A Feast for Crows: Chapters 26–34

by George R.R. Martin
Following their victory in the "War of the Five Kings," the Lannisters consolidate their power on the Iron Throne. Although the war in the Seven Kingdoms has wound down, new conflicts arise in its bitter aftermath.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 6, Chapters 7–15, Chapters 16–25, Chapters 26–34, Chapters 35–45
40 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gloaming
    the time of day immediately following sunset
    He said he would be back before the gloaming; he said he would bring us wine and food.
  2. tincture
    a medicine consisting of an extract in an alcohol solution
    “Ointments I have, potions and infusions, tinctures and venoms and poultices. I might bleed him, purge him, leech him...but why? No leech can make him young again. This is an old man, and death is in his lungs. Give him this and let him sleep.”
  3. berth
    a place where a sailing vessel can be secured
    And everywhere else were little piers and ferry berths and old grey wharves where shrimpers and crabbers and fisherfolk moored after working the mudflats and river mouths.
  4. cusp
    the point of transition when something happens or changes
    Sam, we tremble on the cusp of half-remembered prophecies, of wonders and terrors that no man now living could hope to comprehend...or...
  5. brocade
    thick expensive material with a raised pattern
    The other one, the dark-haired bravo in the burgundy brocade and yellow cloak whose name would appear to have been Terro, made some comment in Braavosi, and his fair-haired friend laughed, and said, “My friend Terro says you dress above your station. Are you some great lord, to wear the black?”
  6. harangue
    address forcefully
    In Cobbler’s Square two threadbare sparrows were haranguing several hundred smallfolk, crying doom upon the heads of godless men and demon worshipers.
  7. sinecure
    a job that involves minimal duties
    Ser Ilyn’s appointment had been a wedding gift from Robert Baratheon to the father of his bride, a sinecure to compensate Payne for the tongue he’d lost in the service of House Lannister.
  8. foray
    a sudden short attack
    Jaime made excuses for his nightly forays, but he was not so foolish as to think that they were believed.
  9. bereft
    lacking or deprived of something
    Weeds and thorns and brushy trees grew high as a horse’s head in fields where autumn wheat should be ripening, the kingsroad was bereft of travelers, and wolves ruled the weary world from dusk till dawn.
  10. brindled
    having a gray or brown streak or a patchy coloring
    Ser Roger was as big and bristly as his name and Ser Kennos suggested that he might be some lost Crakehall, since their sigil was a brindled boar.
  11. languish
    experience prolonged suffering in an unpleasant situation or place
    Any hopes he might have nursed of finding Shagwell, Pyg, or Zollo languishing in the dungeons were sadly disappointed.
  12. revenant
    someone who has returned from the dead
    “I fear no shade, ser. It is written in The Seven-Pointed Star that spirits, wights, and revenants cannot harm a pious man, so long as he is armored in his faith.”
  13. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    He feeds them, coddles them, blesses them.
  14. besmirch
    smear so as to make dirty or stained
    Roughspun tents and miserable hovels made of mud and scrap wood besmirched the pristine white marble.
  15. temerity
    fearless daring
    He had even had the temerity to object to her sending to Dorne for a master-at-arms, on the grounds that it might offend the Tyrells.
  16. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    She wore a white gown slashed with cloth-of-gold, lacy but demure.
  17. rabble
    a disorderly crowd of people
    A hundred gold cloaks with staves and swords and maces could clear this rabble quick enough.
  18. exalt
    raise in rank, character, or status
    The realm is full of kings. For the Faith to exalt one above the rest we must be certain.
  19. ascetic
    someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
    Holy men, ascetics, fanatics, sorcerers, dragonslayers, demonhunters...there were many tales about them.
  20. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    Each of her cousins had an admirer in thrall; the gangly squire Alyn Ambrose rode with Elinor, to whom he was betrothed, Ser Tallad with shy Alla, one-armed Mark Mullendore with Megga, plump and laughing.
  21. apprise
    inform somebody of something
    Her informers were very good about keeping her apprised of Margaery’s movements.
  22. glib
    artfully persuasive in speech
    Euron had seduced them with his glib tongue and smiling eye and bound them to his cause with the plunder of half a hundred distant lands; gold and silver, ornate armor, curved swords with gilded pommels...
  23. chattel
    personal property, as opposed to real estate
    There were no slaves in the Iron Islands, only thralls. A thrall was bound to service, but he was not chattel.
  24. misgiving
    painful expectation
    “Reader,” he called out, “why is your face so long? Your misgivings were for nought. The day is ours, and ours the prize!”
  25. trencher
    a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved
    Instead of trenchers carved from old stale bread, the captains were eating off solid silver platters.
  26. austere
    of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor
    Victarion looked across the hall, to where Ser Harras Harlaw sat drinking wine from a golden cup; a tall man, long-faced and austere.
  27. ruddy
    of the color between orange and purple in the color spectrum
    Darkness gathered beyond the walls, but inside the torches burned with a ruddy orange glow, and their smoke gathered under the rafters like a grey cloud.
  28. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
    Harwyn was a different sort of Plumm; hard-eyed and taciturn, unforgiving...and deadly, with his hammer in his hand.
  29. proscribe
    command against
    “The Warrior’s Sons were proscribed three hundred years ago.”
    “The new High Septon has revived them. He’s sent out a call for worthy knights to pledge their lives and swords to the service of the Seven. The Poor Fellows are to be restored as well.”
  30. poultice
    a medical dressing spread on a cloth and applied to the skin
    Instead, I bathed his fevered brow with river water, and gave him wine to drink and a poultice for his wound, but my efforts were too little and too late.
  31. garrulous
    full of trivial conversation
    She has her guards, to be sure, but I have their captain here and there about the castle. A garrulous old man with a squirrel on his surcoat.
  32. sortie
    a military action in which besieged troops burst forth
    Tully ought to make a sortie, to remind us all we’re still at war.
  33. cull
    remove something that has been rejected
    Be nice if he culled some Freys too.
  34. gibbet
    an instrument of public execution
    Whilst I’ve been building rams and siege towers, Ryman Frey has raised a gibbet. Every day at dawn he brings forth Edmure Tully, drapes a noose around his neck, and threatens to hang him unless the castle yields.
  35. fodder
    coarse food composed of plants or leaves and stalks
    So long as there are fish in the rivers, we won’t starve, though I don’t know how we’re going to feed the horses. The Freys are hauling food and fodder down from the Twins, but Ser Ryman claims he does not have enough to share, so we must forage for ourselves.
  36. parry
    impede the movement of
    He parried Jaime’s last cut lazily and launched a counterattack that drove Jaime back into the river, where his boot slipped out from under him in the mud.
  37. calumny
    a false accusation of an offense
    “A woman hardly knows what to believe. Can it be true that Tyrion slew Tywin? Or is that some calumny your sister put about?”
  38. countenance
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    I know the mummers at the Blue Lantern are going to do The Lord of the Woeful Countenance and the mummers at the Ship mean to answer with Seven Drunken Oarsmen.
  39. niggle
    argue over petty things
    She liked the sailors too; the boisterous Tyroshi with their booming voices and dyed whiskers; the fair-haired Lyseni, always trying to niggle down her prices; the squat, hairy sailors from the Port of Ibben, growling curses in low, raspy voices.
  40. tryst
    a secret rendezvous, especially a romantic one
    Every courtesan had her own barge, and servants to pole her to her trysts.
Created on Fri Aug 26 14:51:24 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 09 09:30:15 EDT 2022)

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