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Feed: Part 1

This satirical novel imagines a dystopian future in which people have computers implanted in their heads to control their perceptions of reality.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Here are links to our lists for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 1), The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 2) by M.T. Anderson.
15 words 2167 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. stimulus
    any information or event that acts to arouse action
    I tried to concentrate on all the stimulus, and the fun, all of it.
  2. nutrient
    any substance that can be metabolized to give energy
    We ordered some fancy nutrient IVs from room service but they gave us all headaches, and we went out to this place that Marty said served the best electrolyte chunkies but it had closed a year before.
  3. lesion
    any localized abnormal structural change in a bodily part
    Link had a lesion on his jaw, and I had lesions on my arm and on my side. Quendy had a lesion on her forehead. In the lights of the hallway you could see them real good. There are different kinds of lesions, I mean, there are lesions and lesions, but somehow our lesions, in this case, seemed like kid stuff.
  4. supple
    capable of moving or bending freely
    ...if you like comfort, quality, and class, the supple upholstery and ergonomically designed dash will leave you something like hysterical.
  5. premises
    land and the buildings on it
    The guy was still yelling at the others over by the valve. He was all, da da da be removed from the premises, da da da, express instructions, da da.
  6. gargoyle
    an ornament consisting of a grotesquely carved figure
    Her tongue was close behind it, perched in the air like a pink slug gargoyle.
  7. torque
    a twisting force
    She said, “I want mine to go all the way around. I want it to be like a necklace, but right now, it’s just a torque.”
  8. suppuration
    the discharge or formation of pus
    “You put the ‘supper’ back in ‘suppuration.’”
  9. ruthless
    without mercy or pity
    ...based on the true story of a clone fighting to save her own liver from the cruel and ruthless original who’s farming her for organs.
  10. chaos
    a state of extreme confusion and disorder
    The Rumble Spot: an ocean of chaos in the Sea of Tranquillity.
  11. rivulet
    a small stream
    Images of Coke falling in rivulets down chiseled mountainsides; children being held toward the sun; blades slicing grass; a hand, a hand extended toward the lemonade like God’s at Creation...
  12. prosthesis
    a device that replaces a missing part of the body
    ...a choir of Jamaican girls dressed in pinafores and strap-on solar cells; dry cleaners ironing the cheek prostheses of the rich; friends clutching at birds made of alloys; law partners jumping fences; snow; altitude; tears; hugs; night.
  13. malfunction
    fail to work properly
    Marty was like, “We could malfunction.”
  14. commotion
    a disorderly outburst or tumult
    As we were driving through the tube streets, there was all of this commotion because of the protests about the moon.
  15. calamity
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    While we said, again and again, “We enter a time of calamity. We enter a time of calamity,” and others in the room said it, too, and Violet looked as scared as me, and I tried to take her hand, and she tried to take mine, and the police were by our side, hitting the man over the head again and again with stunners and sticks, and he fell on one knee...
Created on Wed Apr 30 17:12:33 EDT 2014 (updated Tue Jul 29 17:08:38 EDT 2025)

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