Son: Book II: Chapters 1-5

by Lois Lowry
Weaving together the stories from the last three books, this final installment in The Giver Quartet follows Claire as she attempts to find the son who was taken from her.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Book I, Book II: Chapters 1-5, Book II: Chapters 6-16, Book III

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. roil
    be agitated
    The slate gray sea roiled, scraping the narrow strip of sand rhythmically, tugging at beach grass, digging and sucking loose the rocks at the shore's edge.
  2. thatch
    plant stalks used as roofing material
    The women listened to the wind as it roared in the chimneys, to the ripping sounds of torn thatch, and to the whimpering of frightened children.
  3. spar
    stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging
    He pried her loose from the wood spar, for her fingers were locked there.
  4. jut
    extend out or project in space
    The peninsula jutted out from the main coast in an isolated place where time didn't matter, for nothing changed.
  5. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    An overgrown, root-tangled path meandered upward at the foot of the cliff but then disappeared at the base of a sheer rock wall, and after that there was no way to go farther but to climb.
  6. sheer
    very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front
    An overgrown, root-tangled path meandered upward at the foot of the cliff but then disappeared at the base of a sheer rock wall, and after that there was no way to go farther but to climb.
  7. maim
    injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration
    When he returned, climbing back in, it almost killed him, for he was maimed by then, bloody and in terrible pain.
  8. midwife
    a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies
    Alys was childless herself but had been midwife to many and was no stranger to damaged young.
  9. burnish
    polish and make shiny
    Her hair was red-gold, burnished copper in the early light of winter that came through the small window and fell over her as she ate.
  10. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    With her gnarled hand she smoothed the girl's hair.
  11. brusquely
    in a blunt direct manner
    Tall Andras, frowning with disappointment, asked brusquely, “What if it never do?”
  12. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    “Bits and pieces, they'll come," Alys said, “over time ." Tall Andras glowered.
  13. sorrel
    prickly annual herb used in tarts and jelly
    “I'll take this now to Bryn,” she said. "Add a raspberry leaf or two to the soup. And some of that sorrel from the garden. It'll give flavor," she added.
  14. straggle
    go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way
    “Your hair's a wee bit straggled, Miss Bethan," Eira said haughtily as she set the broom aside.
  15. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    “Your hair's a wee bit straggled, Miss Bethan," Eira said haughtily as she set the broom aside.
  16. primp
    dress or groom with elaborate care
    “Was you rushed? I'd expect you'd be more primped up, and maybe brush some, when you've got a tea invite."
  17. frock
    a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice
    Dramatically she pulled her frock away from her own thin middle.
  18. grove
    a small growth of trees without underbrush
    Claire, listening from where she stood in a small grove of trees nearby, smiled at the sweetness of the children.
  19. placidly
    in a quiet and tranquil manner
    Claire held her breath and looked away when she had to pass the place where a scrawny milk cow, its wrinkled mouth moving as it placidly chewed on the rough grass, was fenced beside the cottage where Tall Andras lived with his parents.
  20. dainty
    affectedly refined
    She lifted one daintily and pretended to drink from it.
  21. recluse
    one who lives in solitude
    His failures had made him a recluse, but people remembered the vulnerable boy he had once been.
  22. fastidious
    giving careful attention to detail
    The bird had raised one wing and pecked fastidiously at its feathers beneath.
  23. profusion
    the property of being extremely abundant
    Yet when Alys had sent Claire on a simple errand some days ago, asking her to fetch some jewelweed, which Alys needed to treat a painful poison ivy rash on one of Old Benedikt's grandsons, Claire had not known how to find the flower that grew in such profusion by the stream.
  24. bleat
    the sound of sheep or goats (or any sound resembling this)
    Nearby, through the fog, she could hear the sheep move in the grass, and an occasional bleat.
  25. assent
    agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
    He grunted an assent and scraped some more at the spotless bowl in his hands.
  26. trill
    a note that alternates with another note a semitone above it
    Then he arranged his mouth, gave a small sound as a trial, and then reproduced the sound of the small bright-colored bird, with its trill and fluttering whistle.
  27. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    He rose and moved with his awkward gait into the edge of the foggy meadow.
  28. supple
    moving and bending with ease
    Friends of the couple had built a kind of bower from supple willow branches and now they were decorating it with blossoms and ferns.
  29. rollicking
    given to merry frolicking
    The musicians began again, with a louder, rollicking tune, and the villagers cheered and turned to the waiting feast.
  30. solemnity
    a somber and dignified feeling
    Claire stood silent, awed by the music, puzzled by the concept of love, and moved by both the solemnity and the celebration of the occasion.
  31. gouge
    make a groove in
    First he gouged two circles near each other in the center of the gourd, then scraped at the rind between and below the eyes, to create the impression of a nose.
  32. impulsive
    without forethought
    Impulsively Claire tore some handfuls of grass from the earth and handed them to him.
  33. resin
    a viscous substance obtained from plants or simple molecules
    He was smearing the oozing resin on the gourd.
  34. leer
    a suggestive or sneering look or grin
    The mouth was a tortured smile, a leer.
  35. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    Then she turned and ran, sobbing and breathless, down the hillside as Tall Andras stood uncomprehending beside the wretched, ragged stick figure with its bulbous head.
Created on Tue Apr 03 14:49:56 EDT 2018 (updated Tue May 31 12:43:53 EDT 2022)

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