Little Brother: Chapters 13–17

by Cory Doctorow
In this dystopian novel, San Francisco has become a police state controlled by the Department of Homeland Security — and 17-year-old Marcus is determined to take it down.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–12, Chapters 13–17, Chapter 18–Epilogue
15 words 36 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. quid pro quo
    something given in exchange for something else
    “Because I wanted him to be sure that I would keep the secret. If he knew my secret, then he’d have something he could use to put me in jail if I opened my trap. Give a little, get a little. Quid pro quo, like in Silence of the Lambs.”
  2. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
    “Al-Jazeera reporters claim that these accounts were published on the so-called ‘Xnet,’ a clandestine network used by students and Al Qaeda sympathizers in the Bay Area. This network’s existence has long been rumored, but today marks its first mainstream mention.”
  3. allege
    report or maintain
    The Xnet weblogs have carried hundreds of reports and multimedia files from young people who attended the riot and allege that they were gathered peacefully until the police attacked them.
  4. dissent
    a difference of opinion
    “National unity? The whole point of America is that we’re the country where dissent is welcome. We’re a country of dissidents and fighters and university dropouts and free speech people.”
  5. compunction
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    He could expel me for “threatening behavior.” It was supposed to be used against gang kids who tried to intimidate their teachers. But of course he wouldn’t have any compunction about using it on me.
  6. tamp
    press down tightly
    A part of me wanted to grovel. It wanted to beg for his forgiveness for all my shame. I tamped that part down and decided that I would rather get kicked out than apologize.
  7. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    Van seemed surprised, but not angry; more ashen, shaken.
  8. gall
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    The responses ranged from puzzled to enthusiastic — only the Fox reporter was “outraged” that I had the gall to ask her to play a game in order to appear on her TV show.
  9. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    The impending press conference, the fights with my parents, the international attention, the sense that there was a movement that was careening around the city like a wild pinball — it made my skin tingle and my blood sing.
  10. unequivocal
    admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding
    ...the answer would have been a resounding and unequivocal NO.
  11. bemused
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    I walked the rest of the way home in a bemused fog.
  12. interpose
    be or come between
    Mom interposed herself between him and me.
  13. acclimate
    get used to a certain environment
    The problem with caffeine is that it’s too easy to get acclimated to it, so you have to take higher and higher doses just to get above normal.
  14. adjunct
    something added to another thing but not essential to it
    Marcus, I asked you to tell me this story because I need to know how it plays with the story you told me about your friend Darryl and the note you showed me. I can see how it would be a good adjunct; I could pitch this as the origin of the Xnet.
  15. protocol
    rules determining the format and transmission of data
    She asked smart questions about our cryptographic protocols and security procedures, sometimes asking stuff I didn’t know the answer to — sometimes pointing out potential breaks in our procedure.
Created on Fri Aug 28 10:45:25 EDT 2020 (updated Thu Jul 31 20:28:27 EDT 2025)

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