Vocabulary List #3 for Life of Pi

Life of Pi Vocabulary List #3

1.      idle: not in active use

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: But an idle mind tends to sink, so the mind should be kept occupied with whatever light distraction may suggest itself.

2.      tethered: confined or restricted with or as if with a rope or chain

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:: I brought out a second rope and tethered the raft to the lifeboat with it.

3.      capacity: ability to perform or produce

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The stills looked pretty and very technological as they floated on the water, but they also looked flimsy, and I was doubtful of their capacity to produce fresh water.

4.      sentient: endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: It was the first sentient being I had ever killed.

5.      placidly: in a quiet and tranquil manner

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Indeed, as they floated placidly in an arc, they looked almost like cows grazing in a field.

6.      algae: primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves:

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The smell of spent hand-flare shells, and prayers at dawn, and the killing of turtles, and the biology of algae, for example.

7.      sextant: a measuring instrument for measuring the angular distance between celestial objects; resembles an octant

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The castaway was to his mind an experienced sailor who, compass, chart and sextant in hand, knew how he found his way into trouble, if not how he would get out of it.

8.      ambit: an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Fish that were local in their ambit made the net their neighborhood, and the quick ones, the ones that tended to streak by, the dorados, slowed down to visit the new development.

9.      carapace: hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: I did it by bringing the victim alongside the bow of the boat, carapace against hull, and tying a rope to its neck, a front flipper and a back flipper.

10.  ordeal: a severe or trying experience

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: But there was only the survival manual, which I must have read ten thousand times over the course of my ordeal.

11.  revulsion: intense aversion

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: My body developed a revulsion for salt that I still experience to this day.

12.  acrid: strong and sharp; "the pungent taste of radishes"

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The taste was acrid, but it wasn’t that.

13.  gregarious: (of animals) tending to form a group with others of the same species

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: But to know that and to apply it are two very different things (and it’s a useless bit of knowledge if you’re hoping to stare down a gregarious cat.)

14.  unambiguous: admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding; having only one meaning or interpretation and leading to only one conclusion

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Treatment should be repeated until the association in the animal’s mind between the sound of the whistle and the feeling of intense, incapacitating nausea is fixed and totally unambiguous.

15.  malaise: physical discomfort (as mild sickness or depression)

EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Just one shrill blow and you will see your animal shudder with malaise and repair at top speed to the safest, furthest part of its territory.

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.

Vocabulary #20

English 2 Vocab List 20

1. augment; verb - to increase or enlarge; to become greater in size.  If we augment our arms stockpile, our enemies will do the same.

2. conspicuous; adjective - clearly visible; remarkable. With her green punk hairdo, Tina was the most conspicuous guest at the party.

3.  dissipated; adjective - given to indulging excessively in sensual pleasures.  As the weeks went by, the portrait slowly took on a dissipated look while the models face remained cryptically youthful.

4.  extol; verb - to praise highly. It's my intention to extol Bonnie's successful fund-raising efforts at our next club meeting.

5.  insurgent; noun - one who rises in revolt.  Government representation questioned the insurgent sharply but he remained silently and impassive.

6.  ponderous; adjective - very heavy; bulky; labored and dull or tiresome.  Modern science has not yet solved the mystery of how the Aztecs were able to lift ponderous stones with their meager tools.

7.  respite; noun - a temporary cessation or postponement, usually of something disagreeable; interval of rest. The union leader announced, "We are too close to victory to take a respite from our labors."

8.  solemn; adjective - observed or done according to ritual or tradition; formal; serious or earnest; arousing  feelings of awe; very impressive.  Before giving testimony in court, a witness is a required to take a solemn oath that he or she will tell the whole truth.

9.  trepidation; noun - a trembling; apprehension; a state of alarm and dread.  The memory of Black Monday has filled the investors with trepidation about risking more of their money in the stock market.

10. voracious; adjective - ravenous; greedy; gluttonous. Since her junior year, Susan has been a voracious worker.

11. austere; adjective - stern in manner or appearance; strict in morals. Their household, governed by an austere father, was a humorless and unhappy place.

12. copious; adjective - abundant. Professor Highet gave us copious notes throughout his course on Dante.

13. distraught; adjective - in a state of mental conflict and confusion; distracted. Ophelia's distraught brother flung himself into her grave and uttered a bombastic challenge to Hamlet.

14. intemperate; adjective - lacking in self-control. Intemperate at the dinner table, Hudson's weight ballooned to 300 pounds.

15. pragmatic; adjective - practical; opinionated; concerned with actual practice rather than with theory or speculation. The public opinion poll has been accepted as a pragmatic way of determining the thinking of the people at a given point in time.

Vocabulary #19

English 2 Vocab List 19

1. assuage; verb - to calm or soothe; to satisfy. Mother hastened to the bedroom to assuage Beth's fears.

2. concise; adjective - saying much in few words; brief but full of meaning.  Ray has the envious reputation of being concise and to the point in everything he writes.

3. disperse; verb - to send off in different locations. When the tear gas is hurled, the crowd will disperse.

4. expedite; verb - to make easy and quick; to speed up.  In order to expedite matters we hired three additional workers.

5. inscrutable; adjective - so mysterious that it cannot be understood. We looked to Dora for a positive reactions, but her face was inscrutable.

6. pompous; adjective - self-important; stately; magnificent; excessively ornate.  The pompous doorman refused to admit the disheveled woman.

7. resilient; adjective - getting back strength or spirits quickly; spinging back into shape or position. Blanca was so resilient that she was back on the field two weeks after the accident.

8. sobriety; noun - seriousness, gravity, or solemnity; absence of alcoholic intoxication.  The extreme sobriety of five-year-old veribuca indicated a not very salutary sign of her development.

9. tirade; noun – a long, angry, or scolding speech; a harangue.  With the ferocity of a wild bird sinking its talons into its prey, the senator lambasted his opponent in a tirade that left no fault unexposed, no weakness unexploited.

10. voluminous; adjective – large, bulky; enough to fill volumes.  Dickens’ voluminous writings fill many library shelves.

11. atrophy; verb – to waste away.  Failure to exercise your muscles may cause them to atrophy.

12. condone; verb – to forgive or overlook.  I can commiserate with you, but I find it hard to condone the action you took.

13. disposition; noun – nature; tendency.  The melancholy foreman had disdain for any worker with a cherry disposition.

14. expunge; verb – to erase; to remove completely. Miss Porter promised to expunge the bad conduct notation from Danielle’s report card if she improved conspicuously.

15. insipid; adjective – lacking interest or spirit.  In a devastatingly incisive review, one critic disparaged the novel as insipid and boring.