Lyddie: Chapters 6–10

by Katherine Paterson
Determined to support her family, Lyddie is drawn to the textile mills flourishing in 19th-century Lowell, Massachusetts, but her dreams are threatened by the brutal working conditions she finds there.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–16, Chapters 17–23
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. veritable
    being truly so called; real or genuine
    “I have some bread and cheese,” she said.
    “A veritable feast,” he said, his good humor returned.
  2. diminish
    decrease in size, extent, or range
    “It was half Stevenses’ calf by rights,” she said, trying to diminish for both of them the enormity of what she had done.
  3. impertinent
    improperly forward or bold
    “Don’t be impertinent!”
  4. conscience
    conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
    “I’m not having your dead body on my conscience,” the cook said.
  5. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Her heart was light even if her feet felt clumsy in their makeshift boots and oversized stockings.
  6. chafe
    become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
    Long before dark they were chafing in the unaccustomed bindings of stockings and ill-fitting boots, reminding her that they had done too much.
  7. torrent
    a violently fast stream of water or other liquid
    Then, just at dusk, the sky opened, and it began to rain—not light spring showers, but cold, soaking torrents of rain, streaming down her face, icicling rivulets down her chest and legs.
  8. solicitous
    full of anxiety and concern
    The mistress of the local inn was at first shocked to see a young girl traveling alone and then solicitous.
  9. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    Lyddie hesitated, but her sodden clothes and blistered feet reminded her how unsuited she was to continue the journey.
  10. gentry
    the most powerful members of a society
    How rude they were, these so-called gentry.
  11. slough
    cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers
    The thaw and spring rains had turned parts of the roadway into muddy sloughs, and despite the coachman’s skill, early on the last morning they were stuck fast.
  12. alight
    come down
    The passengers were all obliged to alight, and the four men ordered by the coachman to push the wheels out of the rut.
  13. hapless
    unfortunate and deserving pity
    Lyddie watched the hapless gentlemen heave and shove and sweat, all to no avail.
  14. mire
    cause to get stuck as if in a soft wet area
    She found a flat stone and put it under the mired wheel.
  15. irate
    feeling or showing extreme anger
    He jerked the reins, his eyes twinkling, as more cries came up from the irate inmates as they tried to disentangle their bodies in the carriage and settle themselves on the seats once more.
  16. wearisome
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental fatigue
    Coaching can be a wearisome, lonesome job, my girl.
  17. foreboding
    ominously prophetic
    They were huge and foreboding in the gray light of afternoon.
  18. squabble
    argue over petty things
    In the clatter of five girls dressing and squabbling over a single basin, Lyddie was forced fully awake and began to remember where she was.
  19. rollicking
    given to merry frolicking
    He does it to amuse himself and humiliate his betters. He’d wreck a coach if he thought it would give him a rollicking story to tell in the tavern that night.
  20. disgruntled
    in a state of sulky dissatisfaction
    So Lyddie was moved to a smaller bedroom on the third floor to be with Amelia, Prudence, and the obviously disgruntled Betsy, who, since their previous roommate had gone home to New Hampshire the week before, had had the luxury of a bed to herself.
  21. deter
    turn away from as by fear or persuasion
    The gate of the fence was locked like a jail yard, but Mrs. Bedlow wasn’t deterred. She simply went to the door of one of the low buildings and walked in.
  22. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    From the brick face, six even rows of windows seemed to glower down at her through the gray April drizzle like so many unfriendly eyes.
  23. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    “It must seem imposing to a farm girl,” Mrs. Bedlow said.
  24. gouge
    make a groove in
    Mrs. Bedlow marched her over to the hospital after dinner where a doctor cruelly gouged her leg and poured a mysterious liquid directly into the wound.
  25. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    They entered the factory complex through the counting room as they had two weeks before, but this time it was teeming with men, all dressed like gentlemen.
  26. warp
    yarn arranged lengthways on a loom
    From the overarching metal frame crowning each machine, wooden harnesses, carrying hundreds of warp threads drawn from a massive beam at the back of each loom, clanked up and down.
  27. din
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    No one seemed to mind the deafening din.
  28. trough
    a long narrow shallow receptacle
    At either end of the shed, made by the crisscrossing of warp threads, was a narrow wooden trough. From the trough on the left she retrieved the shuttle.
  29. wryly
    in a humorously sarcastic or mocking manner
    “We call it the kiss of death,” she shouted, smiling wryly to soften the words.
  30. dexterity
    adroitness in using the hands
    Still, the physical strength the work required paled beside the dexterity needed to rethread a shuttle quickly, or, heaven help her, tie one of those infernal weaver’s knots.
  31. respite
    a pause from doing something
    During one of these respites, Diana drew Lyddie to the nearest window.
  32. competent
    properly or sufficiently qualified, capable, or efficient
    She wanted to learn everything—to become as quietly competent as the tall girl.
  33. phrenology
    study of the shape of the skull to determine character
    A local phrenologist was in one corner measuring a girl’s skull and preparing to read her character from his findings.
  34. extravagant
    recklessly wasteful
    It seemed extravagant to take another sheet to write to Charlie, but Diana had said that she ought to write to him as well.
  35. devious
    characterized by insincerity or deceit
    “She’s devious,” Amelia muttered. “You have to watch her. Believe me, Lyddie. I’m only thinking of your own good.”
  36. strenuous
    characterized by or performed with much energy or force
    Today will be something more strenuous, I fear. We’ll work all three looms together, all right?
  37. raucous
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    He yanked the cord, the wide leather belt above him shifted from a loose to a tight pulley, and suddenly all the hundred or so silent looms, in raucous concert, shuddered and groaned into fearsome life.
  38. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    Now that she thought of it, she could hardly breathe, the air was so laden with moisture and debris.
  39. strapping
    muscular and heavily built
    And up to now you thought yourself a strapping country farm girl who could do anything, didn’t you?
  40. ravenous
    extremely hungry
    She fought sleep, ravenous for every word. She had not had any appetite for the bountiful meal downstairs, but now she was feeling a hunger she knew nothing about.
Created on Wed Aug 10 14:29:37 EDT 2022 (updated Thu Aug 11 15:11:24 EDT 2022)

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