Wilder Girls: Chapters 10–16

by Rory Power
When the Tox begins to infect students at the Raxter School for Girls, Hetty attempts to discover the truth about the mysterious illness — and the disappearance of her best friend.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–9, Chapters 10–16, Chapters 17–26
25 words 24 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    She looks at me then, and tentatively hooks her fingers through one of my belt loops.
  2. alcove
    a small recess opening off a large room or garden
    The floor is the same peeling linoleum as everywhere else, but carved into the walls are two deep alcoves.
  3. splay
    widen or spread apart
    There’s the Raxter Blue splayed out, limbs snipped from its body, shell carefully set to one side to lay the inside bare.
  4. awry
    turned or twisted to one side
    Teddy draws back the curtain. Ward awry, beds pushed to one end.
  5. encroach
    advance beyond the usual limit
    Step, and step, and a give in my knees, and Teddy wraps his arm around my waist. At last, there with the forest encroaching.
  6. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    I give him a look, roll my eyes, and he smiles sheepishly.
  7. wry
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    She glances up at me, smiling wryly.
  8. emboss
    raise in a relief
    She lifts up her clipboard, hands me a thin, bound book she’s been holding underneath. Navy, with gold embossed lettering.
  9. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    At the gate I go first, open it as gingerly as I can to keep from cutting my fingers open on the shards of glass we've bound to the bars.
  10. alight
    shining brightly as if on fire or aflame
    In the distance a branch cracks, and we stop, press ourselves behind a pine and wait. Welch, maybe. Or something else, something worse. My heart racing, nerves alight.
  11. amble
    walk leisurely
    I peer around her shoulder, and there, ambling toward us through a patch of moonlight, a pair of bucks.
  12. flank
    the side between ribs and hipbone
    The recoil sends me stumbling back, but I hit home, the shell striking deep into the deer’s flank.
  13. moor
    secure in or as if in a berth or dock
    As we got nearer I could see a dock behind the house, stretching out into the waves, and two rowboats bobbing at their mooring.
  14. gild
    decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold
    As the trees start to thin out, the light builds, moon gilding everything silver.
  15. lichen
    a plant occurring in crusty patches on tree trunks or rocks
    The porch, listing to one side like it’s taken a punch. Floorboards cracked, a hole yawning, lichen crawling up the walls.
  16. labyrinthine
    resembling a maze in form or complexity
    Their trails run labyrinthine across the doorframe, so deep it would’ve collapsed by now if it weren’t for the way the birch has hooked one of its limbs underneath.
  17. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    “Come on,” Reese says, her voice cajoling in my ear.
  18. sallow
    unhealthy looking
    The plastic peeling back. The zipper catching, my hands shaking, and there, there—pale, sallow skin, ink-dipped fingers, and curling red hair.
  19. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    Maybe I’m goading her.
  20. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    The closest I ever got to it was that day on the ferry across from the mainland, when I first saw her, sea laid out behind her, and Raxter on the horizon, her hair unfurling in the wind.
  21. mottled
    having spots or patches of color
    He’s rotting from the inside out. Tissue mottled with mold, the smell so sour and stinging that my eye is watering.
  22. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    Through the gap in the wall I can see a billow of plastic as the person in the hazmat suit climbs out of the boat.
  23. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    “I am,” she grits out. Her breath coming slow and labored, her face paper white in the moonlight.
  24. relent
    give in, as to influence or pressure
    Beat and beat and at last he relents, and shuts his eyes, and slumps against me.
  25. absolve
    grant remission of a sin to
    I think she’s waiting for me to absolve her.
Created on Fri Mar 27 16:40:07 EDT 2020 (updated Fri Mar 27 16:51:54 EDT 2020)

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