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Pax: Chapters 14–17

After a war breaks out, Peter is forced to abandon Pax, his beloved pet fox — but Peter and Pax are determined to find one another again.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–13, Chapters 14–17, Chapters 18–24, Chapters 25–34
35 words 146 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. torturous
    extremely painful or unpleasant
    It took a torturously long time to circle the cabin.
  2. lurch
    move haltingly and unsteadily
    He took a lurching swing across the room.
  3. calico
    coarse cloth with a bright print
    She took another section of quilt and stripped the batting off, then ripped the yellow calico into strips and dunked them into the plaster.
  4. gritty
    composed of or covered with small particles
    The cornmeal had a gritty crunch; the ham was smooth and salty against the sweet syrup.
  5. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    I’d sprawl on the grass underneath those trees with fireflies flashing all around and katydids singing, a heap of peaches on my belly, and I’d eat them till the juice ran into my ears.
  6. loathe
    dislike intensely; feel disgust toward
    His hands, always moving, with their scent of chocolate, which Pax loved, and of mitt leather, which he loathed.
  7. underlying
    located beneath or below
    As the two foxes traveled on, Pax reflected on the puzzle of the other scent of his boy—his underlying scent.
  8. divine
    perceive through some inexplicable perceptive powers
    It hung between grief and yearning, and it welled from a deep ache for something that Pax could never divine.
  9. seam
    a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface
    They crossed the marshy seam of the valley and climbed the rocky cliffs, shoulder to shoulder this time.
  10. staccato
    marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds
    And almost immediately the ground beat with the light staccato of paws tearing toward them.
  11. headlong
    at breakneck speed
    The challenger spun around in surprise, and Pax charged him headlong.
  12. superficial
    of, affecting, or being on or near the surface
    Pax shook off the blood from a dozen superficial scratches and then cleaned Gray’s wound.
  13. ail
    be unwell
    The two padded steadily for an hour through light woods, Pax restraining himself to keep pace with the ailing Gray, relieved at least that they kept moving.
  14. discord
    lack of agreement or harmony
    Their discord set Pax’s nerves on edge.
  15. attune
    adjust or accustom to; bring into harmony with
    Pax attuned himself once more. West. Still distant, but nearing.
  16. falter
    walk unsteadily
    But when Pax trotted back to the path to resume the journey, Gray faltered.
  17. knead
    manually manipulate, for medicinal or relaxation purposes
    These thoughts calmed Pax and he dozed with the memory of Peter’s knuckles kneading the loose skin between his shoulder blades so real that his fur ruffled under it.
  18. reedy
    upright and slender
    None of the humans had his reedy form, none moved with the same quick energy, none held himself as Peter had—upright, but with a downward cant of his head.
  19. cant
    lean or slope to one side
    None of the humans had his reedy form, none moved with the same quick energy, none held himself as Peter had—upright, but with a downward cant of his head.
  20. redolent
    having a strong pleasant odor
    A discarded pork bone, still redolent with fat, proved too much to resist.
  21. chafe
    become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
    His foot throbbed, his shoulders ached, and his armpits were so chafed that they were bleeding.
  22. marionette
    a figure operated from above with strings by a puppeteer
    “Another true piece of myself I recovered: I remembered that I'd made some marionettes for my little nieces when I was a teenager. I remembered how much I loved carving the wood.”
  23. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    But the next minute she’d rub her salve into his aching shoulders, or sand the splinters off his crutches, or drop her chores to fix him a mug of hot chocolate, and he’d realize how much care she was putting into making him strong and mobile, and he felt guilty.
  24. dowel
    a peg that holds two adjacent pieces together
    Looped neatly over pegs beside each marionette was an array of dowels and paddles, strung together with thin black cord.
  25. niche
    a small concavity
    She pulled a small book from a niche in the wall, then came and sat beside Peter with it cradled in her hands.
  26. apparatus
    equipment designed to serve a specific function
    Vola handed the control apparatus to Peter.
  27. gorge
    a deep ravine, usually with a river running through it
    He left Gray and climbed upstream to a place he’d discovered where the river narrowed beside a gorge wall and the underbrush beside it was dense enough that he could move about unseen by the humans.
  28. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    He’d had little luck hunting—the area was teeming with mice and rabbits, but they scampered from Pax’s clumsy attempts to catch them.
  29. toil
    work hard
    Afterward, they all toiled—in the field, in the vehicles, unloading more and more machinery—but no one went near the grub tent until dusk, when the same two would cook the evening food, then call the others to gather.
  30. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    Peter and three other boys had rushed each other from these stone walls, whooping and brandishing sticks.
  31. bonanza
    a sudden happening that brings good fortune
    Inside, meat hung above tables heaped with onions and potatoes—a bonanza for his taking.
  32. yearling
    an animal in its second year
    When he was a yearling, the father had brought a fan to his boy’s room.
  33. cleave
    separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
    The great hemlock bough lay across Gray’s chest, cleaved from the tree.
  34. crest
    reach a high point
    As dawn crested, he entered the challenger’s territory, and still he ran.
  35. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    Pax slept fitfully through the afternoon, plagued by dreams in which his boy was tangled in smoking wires.
Created on Wed Nov 14 09:23:56 EST 2018 (updated Wed Nov 14 12:06:16 EST 2018)

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