Facing the Lion: Chapters 1–5

by Joseph Lekuton, Herman Viola
In this memoir, Jospeh Lemosolai Lekuton recounts his experiences of growing up as a member of the Maasai tribe in Kenya and his journey to America for college.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–11
25 words 339 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. initiate
    accept people into an exclusive society or group
    My sweet mother,
    Don’t call me a baby.
    I stopped being a baby when I was initiated.
  2. interaction
    mutual or reciprocal dealings or influence
    Growing up, I’d had a lot of interaction with wild animals—elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, hyenas.
  3. terrorize
    frighten greatly
    As soon as we got there my brother Lmatarion told us that two lions had been terrorizing the camps.
  4. rasp
    speak in a harsh, grating voice
    Right then we heard a cow making a rasping, guttural sound, and we knew that the lion had her by the throat.
  5. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
    Right then we heard a cow making a rasping, guttural sound, and we knew that the lion had her by the throat.
  6. acacia
    any of various spiny trees or shrubs
    By that time I was bruised all over from the cows banging into me, and my legs were bloody from the scratches I got from the acacia thorns.
  7. nomad
    a member of a people who have no permanent home
    We’re nomads: We live where it’s best for the cattle, where there’s good grass and water, away from disease and pests.
  8. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
    A warrior may walk 25 or 30 miles in a day to scout out new grazing land. He’ll just get up and go. He’ll go look to see if the grass is good and for signs of predators or people who may want to steal the cattle.
  9. taboo
    a ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion
    There are several thousand Ariaals. I don’t know the exact number because we don’t count people. It’s taboo; it’s considered greedy. Even when the government census takers come, we don’t give them a number.
  10. census
    a periodic count of the population
    There are several thousand Ariaals. I don’t know the exact number because we don’t count people. It’s taboo; it’s considered greedy. Even when the government census takers come, we don’t give them a number.
  11. midwife
    a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies
    The evening I was born, she was part of the group of women who went to get firewood. Some of the midwives told her not to, but she likes to work so she went anyway.
  12. civilized
    having a high state of culture and social development
    For her, there’s something wrong with someone who doesn’t have cows. It’s just not civilized.
  13. criterion
    the ideal in terms of which something can be judged
    We have three criteria for judging a cow.
  14. customary
    in accordance with convention
    It’s customary for the men to take care of the cattle and the women to take care of the village.
  15. gourd
    container made from the dried shell of a large, round fruit
    You hold a gourd next to the cow’s neck, and the blood pours into the gourd.
  16. clot
    a lump of material formed from the content of a liquid
    When you have a bowl full of blood, you take a stick and swirl it around in the blood for five to ten minutes to remove all of the clots.
  17. primitive
    used of preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial societies
    Some people might say our society is primitive, but I think it is the best, fairest system that I know.
  18. disciplinarian
    someone who demands and enforces strict conformity to rules
    In almost every village there is a disciplinarian called the “pinching man.” He punishes disobedient kids by pinching them.
  19. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    I was imitating this particular warrior to make fun of him. I was saying, “Who’s this? Who’s the ugly warrior? See how he struts?”
  20. vouch
    give personal assurance; guarantee
    We don’t have many disrespectful kids in our villages. I can vouch for that.
  21. missionary
    someone sent to a foreign country to spread a religion
    The school was run by American missionaries. They taught reading and writing and arithmetic; they also taught Christianity and other Western ways of thinking.
  22. clan
    group of people related by blood or marriage
    Most of the students were from other clans, very few from my village.
  23. terrain
    a piece of ground having specific characteristics
    So we started walking. The terrain was flat with acacia trees, small bushes, and a few rocks that increased as we went farther into the lowlands.
  24. tattered
    worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing
    Sure enough, we soon spotted two men with guns and tattered clothes. Shiftas. They were coming in our direction.
  25. poacher
    someone who hunts or fishes illegally
    There are a lot of shiftas in Kenya—poachers who kill wild animals for money.
Created on Thu Jan 06 20:00:23 EST 2022 (updated Thu Jan 13 09:32:37 EST 2022)

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.