the wreckers vocabulary chapters 12-15

The Wreckers

VocabularyChapters 12-15

Chapter 12

1. voluminous2. marksman3. sparse4. gybed5. regal6. keening7. cat-o-nine-tails8. rue

voluminous

• Having great volume, lots of room, large

marksman

• A person skillful at hitting a target, usually with a gun or a bow and arrow

sparse

• Thinly scattered, scanty

gybed

• To have turned to one side, as in a ship

regal

• Relating to kings or royalty, stately

keening

• Sharp, severe, and piercing wailing

Cat-o-nine-tails

• A whip made out of nine knotted cords, fastened to one handle

rue

• Regret, sorrow

Chapter 13

1. blithely2. score3. uprights4. rooks5. bloodcurdling6. rude7. rickety8. amass9. ajar

10. foreboding11. blinkers

blithely

• Without thought or regard, carefree

score

• A group or set of twenty

uprights

• Poles or supports which hold a roof in position

rooks

• European crows

bloodcurdling

• Arousing terror, horrifying

rude

• Crude, poorly made, of poor design

rickety

• Likely to fall apart or collapse, shaky

amass

• To gather for oneself

ajar

• Partly open

foreboding

• A strong inner feeling of future misfortune or evil

blinkers

• Leather flaps on a horse’s bridle, which prevent it from seeing sideways

Chapter 14

1. packet2. mineshaft3. muslin4. clotted5. poultice6. file7. taunting

8. exchanging broadsides

9. tinderbox

packet

• A small vessel that carries mail, passengers, and goods on a regular route along rivers and canals

mineshaft

• A vertical passageway for finding or mining ore

muslin

• A cotton fabric used for sheets and other purposes

clotted

• To thicken into clumps

poultice

• A soft moist mass of cloth, bread, and herbs applied hot as a medicine to the body

file

• A metal tool with ridges and points used for smoothing surfaces

taunting

• Insulting, jeering, mocking

Exchanging broadsides

• Firing all of the guns on one side of a warship, at another ship

tinderbox

• A container used for holding tinder, usually fitted with a flint, steel, and matches

Chapter 15

1. chisel2. stout3. pouch4. thong5. rutted6. gibbet7. skiff8. bilge

chisel

• A tool used to cut wood or stone

stout

• strong

pouch

• A bag or sack used to carry articles

thong

• A strip or strap of leather, used to carry something

rutted

• A surface with deep trenches, usually caused by wheels

gibbet

• A gallows with a projecting arm at the top, from which the bodies of criminals are hung in chains after execution

skiff

• A small row boat

bilge

• The rounded area at the bottom of a boat