The Scorpio Races: Chapters 49–66

by Maggie Stiefvater
Each year, residents of Thisby race the violent water horses that live in the sea around their island. Sean hopes that winning will enable him to buy the horse he loves; Puck hopes that winning will allow her to save her home and keep her family together. But surviving the brutal competition will prove more challenging than either of them expected.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 11, Chapters 12–24, Chapters 25–36, Chapters 37–48, Chapters 49–66
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. droll
    comical in an odd or whimsical manner
    They look delighted by the island weather and these island racers and their droll owner.
  2. cordial
    politely warm and friendly
    Holly exchanges a look with Malvern that is not entirely cordial.
  3. jilt
    cast aside capriciously or unfeelingly
    I consider whether this means that his blind lover has jilted him or the other way around, but I’m distracted by a glimpse of Mutt Malvern among the buyers.
  4. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    Malvern’s gaze is on Mutt, his expression difficult to discern but certainly nothing that could be called pride.
  5. revel
    take delight in
    In just that phrase, he paints a picture of an orphaned boy sitting at his kitchen table, raised side by side with Mutt, reveling in the pleasures of being a Malvern.
  6. dapper
    marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners
    He’s a foreigner and in his thirties, maybe, but in the best possible way. I think the word for it is dashing or dapper or something like that.
  7. sidle
    move sideways
    Elizabeth sidles up to me and places her claws in my skin.
  8. relent
    give in, as to influence or pressure
    We momentarily battle with our eyes, and then Dory Maud relents and gives me a few coins.
  9. anoint
    choose by or as if by divine intervention
    The walls are lined with unstained wooden shelves with open backs, so the sunlight comes unimpeded through the glass panes and makes big squares of gold across the floor. Every shelf towers with bread and cookies, cinnamon twists and November cakes, scones and biscuits. The only wall not so anointed is the back wall behind the counter, which is lined with sacks of flour waiting to become bread.
  10. palatable
    acceptable to the taste or mind
    I can smell even the flour, because there’s so much of it, and it’s sweet and palatable all on its own.
  11. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    “What a laden promise that is.”
  12. untoward
    not in keeping with accepted standards of what is proper
    This is because Mary Finch has just squeezed between him and a shelf to get to the window, and her hand went somewhere untoward on his person, a most fortunate accident on her part.
  13. dispatch
    send away towards a designated goal
    Once Finn is dispatched, Holly says, “Puck, I’m stepping so badly over the line here that I might never return. But there’s quite a few people who don’t care to have you on the beach. I’m not sure if you’ve heard.”
  14. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    “I’ve an inkling.”
  15. germinate
    come into being and develop
    This statement ruins any good mood I had germinating in my soul.
  16. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    There’s just the air past my ears and the slender moon of her fleeting smile in my direction and the familiar weight of Corr in my hands.
  17. contempt
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Mutt regards it with contempt. “How is it you’re thinking you’ll stop me with that wee thing?”
  18. endeavor
    attempt by employing effort
    The vendors are struggling to keep their tents from flying away. The riders heading down the cliff path endeavor to keep their mounts from doing the same.
  19. industrious
    characterized by hard work and perseverance
    Dory Maud is a hard-looking woman, clever and industrious, and even I know from my perch at the Malvern Yard that she could fight the strongest man on the island for the last penny in his pocket.
  20. pyre
    wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
    It only takes me a moment to realize that it’s not just a bonfire, but a pyre.
  21. shoal
    a large group of fish
    Even if he left early in the morning or late at night to follow the shoals and the tides, Mum would be up baking things for him to take with him and Gabe would be sitting in his room making certain he packed his razor and Finn and I would be clutching his legs or climbing into his bag or getting into Mum’s flour.
  22. prognostication
    a statement made about the future
    “Where are you going? I’m not nearly done with my prognostication.”
  23. suffrage
    a legal right to vote
    “So you wouldn’t say you were inspired by the women’s suffrage movement?”
  24. trinket
    a small cheap ornament, knickknack, or piece of jewelry
    Unlike the others, she’s not hanging last minute baubles and trinkets onto her horse’s mane.
  25. discordant
    lacking in harmony
    When she tosses her mane, the bells he’s braided in her mane ring a discordant chord.
  26. rabble
    a disorderly crowd of people
    If she’s not out of this rabble by now, she might already be dead.
  27. tempestuous
    characterized by violent emotions or behavior
    Dove finds her stride and we pull free of the little tempestuous pack that we were trapped in.
  28. outstrip
    go far ahead of
    Corr could outstrip Skata if we could pull ahead, but Mutt Malvern has seized my rein.
  29. clarity
    the quality of being coherent and easily understood
    For one moment, I see everything with perfect clarity: Corr, his face a mask of red, one of his nostrils torn; the horizon stretching away, far out of reach; the blue, blue November sky above us.
  30. lurch
    move suddenly or as if unable to control one's movements
    The piebald’s knee lurches up to strike my head.
  31. carnage
    the savage and excessive killing of many people
    I slow for a moment as a gull swoops close to my face. They’re already gathering around the carnage on the beach—why doesn’t someone chase them away?
  32. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    After the sun has disappeared, I learn that Corr has been given a makeshift shelter in one of the coves on the beach because he cannot walk back to the Malvern Yard.
  33. pragmatic
    concerned with practical matters
    He’s usually so pragmatic, but not where Corr’s concerned.
  34. sconce
    a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or lights
    I don’t wait for him to invite me and instead step into the sitting room. Like the center hall, it’s nearly empty. Just a round table in the middle of a high-ceilinged room with nothing but brass sconces on the walls.
  35. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    His head jerks up when his injured leg touches the ground, but he takes another labored step before keening to me again.
Created on Mon Aug 19 15:41:52 EDT 2019 (updated Thu Sep 05 10:57:57 EDT 2019)

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