Gathering Blue: Chapters 12-17

by Lois Lowry
In Kira's village, those who are weak or disabled are usually abandoned and left to die. Lame in one leg, Kira is saved only because the village's Council of Elders wishes to exploit her gift for weaving.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-5, Chapters 6-11, Chapters 12-17, Chapters 18-23

Explore other lists of The Giver Quartet here.
15 words 729 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tyke
    a young person of either sex
    Wild little thing that he was, Kira had no doubt that Matt had crossed the boundaries often and had gone to places tykes were not supposed to go.
  2. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    She knew that ordinary people—those who lived near the place where she and her mother had shared their cott—would be indoors today, the men sullen and edgy, the women complaining loudly because weather kept them from their usual chores.
  3. inflection
    the modification of pitch, tone, or volume when speaking
    The voice and the inflection of the words—though the words themselves were not clear—sounded familiar to Kira.
  4. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    His expression was hard to discern, but his voice was firm and certain.
  5. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    The sun was shining in the morning but Kira woke groggy after a fitful sleep.
  6. grimace
    a contorted facial expression
    Then she chuckled, watching one of the workers set down a covered pot and turn his face away with a grimace of disgust.
  7. squalor
    sordid dirtiness
    Kira, in Thomas’s room, looked down through the window at the squalor of the village and listened to its chaotic din as workers in the various sheds finished their last chores.
  8. waif
    a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned
    Kira remembered the power of the singing voice that she had heard, and marveled that it had come from this tiny, frightened waif of a thing.
  9. nurture
    the process of helping someone grow up and develop
    Because of that value, the three of them were here, well fed, well housed, and nurtured.
  10. unadorned
    not decorated with something to increase its beauty
    Kira’s work was approaching that unadorned expanse.
  11. menacing
    threatening evil or danger
    Quickly she glanced around, half expecting to see a menacing dog or something worse.
  12. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    In some ways it was similar to the place that Kira had called home: the small cotts, close together; the incessant wailing of infants; the stench of smoky fires, rotting food, and unwashed humans.
  13. unkempt
    not neatly combed
    A tyke called to them; his head, thick with tousled, unkempt hair, appeared beside the woman.
  14. entrepreneur
    someone who organizes a business venture
    No wonder Matt had become such a clever manipulator and entrepreneur.
  15. chortle
    a soft partly suppressed laugh
    Making her way through the squalor, Kira remembered Matt’s infectious chortle.
Created on Mon Feb 16 20:00:39 EST 2015 (updated Wed Jul 30 14:50:22 EDT 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.