Flush: Chapters 16–21

by Carl Hiaasen
While his father sits in jail for eco-terrorism, Noah sets out to prove that a casino boat is illegally polluting a local harbor.

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

Here is a link to our lists for Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. murky
    cloudy, dirty, and difficult to see through
    It didn’t matter, because even with my eyes wide open I couldn’t have seen a whale three inches in front of my nose—not in that murky basin in the dead of night.
  2. collision
    an accident resulting from violent impact of a moving object
    The collision with the sea cow had rattled me—I couldn’t help wondering what other creatures might be cruising around the dark cloudy basin.
  3. helm
    steering mechanism for a vessel
    As the shape drew closer, into the pale wash of the dock lights, I recognized the blue dinghy and the spindly silhouette of my sister at the helm.
  4. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    By some small miracle, the rickety old engine purred to life.
  5. wake
    the wave that spreads behind a boat as it moves forward
    Pushing a frothy wake, the boat headed straight at us.
  6. resemblance
    similarity in appearance or external or superficial details
    For the first time I noticed his resemblance to my father—Dad was taller and heavier, but he had the same square chin and light green eyes.
  7. bribe
    payment made to corrupt a person in a position of trust
    I brought along some cash for bail, lawyers, bribes, whatever.
  8. negotiate
    discuss the terms of an arrangement
    From experience I knew that an “indefinite” grounding could be negotiated favorably—if only Abbey would quit whining.
  9. unconscious
    lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception
    Shelly used the rake handle to poke at the unconscious man on the sofa.
  10. trademark
    a distinctive characteristic or attribute
    Jasper Jr. gave me one of his trademark sneers and took off running.
  11. karma
    effects of one's actions that determine his or her destiny
    “Must be some kind of mystic Underwood karma,” he said.
  12. blackmail
    exert pressure on someone through threats
    “You’re telling me that Dusty Muleman blackmailed the government’s lawyers?”
  13. testify
    give a solemn statement in a court of law
    He showed up one day at the Coast Guard station and gave a secret statement, testifying about what he saw when he used to work on the casino boat.
  14. arson
    malicious burning to destroy property
    They snooped around for a long time, but they couldn’t find anything that connected Dad to the boat arson.
  15. surplus
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    Unfortunately for them, the place they’d chosen for their smoking experiment was the same one where Dusty Muleman had stored several surplus boxes of fireworks.
Created on Fri Jan 31 20:29:40 EST 2014 (updated Wed Jul 30 13:58:53 EDT 2025)

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