Clarice the Brave: List 2

by Lisa McMann
Clarice and Charles Sebastian are sister and brother mice who are fearfully huddling together on a ship, until a mutiny separates them and forces them to fight to survive.

This list covers "Misery"–"Learning Tolerance."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. devastate
    overwhelm or overpower
    But this time his sister didn’t answer. Devastated, he let his body slump to the deck.
  2. gunwale
    a plank or ridge at the top of the side of a boat
    “The sea was nearly breaching the gunwales as it was,” said the other.
  3. brig
    a prison, especially a military prison on board a ship
    “They couldn’t take one more person, let alone the dozen who wanted to stand with that tyrant. We’ve locked the worst of them in the brig.”
  4. harried
    troubled persistently, especially with petty annoyances
    A harried officer yanked a young sailor along with him.
  5. skulk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    I finally found her—skulking in the shadows around Mr. Thomas. Listening in.
  6. queasy
    feeling nausea
    Nothing looked familiar out here in this wide-open space—he could have been dropped from the stars. It made Charles Sebastian dizzy and queasy to look up at them while the ship pitched and rolled.
  7. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    “She believes in me,” he whispered, remembering, and felt a surge of fortitude from it.
  8. fare
    proceed, get along, or succeed
    But how was his dear sister faring? Could she possibly survive her situation, with sailors and seawater everywhere?
  9. skitter
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    After shivering for a while, he skittered toward a tall cage that had long chains clunking against the solid back wall with every roll of the ship.
  10. notorious
    known widely and usually unfavorably
    He’d never seen anything like them before and tried to comprehend what he was looking at. Were these the notorious chickens Mother had warned them about?
  11. conscience
    conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
    “They’ll peck your eyes out,” Mother warned them. “Steer clear when they’re wandering. It’s not beyond a chicken’s good conscience to eat a bothersome mouse.”
  12. bearing
    (usually plural) a person's awareness of self
    As I found my bearings and tried to clean my fur, my injured front claws thudded dully with my heartbeat.
  13. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    My good cheer was fleeting, though, and it dissipated completely when I remembered Charles Sebastian’s nature.
  14. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    And staring at me from the center of the launch was a sodden, miserable orange lump of fur.
  15. mayhem
    violent and needless disturbance
    Somehow in the mayhem she had been cast out of the ship, tossed down to her master.
  16. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    She’d seen me before I’d detected her, and I chastised myself for it.
  17. ploy
    a maneuver in a game, conversation, or situation
    Then, instead of coming at me, she turned her face and started licking her matted, wet fur, which unsettled me more than if she’d kept staring. Was it a ploy? A trick?
  18. vicinity
    a surrounding or nearby region
    “I’ll never forgive them,” Heyu muttered to no one, though his voice in my general vicinity woke me with a start.
  19. empathy
    understanding and entering into another's feelings
    I felt a fresh pang of empathy for the apprentice cook, but it didn’t last. I had no energy for his sorrow on top of my own.
  20. lethargic
    deficient in alertness or activity
    The humans were loud, then lethargic under the sun. They didn’t eat, and only drank a little from their stores.
  21. sustenance
    a source of food or nourishment
    I wasn’t sure where my sustenance would come from. I could find crumbs easily enough in the crates, but fresh water would be hard to come by since the sailors’ supply was secured.
  22. stern
    the rear part of a ship
    Special Lady, who’d been almost dry before the downpour began, bolted to the stern for cover under the lip of the transom.
  23. mottled
    having spots or patches of color
    The menacing glow of her yellow eyes looked even more sinister with the backdrop of forked lightning in a mottled sky.
  24. torrent
    a heavy rain
    So focused was I on the cat that I neglected to notice Heyu sliding farther and farther into the storage space under the point of the bow, trying to find shelter from the torrent.
  25. appendage
    an external body part that projects from the body
    It was a tight fit, but safe from both enemies, and I swore I’d never move again if only I could survive Heyu’s deadly swinging appendages.
  26. decorum
    propriety in manners and conduct
    Apparently he’d abandoned all decorum, for he shouldn’t be speaking at all in such company without being spoken to first.
  27. abashed
    feeling or caused to feel uneasy and self-conscious
    The captain, Lucía, and Tembe all turned sharply and silenced him with a look. Heyu shrank back, abashed.
  28. innards
    the organs in a body, collectively
    I could hear his innards churning from where I sat.
  29. unsavory
    morally offensive
    “We’re off course!” he barked, startling everyone. He did something with the sail and yelled some unsavory words at the crew.
  30. relent
    give in, as to influence or pressure
    “We’re going to need to eat something today,” Lucía said to him in a low voice.
    After a time, the captain relented. “Kitchen boy,” he barked.
  31. brine
    a strong solution of salt and water used for pickling
    “Brined beef. More brine than beef.”
  32. dissent
    the act of protesting
    “Do I give her some?”
    The crew erupted in dissent.
  33. revolting
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    Unfortunately, that crate was currently beneath Heyu’s putrid, rotting boots. And the boy’s revolting feet were inside the boots.
  34. stealthily
    in a manner marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
    I eased between the slats of my crate and moved stealthily around the other supplies that were jammed into the point of the bow.
  35. beholden
    under a moral obligation to someone
    I wanted her to see me give her food. I’m not sure why—maybe it was because feeding someone felt powerful. Perhaps, with my logic, the fed became beholden to the provider.
  36. tenacious
    stubbornly unyielding
    There was only one way I would succeed with this plan, and that was to be more tenacious than I’d ever been.
  37. aggravate
    exasperate or irritate
    I took the smallest piece of fish and waved it like a flag so she could see it. An offering...or a trick. The texture aggravated my tongue, but this was my life now.
  38. dainty
    affectedly refined
    Special Lady touched her nose daintily to the fish, then licked it.
  39. feign
    give a false appearance of
    I feigned toughness because it was the only option I had.
  40. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance
    Had I been too arrogant? Had I angered her? Perhaps she was waiting to give me a false sense of confidence before she put me in my place.
Created on Tue Oct 18 20:45:50 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Sep 11 17:21:58 EDT 2023)

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