The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage: Chapters 6–10

by Philip Pullman
In the first volume of The Book of Dust, a companion trilogy to Pullman's His Dark Materials series, a boy named Malcolm and a barmaid named Alice attempt to keep baby Lyra safe from the cruel Gerard Bonneville.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–20, Chapters 21–25

Here are links to our lists for other books by Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
40 words 5 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. sluice
    conduit that carries a rapid flow of water
    The reservoirs were full, and the River Board had had to release a lot of water into the river and keep the sluice gates open.
  2. dredge
    remove with or as with a power shovel
    “Yeah, it would be in the Sahara Desert,” said Mr. Anscombe, “but what’re you going to do? Send it there by post? There’s no shortage of water in England. It’s the river depth that’s the problem. Dredge it all out proper, and it’ll flow down to the sea good as gold.”
  3. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “So these are for protection?” Malcolm sounded incredulous, and he felt it too: Who on earth would want to hurt the nuns, or break their windows?
  4. cheeky
    offensively bold
    “That’s enough. When I say that’s enough, that’s enough. Don’t be cheeky.”
  5. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    He hadn’t wasted time agreeing with her that she’d been stupid and chastising her for it and threatening reprisals; all his intellect was focused now on dealing with the situation, with this curious boy and the position she’d put him in.
  6. reprisal
    a retaliatory action against an enemy
    He hadn’t wasted time agreeing with her that she’d been stupid and chastising her for it and threatening reprisals; all his intellect was focused now on dealing with the situation, with this curious boy and the position she’d put him in.
  7. thoroughfare
    a public road from one place to another
    The headquarters of the secret service that employed Hannah Relf was known to its agents as Oakley Street for the simple reason that that respectable Chelsea thoroughfare was nowhere near it and had nothing to do with it at all.
  8. scrupulous
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    “And we always pay scrupulous attention to the views of distinguished scholars.”
  9. vise
    a holding device attached to a workbench
    Malcolm put a screw in the vise and filed away part of the head to show Mr. Taphouse what he meant.
  10. combustion
    the act of burning something
    “Spontaneous combustion,” the old man said roundly. “You put it on with a rag, see, and if you don’t soak the rag in water after you’ve finished and dry it flat, it’ll catch fire all by itself.”
    “What did you call it? Spon—”
    “Spontaneous combustion.”
  11. lapel
    a fold of fabric below the collar of a coat or jacket
    She was not a nun, but the dark blue suit she wore looked like a uniform of some kind, and in the lapel was a small enamel badge showing a gold lamp with a little red flame coming out of it.
  12. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone sidling up to him, and he knew who it was without looking.
  13. ponderous
    labored and dull
    “Exactly. Thank you,” said Eric ponderously.
  14. dither
    be undecided or uncertain
    So he kept his hand down, and seeing that, the other two dithered. Eric’s hand came down and then went up again less certainly. Robbie’s came down and stayed down.
  15. denounce
    accuse or condemn openly as disgraceful
    Dear Lord, let the spirit of your blessed St. Alexander enter our hearts, that we may have the clear sight to perceive wickedness, the courage to denounce it, and the strength to bear witness, even when it seems most painful and difficult.
  16. loathsome
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    “Against the League of St. Alexander?”
    “One hundred percent against it. I think it’s a loathsome idea.
  17. faction
    a dissenting clique
    As the week went past, he listened and watched, and soon he saw different factions emerging.
  18. zealous
    marked by active interest and enthusiasm
    One group was all for pushing on zealously, and talked openly about reporting Mr. Hawkins himself for speaking like that.
  19. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    “If you were going to denounce Mr. Johnson, like,” Malcolm said, naming a teacher whose pious fervor made him the least likely candidate, “who would you tell?”
  20. fervor
    feelings of great warmth and intensity
    “If you were going to denounce Mr. Johnson, like,” Malcolm said, naming a teacher whose pious fervor made him the least likely candidate, “who would you tell?”
  21. jute
    a plant fiber used in making rope or sacks
    Several jute bags lay on a pile of sand in her little front garden, and she was trying unsuccessfully to fill the first one.
  22. malefactor
    someone who has committed a crime
    “What are malefactors?”
    “Evildoers. Don’t they teach you nothing at that school?”
  23. dismal
    causing dejection
    There was this one room—big tall place, high ceiling, only one window very high up, and that was all thick with cobwebs, and this dismal gray light coming in.
  24. scaffold
    a platform from which criminals are executed
    That was the execution chamber, see, and the platform was the scaffold.
  25. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    “See, that’s what terror does to you. I’m thirty-nine, boy. I was a young man till I saw that apparition right there, exactly where you’re standing. Turned me hair white overnight.”
  26. lurch
    abrupt up-and-down motion
    Malcolm was already primed for fear and felt his skin prickle all over and a lurch in his stomach.
  27. stifle
    smother or suppress
    Malcolm could hardly stifle a cry.
  28. clarity
    the quality of being coherent and easily understood
    Malcolm marveled at the clarity and calm in her voice.
  29. obligation
    the state of being bound to do or pay something
    Am I going to abandon all our holy obligations because three bullies in uniform come shouldering their way in and try to frighten us?
  30. pidgin
    a simplified language allowing communication between groups
    All this time Malcolm had heard Lyra and her little dæmon chattering away in their pidgin English.
  31. spontaneous
    happening or arising without apparent external cause
    He wouldn’t say any more, so Malcolm helped sweep up and tidy, and fetched a bucket of water for the rags Mr. Taphouse had been wiping the Danish oil on with, to stop them spontaneously combusting.
  32. cordial
    strong highly flavored sweet liquor often drunk after a meal
    “She wasn’t in the kitchen when we went back through. She probably went to bed. She was well scared.”
    “Poor old lady. I’ll take her round some cordial tomorrow.”
  33. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    While Malcolm and his mother talked, Alice had been washing the dishes in her silent, sullen way, and she and Malcolm had been pointedly ignoring each other, as usual.
  34. spangled
    covered with beads or jewels or sequins
    “That was very strange,” he said. “Like spangled. Like that hymn—you remember: And the Hornèd moon at night, ’Mid her spangled sisters bright. It was spangled.”
  35. daunt
    cause to lose courage
    Perhaps it was his dæmon, a beautiful silvery spotted leopard, or perhaps it was his dark, saturnine expression; in any event, Malcolm felt daunted, and very young and small.
  36. congenial
    suitable to your needs
    I haven’t been to see her because if I do, she’ll be taken away from there and put in a much less congenial place.
  37. affront
    treat, mention, or speak to rudely
    “Ah, it’s a proper canoe,” said Lord Asriel, as if he’d been expecting a toy. Malcolm felt a little affronted on behalf of La Belle Sauvage and said nothing as he turned her over and let her slip silently down the grass and onto the water.
  38. starboard
    right side of a ship or aircraft to someone facing the bow
    Once they were out of sight of the bridge, he turned the boat to starboard and made for the other shore.
  39. bramble
    any of various rough thorny shrubs or vines
    Malcolm found the gap he knew about and forced his way through the brambles.
  40. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
    Presently the leopard dæmon’s statuelike stillness melted, and she moved away once more, lithe and silent.
Created on Fri Sep 21 16:41:42 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Sep 26 16:19:03 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.