Long Way Down: List 1

by Jason Reynolds
In this novel-in-verse, Will spends a sixty-second elevator ride weighing whether or not he should avenge his brother's death. Learn these words from Jason Reynolds's innovative and powerful exploration of gun violence.

This list covers "Don't Nobody"—"I Took a Step Back."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2.

Here are links to our lists for other books by Jason Reynolds: When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu
25 words 13532 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. clot
    cause to change from a liquid to a solid or thickened state
    I think she hoped
    her voice would
    somehow keep him
    alive,

    would clot the blood.
  2. eczema
    an inflammatory condition of the skin
    IN THAT BAG,

    special soap
    for my mother’s

    eczema.
  3. flaky
    made of or easily forming small fragments
    Pick at the pus
    bubbles and flaky

    scales.
  4. muffle
    deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
    I locked myself in my room and put
    a pillow over my head to muffle
    the sound of my mom’s mourning.
  5. anagram
    a phrase rearranged from the letters of another phrase
    My wall had:
    an anagram I wrote in messed-up scribble
    with a pencil in case Mom made me

    erase it:
    SCARE = CARES.
  6. jagged
    having a sharply uneven surface or outline
    THE MIDDLE DRAWER

    was the only thing ever out of place
    on Shawn’s side of the room,

    like a random, jagged tooth
    in a perfect mouth
  7. curfew
    an order that after a certain time activities are prohibited
    I WON’T PRETEND THAT SHAWN

    was the kind of guy
    who was home by curfew.
  8. territory
    a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
    He wanted to join so he
    wouldn’t be looked at like
    all bark no more,
    and instead could have

    a backbone built for him
    by the bite of his block boys
    who wait for anyone to cross
    the line into their territory
  9. slump
    assume a drooping posture or carriage
    IN THE KITCHEN

    the sun burst through the
    window, bathing my mother,
    who slept slumped at the
    table, her head resting in the
    nest of her red, swollen arms.
  10. stutter
    speak haltingly
    I stuttered.
  11. imprint
    a concavity in a surface produced by pressing
    I PUT MY HAND BEHIND MY BACK,

    felt the imprint
    of the piece, like
    another piece
    of me,

    an extra vertebra,
    some more
    backbone.
  12. vertebra
    one of the bony segments of the spinal column
    I PUT MY HAND BEHIND MY BACK,

    felt the imprint
    of the piece, like
    another piece
    of me,

    an extra vertebra,
    some more
    backbone.
  13. bluff
    pretense that your position is stronger than it really is
    THOUGHT ABOUT MOVING IT

    to the front,

    but Shawn used to always say
    dogs,
    even snarling ones,
    tuck their tails between their legs,

    a sign of fear.
    A signal of
    bluff.
  14. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    This rickety thing
    has always moved slow,

    Buck said,
    grinning.
  15. jumpy
    in a very tense state
    Business to handle,

    I said,
    feeling myself,
    my macho
    between

    my shaky legs,
    masking
    my jumpy heart.
  16. stance
    standing posture
    Yeah, that's right,

    I said,
    opening my stance
    to let him know this
    wasn’t a game,
    that I was forreal.
  17. cocky
    overly self-confident or self-assertive
    But you ain’t
    got it in you, Will,

    he said,
    cocky.
  18. slug
    a projectile that is fired from a gun
    Fourteen slugs.
    One in the hole.
    Fifteen total,

    he said,
    slamming
    the clip back in.
  19. ruffle
    a strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim
    And I was

    walking my eyes
    up her legs,
    the ruffle and fold
    of her flower
    dress, her
    arms, her
    neck, her
    cheek, her
    hair.
  20. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    But the metal barrel
    dug into my back,
    making me wince,
    making me obvious

    and wack.
  21. sarcasm
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
    I DIDN’T KNOW

    smoking
    was allowed
    in elevators,

    she said,
    her small talk smacking
    with sarcasm.
  22. halo
    a toroidal shape
    She fanned smoke
    from her face,
    thumbed to Buck,
    who shook his head and
    blew vanishing halos.
  23. impression
    an imitative portrayal of a person
    SHE BRUSHED HER HAND AGAINST MINE

    to get my attention,
    which on any other
    occasion would’ve
    been the perfect
    open for me to flirt
    or at least try to do
    my best impression of Shawn,

    which was
    his best impression of Buck.
  24. tick
    make a clicking sound
    And when I
    looked confused
    (pretended to
    look confused),

    she ticked
    tongue to teeth
    and clarified,

    The gun.
  25. silhouette
    an outline of a solid object as cast by its shadow
    I TOOK A STEP BACK

    to make room
    for the silhouette to
    move through fog,

    to step in.
Created on Wed Jan 24 10:24:55 EST 2018 (updated Thu Dec 14 13:49:14 EST 2023)

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