Call of the Wild, chapter 5

Wretched

Adj. Of very poor quality or condition.

“They were in a wretched state, worn out and worn down.”

Feigned(v.) not genuine

“Pike, the malingerer, who, in his lifetime of deceit, had often successfully feigned a hurt leg,

was now limping in earnest.”

-feigned money

Recuperation(n.) gradual healing (through rest)

after sickness or injury

“There was no power of recuperation left, no reserve strength to call upon.”

-this person is recuperating,

probably after injury

Salient

(adj.) striking; conspicuous

“This belt was the most salient thing about

him.”

Slipshod(adj.) slovenly in appearance; shabby; seedy

“When driven with his mates to the new owners' camp, Buck saw a slipshod and slovenly affair, tent half-stretched, dishes unwashed, everything in disorder….”

Slovenly(adj.) untidy especially in personal

appearance

“They were slack in all things, without order or discipline. It took them half the

night to pitch a slovenly camp ….”

Unwieldy

(adj.) not easily managed, handled or used

“The overloaded and unwieldy sled forged ahead, Buck and his mates

struggling frantically under the rain of blows.”

Superfluous (adj.) being more than is sufficient or required; unnecessary or needless.

“And so it went, the inexorable elimination of the superfluous. Mercedes cried when her clothes-bags were dumped on the ground and article after article was thrown out.”

Formidable (adj.) causing fear, apprehension, or dread

“This accomplished, the outfit, though cut in half, was still a formidable bulk.”

Commence(v.) To begin, to start

“...bringing the day nearer when underfeeding would commence.”

Voracious

“The outsider dogs, whose digestions had not been trained by chronic famine to make the

most of little, had voracious appetites.”

Adj. Having a great appetite

Wrangled

(verb) to argue or dispute, esp. in a noisy or angry manner.

“Charles and Hal wrangled whenever Mercedes gave them a chance.”

Copious(adj.) large in quantity or number;

abundant; plentiful.”

“And that Charles's sister's tale-bearing tongue should be relevant to the building of a Yukon

fire, was apparent only to Mercedes, who disburdened herself of copious opinions upon

that topic….”

Perambulating

(adj.) strolling or walking around

“They were perambulating skeletons.”

Fissure

(noun) - a long narrow depression in the earth’s surface; a long narrow opening

“Air holes formed, fissures sprang and spread apart, while thin sections of ice fell

through bodily into the river.”

Sneering

(verb) A contemptuous facial expression, sound, or statement.

"They told us up above that the bottom was dropping out of the trail and that the best thing for us to do was to lay over," Hal said in response to Thornton's warning to take no more chances on the rotten ice. ‘They told us we couldn't make White River, and here we are.’ This last with a sneering ring of triumph in it.” (p.70)

Monosyllabic(adj) containing only one syllable or

characterized by monosyllables

“He whittled and listened, gave monosyllabic replies, and when it was asked, terse advice. He knew the breed, and he gave his advice in the certainty that it would not be followed.” (p.84)

RightWrong YES

NO

ImpendingAdj. Close in time; about to occur

“He had a vague feeling of impending doom.”

DisclosedVerb: Made known to the public information that was previously only known to few people, or that

was meant to be kept a secret.

“By the time his search had disclosed, nothing more than many bruises and the state of terrible

starvation, the sled was a quarter mile away.”