Ship Breaker: Chapters 7–12

by Paolo Bacigalupi
In a world ravaged by climate change, Nailer is a teenage boy who salvages parts from old tankers. When he discovers a survivor on a grounded ship, he must decide whether to do his job or to rescue her.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–12, Chapters 13–18, Chapters 19–25
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. scavenge
    collect discarded or refused material
    A crowd of people were gathered around the scavenge train, all of them waiting for Lucky Strike to dole out supplies.
  2. antibiotic
    a substance used to kill microorganisms and cure infections
    Now he smuggled everything from antibiotics to crystal slide into Bright Sands Beach.
  3. discontent
    showing or experiencing dissatisfaction or restless longing
    The crowd mumbled discontent, but they gave way under Tool’s gaze.
  4. inventory
    making an itemized list of merchandise or supplies on hand
    The inventory of the beach and the ship breakers continued.
  5. idle
    not in active use
    With no companies like GE buying scrap for their manufacturing operations, or shipping companies like Patel Global Transit looking to buy scavenge to sell overseas, the ship-breaking yards were idle.
  6. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    Far out on the horizon, a clipper ship skated the ocean, its high sail unfurled.
  7. promontory
    a natural elevation
    They continued out along the promontory.
  8. protrude
    extend out or project in space
    A few black struts and chunks of construction protruded up through the waves.
  9. undulate
    move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
    In the deep water, the shadows of the Teeth undulated.
  10. stymie
    hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of
    He shrugged, stymied by conflicted emotions.
  11. bowels
    the center of the Earth
    The last of the rain and storm water had evaporated and if there was more water in the bowels of the ship, he couldn’t stand to find it, and none of his father’s crew was likely to let Pima or Nita go look.
    "Bowel" also means "the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus"--neither definition is a literal description, but both suggest a location in the ship that is unsafe and undesirable to enter.
  12. stupor
    a state of being half-awake
    Nailer shook himself from his stupor and dashed after her.
  13. utterly
    completely and without qualification
    Even destroyed, it was a beautiful thing, utterly unlike the rusting iron and steel hulks they tore apart every day.
  14. inherent
    existing as an essential constituent or characteristic
    Even dead it looked like a regal hawk, cracked and shattered, but with a beauty still inherent thanks to the feral grace of its lines.
  15. galley
    the area for food preparation on a ship
    He used to work galley on a clipper ship, though, before he got thrown off.
  16. vouch
    give personal assurance; guarantee
    "Advances for anyone who can bring two friends to vouch they’re good for it once work gears up again.”
  17. monolith
    a single great stone, often in the form of a column
    Not like the rusting monoliths of the Accelerated Age, but still, it loomed over them.
  18. hoist
    move from one place to another by lifting
    Nailer followed more slowly, hoisting himself aboard with his one good hand.
  19. peer
    look searchingly
    Pima peered inside the locker, looking to see if anything was worth saving.
  20. unearth
    recover through digging
    They picked through shattered china, broken goblets, and the half-moons of delicate-stemmed glassware, unearthing more and more wealth.
  21. envy
    feel desirous of another's advantages
    He would have envied her if she wasn’t so dead.
  22. marionette
    a figure operated from above with strings by a puppeteer
    The girl’s head jerked back like a marionette’s and the chain parted.
  23. audible
    heard or perceptible by the ear
    Just a barely audible hiss.
  24. squeamish
    easily disturbed or disgusted by unpleasant things
    You going to get squeamish on me?
  25. offering
    something put forward for acceptance
    He would have felt sorry, sure, would even have put an offering on the Scavenge God’s scale to help her get on to whatever afterlife she believed in.
  26. exquisite
    delicately beautiful
    Her words were cultured, exquisite in her mouth, clipped and close and precise.
  27. urchin
    a poor and often mischievous city child
    Made him feel like a little kid, stupid and obvious, the way the urchins looked when they were hanging out behind Chen’s grub shack, hoping he’d toss out bones for them to pick over.
  28. distress
    a state of adversity
    “The GPS and distress systems in the ship will tell them where to look."
    "Distress system" is a system that uses radio communication to help take care of emergencies.
  29. sear
    become superficially burned (also figurative)
    Nailer paused in the climb, rotating his shoulder carefully, feeling the sear of his wound across his back.
  30. gangrene
    necrotic tissue; a mortified part or mass
    He’d seen other people’s wounds turn nasty, sick with rot and gangrene; seen their stumps crawling with maggots where they’d gone bad after having an amputation.
  31. nonchalance
    the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care
    Nailer shrugged, making a show of nonchalance.
  32. vendor
    someone who exchanges goods or services for money
    “It’s a corporate priority... to source from recycled materials vendors.”
  33. component
    one of the individual parts making up a larger entity
    “Ship breaking would be one possible trade source for raw components.”
  34. nauseous
    feeling about to vomit
    He was feeling worse, feeling tired and nauseous.
  35. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Finally they huddled again at their makeshift camp.
  36. carcass
    the dead body of an animal
    And now they were hiding and watching and stuck, while the lions stalked through the ship’s carcass and laughed and cracked open liquor they’d found in the galley.
    Here, the word is used figuratively to describe the ship that the "lions" are now picking apart for treasures; in its comparison to a once-living creature, the ship gains sympathy for its current wrecked state.
  37. dilate
    become wider
    “I won’t stop you,” Nita whispered, her eyes dilating in terror.
  38. delirium
    a usually brief state of excitement and mental confusion
    Through his delirium, Nailer could see his father’s building willingness to do violence.
  39. enunciate
    express or state clearly
    Forced the words out, carefully enunciating.
  40. karma
    effects of one's actions that determine his or her destiny
    "It’s bad karma if people think we don’t pay back.”
Created on Fri Oct 11 19:38:05 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Aug 06 16:21:32 EDT 2018)

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