Moccasin Trail Vocabulary
Chapter-by-chapter word lists for Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.
Vocabulary Word List
Chapter One
- Flintlock - old fashioned rifle
- Wary - cautious
- Penetrate - go through
- Bourgeway - a term Jim applies to white settlers
- Cache - (verb) to hide; (noun) hidden objects
- Plew - beaver skin or pelt
- Pungent - sharp acid odor
- Vigilant - watchful, always alert
- Rivet - (verb) to fix or fasten
- Gaunt - thin
- Ingratiating - agreeable, wanting to please
- Valor - bravery
- Vivid - bright, bold
- Convalescence - illness, period of recovery
- Tethered - tied
Chapter Two
- Rustle - sounds from gentle movement
- Bland - minimal emotion or mood or flavor
- Shrewd - sharp, able
- Abruptly - quickly
- Exhilirating - exciting
- Wanderlust- desire to travel
- Dazzled - to impress with sparkling lightv
- Boisterous - loud, noisy
- Realist - a person who recognizes things as they really are
- Coarse - rough
Chapter Three
- Underscore - emphasize
- Drawl - slow manner of speech, infers lack of worry
- Possibles - few items carried by hunters/trappers that they might possibly need
- Docility - the state of being docile or easy to manage
- Primer donna - slang for prima donna, the star of a show
- Feigned - pretended
- Promontory - high-point overlooking land or water
- Gorge - river or canyon with steep, rocky sides
- Emigrants (also spelled immigrants) - people who have traveled from another location
- Ominous - warning of danger
- Wheeled - turn around quickly
- Hostile - angry
- Vulnerable - able to be hurt, opposite of strong or safe
- Abruptly - quickly
- Alien - foreign, from a different area
- Contempt - scorn, disgust at another person
- Recede- go away, decrease
Chapter Four
- Disheveled - messy, unkept
- Grit - strong spirit, nerve
- Jutting - extend outward
- Brusque - rough
- Investigate - examine, search
- Underestimate - consider less than it is
- Dreary - gloomy
Chapter Five
- Tendrils - spiral threads or hair
- Incredulously - not believable
- Scant - small amount
- Stifling -suffocating
- Brusquely - roughly
- Obliged - grateful, recognize a duty
- Emerged - came out
- Tether- tie
- Impassive - without feeling or passion
- Pulverized - pound into dust
- Lacerated - cut
- Concocted - mixed together
- Truce - agreement to be at peace
Chapter Six
- Gorge - a valley or river with steep, unclimbable cliffs on either side
- Gamble - an action with a possible bad effect
- Critters - slang for animals
- Gall - bitter; Galled - to be made bitter
- Summon - call
- Gutteral - low, hoarse noise from the throat
- Feeble - weak
- Remnant - what is left over
- Parfleche - animal hide, often made into a bag
- Stow - pack away to move
- Foofooraw - excessive, gaudy
- Perilous - dangerous
- Abruptly - suddenly
- Crude - primitive, simple
- Careen - tip sightly without falling over
- Dubious - doubtful, uncertain quality
- Solemnly - seriously
- Vicious - cruel, harsh
- Interior - inside
- Disintegrated - decay, fall into pieces
- Aslant - at a slanting angle
- Obstinate - stubborn
- Ceased - stopped
- Malicious - evil intent
- Veering - shifting, turning
Chapter Seven
- Ominously - dangerously
- Ferry - take people or objects across a lake or stream by boat or raft
- Dwindling - decreasing
- Emanciated - thin from starvation or disease
- Portage - a path to carry boats around a part of a river too dangerous to navigate
- Poultice - bandage soaked in herbs or medicine
- Impassive - without passion or emotion
Chapter Eight
- Demean - to put lower, insult
- Fleeting - briefly, quickly
- Lugubrious - acting gloomy for show
- Mirth - glee or cheery
- Ruefully - with sorrow or regret
- Reminisce - remember longingly
- Amble - walk slow, carelessly
- Tentatively - uncertainly
- Dubiously - doubtfully
Chapter Nine
- Surveyor - a person who surveys land to develop maps and property lines
- Reprieve - rest, break
- Belligerent - with anger
- Cavorting - prance, jump around
- Resolutely - with determination
- Surreptitiously - secretly
- Idly - carelessly, without purpose
- Belated - late
- Convulsively - with trembling
- Contagious - other people catch it
- Tedious - boring
- Wagers - bets
Chapter Ten
- Concocted - made
- Audible - able to be heard
- Wily - crafty, artful, capable
- Reverence - awe, honor
- Lithe - thin and flexible
- Indignant - feeling of displeasure or frustration
- Skylarking - playing, frolicking
- Tamper - try to change, meddle
Chapter Eleven
- Speculative - based on guesses
- Incredulous - difficult to believe
- Plagued - Dominated by illness or problems
- Ferocity - savage violence
- Semblance - appearance
Truce - agreement to be at peace
Chapter Twelve
- Attentively - with attention
- Dubious - with doubt
- Ferocity - savage violence
- Junket - outing, short trip
- Curvetted - leap done by a rearing horse
- Surge - move quicky with a rush
- Concealed - hid
- Sentries - guards
- Alight - lit up
- Exertion - hard work
- Elation - state of joy, being elated
- Rivet - hold in place
- Rigid - stiff
Chapter Thirteen
- Stave - to break
- Apishamore - blanket between saddle and horse's skin
- Cached - hidden
- Obstinate - stubborn
- Perilous - dangerous
- Wary - cautious of danger
- Eluded - avoided
- Wryly - with scorn or bitterness
- Gully - valley or ravine that fills with running rain water
- Luminous - lit, glowing
- Vague - unclear
- Ricochet - zigzag movement of a bullet or moving object that bounce off surfaces
- Summon - call, find
- Scrutinize - carefully examine
Chapter Fourteen
- Inarticulate - unable to speak clearly
- Tremulous - with fear or trembling
- Recital - giving a list of facts, reciting information
- Involuntary - not willingly or by one's decision
- Grimace - frown
- Relunctantly - not willingly, with reluctance
- Oblivion - complete forgetfullness, unaware
- Dominated - was in control, ruled
- Casualness - without importance
- Minutely - in small detail
- Abrupt - sudden
- Amiable - friendly
- Bemused - confused but humored
- Mosey - go someplace slowly
- Resolute - determined, resolved
Chapter Fifteen
- Gradual - moving in small degrees
- Raucously - low, harsh sound
- Temperate - moderate
- Swath - strip
- Langour - lack of energy, sleepiness
- Tussling - wrestling
- Forlorn - sad, despondant
- Vaulted - jumped over
- Ellusive - hard to catch
- Indelibly - unable to erase
- Sullen - sour with irritation
- Ecstatic - wild with happiness
Chapter Sixteen
- Incoherent - difficult to follow, without logic or coherence
- Curtail - prevented or decreased
- Parry - pass back and forth, as in sword-fighting or ping-pong
- Lounge - resting, not working
- Shrewd - sharp, not missing anything
- Redolent - filled with odors that bring back memories
- Lithe - thin and flexible
- Burgeoning - growing
Chapter Seventeen
- Declivity - downward slope
- Rigid - stiff
- Obscured - hidden from sight
- Obliterate - completely destroyed and removed
Chapter Eighteen
- Luminous - reflecting light
- Cove - a curved cavity in a hill or mountain
- Concealment - hiding place
- Sentries - guards
- Sprawl - lie with limbs stretched out
- Lee - a side sheltered from wind or rain
- Gingerly - cautiously
- Wraith - ghost-like figure
- Taut - tight
- Guttural - low sound from the throat
- Interior - inside
- Unmanned - (in this context) not under control
- Incredulous - unbelievable
- Stifle - muffle, cut off sound
- Erupt - burst out
- Truss - tie up with rope
- Disillusion - loss of hope
- Malevolent - cruel, harsh
- Torpor - sleepiness, slowness
- Hoist - lift up
- Dispose - get rid of
Chapter Nineteen
- Babble - unintelligent talk of multiple people
- Haggard - unkept, messy
- Detach - break away
- Inquisitive - questioning
- Inflexible - unbending, unchanging
- Shorn - shaved or cut
- Illuminating - lighting
- Optimistic - positive, hopeful
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