Dumplin': Chapters 40-49

by Julie Murphy
In this hilarious and heartwarming novel, small-town girl Willowdean surprises everyone—including herself—when she enters a local pageant.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-11, Chapters 12-26, Chapters 27-39, Chapters 40-49, Chapters 50-61
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. berate
    censure severely or angrily
    Marcus berates me with endless questions about the Chili Bowl, like, “Who makes the chili?” or “Is it true you guys don’t wash the pots?”
  2. escort
    an attendant who is employed to accompany someone
    “He’s my escort,” says Bekah. “For the pageant. Well, I haven’t asked him. But he’s going to be. I think.”
  3. curt
    speaking in a terse, rude, or abrupt way
    Anytime I see him at school, I look for some kind of meaningful eye contact, but the best he’s given me is a curt headshake.
  4. alumnus
    a person who has received a degree from a school
    The day’s schedule is full of pep rallies, contests, and alumni tours.
  5. complimentary
    costing nothing
    He walks outside to the popcorn machine on the sidewalk where he’ll be handing out complimentary bags of popcorn.
  6. flapper
    an unconventional young woman in the 1920s
    Despite Ron’s request, Marcus goes for the devil horns, and I reach for the sequined flapper headband with a big white feather.
  7. stark
    complete or extreme
    Despite our audience, this moment feels starkly personal.
  8. plush
    characterized by extravagance and softness
    Every house is huge and hulking, but crammed together with only slivers of plush, green grass between them.
  9. botch
    make a mess of, destroy, or ruin
    “When that kid saw me, he saw Indiana Jones. Not some guy who botched play after play in last night’s game. Or some dude who plays video games all day. To him, I was someone else.”
  10. exhilaration
    the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
    I can feel the terror and exhilaration in his trembling touch.
  11. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    I trudge up the stairs.
  12. bodice
    part of a dress above the waist
    I’ve seen this dress—a sea-foam-green sequined bodice with a chiffon skirt—so many times that it’s not even pretty anymore.
  13. deja vu
    the experience of thinking a new situation already occurred
    I don’t quite understand how something can feel so comfortable and foreign at the same time. Like, deja vu.
  14. commandeer
    take arbitrarily or by force
    Bo says nothing about me commandeering his radio.
  15. abrasive
    sharply disagreeable, unpleasant, or harsh
    My voice comes out more abrasively than I mean for it to.
  16. hodgepodge
    a motley assortment of things
    Bo always whistles when he thinks no one is listening. But normally it’s no song in particular, just a hodgepodge of tunes.
  17. idle
    run disconnected
    The car idles in front of my house.
  18. apprehension
    fearful expectation or anticipation
    But I can’t hide the apprehension in my voice.
  19. instill
    teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
    It’s not as if she ever instilled modesty in me.
  20. inertia
    the tendency of something to stay in rest or motion
    The fact that I’m able to get the zipper over my hips is a lesson in inertia or just willpower.
  21. spiel
    artful or slick talk used to persuade
    Once the crowd settles, my mom gives her spiel and says that costumes for the talent portion will need to be approved at the same time as the rest of our wardrobe.
  22. slink
    move or walk stealthily
    She slinks off the stage, holding her songbook to her chest.
  23. monologue
    a dramatic speech by a single actor
    Next is a monologue from Much Ado About Nothing, which is actually pretty good, but will be totally lost on the judges.
  24. dormant
    inactive but capable of becoming active
    But today the theater is lit and the stage lights are dormant.
  25. converse
    carry on a discussion
    I stand at the edge of the stage as the committee members—my mom included—converse back and forth.
  26. crescendo
    grow louder
    The music crescendos and so does her voice.
  27. naive
    marked by or showing unaffected simplicity
    I’m not naive. I know I won’t win. I don’t even want to. But I want to go up there and prove that there’s no reason I can’t do this or shouldn’t be able to.
  28. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    She struts up and down the stage, her heels making a distinct thwacking noise with each step.
  29. sobriety
    the state of being unaffected or not intoxicated by alcohol
    “You see how I’m walking with one foot in front of the other. Pretend you’re taking a sobriety test—”
    “They’re in high school,” grunts Dale.
  30. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    My first few steps are long like Lee said, but slow and tentative.
  31. solicit
    request urgently or persistently
    I follow him up the walkway to the front door, which has a hand-painted sign hanging from it that says: Unless you’re selling cookies, no soliciting, please.
  32. incense
    a substance that produces a fragrant odor when burned
    The place smells distinctly of incense, which doesn’t at all match everything else.
  33. foreshadow
    indicate by signs
    He looks younger with his close-cropped hair and his stubble-free face, but the outline of his biceps foreshadows the next few years.
  34. candid
    informal or natural
    It’s a candid photo. Mrs. Larson’s head is thrown back in laughter, while Mr. Larson wears the grin I’ve seen on Bo so many times.
  35. vulnerability
    the state of being exposed to harm
    “Don’t write me off so soon. There’s more. You’re a fire sign. You love big, but you hurt big, too. But you don’t always let the hurt show, because it’s a vulnerability. You’re the sun. Always there. Even when we can’t see you.”
  36. boisterous
    marked by exuberance and high spirits
    There are no boisterous greeters or gossipy Sunday school teachers.
  37. figuratively
    in a non-literal sense
    A few other guys from the team are heading over now. I feel like the elephant in the room—or the parking lot. Literally and figuratively.
  38. bona fide
    not counterfeit or copied
    We have a track record—real bona-fide proof.
  39. chaotic
    completely unordered and unpredictable and confusing
    My nerves hum, and this moment when my body feels both chaotic and determined is what was missing with Mitch.
  40. purge
    rid of impurities
    It’s like my brain has decided to purge information to make space for the events of the last two days.
Created on Mon Nov 13 10:10:00 EST 2017 (updated Tue Nov 14 16:43:11 EST 2017)

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