1. The Wreckers
Vocabulary
Chapters 12-15

2. Chapter 12
1. voluminous
2. marksman
3. sparse
4. gybed
5. regal
6. keening
7. cat-o-nine-tails
8. rue

3. voluminous
• Having great volume, lots of room, large

4. marksman
• A person skillful at hitting a target, usually
with a gun or a bow and arrow

5. sparse
• Thinly scattered, scanty

6. gybed
• To have turned to one side, as in a ship

7. regal
• Relating to kings or royalty, stately

8. keening
• Sharp, severe, and piercing wailing

9. Cat-o-nine-tails
• A whip made out of nine knotted
cords, fastened to one handle

10. rue
• Regret, sorrow

11. Chapter 13
1. blithely
2. score
3. uprights
4. rooks
5. bloodcurdling
6. rude
7. rickety
8. amass
9. ajar
10. foreboding
11. blinkers

12. blithely
• Without thought or regard, carefree

13. score
• A group or set of twenty

14. uprights
• Poles or supports which hold a roof in position

15. rooks
• European crows

16. bloodcurdling
• Arousing terror, horrifying

17. rude
• Crude, poorly made, of poor design

18. rickety
• Likely to fall apart or collapse, shaky

19. amass
• To gather for oneself

20. ajar
• Partly open

21. foreboding
• A strong inner feeling of future misfortune or
evil

22. blinkers
• Leather flaps on a horse’s bridle, which
prevent it from seeing sideways

23. Chapter 14
1. packet
2. mineshaft
3. muslin
4. clotted
5. poultice
6. file
7. taunting
8. exchanging
broadsides
9. tinderbox

24. packet
• A small vessel that carries
mail, passengers, and goods on a regular route
along rivers and canals

25. mineshaft
• A vertical passageway for finding or mining
ore

26. muslin
• A cotton fabric used for sheets and other
purposes

27. clotted
• To thicken into clumps

28. poultice
• A soft moist mass of cloth, bread, and herbs
applied hot as a medicine to the body

29. file
• A metal tool with ridges and points used for
smoothing surfaces

30. taunting
• Insulting, jeering, mocking

31. Exchanging broadsides
• Firing all of the guns on one side of a
warship, at another ship

32. tinderbox
• A container used for holding tinder, usually
fitted with a flint, steel, and matches

33. Chapter 15
1. chisel
2. stout
3. pouch
4. thong
5. rutted
6. gibbet
7. skiff
8. bilge

34. chisel
• A tool used to cut wood or stone

35. stout
• strong

36. pouch
• A bag or sack used to carry articles

37. thong
• A strip or strap of leather, used to carry
something

38. rutted
• A surface with deep trenches, usually caused
by wheels

39. gibbet
• A gallows with a projecting arm at the
top, from which the bodies of criminals are
hung in chains after execution

40. skiff
• A small row boat

41. bilge
• The rounded area at the bottom of a boat