Wringer: Chapters 13–22

by Jerry Spinelli
In Waymer, boys are trained to become "wringers" (killers of pigeons) on their tenth birthdays. When Palmer adopts a stray pigeon as a pet, he must decide whether to fulfill his duty as a wringer or to challenge his town's traditions.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–12, Chapters 13–22, Chapters 23–31, Chapters 32–40

Here are links to our lists for other works by Jerry Spinelli: Maniac Magee, Milkweed, Stargirl
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. thrash
    give a beating to
    He expected it to be still and white and waiting for sleds. Instead he awoke to a blizzard thrashing his windowpane.
  2. crimson
    of the color between orange and purple in the color spectrum
    That day as a crimson sun fell below the rooftops, one weary and happy kid dragged his sled back to port.
  3. ladle
    put a liquid into a container by means of a large spoon
    The setting sun seemed to have ladled its syrupy light over the crusted snow, so that ordinary house parts and backyards in this fading moment seemed a spectacular raspberry dessert.
  4. imprint
    an impression produced by pressure
    When his eyes fell to the porch rooftop just outside his window, he saw the four-toed imprints of bird feet etched into the snow.
  5. lob
    propel in a high arc
    He picked up his little foam basketball and lobbed some hook shots into the net hanging from the back of his door.
  6. volley
    rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
    The four of them fired volleys at her. She hunched and turned as snowballs exploded on the back of her red coat.
  7. barrage
    the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area
    “Battleship barrage!” shrieked Beans.
  8. restraint
    the act of controlling by holding someone or something back
    Palmer fired without restraint.
  9. snooty
    overly conceited or arrogant
    The snooty, fancy-talking man was trying to crack a coconut with his wife’s high-heeled shoe.
  10. nip
    give a small sharp bite to
    Walked across the windowsill onto the back of Palmer’s hand, strolled up his right arm, nipped Palmer’s earlobe—“Ow!”—and hopped onto the top of Palmer’s head.
  11. pudgy
    short and plump
    Seen from behind, the pigeon waddled. Hunger had not been its problem—it was pudgy.
  12. amble
    walk leisurely
    It flew to the bookcase, ambled across the booktops, pecked at pages.
  13. flimsy
    lacking solidity or strength
    As soon as the bird’s feet touched down, the flimsy cover of the top comic gave way, and the bird—with a startled Oh! Palmer imagined—tumbled beak over toes to the floor.
  14. bound
    move forward by leaping
    Before she could answer he snapped off the TV and the light, pulled the door shut and bounded downstairs announcing, “I’m starving! Let’s eat!”
  15. casual
    marked by a lack of concern
    He had tried to say it casually, in his best no-big-deal voice, hoping she would receive it just as casually and reply with a shrug, “Sure, no problem.”
  16. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    He spread the cereal on the snow outside his window. The pigeon did not have to be coaxed. It flew out the window and attacked the food.
  17. acquainted
    having fair knowledge of
    Over the next week Palmer got better acquainted with the pigeon and adjusted his own life to take his new friend into account.
  18. roost
    sit, rest, or settle, as on a branch or perch
    From the book he learned that pigeons go to sleep as soon as the sun goes down. This was called roosting.
  19. cranny
    a small opening or crevice
    Palmer learned that in the wild pigeons used to live in the nooks and crannies of high rocky cliffs.
  20. groggy
    stunned or confused and slow to react
    Pretend to be groggy when Mom knocks with official wake-up call.
  21. stupendous
    so great in size, force, or extent as to elicit awe
    But how could he act normal knowing there was a second pigeon right here in the house, a golden one that never took wing from the mantel in the den? Knowing that in this house, in this town, only the golden pigeon is allowed to roost. Knowing that he was holding inside himself such stupendous news.
  22. divert
    turn aside; turn away from
    It became a habit, using Dorothy to divert attention from himself and his house.
  23. aspect
    a characteristic to be considered
    Beans never mentioned parents, brothers, sisters or any other aspect of family life.
  24. rubbish
    worthless material that is to be disposed of
    Inside, Palmer looked about for signs of primitive living—mud, piles of rubbish—but saw nothing but clean furniture, carpets, pictures on the walls.
  25. recoil
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    All three visitors recoiled. Henry went, “Eewww!”
  26. flotsam
    the floating wreckage of a ship
    Tree bark, he would have guessed, or sewer-grate flotsam.
  27. clot
    coalesce or unite in a mass
    Now, staring down at it with the rest of them, he noticed clotted ridges that might once have been fur, and frost-fastened along one edge, a naked tail.
  28. boggle
    startle or be overcome with amazement or fear
    Palmer boggled. “You have a panther?”
  29. carcass
    the dead body of an animal
    He bopped Mutto again with the muskrat carcass, chased him once around the table and out of the kitchen.
  30. blare
    make a strident sound
    Beans, hoisting the muskrat carcass like a flag, blared, “Back to Fishface’s!” and led them out to the sidewalk.
  31. boundless
    seemingly limitless in amount, number, degree, or extent
    When they looked up, the carcass was gone, and Beans and Mutto were on their backs, flinging arms and legs into the air and howling with boundless delight.
  32. prim
    exaggeratedly proper
    When Palmer set the bird down, it flew to the basketball rim and perched there, ruffing its handled feathers and holding its head high, prim as you please, as if to say, “Because I like it here.”
  33. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Did he fly around town, oblivious to the danger?
  34. smolder
    have strong suppressed feelings
    Mutto said in amazement, “I think she likes torture.”
    Beans smoldered.
  35. silhouette
    an outline of a solid object as cast by its shadow
    As usual, the first thing Palmer did after closing his door was to look to the window. Usually what he saw was Nipper’s silhouette, a clear black cutout on the golden sunlit shade.
Created on Fri Dec 07 12:44:18 EST 2018 (updated Tue Dec 11 09:51:45 EST 2018)

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