Out of the Dust Vocabulary
Section by section
Bawling (V)
 Page 3
 To cry or wail lustily
 She started bawling when her husband left for Iraq.
Scowl (n)
 Page 29
 A threatening look or expression
 She gave him a scowl across the room when she read
my note that said, “YOU ARE MEAN!”
Riled (V)
 Page 11
 To irritate or vex; often
followed by “up”
 Justin got his brother all riled
up when he was hiding his
teddy bear around the house.
Testy (adj)
 Page 12
 Irritably impatient; touchy
 The lawyer started to get
testy as he waited for the
defendant to say his alibi.
Pestering (v)
 Page 32
 To bother persistently with petty annoyances
 Sophia pestered her parents by asking them if she could
have her ears pierced.
 How is this different than riled?
 Riled= on purpose
 Pestering= not REALLY purposeful
Dazzled (V)
 Page 24
 To impress deeply
 Anyone that can perform any musical talent dazzles
me beyond belief because it is such a talent.
Spindled (V)
 Page 26
 To grow tall and slender, like a plant
 After not seeing her daughter for 20 years, she was
surprised at how she spindled into such a wonderful
young lady.
Ratcheted (V)
 Page 32
 Cause of something to rise or
fall, irreversibly
 During Hurricane Sandy, many
trees ratcheted from the
ground, never to be alive
again.
Dazed (v)
 Page 39
 To stun or stupify with a blow; shock
 The hurricane was so intense that I was dazed and
couldn’t take my eyes off of the damage.
Bittering (adj)
 Page 41
 Characterized by intense
antagonism or hostility (hatred)
 He was bittering as he watched the
person key his car in the parking lot
from inside the restaurant.
Quaking (v)
 Page 41
 To shake or tremble from cold, weakness, anger, etc.
 The small dog started to quake form the cold air
outside during the blizzard.
Simmering (v)
 Page 41
 To be in a state of restrained
activity, development,
excitement, anger
 The little girl was simmering
with excitement as she opened
up the gift she wanted on her
birthday; She tried hard to not
get out-of-control.
Grumble (v)
 Page 40
 To murmur or mutter in
discontent.
 I heard a student grumble under her breath as I told
the class that they are going to have a pop quiz.
Gripe (v)
 Page 49
 To complain naggingly or constantly
 The beauty pageant winner griped the entire camping
trip about the weather, food, and activities.
Wisp (n)
 Page 39
 A person or thing that is small, delicate, or barely
discernable
 Babies’ hair can be described as wisps because they
are so fine and delicate.
Withered (v)
 Page 39
 To shrivel; fade; decay
 To dry up from loss of moisture
 Christmas trees often wither very
quickly after being cut down from
lack of water.
Kerosene (n)
 Page 60
 Petroleum used as fuel, cleaning solvent, etc.
 Many people use kerosene in order to light their grill
for cooking.
Chafed (V)
 Page 63
 To make sore by rubbing
 Many marathon runners’ legs chafe together and
create painful blisters and burns while running long
distances
Carcassess (n)
 Page 73
 The dead body of an animal
 On the way to school this morning I saw a deer
carcass on the side of the road
 I don’t have a picture for this word (use your
imagination)
Cereus Plant (n)
 Page 81
 Of the cactus family, having
large, white, funnel-shaped
flowers
 Cereus plants are beautiful,
but require a lot of
maintenance.
Scorched (V)
 Page 66
 To parch or shrivel from the heat
 No matter how much I try to stop it, the sun scorches
the grass in my yard every summer.
Squirrelled (V)
 Page 67
 To store or hide away (money or
valuables) usually for future use
 I’ve been squirrelling away some
money for awhile now; I may
have enough for a downpayment on a house!
Quench (V)
 Page 67
 To satisfy (thirst, desires, goals,
etc.)
 Some people say that Gatorade
quenches your thirst, but I think
it makes me more thirsty.
Writhed (v)
 Page 73
 To twist the body about, or squirm, as in pain
 When Lindsay was home
with the flu, she writhed
in her bed.
Stupor (N)
 Page 71
 Mental torpor; suspension of sensibility caused by
intoxicants.
 He was in such a stupor from the anesthesia that he
couldn’t remember his name.
Grime (N)
 Page 104
 Dirt, soot, or other filthy matter
Muck (N)
 Page 105
 Moist farmyard dung, decaying vegetable matter
Revue (N)
 Page 91
 A form of theatrical entertainment in which recent
events are parodied
Thistle (N)
 Page 102
 A prickly plant with purple flowers
Wager (N)
 Page
 Something risked or staked on an uncertain event
Infantile Paralysis (N)
 Page 115
 Motor paralysis, eventually leading to atrophy and
deformity
Migrant (N)
 Page 121
 A person who moves from place to place to get work,
especially a farm laborer
Forsaken (adj)
 Page 104 **
 Abandoned, forlorn, deserted
 Forsaken towns are always pretty creepy; there’s no
one around, and they feel like a dust town.
Parched (adj)
 Page 135
 Extremely, excessively, or
completely dry (or thirtsy)
 After climbing Mount
Kilimanjaro, I was pretty
parched from not having
enough water breaks. My
tongue felt like sandpaper
and my lips were cracked.
Brittle (adj)
 Page 148
 Easily damaged or destroyed; fragile; frail
 I always thought it would be funny if a package came
and it said “brittle” instead of “fragile” on it. It’s more
fun to say.
Bleary (adj)
 Page 113***
 Blurred or dimmed; indistinct;
unclear
 The old photograph of the
grandparents was so bleary
and blurry that I couldn’t tell
which was the grandma and
which was the grandpa!
Warped (adj)
 Page 157
 Bent or twisted out of shape
 The warped fork was unable to
pick up any of my spaghetti
noodles since the prongs were
no longer in the correct shape.
Rickety (adj)
 Page 161
 Likely to fall or collapse; shaky; TOTTERY
 The rickety rocking chair from the 1500s did not seem
like it could hold my weight, so I didn’t even attempt
to sit.
Sulking (v)
 Page 163
 To remain silent or hold oneself aloof in a dreary
mood
 After a poor test grade, Susie found herself sulking
and unable to speak with her friends for the rest of
the day.
Desperation (n)
 Page 164
 The state of being in urgent
or dire need of something
 Billie Jo’s town was in such a
state of desperation, they
used the sugar from the
moonshiners to make
goodies and food.
Hospitality (n)
 Page 165
 The friendly reception and treatment of guests and
strangers
 Phoebe did not think that Sal had exceptional
hospitality at her house until Sal offered her own bed
for Phoebe.
Charred (adj)
 Page 157
 Burnt or reduced to charcoal; burn
or scorched slightly (an object)
 Once graduated from high school,
my brother and his friends had a
bonfire, turning their notes into
charred rubble.
Staggered (V)
 Page 162
 To walk, move, or stand unsteadily
 After going on the teacups for the fourth time, Shanli
staggered around Disney World for 4 hours.
Procession (n)
 Page 163
 The act of moving along in an orderly succession or
ceremonial manner
 Walking down the aisle in a wedding procession is
something that many girls dream about for their
whole lives.
Bitterness (n)
 Page 195
 Resentment; a feeling of deep
anger
 The bitterness he felt after his
father sold the land out from
under him cause the son to
not speak to his father for 10
years.
Tumbleweed (n)
 Page 202
 Like a detached thistle blowing in the wind.
 The epiphany of a western movie is seeing a tumbleweed
blowing across the screen.
Mottled (adj)
 Page 209
 Of diversifying color or shade;
spotted, blotched
 The mottled skin of the young
woman showed that she went
through a horrific house fire when
she was younger.
Diversification (n)
 Page 226
 The act or process of varying or changing
 The amount of diversification of a science experiment
can change the outcome immensely.
Betrothal (adj)
 226
 Normally a noun, but in the book it is an adjective.
This term is now very outdated.
 Engagement (gift)
 Giving a woman a ring shows the promise to marry or
wed that woman. It is also known as a betrothal.