Chapter 6 - Vocabulary
collards (n.): a type of cabbage with very coarse leaves. It would be difficult to walk quietly through a patch of collards. See a picture of a collard patch.
dismemberment (n.): To dismember someone is to tear or cut that person's limbs (arms and legs) off. Although it is unlikely that anyone would have actually pulled off Dill's arms and legs, Lee uses the word to point out how outraged Miss Rachel must have been to discover that the children had been playing strip poker.
eerily (adv.): weirdly; mysteriously
ensuing (adj.): Something that ensues is something that comes immediately after something else.
Franklin stove (n.): a cast iron heating stove, invented by Benjamin Franklin. See a picture of a Franklin stove.
kudzu (n.): a quick-growing vine with large leaves, often found in the Southern United States. See a picture of kudzu.
lattice-work (adj.): A lattice is an openwork structure of crossed strips or bars, as in a screen. (See a picture of a lattice screen.) Light that passes through any kind of a lattice -work would produce lattice-work shadows.
malignant (adj.): dangerous; evil
prowess (n.): superior ability or skill
ramshackle (adj.): loose or rickety; about to fall apart
waning (adj.): becoming less bright, intense, or strong. The moonlight is waning because it's getting closer to morning, and the moon is changing its position in the sky.
Chapter 7 - Vocabulary
gnats (n.): small, two-winged insects that can bite or sting. [Pronounced: NAT] See a picture of a gnat.
meditative (adj.): To meditate is to reflect upon something, or think about it. When Jem give the patch on the tree a meditative pat, he does so in a thoughtful manner.
palate (n.): the roof of one's mouth
perpetual embalming (adj. + n.): Something that is perpetual lasts forever. Embalming is the process of preserving a dead body. Think of Egyptian mummies, or unwrap a virtual mummy. As Atticus later says, Jem would do well to get rid of the adjective (perpetual) . The Egyptians invented a type of paper (not toilet paper), as well as embalming (which, by its very nature, is perpetual) .
rendered (her) speechless: (vb. + n.): made her unable to speak
vigil (n.): a watch. Jem is waiting and watching for Mr. Nathan to appear.
whittles (vb.): To whittle is to use a knife to cut away thin shavings of wood. Sometimes, a whittler may actually end up carving a recognizable object.