Give Me a Sign: Chapters 1–5

by Anna Sortino
Struggling with hearing loss, seventeen-year-old Lilah gets a job at a summer camp for the deaf and blind to improve her use of American Sign Language.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–14, Chapters 15–23, Chapters 24–32
40 words 69 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. itinerant
    a laborer who moves from place to place
    “And you’ve been skipping your group meetings with the hearing itinerant?” my mom asks.
  2. advocate
    speak, plead, or argue in favor of
    An hour each week, I’m forced to learn how to “advocate for myself,” which often boils down to a reminder to sit in the front row.
  3. reminiscent
    serving to bring to mind
    She turns on background clatter and loud crashing sounds, supposedly reminiscent of daily life surrounding me, as I struggle through the chaos to decipher words she says into a microphone.
  4. elusive
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    The greater the context, the more likely I am to pick up on what I’m missing.
    However, right now, there is no context. Only background noise and an elusive word.
  5. suppress
    put out of one's consciousness
    Throughout several rounds of different examinations, I suppress the urge to compare this to an alien abduction.
  6. deductive
    relating to reasoning from the general to the particular
    What people don’t understand is that when I’m wearing my hearing aids, there’s still a lot that I miss. And without them, there’s still a lot I could catch by relying on lipreading and deductive reasoning.
  7. profound
    of the greatest intensity; complete
    And maybe, if the loss were profound, my family would be forced to finally take learning American Sign Language seriously.
  8. accommodation
    the act of providing something to meet a need
    I’d seem “deaf enough” that my classmates would truly understand my need for all those school accommodations, rather than silently judge and question me.
  9. reconcile
    bring into consonance or accord
    Even though I remember summer camp being a welcoming place for kids from all backgrounds, it can be hard to reconcile that with what I’ve seen on the internet—people arguing over speech, sign, culture, devices, and more.
  10. semantics
    the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text
    I could spend days scrolling through conflicting takes of people within the community debating semantics as I settle deeper and deeper into impostor syndrome. People give too much power to labels.
  11. ordeal
    a severe or trying experience
    I don’t need the receipt, so I’m not going through that whole ordeal again.
  12. gist
    the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
    I don’t catch the rest but get the gist.
  13. stipend
    a sum of money allotted on a regular basis
    There’s a weekly stipend of $250/week, which we know really isn’t much, but obviously room and board are all free.
  14. incur
    make oneself subject to
    You don’t incur many expenses when enjoying the great outdoors at summer camp!
  15. nonchalantly
    in a composed and unconcerned manner
    “I’m sure it’ll be a great time.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” I say nonchalantly but filled with so much relief.
  16. neutral
    possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics
    “I know,” I say and sign, trying to keep my tone neutral.
  17. waver
    move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
    I hoist the bag up to the foot of my bunk, wavering when it’s stuck over my head because I’m not tall enough to push it the rest of the way.
  18. converse
    carry on a discussion
    While this interaction wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked it to be—my signing impressed no one—it’s just a matter of time before I can hopefully converse with him better.
  19. casual
    not showing effort or strain
    Deaf waving isn’t like a casual hello. Rather, it’s like reaching out to slap a table to get someone’s attention: You bend your wrist forward to hit the air horizontally as many times as it takes to get the person to look at you.
  20. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    “What? No one else is hungry?” I ask, with my hands resting on the straps of my backpack, suddenly apprehensive about signing.
  21. imploringly
    in a pleading manner
    “I’ve made that mistake before.”
    Great. Once more, I look imploringly toward Ethan.
  22. vehemently
    in a forceful manner
    He lets go and repeats the sign against his chest multiple times, vehemently shaking his head no.
  23. stark
    complete or extreme
    Gary stands in stark contrast next to Ethan, who is interpreting with less enthusiasm than he would if the campers were here, but with plenty of facial expressions still. They’re so different. Old and young. Hearing and Deaf.
  24. scraggly
    lacking neatness or order
    Gary is lean and sports a scraggly beard, while Ethan is stocky and has tied his hair into a topknot.
  25. spiel
    artful or slick talk used to persuade
    “And the storm cellar is here in the dining hall basement,” Gary says, wrapping up his spiel.
  26. procure
    get by special effort
    “Essentially,” Gary says, “the original source of financing has been depleted over the years, faster than additional funds have been procured. We’ll need some new revenue to keep things going.”
  27. woo
    seek someone's favor
    The board and I are discussing solutions. One of which is to woo some new donors.
  28. respectively
    in the order given
    While we eat dinner, the two counselors sitting beside me introduce themselves as Bobby and Simone respectively.
  29. epitome
    a standard or typical example
    Bobby is the epitome of clashing colors in a purple shirt and orange shorts, but Simone has the athleisure look down, sporting the latest Old Navy line from head to toe.
  30. banter
    light teasing repartee
    I’ve been amused by the banter between Simone and Bobby and am glad to be easily roped into the conversation.
  31. tangent
    a message that departs from the main subject
    “Okay, but Lilah. Do you remember beeper baseball?” Bobby asks, diving into a tangent.
  32. skewed
    favoring one person or side over another
    “I think it’s a little skewed in your favor, with a bunch of blindfolded Deafies in the outfield, but we’ll let you have this victory,” I say.
  33. clout
    special advantage or influence
    I don’t want people to assume my less-than-perfect signing skills mean I’m just another hearing person trying to use ASL for clout.
  34. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    I raise my hands, exasperated. “What now?”
  35. affix
    attach to
    The white girl has one light-blue cochlear implant that sits behind her ear and is affixed to the side of her sleek blond ponytail.
  36. indifferent
    marked by a lack of interest
    “Cool,” she says, indifferent.
  37. demeanor
    the way a person behaves toward other people
    “Well, I didn’t hear you...” I say, startled by his slight change in demeanor.
  38. discern
    recognize or perceive a difference or distinction
    But I can’t hear him well enough to discern his accent.
  39. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    My face flushes red.
  40. disconcerted
    having self-possession upset; thrown into confusion
    I wave and dash out of the dining hall, amused at how easily disconcerted a British accent could make me.
Created on Tue Jan 23 09:56:17 EST 2024 (updated Thu Jan 25 11:13:23 EST 2024)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.