Life of Pi Vocabulary List 2

Life of Pi Vocab List 2

1. horizon: the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: I kept one eye on the horizon, one eye on the other end of the lifeboat.

2. whine: make a high-pitched, screeching noise

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: I could hear it whining.

3. reaction: a response that reveals a person's feelings or attitude

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: My only reaction was to freeze with fear.

4. typical: exhibiting the qualities or characteristics that identify a group or kind or category EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The look was nearly the typical look of a hyena—blank and frank, the curiosity apparent with nothing of the mental set revealed, jaw hanging open, big ears sticking up rigidly, eyes bright and black—were it not for the strain that exuded from every cell of its body, an anxiety that made the animal glow, as if with a fever.

5. float: move lightly, as if suspended

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: I seemed to be floating in pure, abstract blackness.

6. hull: the frame or body of ship

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: With small waves the result was a ceaseless, fist-like beating against the hull, while larger waves made for a tire-some rolling of the boat as it leaned from side to side.

7. dreadful: exceptionally bad or displeasing

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: And that dreadful night was preceded by a dreadful evening.

8. dorsal: belonging to or on or near the back or upper surface of an animal or organ or part

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The largest one came at the boat quickly, as if to attack, its dorsal fin rising out of the water by several inches, but it dipped below just before reaching us and glided underfoot with fearsome grace.

9. scale: a measuring instrument for weighing; shows amount of mass

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Had Orange Juice been a male, had she loomed as large on the scales as she did in my heart, it might have been another matter.

10. simian: relating to or resembling an ape

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: She looked like a simian Christ on the Cross.

11. befuddled: perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: But the shipping clerk at the Howrah train station was evidently a man both befuddled and diligent.

12. sedate: cause to be calm or quiet as by administering a sedative to NOTES: In this case, he's sedating them through drugs -- that's actually the most common usage of this word.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Father regularly sedated a number of the animals to lessen their stress.

13. sensation: an un-elaborated elementary awareness of stimulation

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: I have heard that the hunger for air exceeds as a compelling sensation the thirst for water.

14. buoyancy: the tendency to float in water or other liquid

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Inside, it was not as spacious as might be expected because of the side benches and the buoyancy tanks.

15. ration: the food allowance for one day (especially for service personnel)

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: I found cartons of Seven Oceans Standard Emergency Ration, from faraway, exotic Bergen, Norway.