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Around the World in Eighty Days: Chapters 30–37

In order to win a bet, Phileas Fogg attempts to complete a journey around the world.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–17, Chapters 18–23, Chapters 24–29, Chapters 30–37

Read the full text, translated by George M. Towle, here.
40 words 23 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. pallor
    an unnatural lack of color in the skin
    A sudden pallor overspread the detective's face.
  2. efface
    remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing
    Footsteps were easily printed on the snow! But soon, under a new sheet, every imprint would be effaced.
  3. stoke
    (of a fire) stir up or tend
    Neither the engineer nor the stoker was dead, and, after remaining for some time in their swoon, had come to themselves.
  4. swoon
    a spontaneous loss of consciousness
    Neither the engineer nor the stoker was dead, and, after remaining for some time in their swoon, had come to themselves.
  5. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    Throughout the night Aouda, full of sad forebodings, her heart stifled with anguish, wandered about on the verge of the plains. Her imagination carried her far off, and showed her innumerable dangers.
  6. sloop
    a sailing vessel with a single mast
    This mast held an iron stay upon which to hoist a jib-sail. Behind, a sort of rudder served to guide the vehicle. It was, in short, a sledge rigged like a sloop.
  7. plaintively
    in a manner expressing sorrow
    The sledge slid along in the midst of a plaintively intense melody.
  8. buoyancy
    irrepressible liveliness and good spirit
    With his natural buoyancy of spirits, he began to hope again.
  9. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Sometimes flocks of wild birds rose, or bands of gaunt, famished, ferocious prairie-wolves ran howling after the sledge.
  10. impetus
    a force that makes something happen
    In less than an hour he left the rudder and furled his sails, whilst the sledge, carried forward by the great impetus the wind had given it, went on half a mile further with its sails unspread.
  11. reproach
    express criticism towards
    And when he recalled all the incidents of the tour, when he counted up the sums expended in pure loss and on his own account, when he thought that the immense stake, added to the heavy charges of this useless journey, would completely ruin Mr. Fogg, he overwhelmed himself with bitter self-accusations. Mr. Fogg, however, did not reproach him...
  12. ballast
    any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship
    "No freight. Going in ballast."
  13. venturesome
    disposed to take risks
    Still, some means must be found to cross the Atlantic on a boat, unless by balloon—which would have been venturesome, besides not being capable of being put in practice.
  14. repugnance
    intense aversion
    There were eight thousand dollars to gain, without changing his route; for which it was well worth conquering the repugnance he had for all kinds of passengers.
  15. gamut
    a complete extent or range
    When Passepartout heard what this last voyage was going to cost, he uttered a prolonged "Oh!" which extended throughout his vocal gamut.
  16. indemnify
    make amends for; pay compensation for
    As for Fix, he said to himself that the Bank of England would certainly not come out of this affair well indemnified. When they reached England, even if Mr. Fogg did not throw some handfuls of bank-bills into the sea, more than seven thousand pounds would have been spent!
  17. dexterous
    skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands
    Never had the crew seen so jolly and dexterous a fellow. He formed warm friendships with the sailors, and amazed them with his acrobatic feats.
  18. loquacious
    full of trivial conversation
    His loquacious good-humour infected everyone.
  19. plausible
    apparently reasonable, valid, or truthful
    ...Fix was not unnaturally inclined to conclude that the Henrietta under Fogg's command, was not going to Liverpool at all, but to some part of the world where the robber, turned into a pirate, would quietly put himself in safety. The conjecture was at least a plausible one, and the detective began to seriously regret that he had embarked on the affair.
  20. epithet
    a defamatory or abusive word or phrase
    Passepartout was on the point of vigorously resenting the epithet, the reason of which he could not for the life of him comprehend; but he reflected that the unfortunate Fix was probably very much disappointed and humiliated in his self-esteem, after having so awkwardly followed a false scent around the world, and refrained.
  21. paroxysm
    a sudden uncontrollable attack
    It was clear that he was on the point of bursting. "Where are we?" were the first words his anger permitted him to utter. Had the poor man been an apoplectic, he could never have recovered from his paroxysm of wrath.
  22. imperturbable
    marked by extreme calm and composure
    "Seven hundred and seven miles from Liverpool," replied Mr. Fogg, with imperturbable calmness.
  23. apoplectic
    pertaining to a sudden loss of consciousness
    During this colloquy, Passepartout was as white as a sheet, and Fix seemed on the point of having an apoplectic fit.
  24. keel
    one of the main longitudinal beams of the hull of a vessel
    "Certainly, from the keel to the truck of the masts—all the wood, that is."
  25. hew
    strike with an axe; cut down, strike
    Passepartout hewed, cut, and sawed away with all his might.
  26. commiserate
    feel or express sympathy or compassion
    "Sir," said Captain Speedy, who was now deeply interested in Mr. Fogg's project, "I really commiserate you. Everything is against you. We are only opposite Queenstown."
  27. disdain
    reject with contempt
    They all got upon the train, which was just ready to start, at half-past one; at dawn of day they were in Dublin; and they lost no time in embarking on a steamer which, disdaining to rise upon the waves, invariably cut through them.
  28. portico
    porch or entrance to a building consisting of a covered area
    Aouda and he had remained, despite the cold, under the portico of the Custom House.
  29. knave
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    The situation, in any event, was a terrible one, and might be thus stated: if Phileas Fogg was honest he was ruined; if he was a knave, he was caught.
  30. deserts
    an outcome (good or bad) that is well merited
    Fix, who found himself on the floor, did not utter a word. He had only received his deserts.
  31. expedient
    a means to an end
    Knowing that Englishmen governed by a fixed idea sometimes resort to the desperate expedient of suicide, Passepartout kept a narrow watch upon his master, though he carefully concealed the appearance of so doing.
  32. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    Finding himself too wretched to remain alone, he knocked at Aouda's door, went into her room, seated himself, without speaking, in a corner, and looked ruefully at the young woman.
  33. unwonted
    out of the ordinary
    There was an unwonted light in his eyes, and a slight trembling of his lips.
  34. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
    The sincerity, rectitude, firmness, and sweetness of this soft glance of a noble woman, who could dare all to save him to whom she owed all, at first astonished, then penetrated him.
  35. zenith
    the highest point of something
    Mr. Fogg still held Aouda's hand in his own; Passepartout understood, and his big, round face became as radiant as the tropical sun at its zenith.
  36. genial
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    Passepartout smiled his most genial smile, and said, "Never too late."
  37. transpire
    come about, happen, or occur
    It is time to relate what a change took place in English public opinion when it transpired that the real bank robber, a certain James Strand, had been arrested, on the 17th day of December, at Edinburgh.
  38. fastidious
    giving careful attention to detail
    How was it that a man so exact and fastidious could have made this error of a day?
  39. pecuniary
    relating to or involving money
    Phileas Fogg, then, had won the twenty thousand pounds; but, as he had spent nearly nineteen thousand on the way, the pecuniary gain was small.
  40. eccentric
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
    The eccentric gentleman had throughout displayed all his marvellous qualities of coolness and exactitude.
Created on Fri Oct 23 14:26:47 EDT 2020 (updated Thu Nov 12 09:30:05 EST 2020)

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