Bridge of Clay: Parts Three–Four

by Markus Zusak
The oldest of five brothers, thirty-one-year-old Matthew Dunbar looks back on how he, Rory, Henry, Clayton, and Thomas had coped after the death of their mother and the disappearance and reappearance of their father.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: "Before the Beginning"–Part One, Part Two, Parts Three–Four, Parts Five–Six, Part Seven–"After the End"
40 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. strapping
    muscular and heavily built
    Trying to recapture his resolve, he stood motionless, in this corridor of strapping eucalypts.
  2. stark
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    Initially it was stark and open, but after a few hundred meters and a gently sloping hill, he arrived in the corridor of trees.
  3. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    There was a teeming noise of insects, electric and erudite.
  4. erudite
    having or showing profound knowledge
    There was a teeming noise of insects, electric and erudite. A whole language in a single note.
  5. messiah
    any expected deliverer
    The postman, Mr. Harty, was struggling at the door, and Michael left the small grey toy near the girl’s feet and helped the ailing postie, who stood like a hapless messiah, with the hellish light behind him.
  6. maim
    injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration
    Soft toys were always despicably maimed. Jigsaw puzzles were guaranteed to be a few pieces short. Lego men were missing legs, arms, or heads.
  7. requisite
    necessary for relief or supply
    He got his calendar of great men, but only after enlisting his mother to help him find the requisite twenty-four women—including Adelle herself, who he said was the world’s greatest typist.
  8. homage
    respectful deference
    He especially loved Van Gogh’s portraits of a postman (maybe in homage to old Harty), and he cut out pictures from the calendars as the months passed by, and stuck them to the wall.
  9. corrugated
    shaped into alternating parallel grooves and ridges
    Michael placed his fingers down, on the knots of barbed wire fence; he leaned forward, eyeing the corrugated roof, set deep on a distant property.
  10. traverse
    journey across or pass over
    It wasn’t till Moon died that he finally traversed the fence.
  11. deluge
    an overwhelming number or amount
    He pleaded with her to roll over and smile, or trot toward her bowl. Or dance, foot to foot, waiting for a deluge of dry food.
  12. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    She smiled, just short of haughtily.
  13. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
    In the back shed, he sketched her hands, her ankles, her feet. He balked when it came to her face.
  14. virulent
    extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
    It was surrounded by a virulent weed.
  15. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Sometimes, though, there was a mild disdain, a sense of why-the-hell-would-you-want-to-leave?
  16. idyllic
    excellent and delightful in all respects
    Yes, they packed and headed for the city, and how do you sum up four years of apparent, idyllic happiness?
  17. myriad
    too numerous to be counted
    They felt the myriad sea breezes, each one different from the last, and the weight of heat and humidity.
  18. knell
    the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death
    That last one was like a death knell—a truth so quiet and brutal.
  19. girth
    the distance around something, especially a person's body
    After a few hours, though, they were climbing giant, crestfallen boulders, and holding on to willows and river gums. Whether steep or gradual, one thing never changed; they could always see the power. The banks had a sort of girth.
  20. foliage
    the collective amount of leaves of one or more plants
    They were in a heavily wooded section; there were ladders of sunlight, hung up high in the shade, all in varied directions. His foot on an uprooted tree. A jacket of moss, and foliage.
  21. quip
    a witty saying
    She could touch his arm like years gone by, with a comment or a quip. Or joke and wink and smile at him—but each time was less convincing.
  22. volatility
    the quality of being unpredictable and affected by emotion
    Maybe if they’d argued.
    Maybe that’s what was missing.
    Some volatility.
  23. absolve
    excuse or free from blame
    She laughed, she danced, she absolved him.
  24. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    The boy turned and gave him his first inkling of camaraderie then, or a piece of himself; he told a truth.
  25. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    The boy turned and gave him his first inkling of camaraderie then, or a piece of himself; he told a truth.
  26. trestle
    a supporting tower used to support a bridge
    The bridge had been a handsome one. A simple trestle, of railway sleepers and wooden beams, once spanning the space they were standing in.
  27. escapade
    any carefree episode
    He was happy to see her involved with the usual array of small-town escapades.
  28. superficial
    only concerned with what is apparent or obvious
    He wanted to be less superficial than that, to say that such things didn’t matter, but they did.
  29. collegial
    having authority vested equally among colleagues
    And there, right there, she looked over, and the man from number thirty-seven gave her the crease of a collegial smile, then tucked it back inside him.
  30. hapless
    unfortunate and deserving pity
    It was almost like those army movies—the comedy ones—where the hopeless, hapless recruit struggles over a wall and flops to the other side; stupid and clumsy but grateful.
  31. fickle
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    But a piano’s highest note is fickle.
    If you don’t hit it hard enough, or right enough, it makes no noise at all.
  32. glimmer
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    He felt the glimmer of home.
    In his mind he was already there; he was watching the world of Archer Street; he was up on the roof, he saw Carey’s place.
  33. doggedly
    with obstinate determination
    There were the slipstreams, too, of doubt, when she’d see him disappearing, to some place, held doggedly, within.
  34. bereft
    sorrowful through loss or deprivation
    No, with all the strength she could muster, she placed the dress over the couch and sat at the piano, completely dejected, then bereft.
  35. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    “Good boy,” said the preacher, when the blood was quelled, and tentatively, he proceeded—and the colorful Christ looked on, till they were Michael and Penelope Dunbar.
  36. incoherent
    without logical or meaningful connection
    But he couldn’t say anything, and he couldn’t even remember going down the first time, except that he’d fallen so hard he left a gash there, a scar in the grass—and the world was incoherent.
  37. abject
    showing utter resignation or hopelessness
    He saw her change from abject worry, to a smile all long and hopeful, like horses entering the straight.
  38. mirth
    great merriment
    The mirth, the mockery of teenagers.
  39. trough
    a concave shape with an open top
    If other kids mucked up, they’d be taken to the toilets, and shoved amongst the troughs.
  40. esplanade
    a stretch of pavement or grass for walking by the seashore
    By midafternoon, when they came back out, a ship had arrived to dock. There were crowds of people on the esplanade, and cameras and smilers in flocks.
Created on Tue Nov 08 09:06:20 EST 2022 (updated Wed Aug 30 10:37:31 EDT 2023)

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