Lyddie: Chapters 17–23

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. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    She sent a note to Brigid—most of the girls were wary of speaking to Diana under Mr. Marsden’s nose—asking her and Diana to stop over after supper.
  2. infallible
    incapable of failure or error
    Brigid brought more soup from her now fully recovered mother and a half bottle of Dr. Rush’s Infallible Health Pills. “Me mother swears by them,” she said, blushing.
  3. recollect
    recall knowledge from memory
    “Can you recollect—can you remember just what Mr. Marsden said when he asked about me?”
  4. august
    of or befitting a lord
    He’s probably more frightened than you are. Have you ever seen Mrs. Overseer Marsden, Lyddie? If word ever got to that august lady...
  5. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    Nonetheless, I wouldn’t make attacking the overseer a regular practice, my dear. Do be more discreet in the future—that is, if you want to stay on at the corporation.
  6. consort
    keep company with
    “It sounds as though I’m advising you not to sign any petitions or consort with any known radicals.”
  7. drab
    lacking brightness or color; dull
    She ought to have bright bows to set off the two silky curls at the end of each plait. They would brighten her drab little dress.
  8. naught
    a quantity of no importance
    All inquiry has come to naught, but as I have business in thy uncle’s neighborhood on Wednesday next, I will inquire directly at that time.
  9. warrant
    stand behind the quality, accuracy, or condition of
    “She pulled you through. I wouldn’t have warranted it—”
  10. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    Lyddie suspected that Mrs. Bedlow had added a few years and several pounds in her description of Rachel to the agent, but a skeptical look was all she got from the overseer on the spinning floor when she presented Rachel for work the next morning.
  11. inclined
    having a preference, disposition, or tendency
    She did not envy other women their good looks. And even if she had been so inclined, she would never begrudge this bounty of nature to one so poor in everything else.
  12. skinflint
    a selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend
    “And such a skinflint a penny would freeze to your fist before you’d spend it,” the phrenologist snapped. “I give you that reading for free. Not that there’s hope you’d pay.”
  13. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    The other girls in the parlor tittered. Even Lyddie tried to smile, but Rachel was indignant. “She’s not mean. She’s going to buy me ribbons,” she declared.
  14. pittance
    an inadequate payment
    She had nearly caught up with the wages lost by her illness, and even though Rachel made only a pittance, it paid her room and board.
  15. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    Look, she dotes on me. Me, tough and mean as I be. She clings to me more than she ever did our mother.
  16. decrepit
    lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality
    She climbed the stairs like an old, decrepit woman, clinging to the banister and pulling herself up step by step.
  17. miserly
    characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
    And she will forget me, plain, rough, miserly Lyddie who only bought her ribbons because she was shamed to it.
  18. sprig
    ornament made of or resembling a spray of leaves or flowers
    She took out the dress. It was a lovely sprigged muslin.
  19. muslin
    plain-woven cotton fabric
    She took out the dress. It was a lovely sprigged muslin.
  20. elated
    exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits
    Diana should have been elated. Wasn’t it a victory for the Association?
  21. clamor
    loud and persistent outcry from many people
    “Well,” she said, and Lyddie couldn’t quite make out the rest in the clamor of the yard, but it sounded something like: “Well, we’ll see,” as Diana let herself be carried away in the rushing stream of operatives.
  22. adjourn
    break from a meeting or gathering
    At the first curfew bell, the woman in charge pronounced the meeting adjourned until the following Tuesday, and the girls broke into a buzz, gathering their sewing things together and putting on bonnets to leave.
  23. recess
    close or adjourn at the end of a session
    “But we’ve already submitted it,” Miss Emerson said. “We had to. Before the legislature recessed for the year.”
  24. robust
    sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction
    Lyddie stood there, openmouthed, looking from Diana’s thin face to the other woman’s robust one.
  25. dervish
    a Muslim monk of an order noted for fast ceremonial dancing
    I can’t bring dishonor on the Association. Any whisper of this, and our enemies will dance like dervishes with delight.
  26. scrupulous
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    She feared then that he might find some reason to dismiss her, so she had been scrupulous to observe every regulation to the letter.
  27. paragon
    model of excellence or perfection of a kind
    Brigid herself was a paragon of gentleness, teaching the new girls all that Lyddie and Diana had taught her, never raising her voice in irritation or complaint.
  28. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    She smiled ruefully at Brigid as the girl returned to her own looms.
  29. tumult
    a state of commotion and noise and confusion
    There was no quiet center left in the tumult.
  30. brocade
    thick expensive material with a raised pattern
    Fall came. Not the raucous patchwork of the Green Mountains, but the sedate brocade of a Massachusetts city.
  31. conundrum
    a difficult problem
    Often all the other girls passed them on the stairs or in the yard, for they would be talking about what Brigid had read since the day before, and Lyddie would solve the mystery of an impossible word or the conundrum of a sentence.
  32. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    The stagnant water sloshed over his shoulders and ran down his trousers.
  33. bewildered
    extremely confused and uncertain what to do
    By the time they were at the bottom of the stairs she was weak with laughter and her side ached, but she kept running, through the empty yard, past the startled gatekeeper, across the bridge, and down the row of wide-eyed boardinghouses, dragging a bewildered Brigid behind her.
  34. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    His body was spread and his eyes bulged like a great toad, poised to spring.
  35. turpitude
    a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
    “I cannot,” and now the overseer’s voice was fairly dripping with the honey of regret, “for the sake of all the innocent young women in my care, I cannot have among my girls someone who sets an example of moral turpitude.”
  36. countenance
    consent to, give permission
    The corporation cannot countenance moral turpitude.
  37. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    The landlady was incredulous. “But why?” she asked.
  38. depraved
    deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper
    She was not a vile or shameful character! She was not base or depraved. She was only ignorant, and what was the sin in that?
  39. gristle
    tough elastic tissue found in meat
    She was grateful because she cried most of the way. She, tough-as- gristle Lyddie, her face in her handkerchief, her head turned toward the shaded window.
  40. earnest
    devout or heartfelt
    She looked up into his earnest face as he leaned to speak to her and saw in his bent shoulders the shade of an old man in a funny broad Quaker hat—the gentle old man that he would someday become and that she would love.
Created on Fri Jan 15 11:39:59 EST 2016 (updated Thu Aug 11 15:11:36 EDT 2022)

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