads in an angular mountain pattern and a lush blue neck tassel.
  27. bustle
    a rapid active commotion
    They walked toward the water’s edge and the bustle and clank of fishing boats.
  28. musty
    covered with or smelling of mold
    Moussa pulled an orange life preserver from a box under the seat and handed it to Aref. It smelled musty and fishy.
  29. stern
    the rear part of a ship
    Moussa pointed at his boat tied to the dock, red with a sunburst of yellow painted at the stern.
  30. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    Three sailboats were headed north, far out on the water. Aref liked the way they looked with their big white sails unfurled.
  31. refrain
    part of a song or poem that recurs at regular intervals
    Moussa sang a few songs to them, old Arabic fishing songs, with curly notes and repeated refrains—songs about waiting and watching and being out in the water under the giant sky.
  32. frail
    physically weak
    Sidi gripped the top edge of it where it hooked onto the boat. “I am in charge of the net,” he said, in a frail-sounding voice.
  33. reel
    winder consisting of a revolving spool with a handle
    “If you feel a tug, you do this,” he demonstrated the knob on the spinny reel and showed him how to turn it very quickly, which Aref already knew.
  34. airy
    characterized by lightness and insubstantiality
    Aref had once floated with his dad on a friend’s sailboat and they came home that night feeling lighter and airy inside.
  35. hunch
    round one's back by bending forward
    It was an odd lumpy gray stone that looked a little like a person sitting down, hunched over.
  36. relic
    an antiquity that has survived from the distant past
    Sidi handed it to Aref like a prize. Aref slipped the sitting stone into his pocket. A relic from the underworld. Frozen in time.
  37. contagious
    easily diffused or spread as from one person to another
    Aref didn’t like colds either, but he liked the word contagious. And he added it to his favorite word list. Maybe everything was contagious. His mom had always told him whining was contagious—he was old enough now to feel it might be true. Still, he did it sometimes. You couldn’t help it. Complaining was contagious and also a little delicious.
  38. humane
    marked by concern with the alleviation of suffering
    MAYBE WE CAN GET AN AMERICAN CAT FROM THE HUMANE SOCIETY AND NAME IT MISH-MISH TWO.
  39. dignified
    formal or stately in bearing or appearance
    Aref stood up, stacked the four bowls, with the two spoons balanced in the top one, then walked like a slow and dignified person into the kitchen.
  40. fragile
    vulnerably delicate
    And you know what, butterflies are not fragile. That’s what Mom says. They might look fragile, but they can migrate hundreds of miles without an airplane.
Created on Tue Jul 30 09:46:47 EDT 2024 (updated Wed Jul 31 11:18:09 EDT 2024)

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