The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams: Chapters 8–10

by Daniel Nayeri
Renamed "Monkey" by Samir, who bought him from murderous monks, twelve-year-old Omar struggles to repay the debt by serving and protecting the trader as they travel from China to Uzbekistan.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–10, Chapters 11–16
40 words 3 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. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    The sun had only just begun to rise as the innkeeper dragged the last of his smoldering furniture outside and took survey of the scorched walls. He had not yet made the connection between Samir’s arrival and the fire-dancer.
  2. remorseful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    His good-bye was a remorseful glance, a nod to me, and a long sigh, before he ran to catch up with the furrier.
  3. swagger
    walk with a lofty proud gait
    But without his merchandise, what was the furrier supposed to do? Swagger around expecting the whole world to open its arms to nothing but his smile?
  4. swoon
    pass out from weakness or physical or emotional distress
    The birds were untouched by the fire but swooning from the smoke.
  5. impervious
    not admitting of passage or capable of being affected
    Their materials were largely impervious to fires of a temperature so low.
  6. meager
    deficient in amount or quality or extent
    We stopped at the last meager outpost hunkered before the barren sea, where Smithy and Mara could trade their yak for two camels.
  7. consignment
    the delivery of goods for sale or disposal
    The wool, Little Monkey, that I had agreed to take on consignment from the orphaned children of the martyr Terosius—
  8. gall
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    Can you believe the gall of that ridiculous man—a man who claimed every religion and none, as it suited him—to call me, a monk, sort of, faithless?
  9. exalt
    praise, glorify, or honor
    “You limit God by making Him so extraordinary and you His only friend. Me, humble servant that I am, exalt even sheep—the miraculous pitchers of milk and cheese, benevolent contributors of wool.”
  10. benevolent
    generous in providing aid to others
    “You limit God by making Him so extraordinary and you His only friend. Me, humble servant that I am, exalt even sheep—the miraculous pitchers of milk and cheese, benevolent contributors of wool.”
  11. skulk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    There was still the matter of all those other killers skulking around.
  12. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    Sometime during my fitful sleep, I was roused by the shadow of someone standing over me.
  13. flustered
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    “What’s going on?” I said.
    “We’re travelers traveling.”
    I was too flustered to be annoyed.
  14. tarpaulin
    waterproofed canvas
    “Those are nice,” said Mara as she pulled a tarpaulin over the baggage and tied it down.
  15. provisions
    a stock or supply of foods
    The caravan was already packed with provisions, and so we set out.
  16. thresh
    beat the seeds out of a grain
    The moon was a sickle, and the stars were tiny heads of grain. The Taklamakan Desert was a vast floor of threshing dust.
  17. splay
    widen or spread apart
    Only camels could bear goods across the dunes. They had webbed toes that splayed out as they sank into the sand and kept them from plunging under.
  18. patriarch
    the male head of family or tribe
    “He’s the donkey patriarch, the people’s hero, a creature who casts a greater shadow than the divine Tianma horse, a sire to Pegasus, and a ruby-sweating god-beast!”
  19. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    Rasseem’s birds wobbled in their cages under their tarpaulin, unable to muster a sound.
  20. bridle
    headgear for a horse
    I rode with my hand clasped on the bridle and counted the lumps of tangled fur along my camel’s neck.
  21. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    The gangly motion of the camel and the constant rolling of the sands created a feeling like seasickness.
  22. spire
    a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building
    The towering formations had been serrated by the constant desert wind and looked like massive temple spires.
  23. suppress
    control and refrain from showing
    A deafening BOOM!
    A blinding flash.
    A fountain of debris.
    A cloud of smoke.
    A monkey (me), unable to suppress his terrified shriek. “Aaaiiieee!”
  24. bleat
    cry plaintively like a sheep or goat
    She pointed at the ridge of a nearby rock formation, but I couldn’t understand her shouts over the noise of bleating pack animals, the squawking of birds, and the drumming in my ears.
  25. assessment
    the act of judging a person or situation or event
    Smithy continued his assessment of the gunner’s brilliant plan.
  26. appalled
    struck with dread, shock, or dismay
    “I’ll need your birds.”
    Rasseem was appalled and held his cages tight.
  27. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    Hearing my plan aloud and seeing the skeptical look on Mara’s face gave me pause.
  28. peregrine
    a powerful falcon formerly used in falconry
    A pair of lovebirds, a peregrine falcon, three pink-breasted finches, and a king cockatoo fluttered into the air in a plume of feathers and a cloud of bird feed.
  29. perforated
    having a number or series of holes
    Soon, the famous whistling arrows of the Mongol nomads would shriek through the perforated rock and find their targets.
  30. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    I could hear the Mongol pull the bowstring taut.
  31. amble
    walk leisurely
    When Samir finally managed to stir the limp camel, the creature ambled to its feet, staggered around in a flustered circle, and sprinted away before Samir could grab its bridle.
  32. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    Our caravan had dwindled down to a small band of vagrants.
  33. plod
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    “You could leave,” suggested Smithy, as we plodded along the road.
  34. marauder
    someone who attacks in search of loot
    He spoke mostly in grunts and curses, but I gathered that he had been a marauder in the Caspian Sea, until even his fellow pirates had to be rid of him.
  35. assent
    agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
    Gracus made a grunt of assent.
  36. scimitar
    a curved saber used in Eastern countries
    I glanced at the heavy scimitar lying like a guard dog beside his leg.
  37. aggrieve
    cause to feel distress
    “Which gorgona, do you think, sits on her island aggrieved for this coral?”
  38. plunder
    steal goods; take as spoils
    I could tell he had not considered the possibility that all the fatted ships he had traveled so far to plunder might be at the bottom of the sea by the time he got there.
  39. incidentally
    by the way (used to introduce a new topic)
    “Incidentally,” I said, “maybe we should take the bigger piece since we’re going the way you came, and that is where you found it.”
  40. barren
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    He stared toward the east, across a thousand miles, into a barren sea.
Created on Sat Apr 06 15:36:32 EDT 2024 (updated Mon Apr 08 14:48:20 EDT 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.