Adrift: Chapters 30–43

by Paul Griffin
A summer job in a beach town turns into a nightmare for a teenage boy and his friends when they are swept out to sea in a stolen boat.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–29, Chapters 30–43, Chapters 44–53

Here are links to our lists for Burning Blue by Paul Griffin.
40 words 33 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    Looking at it made me wince, but JoJo was done being embarrassed by it.
  2. attempt
    earnest and conscientious activity intended to do something
    This wasn’t an attempt at romance. It was deeper than that. Her touch was the only thing that seemed real out there.
  3. bizarre
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
    The rest of it was a bizarre slow-motion thrill, which didn’t make it any less painful or confusing.
  4. advertise
    call attention to
    We had no way to advertise we were in trouble, no radio to call the Coast Guard, no flares.
  5. simultaneously
    at the same instant
    Why would five kids who didn’t know one another simultaneously decide to run away for a week and a half, without leaving a single word with loved ones?
  6. logical
    based on known statements or events or conditions
    The only logical conclusion was that we’d gotten into trouble and drowned.
  7. capsize
    overturn accidentally
    Would we capsize in a storm?
  8. preferable
    more desirable than another
    Drowning would have been preferable to dying of thirst.
  9. acute
    experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course
    Acute systemic infection, the same thing that had killed Stef probably.
  10. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    The porpoise writhed and bucked and flopped right out of the boat.
  11. misadventure
    an instance of misfortune
    Folks are beginning to wonder just how much longer Uncle Sam is going to foot the bill for this misadventure.
  12. remote
    very unlikely
    “At what point does it enter your mind that catching anything with that isn’t a remote possibility?”
  13. option
    one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen
    “Well, whoever he is, he’s about to go psycho on us. We have one option here, and the longer we wait to exercise it, the more we put ourselves at risk.”
  14. situation
    a condition or position in which you find yourself
    “We wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for you. The three of you. For all your money, you’re idiots. I’m trying to make the best of a rotten situation.”
  15. morality
    the quality of being in accord with right or good conduct
    “Maybe that’s how it plays out in one of those fairy-tale philosophy books you read in prep school, some fantasy of morality, but we’re a long way from there.”
  16. element
    the situation in which you are happiest and most effective
    You’re a spoiled little brat, and you’re way out of your element.
  17. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    Could you muster the guts to kill him?
  18. version
    something a little different from others of the same type
    You know a medicated version of him who’s got you fooled—who had himself fooled until now. I’m telling you, he’s going to pop.
  19. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    He pointed out the shark and hyperventilated.
  20. homicide
    the killing of a human being by another human being
    Subject: DNA SAMPLE CAME BACK ON BODY PART FOUND BY TRAWLER
    Date: Sunday, August 29, 7:29 PM
    It was Estefania Gonzaga. Permission to transfer case status from Missing Persons to Homicide?
  21. resent
    feel bitter or indignant about
    He muttered thanks but sarcastically, as if he resented our help.
  22. suffering
    feelings of mental or physical pain
    “Heracles was made to wear a poison robe that ate away his flesh,” he said. “To end his suffering he begged to be thrown into the fire, but no one would do it.
  23. nudge
    push against gently
    Dri tried to hold his hand, but he nudged it away, and then I nudged her away from him.
  24. insist
    be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
    She insisted she was okay, that as bad as she looked, I looked worse and needed to get some sleep.
  25. partial
    being or affecting only a segment
    Dear Senator Rice,
    I understand that with the discovery of my niece Estefania Gonzaga’s partial remains, the Coast Guard is considering calling off the search for the remaining young people lost at sea the night of August 17.
  26. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    I implore you to ask Admiral Sutterjee to reconsider this decision.
  27. froth
    a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid
    Tail fins whipped the water into pink froth.
  28. secure
    cause to be firmly attached
    I looked around the boat for loose items that needed to be secured.
  29. modified
    changed in form or character
    Here he was snoring away in a modified vampire pose—how a vampire would sleep sitting up—and we were about to get hit with a storm strong enough to sink the boat, it looked like.
  30. dilute
    lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture
    Hyponatremia, it’s called. They told us about it in that first responder class. It’s what happens to distance swimmers and marathoners after they finish and they’re dehydrated, and then they guzzle water. It dilutes the salt in their blood and knocks everything out of whack.
  31. brace
    support by steadying
    “You have to brace her better,” John said. “Her head’s whipping all over the place.
  32. pendant
    an adornment that hangs from a piece of jewelry
    The boat whipped up the wave’s face to the crest and hung there nose-down like a pendant before it dropped.
  33. purgatory
    a temporary state of the dead in Roman Catholic theology
    The wind screamed like a Super Bowl crowd or a hundred thousand souls let loose from purgatory.
  34. compress
    squeeze or push together
    We rode up the face of it so fast my organs shifted toward my spine and compressed my lungs.
  35. ridge
    a long narrow natural elevation or striation
    The wave sucked us up to its ridge and then rolled away, right underneath us.
  36. smother
    envelop completely
    The wave smothered the boat and sucked me down into darkness and backward in time to Woodhull Road, three years earlier, the car crash under the elevated train.
  37. trough
    a narrow depression, as between waves
    When the boat stopped spinning and hovered in the trough, and my arms stopped whipping around, I was able to put my hand to my chest to unclip my life-vest strap.
  38. coordinate
    a number that identifies a position relative to an axis
    Navigator’s Log, August 31, 06:21 Hours EST
    Captain Braswell is scrambling helicopters to coordinates 40.025651 by -68.664551, where a small vessel has been sighted.
  39. rage
    be violent
    The storm was still raging.
  40. abate
    become less in amount or intensity
    Salvage teams have been notified and will locate and sink the container when the storm abates.
Created on Thu Jun 02 11:22:40 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 10 15:59:38 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.