Gregor the Overlander: Chapters 19–27

by Suzanne Collins
In the basement of their New York City apartment building, Gregor and his little sister discover a portal to an underground world populated by giant bats, insects, and rodents.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–27

Here are links to our lists for other books by Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. languidly
    in a lethargic manner
    “Yes, stay you or I shall be forced to move, and that always puts me in an ill humor,” he said languidly.
  2. shabby
    showing signs of wear and tear
    “Take care, lad, or you shall end up like me, stripped of any respectable rank and warming your shabby old hide at the fire of your enemies.” The rat nodded at the old man.
  3. wheedle
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    “Oh, come now, you know perfectly well you only tagged along to wheedle information out of me,” said Ripred. “And to gloat over your victory at the Flames.”
  4. gloat
    dwell on with satisfaction
    “Oh, come now, you know perfectly well you only tagged along to wheedle information out of me,” said Ripred. “And to gloat over your victory at the Flames.”
  5. ineptitude
    unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training
    “You mean the idiots that I handpicked for cowardice and ineptitude? Oh, yes, bravo, Your Highness. That was a masterly piece of combat,” said Ripred, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
  6. cryptic
    having a secret or hidden meaning
    “Nor do I, nor does anyone. It is very cryptic. I believe no one will fully understand it until the final moment has arrived,” said Vikus.
  7. ebb
    fall away or decline
    Gregor felt his anger ebbing and fear filling the empty spaces it left.
  8. sulky
    sullen or moody
    Then Gregor approached Ripred, who was leaning sulkily in the tunnel.
  9. ravenous
    extremely hungry
    “More,” said Boots, pointing at Gregor’s uneaten sandwich. He was ravenous, but he couldn’t let her go hungry.
  10. drawl
    speak in a slow and drawn out way
    Gregor could feel Ares and Aurora twitching in distress. “What about the bats?”
    “I’m sure you’ll work that out,” drawled Ripred.
  11. snooty
    overly conceited or arrogant
    He was tired of everybody being snooty to the roaches.
  12. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    They trudged on for a while in silence.
  13. repugnant
    offensive to the mind
    “You mean you just took us that way so we’d all smell like rotten eggs?” said Gregor.
    “Quite necessary. As a pack, you were highly repugnant,” said Ripred.
  14. squeamish
    easily disturbed or disgusted by unpleasant things
    “Spiders are neither squeamish nor sentimental,” said Ripred.
  15. wan
    lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
    They both nodded. “You will return the same favor for us?” said Luxa wanly. “And our bats?”
  16. bode
    indicate by signs
    He turned to Gregor. “This attack on the spinners does not bode well for your father.”
  17. strife
    bitter conflict; heated or violent dissension
    “Aurora the flier, I bond to you,
    Our life and death are one, we two.
    In dark, in flame, in war, in strife
    I save you as I save my life.”
  18. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Gox still perched in the makeshift web she’d built at bedtime.
  19. concession
    the act of yielding
    Henry let his sword clatter to the ground, which was no big concession since Gregor saw he could barely hold it.
  20. gruff
    deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or emotion
    Instead, he turned to Luxa and said gruffly, “We’d better patch them up.”
  21. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    While Gregor patted extra layers of silk onto Ripred’s matted fur, the rat muttered, “I suppose I ought to thank you.”
  22. pestilence
    any epidemic disease with a high death rate
    “She is fevered. She has caught some pestilence from the land of rats.”
  23. scald
    burn with a hot liquid or steam
    Gregor pressed Boots’s fingers against his lips and felt scalding tears begin to slide down his cheeks.
  24. snide
    expressive of contempt
    But when Ripred spoke, his voice lacked its usual snide tone.
  25. muzzle
    forward projecting part of the head of certain animals
    Ripred wiped his muzzle on one of the dead rats and spoke in a whisper.
  26. futile
    producing no result or effect
    He dropped to his own knees at the side of the pit and reached out a hand futilely.
  27. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Boots lay tied to Temp’s back, oblivious to the world.
  28. awry
    away from the correct or expected course
    “Yes, well, that was the plan,” said Ripred, nodding. “But so often plans go awry.”
  29. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    Then, with great trepidation, he began to sew up the rip.
  30. assess
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    He tried to assess their situation.
  31. incoherent
    unable to express yourself clearly or fluently
    Boots was sick, his dad was incoherent, Luxa was in shock, Aurora was wounded, and Ares was in despair.
  32. desolate
    crushed by grief
    He had never felt so desolate in his whole life.
  33. relentless
    never-ceasing
    The images that filled his head were relentlessly dark.
  34. disarray
    a mental state characterized by a lack of clear thought
    “When news of King Gorger’s death reached the rats, they fell into chaos. We have driven them far back into the Dead Land. Without a leader, they are in total disarray,” said Mareth.
  35. privy
    informed about something secret or not generally known
    “We are about to vote on his fate,” said Vikus. “There has been much debate about whether he was privy to Henry’s plot.”
  36. fend
    try to manage without help
    He couldn’t stand by and watch them throw Ares out into the Dead Land to fend for himself.
  37. precedent
    an example that is used to justify similar occurrences
    One old man still dug furiously through his scrolls until Vikus said to him, “Oh, stop rattling your skins, we clearly have no precedent for this.”
  38. beeline
    the most direct route
    As soon as things settled down, Gregor made a beeline for the hospital.
  39. relapse
    deteriorate in health
    He braced himself before entering his dad’s room, fearing he might have relapsed, but when he went in, a happy scene awaited him.
  40. tarry
    stay longer than you should
    “The way is safe now, but do not tarry. As you know, things can shift quickly in the Underland,” said Solovet.
Created on Thu Jul 19 21:28:10 EDT 2018 (updated Fri Jul 27 11:52:01 EDT 2018)

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