The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin: Chapters 11–17

by Elinor Teele
For more than one hundred years, his family has been making coffins in the city of Pludgett, but eleven-year-old John Peregrine Coggin does not want to be trapped in a lifeless job, so he runs away with his younger sister.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: "The Beginning"–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–25, Chapter 26–"The End of the Beginning"
40 words 3 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
    “Ahem, you didn’t, by any propitious chance, sing?” asked Boz.
  2. fetching
    very attractive; capturing interest
    “The identification of the portside gentleman escapes me, but I am rather afeared that the personage riding the bay mare and attired in the fetching white hat is the sheriff.”
  3. bunting
    a loosely woven fabric used for flags, etc.
    The street was packed with preparations for the Festival of the Future. Wagons and horses and crates littered the road; men with bunting crowded the sidewalks.
  4. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    “Hang on to your boutonnieres, me hearties, takeoff is imminent!”
  5. irreproachable
    free of guilt; not subject to blame
    Her dress was irreproachable, her posture impeccable, and her expression one of righteous fury.
  6. grisly
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    Thanks to a grisly hawk perched on the edge of her sunbonnet, she towered over the man in the white cowboy hat beside her.
  7. debacle
    a sudden and complete disaster
    “But remember, my great-niece and -nephew are unwilling accessories in this automotive debacle. Your job is to release the Coggins into my custody and prosecute their carrot-topped kidnapper to the full extent of the law.”
  8. insolence
    an offensive disrespectful impudent act
    “Don’t tell me my job, lady!”
    “And don’t think I won’t be reporting your insolence to the mayor!”
  9. maelstrom
    a violent commotion or disturbance
    The town was a maelstrom. Drunks, dogs, and teens were seeping out of every door, swelling the wave of pursuers. There was a rush of hooves and barks and shouts and feet, all concentrated toward the end of town.
  10. apoplectic
    marked by extreme anger
    When he looked back at Hayseed, the town had been drained of every drop of human life save one. A lone, lonely figure standing stiff as a palace guard outside the vegetable emporium. His practically apoplectic and completely immobile great-aunt.
  11. din
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    The din inside the big top was deafening.
  12. curtly
    in an abrupt and discourteous manner
    John curtly returned the nod.
  13. trundle
    move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle
    He wheeled the cart around. “Good luck!” he called out as he trundled off into the night.
  14. swathe
    wrap in or as if in strips of cloth
    The custard woman wasn’t lemony at all, but a beautiful milky tea color, swathed in a red poppy dress and blue apron.
  15. tendril
    something long, light, slender, and often curling
    Chimneys upon chimneys greeted him. Smoke tendrils twisted in the breeze.
  16. turmoil
    violent agitation
    But John’s mind was in turmoil. Should they stay? It seemed like the ideal choice now, but what if Maria kept asking questions? What if she started blabbing about her new boarders all over town? What if Great-Aunt Beauregard tracked them down?
  17. delectable
    extremely pleasing to the sense of taste
    Their new landlady never ceased to smell of cinnamon and warm dough, nor lose the flour from her nose, no matter how hard she scrubbed. She was as delectable as the food she made—and the food she made was the best in Littlemere.
  18. oblige
    provide a service or favor for someone
    No, the smartest thing to do, he told himself, was to learn a craft that wasn’t so potentially hazardous.
    Fortunately Maria was happy to oblige.
  19. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
    It had been a day to remember. And yet, like his father’s golden ray of sun, snuffed out in an instant.
    No wonder, then, that John grew increasingly morose as the year dimmed.
  20. flourish
    a showy gesture
    With a bow and a flourish, he plucked up the last roll and shepherded Maria into the shop.
  21. warble
    sing or play with trills
    Leslie disrupted everything—from the first moment the Coggins woke up, when he gargled his mouthwash, to the last moment before they went to sleep, when he could be heard warbling off-key arias through the floor.
  22. curtail
    terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end
    He interrupted their baking lessons and curtailed their playtime.
  23. fathom
    come to understand
    He knew she was putting up with Leslie for reasons other than family, but for the life of him, he couldn’t fathom her motives. Though he didn’t understand why, he realized it was important for him and his sister to keep their tempers.
  24. tome
    a large and scholarly book
    A large leather tome was spread out on the table. With a pencil in her left hand, Maria was making forlorn stabs at the page.
  25. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    “Your eyes are red.”
    “Are they?” Maria laughed ruefully. “I guess all this fun is keeping me up too late.”
  26. erstwhile
    belonging to some prior time
    As Boz entered the kitchen, and the light of the table lamp fell upon his face, John realized his erstwhile friend must have been through the wars.
  27. vicissitude
    a variation in circumstances or fortune
    “What happened to you?”
    Boz twisted his feral face toward John. “Life, my dear boy. The vicissitudes of vicarious living.”
  28. vicarious
    experienced at secondhand
    “What happened to you?”
    Boz twisted his feral face toward John. “Life, my dear boy. The vicissitudes of vicarious living.”
  29. bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    But beneath the bravado, John could see, his friend was very, very hungry. And maybe, just maybe, a little afraid.
  30. reprimand
    censure severely or angrily
    Facts, John, facts, he reprimanded himself. Worries don’t solve problems. He smacked himself on the forehead to drive the point home to his brain.
  31. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    If I can devise an oven that runs on something everyone wants to get rid of, like vegetable scraps, then Maria won’t have to spend anything on fuel.
  32. convection
    transfer of heat caused by molecular motion in liquid or gas
    He laid out his pencil and paper and opened the book to the page on principles of convection.
  33. perturbed
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    “Go away, Boz!”
    “I can see that you’re perturbed.”
  34. septic
    containing or resulting from disease-causing organisms
    “Did I hurt you? Instinct, you know. I always like to have a bite before breakfast. You ought to put a plaster on that,” Boz advised as Leslie jammed his finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding. “It might become septic.”
  35. mendicant
    a pauper who lives by begging
    “I, Boz the Malodorous Mendicant, do solemnly swear to help Prince John the Delusional build the most magnificent cooking oven that the world has hitherto seen.”
  36. conundrum
    a difficult problem
    “Particularly powerful chicken poo. Of course, it won’t be of much assistance in Maria’s current configuration, but your new oven should put paid to that particular conundrum.”
  37. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
    “But we will need a suitable cover story for our nefarious activities. And to keep the warbling warthog from sniffing out the truth. The small vestiges of cells in his cerebrum may have already made him suspicious.”
  38. cerebrum
    anterior part of the brain consisting of two hemispheres
    “But we will need a suitable cover story for our nefarious activities. And to keep the warbling warthog from sniffing out the truth. The small vestiges of cells in his cerebrum may have already made him suspicious.”
  39. eloquent
    expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
    “‘Wunderbar,’ he shouted, in his most eloquent Egyptian, ‘I have it!’”
  40. rubbish
    worthless material that is to be disposed of
    “Rubbish,” answered Boz. “The disintegrating dreck of modern civilization, the garbage of garçons, the picks of literati’s litter.”
    “I know what trash is,” John interrupted, “but what does that have to do with ovens?”
Created on Mon Aug 19 09:26:51 EDT 2024 (updated Tue Aug 20 13:07:50 EDT 2024)

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