Last updated: 6/8/2016

Tuckahoe Common Logo.jpg

English 8th April

English 8 To Kill A Mockingbird

April

  • Big ideas and guiding questions are informed by the New York State Common Core K–8 Social Studies Framework: Unifying Themes.
  • Theme 1: Individual Development and Cultural Identity:

*        The role of social, political, and cultural interactions supports the development of identity.

*        Personal identity is a function of an individual’s culture, time, place, geography, interaction with groups, influences from institutions, and lived experiences.

  • Theme 5: Development and Transformation of Social Structures

*        Role of social class, systems of stratification, social groups, and institutions

*        Role of gender, race, ethnicity, education, class, age, and religion in defining social
structures within a culture

*        Social and political inequalities

*          Expansion and access of rights through concepts of justice and human rights

  • Is it worth taking a stand for yourself? For others?
  • Does it make sense for Atticus to take a stand?
  • What do we know that Scout doesn’t?
  • How do film and text differ in impact on the audience?
(1) RL.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
(1) RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
(1) W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

 

  • learn about the history of African Americans in the South through analysis of historical and literary primary source photographs and documents;
  • demonstrate visual literacy skills;
  • master research skills necessary to use American Memory collections;
  • distinguish points of view in several types of primary sources;
  • demonstrate the technique of recording oral histories; and
  • write creative works that reflect the themes of racism, compassion, and tolerance in To Kill a Mockingbird.
    • Atticus
      atlas moth
      We were far too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • dill
      aromatic Old World herb having aromatic threadlike foliage and seeds used as seasoning
      He said it began the summer  Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • Gilmer
      United States journalist who wrote a syndicated column of advice to the lovelorn (1870-1951)
      The solicitor, a Mr.  Gilmer, was not well known to us.
    • finch
      any of numerous small songbirds with short stout bills adapted for crushing seeds
      If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the creek, Simon  Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t?
    • Tate
      United States poet and critic (1899-1979)
      Atticus and Mr. Heck  Tate got out.
    • Scout
      a Boy Scout or Girl Scout
      Scout yonder’s been readin‘ ever since she was born, and she ain’t even started to school yet.
    • nut grass
      a widely distributed perennial sedge having small edible nutlike tubers
      If she found a blade of  nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand out of the way.
    • entailment
      something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied)
      After a dreary conversation in our livingroom one night about his  entailment, before Mr. Cunningham left he said, “Mr. Finch, I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to pay you.”
    • sunhat
      a hat with a broad brim that protects the face from direct exposure to the sun
      Miss Maudie’s old  sunhat glistened with snow crystals.
    • boo
      show displeasure, as after a performance or speech
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making  Boo Radley come out.
    • aunty
      the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
      Long ago, in a burst of friendliness,  Aunty and Uncle Jimmy produced a son named Henry, who left home as soon as was humanly possible, married, and produced Francis.
    • chinaberry tree
      tree of northern India and China having purple blossoms and small inedible yellow fruits; naturalized in the southern United States as a shade tree
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • chinaberry
      evergreen of tropical America having pulpy fruit containing saponin which was used as soap by Native Americans
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • lumber jacket
      a short warm outer jacket
      He was long-nosed, wore boots with shiny metal eye-holes, boot pants and a  lumber jacket.
    • snow-on-the-mountain
      annual spurge of western United States having showy white-bracted flower clusters and very poisonous milk
      “Thought you could kill my  Snow-on-the-Mountain, did you?
    • redbug
      larval mite that sucks the blood of vertebrates including human beings causing intense irritation
      In his lawyer’s voice, without a shade of inflection, he said: “Your aunt has asked me to try and impress upon you and Jean Louise that you are not from run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations’ gentle breeding—” Atticus paused, watching me locate an elusive  redbug on my leg.
    • schoolyard
      the yard associated with a school
      The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the  schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you.
    • scuppernong
      amber-green muscadine grape of southeastern United States
      Plucking an occasional camellia, getting a squirt of hot milk from Miss Maudie Atkinson’s cow on a summer day, helping ourselves to someone’s  scuppernongs was part of our ethical culture, but money was different.
    • bridgework
      a denture anchored to teeth on either side of missing teeth
      With a click of her tongue she thrust out her  bridgework, a gesture of cordiality that cemented our friendship.
    • said
      being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
      I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior,  said it started long before that.
    • Miss
      a form of address for an unmarried woman
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I heard something next door in  Miss Rachel Haverford’s collard patch.
    • say
      utter aloud
      I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior,  said it started long before that.
    • strip poker
      poker in which a player's losses are paid by removing an article of clothing
      “We were playin‘  strip poker up yonder by the fishpool,” he said.
    • front yard
      the yard in front of a house; between the house and the street
      The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the  front yard— a “swept” yard that was never swept— where johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew in abundance.
    • Taylor
      12th President of the United States; died in office (1784-1850)
      John  Taylor was kind enough to give us a postponement…” “If you shouldn’t be defendin‘ him, then why are you doin’ it?”
    • snowman
      a figure of a person made of packed snow
      When Atticus finally called us to order and bade us look at our plates instead of out the windows, Jem asked, “How do you make a  snowman?”
    • protective garment
      clothing that is intended to protect the wearer from injury
      She was not fat, but solid, and she chose protective garments that drew up her bosom to giddy heights, pinched in her waist, flared out her rear, and managed to suggest that Aunt Alexandra’s was once an hour-glass figure.
    • porch
      a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
      Walking south, one faced its  porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot.
    • Reverend
      a title of respect for a clergyman
      Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because  Reverend Sykes threatened to church her.
    • Cunningham
      United States dancer and choreographer (born in 1922)
      She stopped at Walter  Cunningham’s desk.
    • butterbean
      small flat green bean similar to lima beans
      Don’t you like  butterbeans?
    • courthouse
      a building that houses judicial courts
      Atticus’s office in the  courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
    • Robinson
      United States baseball player; first Black to play in the major leagues (1919-1972)
      “I’m simply defending a Negro—his name’s Tom  Robinson.
    • collards
      kale that has smooth leaves
      Sitting down, he wasn’t much higher than the  collards.
    • Caroline
      of or relating to the life and times of kings Charles I or Charles II of England
      Before the first morning was over, Miss  Caroline Fisher, our teacher, hauled me up to the front of the room and patted the palm of my hand with a ruler, then made me stand in the corner until noon.
    • Meridian
      a town in eastern Mississippi
      Dill was from  Meridian, Mississippi, was spending the summer with his aunt, Miss Rachel, and would be spending every summer in Maycomb from now on.
    • front porch
      a porch for the front door
      The house was low, was once white with a deep  front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it.
    • folks
      people in general (often used in the plural)
      Folks call me Dill,” said Dill, struggling under the fence.
    • okay
      being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
      “That’s  okay, ma’am, you’ll get to know all the county folks after a while.
    • snipe hunt
      an elaborate practical joke in which the unsuspecting victim hunts a snipe and is typically left in the dark holding a bag and waiting for the snipe to run into it
      “Called ‘em off on a  snipe hunt,” was the succinct answer.
    • sidewalk
      walk consisting of a paved area for pedestrians; usually beside a street or roadway
      In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the  sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • witness stand
      a box enclosure for a witness when testifying
      The  witness stand was to the right of Judge Taylor, and when we got to our seats Mr. Heck Tate was already on it.
    • underwood
      the brush (small trees and bushes and ferns etc.) growing beneath taller trees in a wood or forest
      Even Mr.  Underwood was there.
    • air rifle
      a gun that propels a projectile by compressed air
      He declined to let us take our  air rifles to the Landing (I had already begun to think of shooting Francis) and said if we made one false move he’d take them away from us for good.
    • aunt
      the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
      Aunt Rachel says your name’s Jeremy Atticus Finch.”
    • jitney
      a vehicle carrying many passengers; used for public transport
      “Come on,” whispered Jem. We streaked across the square, across the street, until we were in the shelter of the  Jitney Jungle door.
    • jury
      a body of citizens sworn to give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in a court of law
      The  jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’— are you acquainted with the Ewells?”
    • nigger
      (ethnic slur) extremely offensive name for a Black person
      Says if anybody sees a white  nigger around, that’s the one.
    • milk glass
      a milky white translucent or opaque glass
      He would probably have poured it into his  milk glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing.
    • wax crayon
      writing implement consisting of a colored stick of composition wax used for writing and drawing
      Indeed, they were an endless Project that slowly evolved into a Unit, in which miles of construction paper and  wax crayon were expended by the State of Alabama in its well-meaning but fruitless efforts to teach me Group Dynamics.
    • courtroom
      a room in which a lawcourt sits
      It took Atticus’s  courtroom voice to drag us away from the tree.
    • Crawford
      United States neoclassical sculptor (1814-1857)
      So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie  Crawford, a neighborhood scold, who said she knew the whole thing.
    • screen door
      a door that consists of a frame holding metallic or plastic netting; used to allow ventilation and to keep insects from entering a building through the open door
      The Radley house had no  screen doors.
    • cootie
      a parasitic louse that infests the body of human beings
      “There ain’t no need to fear a  cootie, ma’am.
    • turn around
      turn abruptly and face the other way, either physically or metaphorically
      turned around and saw most of the town people and the entire bus delegation looking at me.
    • Rachel
      (Old Testament) the second wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I heard something next door in Miss  Rachel Haverford’s collard patch.
    • double first
      a first-class honours degree in two subjects
      Double first cousin.”
    • collard
      variety of kale having smooth leaves
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford’s  collard patch.
    • druthers
      the right or chance to choose
      “If I had my ‘ druthers I’d take a shotgun.”
    • spelling contest
      a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly
      Jem showed it to Atticus, who said it was a spelling medal, that before we were born the Maycomb County schools had  spelling contests and awarded medals to the winners.
    • snot-nosed
      (used colloquially) overly conceited or arrogant
      Ain’t no  snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin‘!
    • get
      come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
      Charles Lamb PART ONE Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 1 When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem  got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
    • folk
      people in general (often used in the plural)
      Folks call me Dill,” said Dill, struggling under the fence.
    • chicken wire
      a galvanized wire network with a hexagonal mesh; used to build fences
      Mrs. Crenshaw took some chicken wire and bent it into the shape of a cured ham.
    • mockingbird
      long-tailed grey-and-white songbird of the southern United States able to mimic songs of other birds
      1960 TO KILL A  MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • around
      in the area or vicinity
      The place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires  around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life except ice, wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile.
    • Tom
      (ethnic slur) offensive and derogatory name for a Black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to Whites
      He played the character parts formerly thrust upon me— the ape in Tarzan, Mr. Crabtree in The Rover Boys, Mr. Damon in  Tom Swift.
    • fire truck
      any of various large trucks that carry firemen and equipment to the site of a fire
      The old  fire truck, killed by the cold, was being pushed from town by a crowd of men.
    • judge
      a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate  judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • snot
      nasal mucus
      Ain’t no  snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin‘!
    • scared
      made afraid
      I suppose he loved honor more than his head, for Dill wore him down easily: “You’re  scared,” Dill said, the first day.
    • streetlight
      a lamp supported on a lamppost; for illuminating a street
      In the glare from the  streetlight, I could see Dill hatching one: his eyes widened, his fat cherub face grew rounder.
    • front
      the side that is forward or prominent
      The house was low, was once white with a deep  front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it.
    • alarm clock
      a clock that wakes a sleeper at some preset time
      There was a marble-topped washstand by her bed; on it were a glass with a teaspoon in it, a red ear syringe, a box of absorbent cotton, and a steel  alarm clock standing on three tiny legs.
    • floorboard
      a board in the floor
      It was necessary to turn on the lights in the daytime; there was always a film of dust on the rough  floorboards.
    • extension cord
      an electric cord used to extend the length of a power cord
      We parted at suppertime, and after our meal Jem and I were settling down to a routine evening, when Atticus did something that interested us: he came into the livingroom carrying a long electrical  extension cord.
    • construction paper
      paper suitable for drawing and making cutouts
      Indeed, they were an endless Project that slowly evolved into a Unit, in which miles of construction paper and wax crayon were expended by the State of Alabama in its well-meaning but fruitless efforts to teach me Group Dynamics.
    • stink up
      cause to smell bad; fill with a bad smell
      Don’t light that thing, Dill, you’ll  stink up this whole end of town.”
    • picknicker
      a person who is picnicking
      With one phrase he had turned happy  picknickers into a sulky, tense, murmuring crowd, being slowly hypnotized by gavel taps lessening in intensity until the only sound in the courtroom was a dim pink-pinkpink: the judge might have been rapping the bench with a pencil.
    • bust up
      smash or break forcefully
      “I said come here, nigger, and  bust up this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you.
    • county
      (United States) the largest administrative district within a state
      Maycomb, some twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing, was the  county seat of Maycomb County.
    • yeah
      not only so, but
      Yeah, that’s all,” said Dill.
    • summertime
      the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
      When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our  summertime boundaries (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
    • ask
      make a request or demand for something to somebody
      She was always ordering me out of the kitchen,  asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • decimal system
      a positional system of numeration that uses decimal digits and a base of ten
      It’s the Dewey  Decimal System.”
    • Bullfinch
      United States architect who designed the Capitol Building in Washington which served as a model for state capitols throughout the United States (1763-1844)
      He read in a book where I was a  Bullfinch instead of a Finch.
    • look
      perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
      When enough years had gone by to enable us to  look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • yard
      the enclosed land around a house or other building
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back  yard, Jem and I heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford’s collard patch.
    • oral contract
      an agreement that is not in writing and is not signed by the parties but is a real existing contract that lacks only the formal requirement of a memorandum to render it enforceable in litigation
      I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing  oral contracts.
    • guestroom
      a bedroom that is kept for the use of guests
      Simple enough; but the daughters’ rooms could be reached only by one staircase, Welcome’s room and the  guestroom only by another.
    • bulb-shaped
      shaped like a bulb
      The more affluent chased their food with drugstore Coca-Cola in  bulb-shaped soda glasses.
    • scare
      cause fear in
      I suppose he loved honor more than his head, for Dill wore him down easily: “You’re  scared,” Dill said, the first day.
    • pants
      underpants worn by women
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his  pants, and resumed his activities.
    • Walter
      German conductor (1876-1962)
      She stopped at  Walter Cunningham’s desk.
    • but
      and nothing more
      I maintain that the Ewells started it all,  but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that.
    • rat terrier
      any of several breeds of terrier developed to catch rats
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s  rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting looking at us.
    • camellia
      any of several shrubs or small evergreen trees having solitary white or pink or reddish flowers
      Plucking an occasional  camellia, getting a squirt of hot milk from Miss Maudie Atkinson’s cow on a summer day, helping ourselves to someone’s scuppernongs was part of our ethical culture, but money was different.
    • bass drum
      a large drum with two heads; makes a sound of indefinite but very low pitch
      Then the bass drum sounded.
    • just
      and nothing more
      “I  just thought you’d like to know I can read.
    • jury box
      an enclosure within a courtroom for the jury
      We were surprised to find that we had been gone nearly an hour, and were equally surprised to find the courtroom exactly as we had left it, with minor changes: the  jury box was empty, the defendant was gone; Judge Taylor had been gone, but he reappeared as we were seating ourselves.
    • angel food cake
      a light sponge cake made without egg yolks
      All the ladies in Maycomb includin‘ my wife’d be knocking on his door bringing  angel food cakes.
    • unrouged
      not wearing rouge
      The ladies were cool in fragile pastel prints: most of them were heavily powdered but  unrouged; the only lipstick in the room was Tangee Natural.
    • switchblade knife
      a pocketknife with a blade that springs open at the press of a button
      Mr. Tate reached in his side pocket and withdrew a long  switchblade knife.
    • tell
      narrate or give a detailed account of
      But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been  told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.
    • like
      having the same or similar characteristics
      He  liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town.
    • Rosetta Stone
      a part of an inscribed granite stela that was originally about six feet tall and was set up in 196 BC; the inscriptions in hieroglyphics and Demotic and Greek gave the first clues to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics
      Mr. Avery said it was written on the  Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves.
    • Nome
      a town in western Alaska on the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula; an important center of an Alaskan gold rush at the beginning of the 20th century
      Nome thank you ma’am,” he drawled softly.
    • know
      be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a pile practicing medicine, but in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he  knew was not for the glory of God, as the putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • Reynolds
      English portrait painter and first president of the Royal Academy (1723-1792)
      Dr.  Reynolds parked his car in front of our house and walked to the Radley’s every time he called.
    • catwalk
      narrow pathway high in the air (as above a stage or between parts of a building or along a bridge)
      There was a kitchen separate from the rest of the house, tacked onto it by a wooden  catwalk; in the back yard was a rusty bell on a pole, used to summon field hands or as a distress signal; a widow’s walk was on the roof, but no widows walked there—from it, Simon oversaw his overseer, watched the river-boats, and gazed into the lives of surrounding landholders.
    • reckon
      make a mathematical calculation or computation
      Jem said he  reckoned he wasn’t, he’d passed the Radley Place every school day of his life.
    • grubbiness
      the state of being grimy
      Because its primary reason for existence was government, Maycomb was spared the  grubbiness that distinguished most Alabama towns its size.
    • down
      spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position
      Sitting  down, he wasn’t much higher than the collards.
    • think
      judge or regard; look upon; judge
      I did not miss her, but I  think Jem did.
    • back
      the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the  back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • linin
      an obsolete term for the network of viscous material in the cell nucleus on which the chromatin granules were thought to be suspended
      Linin‘?” she asked.
    • Jacobs
      United States writer and critic of urban planning (born in 1916)
      Cecil  Jacobs, who lived at the far end of our street next door to the post office, walked a total of one mile per school day to avoid the Radley Place and old Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose.
    • jean
      (usually plural) close-fitting trousers of heavy denim for manual work or casual wear
      Jem says my name’s really  Jean Louise Bullfinch, that I got swapped when I was born and I’m really a-” Miss Caroline apparently thought I was lying.
    • fingernail
      the nail at the end of a finger
      She had bright auburn hair, pink cheeks, and wore crimson  fingernail polish.
    • slop jar
      a large pail used to receive waste water from a washbasin or chamber pot
      Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel  slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises.
    • out
      moving or appearing to move away from a place, especially one that is enclosed or hidden
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come  out.
    • chewing gum
      a preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
      I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of  chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.
    • see
      perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
      There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to  see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.
    • teacake
      flat semisweet cookie or biscuit usually served with tea
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft  teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.
    • back porch
      a porch for the back door
      The  back porch was bathed in moonlight, and the shadow, crisp as toast, moved across the porch toward Jem. Dill saw it next.
    • all right
      being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
      It was  all right to shut him up, Mr. Radley conceded, but insisted that Boo not be charged with anything: he was not a criminal.
    • yonder
      distant but within sight (`yon' is dialectal)
      “Scout  yonder’s been readin‘ ever since she was born, and she ain’t even started to school yet.
    • hear
      perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I  heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford’s collard patch.
    • holler
      utter a sudden loud cry
      Jem  hollered.
    • comfortableness
      a feeling of being at ease in a relationship
      Atticus’s voice had lost its  comfortableness; he was speaking in his arid, detached professional voice.
    • pot liquor
      the liquid in which vegetables or meat have be cooked
      “You know,” he said, “I’ve seen Atticus pat his foot when there’s fiddlin‘ on the radio, and he loves  pot liquor better’n any man I ever saw—” “Then that makes us like the Cunninghams,” I said.
    • tonight
      during the night of the present day
      Besides, they’d put me in jail if I kept you at home—dose of magnesia for you  tonight and school tomorrow.”
    • right
      free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his  right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • why
      the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase `the whys and wherefores'
      She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me  why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • yelled
      in a vehement outcry
      Jem  yelled.
    • come
      move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
      He said it began the summer Dill  came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • work shoe
      a thick and heavy shoe
      He shifted his feet, clad in heavy  work shoes.
    • lavation
      the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water)
      In Maycomb County, it was easy to tell when someone bathed regularly, as opposed to yearly  lavations: Mr. Ewell had a scalded look; as if an overnight soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt, his skin appeared to be sensitive to the elements.
    • misguide
      lead someone in the wrong direction or give someone wrong directions
      “Gertrude,” she said, “I tell you there are some good but  misguided people in this town.
    • Halloween
      the evening before All Saints' Day; often devoted to pranks played by young people
      Until then,  Halloween in Maycomb was a completely unorganized affair.
    • Mister
      a form of address for a man
      Dear  Mister…” “How do you know it’s a man?
    • walk
      use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or  walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • witness
      someone who sees an event and reports what happened
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three  witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a good enough defense for anybody.
    • liver spot
      a type of skin disease that causes brown spots on the skin
      Old-age  liver spots dotted her cheeks, and her pale eyes had black pinpoint pupils.
    • live oak
      any of several American evergreen oaks
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the  live oaks on the square.
    • run
      move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
      If General Jackson hadn’t  run the Creeks up the creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t?
    • door
      a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
      When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house two  doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
    • azalea
      any of numerous ornamental shrubs grown for their showy flowers of various colors
      When people’s  azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them.
    • one
      the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART  ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • sit
      take a seat
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone  sitting looking at us.
    • there
      in or at that place
      They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so  there was nothing much Atticus could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was probably the beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.
    • antagonize
      provoke the hostility of
      Of course Jem  antagonized me sometimes until I could kill him, but when it came down to it he was all I had.
    • all
      to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
      I maintain that the Ewells started it  all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that.
    • contents
      a list of divisions (chapters or articles) and the pages on which they start
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • garbage truck
      a truck for collecting domestic refuse
      We sat waiting for Zeebo to arrive in the  garbage truck.
    • fishing pole
      a rod of wood or steel or fiberglass that is used in fishing to extend the fishing line
      Jem was merely going to put the note on the end of a  fishing pole and stick it through the shutters.
    • somebody
      a human being
      Somebody did.
    • Alabama
      a state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War
      If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the  Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t?
    • Jack
      a man who serves as a sailor
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth growing; but after getting Uncle  Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law.
    • look around
      look about oneself
      Now that I was compelled to think about it, reading was something that just came to me, as learning to fasten the seat of my union suit without  looking around, or achieving two bows from a snarl of shoelaces.
    • prison farm
      a camp for trustworthy prisoners employed in government projects
      He was at Enfield  Prison Farm, seventy miles away in Chester County.
    • field pea
      variety of pea plant native to the Mediterranean region and North Africa and widely grown especially for forage
      Refreshed by food, Dill recited this narrative: having been bound in chains and left to die in the basement (there were basements in Meridian) by his new father, who disliked him, and secretly kept alive on raw field peas by a passing farmer who heard his cries for help (the good man poked a bushel pod by pod through the ventilator), Dill worked himself free by pulling the chains from the wall.
    • headshaking
      the act of turning your head left and right to signify denial or disbelief or bemusement
      Through all the  headshaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk.
    • never
      not ever; at no time in the past or future
      When it healed, and Jem’s fears of  never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.
    • wheel around
      change directions as if revolving on a pivot
      “Not being  wheeled around yet, am I? Neither’s your father.
    • way
      how something is done or how it happens
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his  way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • head
      the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
      He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his  head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • Mrs
      a form of address for a married woman
      When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were  Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
    • mandrake root
      the root of the mandrake plant; used medicinally or as a narcotic
      I so often wondered how she could be Atticus’s and Uncle Jack’s sister that I revived half-remembered tales of changelings and  mandrake roots that Jem had spun long ago.
    • uncle
      the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth growing; but after getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law.
    • dewberry
      any of several trailing blackberry brambles especially of North America
      The gentle hum of ladies’ voices grew louder as she opened the door: “Why, Alexandra, I never saw such charlotte… just lovely… I never can get my crust like this, never can… who’d‘ve thought of little  dewberry tarts… Calpurnia?… who’da thought it… anybody tell you that the preacher’s wife’s… nooo, well she is, and that other one not walkin’ yet…” They became quiet, and I knew they had all been served.
    • stay
      continue in a place, position, or situation
      “If I didn’t have to  stay I’d leave.
    • stop
      have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he  stopped and leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging crazily on its homemade hinge.
    • disorderly conduct
      any act of molesting, interrupting, hindering, agitating, or arousing from a state of repose or otherwise depriving inhabitants of the peace and quiet to which they are entitled
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of  disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • corrugate
      fold into ridges
      The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening onto a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone.
    • in their right minds
      behaving responsibly
      “People  in their right minds never take pride in their talents,” said Miss Maudie.
    • garbage collector
      someone employed to collect and dispose of refuse
      It was Zeebo, the  garbage collector.
    • sinking spell
      a temporary decline in health or value
      Despite our compromise, my campaign to avoid school had continued in one form or another since my first day’s dose of it: the beginning of last September had brought on  sinking spells, dizziness, and mild gastric complaints.
    • bed
      a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
      She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a  bed slat and twice as hard.
    • about
      (of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct
      When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious  about his injury.
    • Gates
      United States computer entrepreneur whose software company made him the youngest multi-billionaire in the history of the United States (born in 1955)
      Aunt Alexandra got up from the table and swiftly passed more refreshments, neatly engaging Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs.  Gates in brisk conversation.
    • go to
      be present at (meetings, church services, university), etc.
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch,  went to Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • home
      where you live at a particular time
      She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me  home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • thought
      the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
      “I just  thought you’d like to know I can read.
    • not
      negation of a word or group of words
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a pile practicing medicine, but in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he knew was  not for the glory of God, as the putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • thing
      a separate and self-contained entity
      I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the  thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson.
    • twelve noon
      the middle of the day
      The sun said  twelve noon.
    • group dynamics
      the branch of social psychology that studies the psychodynamics of interaction in social groups
      Indeed, they were an endless Project that slowly evolved into a Unit, in which miles of construction paper and wax crayon were expended by the State of Alabama in its well-meaning but fruitless efforts to teach me  Group Dynamics.
    • picture show
      a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
      She gave the money to Dill, who went to the  picture show twenty times on it.
    • try
      make an effort or attempt
      “Let’s  try to make him come out,” said Dill.
    • slicked
      (of hair) made smooth by applying a sticky or glossy substance
      See how they’ve been  slicked up?
    • drugstore
      a retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold
      By the time Mrs. Cat called the  drugstore for an order of chocolate malted mice the class was wriggling like a bucketful of catawba worms.
    • for a while
      for a short time
      I licked it and waited for a while.
    • dime
      a United States coin worth one tenth of a dollar
      As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and  dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.
    • look at
      look at carefully; study mentally
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting  looking at us.
    • heard
      detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I  heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford’s collard patch.
    • chair
      a seat for one person, with a support for the back
      As I was the last to leave, I saw her sink down into her  chair and bury her head in her arms.
    • go home
      return home
      “Everybody who  goes home to lunch hold up your hands,” said Miss Caroline, breaking into my new grudge against Calpurnia.
    • short pants
      trousers that end at or above the knee
      He had discarded the abominable blue shorts that were buttoned to his shirts and wore real  short pants with a belt; he was somewhat heavier, no taller, and said he had seen his father.
    • hush
      become quiet or still; fall silent
      Dill blushed and Jem told me to  hush, a sure sign that Dill had been studied and found acceptable.
    • granddaddy
      the father of your father or mother
      You can teach me like  Granddaddy taught you ‘n’ Uncle Jack.”
    • kitchen
      a room equipped for preparing meals
      She was always ordering me out of the  kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • sir
      term of address for a man
      When he passed we would look at the ground and say, “Good morning,  sir,” and he would cough in reply.
    • slick up
      make neat, smart, or trim
      See how they’ve been  slicked up?
    • house
      a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
      He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length, then go off and play by himself behind the car- house.
    • rape
      the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will
      “Well, if everybody in Maycomb knows what kind of folks the Ewells are they’d be glad to hire Helen… what’s  rape, Cal?” “It’s somethin‘ you’ll have to ask Mr. Finch about,” she said.
    • go around
      turn on or around an axis or a center
      “Tell you what,” said Jem. “We’ll keep ‘em till school starts, then  go around and ask everybody if they’re theirs.
    • want
      the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
      I said if he  wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson.
    • step
      the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down
      But to climb the Radley front  steps and call, “He-y,” of a Sunday afternoon was something their neighbors never did.
    • cold sober
      totally sober
      When Miss Caroline threatened it with a similar fate the first grade exploded again, becoming  cold sober only when the shadow of Miss Blount fell over them.
    • grin
      to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl
      Jem suddenly  grinned at him.
    • gavel
      a small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge
      So serene was Judge Taylor’s court, that he had few occasions to use his  gavel, but he hammered fully five minutes.
    • child
      a human offspring (son or daughter) of any age
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22 m Chap...
    • steps
      the course along which a person has walked or is walking in
      But to climb the Radley front  steps and call, “He-y,” of a Sunday afternoon was something their neighbors never did.
    • capital offense
      a crime so serious that capital punishment is considered appropriate
      “You know rape’s a  capital offense in Alabama,” said Atticus.
    • corner
      the point where three areas or surfaces meet or intersect
      In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the light-pole on the  corner, a safe distance from the Radley gate.
    • Braxton Bragg
      Confederate general during the American Civil War who was defeated by Grant in the battle of Chattanooga (1817-1876)
      Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an intense, profane little man, whose father in a fey fit of humor christened  Braxton Bragg, a name Mr. Underwood had done his best to live down.
    • unlatched
      not firmly fastened or secured
      unlatched the back door and held it while he crept down the steps.
    • school
      an educational institution
      “Scout yonder’s been readin‘ ever since she was born, and she ain’t even started to  school yet.
    • stopped
      (of a nose) blocked
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he  stopped and leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging crazily on its homemade hinge.
    • swivel chair
      a chair that swivels on its base
      Atticus would flee to his office directly after dinner, where if we sometimes looked in on him, we would find him sitting back in his  swivel chair reading.
    • switchblade
      a pocketknife with a blade that springs open at the press of a button
      Mr. Tate reached in his side pocket and withdrew a long  switchblade knife.
    • thick-bodied
      having a thick body
      As she raised her hand and swore that the evidence she gave would be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help her God, she seemed somehow fragile-looking, but when she sat facing us in the witness chair she became what she was, a  thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor.
    • squeeze for
      squeeze someone for money, information, etc.
      I followed, and held up the wire for Jem. It was a tight  squeeze for him.
    • front door
      exterior door (at the entrance) at the front of a building
      My memory came alive to see Mrs. Radley occasionally open the  front door, walk to the edge of the porch, and pour water on her cannas.
    • time
      the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his  time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • proofed
      treated so as to become resistant
      Contents - Prev Scan & Proof Notes [scanned &  proofed anonymously to version 1.5] [30 March, 2005, html proofed and formatted to version 2.0], rb version created from this versin as well.
    • stand
      be standing; be upright
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he  stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • pecan tree
      tree of southern United States and Mexico cultivated for its nuts
      The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you.
    • pant
      breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his  pants, and resumed his activities.
    • in front
      at or in the front
      Dr. Reynolds parked his car  in front of our house and walked to the Radley’s every time he called.
    • tinfoil
      foil made of tin or an alloy of tin and lead
      Some  tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun.
    • nickel
      a hard malleable ductile silvery metallic element that is resistant to corrosion; used in alloys; occurs in pentlandite and smaltite and garnierite and millerite
      As Maycomb County was farm country,  nickels and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.
    • fence
      a barrier that serves to enclose an area
      We went to the wire  fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting looking at us.
    • the Street
      used to allude to the securities industry of the United States
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed  the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • corroborating evidence
      additional evidence or evidence of different kind that supports a proof already offered in a proceeding
      All the spectators were as relaxed as Judge Taylor, except Jem. His mouth was twisted into a purposeful half-grin, and his eyes happy about, and he said something about  corroborating evidence, which made me sure he was showing off.
    • liver-colored
      having a reddish-brown color
      Tim was a  liver-colored bird dog, the pet of Maycomb.
    • nauseate
      upset and make nauseated
      Dizzy and  nauseated, I lay on the cement and shook my head still, pounded my ears to silence, and heard Jem’s voice: “Scout, get away from there, come on!”
    • inside
      relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
      Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom.
    • grime
      the state of being covered with unclean things
      “Living in that jungle with nobody but J.  Grimes Everett,” she said.
    • hookworm
      parasitic bloodsucking roundworms having hooked mouth parts to fasten to the intestinal wall of human and other hosts
      Walter Cunningham’s face told everybody in the first grade he had  hookworms.
    • make
      perform or carry out
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of  making Boo Radley come out.
    • sheriff
      the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
      Mrs. Radley ran screaming into the street that Arthur was killing them all, but when the  sheriff arrived he found Boo still sitting in the livingroom, cutting up the Tribune.
    • moistly
      in a damp manner
      There was no color in his face except at the tip of his nose, which was  moistly pink.
    • neighborhood
      an area within a city or town that has some distinctive features (especially one forming a community)
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven-thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes carrying a brown paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • yes
      an affirmative
      I once asked Atticus if it ever had any; Atticus said  yes, but before I was born.
    • hand
      the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his  hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • off
      from a particular thing or place or position (`forth' is obsolete)
      He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length, then go  off and play by himself behind the car-house.
    • look like
      bear a physical resemblance to
      Looks like he’d just stick his head out the door.”
    • then
      at that time
      Somehow, it was hotter  then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • face
      the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
      Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot.
    • auditorium
      the area of a theater or concert hall where the audience sits
      The high-school auditorium would be open, there would be a pageant for the grown-ups; applebobbing, taffy-pulling, pinning the tail on the donkey for the children.
    • car tire
      a tire consisting of a rubber ring around the rim of an automobile wheel
      I ran to the back yard and pulled an old  car tire from under the house.
    • decimal
      a number in the decimal system
      It’s the Dewey  Decimal System.”
    • riverbank
      the bank of a river
      Smoke was rolling off our house and Miss Rachel’s house like fog off a riverbank, and men were pulling hoses toward them.
    • remember
      recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
      She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could  remember.
    • town
      an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
      He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the  town.
    • cow barn
      a barn for cows
      Why, I hated that old  cow barn.
    • play hooky
      play truant from work or school
      Playing hooky, I suppose.
    • wintertime
      the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
      Hours of  wintertime had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope Jem had given me, learning their games, following Jem’s red jacket through wriggling circles of blind man’s buff, secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.
    • turnip greens
      tender leaves of young white turnips
      That spring when we found a crokersack full of  turnip greens, Atticus said Mr. Cunningham had more than paid him.
    • glasses
      optical instrument consisting of a frame that holds a pair of lenses for correcting defective vision
      Calpurnia set a pitcher and three  glasses on the porch, then went about her business.
    • grade
      a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality
      I was to stick with the first  grade and he would stick with the fifth.
    • father
      a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
      Our  father said we were both right.
    • yank
      pull, or move with a sudden movement
      I interrupted to make Uncle Jack let me know when he would pull it out, but he held up a bloody splinter in a pair of tweezers and said he  yanked it while I was laughing, that was what was known as relativity.
    • yell
      a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
      Jem  yelled.
    • someone
      a human being
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found  someone sitting looking at us.
    • read
      look at, interpret, and say out loud something that is written or printed
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to  read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • maybe
      by chance
      They’re some bus child’s,  maybe—he was too taken up with gettin’ outa school today an‘ forgot ’em.
    • street
      a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
      In rainy weather the  streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • colored
      having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination
      Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most  colored folks.
    • farrow
      the production of a litter of pigs
      Mrs. Merriweather faced Mrs.  Farrow: “Gertrude, I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky.
    • anyway
      in any way whatsoever
      “She likes Jem better’n she likes me,  anyway,” I concluded, and suggested that Atticus lose no time in packing her off.
    • untalented
      devoid of talent; not gifted
      Jem said Mr. Avery misfigured, Dill said he must drink a gallon a day, and the ensuing contest to determine relative distances and respective prowess only made me feel left out again, as I was  untalented in this area.
    • run-of-the-mill
      not special in any way
      In his lawyer’s voice, without a shade of inflection, he said: “Your aunt has asked me to try and impress upon you and Jean Louise that you are not from  run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations’ gentle breeding—” Atticus paused, watching me locate an elusive redbug on my leg.
    • window
      a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
      People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in  windows.
    • bedtime
      the time you go to bed
      We decorated the tree until  bedtime, and that night I dreamed of the two long packages for Jem and me.
    • saw
      hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting
      Mr. Radley’s elder son lived in Pensacola; he came home at Christmas, and he was one of the few persons we ever  saw enter or leave the place.
    • wisteria
      any flowering vine of the genus Wisteria
      When he completed his examination of the  wisteria vine he strolled back to me.
    • daddy
      an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
      “Your  daddy Mr. Walter Cunningham from Old Sarum?” he asked, and Walter nodded.
    • lemon drop
      a hard candy with lemon flavor and a yellow color and (usually) the shape of a lemon
      It had been a placid week: I had minded Aunty; Jem had outgrown the treehouse, but helped Dill and me construct a new rope ladder for it; Dill had hit upon a foolproof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost to ourselves (place a trail of  lemon drops from the back door to the front yard and he’d follow it, like an ant).
    • can
      airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
      “I  can read.”
    • jail
      a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
      His first two clients were the last two persons hanged in the Maycomb County  jail.
    • turned
      moved around an axis or center
      In rainy weather the streets  turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • put
      cause to be in a certain state; cause to be in a certain relation
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a pile practicing medicine, but in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he knew was not for the glory of God, as the  putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • defendant
      a person or institution against whom an action is brought in a court of law; the person being sued or accused
      “Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to run off to…” Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 15 After many telephone calls, much pleading on behalf of the  defendant, and a long forgiving letter from his mother, it was decided that Dill could stay.
    • please
      give pleasure to or be pleasing to
      In Calpurnia’s teaching, there was no sentimentality: I seldom  pleased her and she seldom rewarded me.
    • dirt
      the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 3 Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the  dirt Jem came by and told me to stop.
    • enough
      sufficient for the purpose
      When  enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • chew
      chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth
      I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of  chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.
    • trash
      worthless material that is to be disposed of
      “Your father’s no better than the niggers and  trash he works for!”
    • jump on
      get up on the back of
      “He’ll probably come out after you when he sees you in the yard, then Scout’n‘ me’ll  jump on him and hold him down till we can tell him we ain’t gonna hurt him.”
    • tooth and nail
      with force and ferocity
      I would fight anyone from a third cousin upwards  tooth and nail.
    • pecan
      tree of southern United States and Mexico cultivated for its nuts
      The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you.
    • dump
      a piece of land where waste materials are dumped
      He lives in that little settlement beyond the town  dump.
    • shook
      a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
      The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees  shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you.
    • worry
      a strong feeling of anxiety
      Jem, that damn lady says Atticus’s been teaching me to read and for him to stop it-” “Don’t  worry, Scout,” Jem comforted me.
    • well
      (often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (`good' is a nonstandard dialectal variant for `well')
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until  well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • Mobile
      a port in southwestern Alabama on Mobile Bay
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to  Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • tomorrow
      the day after today
      You can pay me back  tomorrow.”
    • watch
      look attentively
      At last the sawhorses were taken away, and we stood  watching from the front porch when Mr. Radley made his final journey past our house.
    • spat
      a quarrel about petty points
      “There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into,” murmured Calpurnia, and she  spat meditatively into the yard.
    • rocking chair
      a chair mounted on rockers
      I saw Atticus carrying Miss Maudie’s heavy oak  rocking chair, and thought it sensible of him to save what she valued most.
    • lady
      a polite name for any woman
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.
    • shuffle
      walk by dragging one's feet
      They ambled across the square,  shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything.
    • turn
      move around an axis or a center
      In rainy weather the streets  turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • post office
      a local branch where postal services are available"
      It was our habit to run meet Atticus the moment we saw him round the  post office corner in the distance.
    • whittle away
      cut away in small pieces
      Boo bit it off one night when he couldn’t find any cats and squirrels to eat.); she sat in the livingroom and cried most of the time, while Boo slowly  whittled away all the furniture in the house.
    • unclipped
      not clipped
      He drew out an envelope, then reached into his vest pocket and  unclipped his fountain pen.
    • hymnbook
      a songbook containing a collection of hymns
      “How’re we gonna sing it if there ain’t any  hymnbooks?”
    • religious holiday
      a day specified for religious observance
      The fact that Aunty was a good cook was some compensation for being forced to spend a  religious holiday with Francis Hancock.
    • leave
      go away from a place
      His  left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • chapter
      a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m  Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • link
      connect, fasten, or put together two or more pieces
      On the way home I nearly hit Mr.  Link Deas, who said, “Look out now, Scout!” when I missed a toss, and when we approached Mrs. Dubose’s house my baton was grimy from having picked it up out of the dirt so many times.
    • spit
      the act of spitting (forcefully expelling saliva)
      “There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into,” murmured Calpurnia, and she  spat meditatively into the yard.
    • take
      get into one's hands, take physically
      I said if he wanted to  take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson.
    • barefooted
      without shoes
      People caught hookworms going barefooted in barnyards and hog wallows.
    • behind
      in or to or toward the rear
      He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length, then go off and play by himself  behind the car-house.
    • man
      an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
      It was customary for the  men in the family to remain on Simon’s homestead, Finch’s Landing, and make their living from cotton.
    • flash card
      a card with words or numbers or pictures that is flashed to a class by the teacher
      The second grade was as bad as the first, only worse—they still flashed cards at you and wouldn’t let you read or write.
    • Alabama River
      a river in Alabama formed by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers near Montgomery; flows southwestward to become a tributary of the Mobile River
      So Simon, having forgotten his teacher’s dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves and with their aid established a homestead on the banks of the  Alabama River some forty miles above Saint Stephens.
    • pair of tweezers
      a hand tool for holding consisting of a compound lever for grasping
      I interrupted to make Uncle Jack let me know when he would pull it out, but he held up a bloody splinter in a  pair of tweezers and said he yanked it while I was laughing, that was what was known as relativity.
    • talcum
      a fine grained mineral having a soft soapy feel and consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate; used in a variety of products including talcum powder
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet  talcum.
    • bang up
      damage or destroy as if by violence
      She was mighty banged up.
    • unawareness
      unconsciousness resulting from lack of knowledge or attention
      High above us in the darkness a solitary mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful  unawareness of whose tree he sat in, plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird to the irascible qua-ack of a bluejay, to the sad lament of Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor Will.
    • tried
      tested and proved to be reliable
      tried again: “Walter’s one of the Cunninghams, Miss Caroline.”
    • scratch
      cut the surface of; wear away the surface of
      I’ve seen his tracks in our back yard many a mornin’, and one night I heard him  scratching on the back screen, but he was gone time Atticus got there.”
    • afternoon
      the part of the day between noon and evening
      Of all days Sunday was the day for formal  afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore shoes.
    • backstage
      a stage area out of sight of the audience
      I went with Cecil down to the front of the auditorium, through a door on one side, and  backstage.
    • baton
      a hollow metal rod that is wielded or twirled by a drum major or drum majorette
      Jem thought he had enough to buy a miniature steam engine for himself and a twirling  baton for me.
    • wait
      stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
      Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us, not  waiting to see if his foray was successful.
    • Cola
      large genus of African trees bearing kola nuts
      A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones; newer ones were outlined with brightly colored glass and broken Coca- Cola bottles.
    • one time
      on one occasion
      Miss Stephanie Crawford said she woke up in the middle of the night  one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her… said his head was like a skull lookin‘ at her.
    • ever
      at all times; all the time and on every occasion
      She had been with us  ever since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember.
    • shut
      move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
      It was all right to  shut him up, Mr. Radley conceded, but insisted that Boo not be charged with anything: he was not a criminal.
    • shotgun
      firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges
      Halfway through the collards I tripped; as I tripped the roar of a  shotgun shattered the neighborhood.
    • unclip
      remove the clip from
      He drew out an envelope, then reached into his vest pocket and  unclipped his fountain pen.
    • chicken leg
      the lower joint of the leg of a chicken
      “I’da got her told,” growled Dill, gnawing a  chicken leg, “but she didn’t look much like tellin‘ this morning.
    • checkerboard
      a board having 64 squares of two alternating colors
      Atticus’s office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a  checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
    • hallway
      an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
      The following Monday afternoon Jem and I climbed the steep front steps to Mrs. Dubose’s house and padded down the open  hallway.
    • cotton gin
      a machine that separates the seeds from raw cotton fibers
      Reverend Sykes leaned across me and whispered to Jem. “He got it caught in a cotton gin, caught it in Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s cotton gin when he was a boy… like to bled to death… tore all the muscles loose from his bones—” Atticus said, “Is this the man who raped you?”
    • balcony
      a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapet
      Do you all reckon it’ll be all right if you all came to the balcony with me?”
    • night
      the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
      People said he went out at  night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows.
    • again
      anew
      Calpurnia was something else  again.
    • raveling
      a bit of fiber that has become separated from woven fabric
      “Gracious child, I was  raveling a thread, wasn’t even thinking about your father, but now that I am I’ll say this: Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.
    • congenital defect
      a defect that is present at birth
      No truant officers could keep their numerous offspring in school; no public health officer could free them from  congenital defects, various worms, and the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings.
    • next
      immediately following in time or order
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22 m Chap...
    • day
      time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s  day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • costume
      the attire characteristic of a country or a time or a social class
      There would also be a prize of twenty-five cents for the best Halloween  costume, created by the wearer.
    • come out
      appear or become visible; make a showing
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley  come out.
    • bank building
      a building in which the business of banking transacted
      Atticus’s office was in the courthouse when he began his law practice, but after several years of it he moved to quieter quarters in the Maycomb  Bank building.
    • body English
      a motion of the body by a player as if to make an object already propelled go in the desired direction
      I was beginning to learn his  body English.
    • content
      satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • grab
      take or grasp suddenly
      Miss Caroline stood stock still, then  grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk.
    • bob
      move up and down repeatedly
      Another thing, Mr.  Bob Ewell, Burris’s father, was permitted to hunt and trap out of season.
    • nobody
      a person of no influence
      Nobody in Maycomb had nerve enough to tell Mr. Radley that his boy was in with the wrong crowd.
    • permanent wave
      a series of waves in the hair made by applying heat and chemicals
      She had a fresh  permanent wave, and her hair was a mass of tight gray ringlets.
    • punk
      a teenager or young adult who is a performer (or enthusiast) of punk rock and a member of the punk youth subculture
      Punk, punk, punk, her needle broke the taut circle.
    • wrapping paper
      a tough paper used for wrapping
      Jem, there’s some  wrapping paper in the pantry, I think.
    • scream
      utter a sudden loud cry
      Mrs. Radley ran  screaming into the street that Arthur was killing them all, but when the sheriff arrived he found Boo still sitting in the livingroom, cutting up the Tribune.
    • pull
      apply force so as to cause motion towards the source of the motion
      As he told us the old tale his blue eyes would lighten and darken; his laugh was sudden and happy; he habitually  pulled at a cowlick in the center of his forehead.
    • chain-smoke
      smoke one cigarette after another; light one cigarette from the preceding one
      Bert, the court reporter, was  chain-smoking: he sat back with his feet on the table.
    • slate-gray
      of the color of slate or granite
      The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the  slate-gray yard around it.
    • window screen
      screen to keep insects from entering a building through the open window
      Jem turned out the livingroom lights and pressed his nose to a  window screen.
    • think about
      have on one's mind, think about actively
      Jem  thought about it for three days.
    • probate
      the act of proving that an instrument purporting to be a will was signed and executed in accord with legal requirements
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the  probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • get it
      understand, usually after some initial difficulty
      “I hope you’ve  got it through your head that he’ll kill us each and every one, Dill Harris,” said Jem, when we joined him.
    • sass
      an impudent or insolent rejoinder
      I don’t mean to  sass you, I’m just tryin‘ to tell you.”
    • schoolhouse
      a building where young people receive education
      Often as not, Miss Maudie and I would sit silently on her porch, watching the sky go from yellow to pink as the sun went down, watching flights of martins sweep low over the neighborhood and disappear behind the  schoolhouse rooftops.
    • luncher
      someone who is eating lunch
      Hey, look—” Some invisible signal had made the  lunchers on the square rise and scatter bits of newspaper, cellophane, and wrapping paper.
    • things
      any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
      “If you are, then-” “Dill, you have to think about these  things,” Jem said.
    • bleakly
      without hope
      “Atticus—” said Jem  bleakly.
    • summer
      the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
      He said it began the  summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • blind spot
      the point where the optic nerve enters the retina; not sensitive to light
      “Mr. Cunningham’s basically a good man,” he said, “he just has his  blind spots along with the rest of us.”
    • tax assessor
      an official who evaluates property for the purpose of taxing it
      To reach the courtroom, on the second floor, one passed sundry sunless county cubbyholes: the  tax assessor, the tax collector, the county clerk, the county solicitor, the circuit clerk, the judge of probate lived in cool dim hutches that smelled of decaying record books mingled with old damp cement and stale urine.
    • slicked up
      having been made especially tidy
      See how they’ve been  slicked up?
    • coffee cup
      a cup from which coffee is drunk
      Her voice soared over the clink of  coffee cups and the soft bovine sounds of the ladies munching their dainties.
    • hat
      headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
      Atticus’s office in the courthouse contained little more than a  hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
    • voice
      the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract
      Impatience crept into Miss Caroline’s  voice: “Here Walter, come get it.”
    • decide
      reach, make, or come to a decision about something
      The town  decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • Negro
      a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
      Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked.
    • raise
      move upwards
      Walter looked as if he had been  raised on fish food: his eyes, as blue as Dill Harris’s, were red-rimmed and watery.
    • county courthouse
      the town or city that is the seat of government for a county
      “Naw, we better wait till they get in, Atticus might not like it if he sees us,” said Jem. The Maycomb  County courthouse was faintly reminiscent of Arlington in one respect: the concrete pillars supporting its south roof were too heavy for their light burden.
    • Helen
      (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
      The collection taken up today and for the next three Sundays will go to  Helen—his wife, to help her out at home.”
    • wanted
      desired or wished for or sought
      I said if he  wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson.
    • seem
      give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
      A day was twenty-four hours long but  seemed longer.
    • eyetooth
      one of the four pointed conical teeth (two in each jaw) located between the incisors and the premolars
      She called us by all our names, and when she grinned she revealed two minute gold prongs clipped to her eyeteeth.
    • happen
      come to pass
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to mind his own business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it  happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • twenty-first
      coming next after the twentieth in position
      Mr. Tate said, “It was the night of November  twenty-first.
    • old
      (used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
      We were far too  old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • baptistry
      bowl for baptismal water
      “But we can’t have communion with you all-” Apparently deciding that it was easier to define primitive  baptistry than closed communion, Miss Maudie said: “Foot-washers believe anything that’s pleasure is a sin.
    • grow
      increase in size by natural process
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth  growing; but after getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law.
    • minute
      a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
      “Lemme think a  minute… it’s sort of like making a turtle come out…” “How’s that?” asked Dill.
    • mean
      denote or connote
      The shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors  meant illness and cold weather only.
    • across
      to the opposite side
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • shake
      move or cause to move back and forth
      The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees  shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you.
    • catch
      take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
      Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could  catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
    • chop up
      cut into pieces
      Mollified, Mayella gave Atticus a final terrified glance and said to Mr. Gilmer, “Well sir, I was on the porch and—and he came along and, you see, there was this old chiffarobe in the yard Papa’d brought in to  chop up for kindlin‘—Papa told me to do it while he was off in the woods but I wadn’t feelin’ strong enough then, so he came by-” “Who is ‘he’?”
    • sitting
      the act of assuming or maintaining a seated position
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone  sitting looking at us.
    • dirty-faced
      having a dirty face
      Some people said six, others said nine; there were always several  dirty-faced ones at the windows when anyone passed by.
    • driveway
      a road leading up to a private house
      We leaped over the low wall that separated Miss Rachel’s yard from our driveway.
    • do it
      have sexual intercourse with
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a good enough defense for anybody.
    • sometimes
      on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
      When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • left
      being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north
      His  left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • answer
      a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only  answer was for him to mind his own business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • play
      engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion
      When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to  play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.
    • go by
      pass by
      When enough years had  gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • Arthur
      a legendary king of the Britons (possibly based on a historical figure in the 6th century but the story has been retold too many times to be sure); said to have led the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot
      If the judge released  Arthur, Mr. Radley would see to it that Arthur gave no further trouble.
    • workbasket
      container for holding implements and materials for work (especially for sewing)
      She sat in her chair with her  workbasket beside it, her rug spread across her lap.
    • union suit
      an undergarment with shirt and drawers in one piece
      Now that I was compelled to think about it, reading was something that just came to me, as learning to fasten the seat of my  union suit without looking around, or achieving two bows from a snarl of shoelaces.
    • burlap bag
      a bag made of burlap
      She was bending over some small bushes, wrapping them in  burlap bags.
    • mouth
      the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
      His cheekbones were sharp and his  mouth was wide, with a thin upper lip and a full lower lip.
    • nearsighted
      unable to see distant objects clearly
      She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.
    • sawhorse
      a framework for holding wood that is being sawed
      Wooden  sawhorses blocked the road at each end of the Radley lot, straw was put down on the sidewalk, traffic was diverted to the back street.
    • tree
      a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry  trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • left-handed
      using or intended for the left hand
      “You’re  left-handed, Mr. Ewell,” said Judge Taylor.
    • gate
      a movable barrier in a fence or wall
      In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the light-pole on the corner, a safe distance from the Radley  gate.
    • people
      (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
      He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his  people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town.
    • chewing
      biting and grinding food in your mouth so it becomes soft enough to swallow
      I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of  chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.
    • every
      (used of count nouns) each and all of the members of a group considered singly and without exception
      He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly  every family in the town.
    • now
      at the present moment
      Dill was from Meridian, Mississippi, was spending the summer with his aunt, Miss Rachel, and would be spending every summer in Maycomb from  now on.
    • swing
      change direction with a swinging motion; turn
      Calpurnia sent me through the  swinging door to the diningroom with a stinging smack.
    • Hitler
      German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)
      When his turn came, he went to the front of the room and began, “Old  Hitler—” “Adolf Hitler, Cecil,” said Miss Gates.
    • tormenter
      someone who torments
      I’ve heard that lawyers’ children, on seeing their parents in court in the heat of argument, get the wrong idea: they think opposing counsel to be the personal enemies of their parents, they suffer agonies, and are surprised to see them often go out arm-in-arm with their  tormenters during the first recess.
    • shiny
      reflecting light
      I see it-” Jem looked around, reached up, and gingerly pocketed a tiny  shiny package.
    • pajama
      (usually plural) loose-fitting nightclothes worn for sleeping or lounging; have a jacket top and trousers
      “It’s not like he’d never speak to you again or somethin‘… I’m gonna wake him up, Jem, I swear I am—” Jem grabbed my  pajama collar and wrenched it tight.
    • white gold
      a pale alloy of gold usually with platinum or nickel or palladium
      “You reckon it’s  white gold, Jem?” “Don’t know.
    • corncrib
      a crib for storing and drying ears of corn
      They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in  corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.
    • out of
      motivated by
      They ambled across the square, shuffled in and  out of the stores around it, took their time about everything.
    • long
      primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified
      He couldn’t have cared less, so  long as he could pass and punt.
    • nod
      lower and raise the head, as to indicate assent or agreement or confirmation
      Dill  nodded.
    • pageant
      an elaborate representation of scenes from history etc; usually involves a parade with rich costumes
      The high-school auditorium would be open, there would be a  pageant for the grown-ups; applebobbing, taffy-pulling, pinning the tail on the donkey for the children.
    • knock on
      (rugby) knocking the ball forward while trying to catch it (a foul)
      Jem said if Dill wanted to get himself killed, all he had to do was go up and  knock on the front door.
    • boy
      a youthful male person
      He played the character parts formerly thrust upon me— the ape in Tarzan, Mr. Crabtree in The Rover  Boys, Mr. Damon in Tom Swift.
    • crawler
      a person who crawls or creeps along the ground
      The night- crawlers had retired, but ripe chinaberries drummed on the roof when the wind stirred, and the darkness was desolate with the barking of distant dogs.
    • reach into
      run into or up to
      I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more,  reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.
    • keep
      continue a certain state, condition, or activity
      Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees  kept the sun away.
    • live
      have life, be alive
      Simon  lived to an impressive age and died rich.
    • whispered
      spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
      When Walter shook his head a third time someone  whispered, “Go on and tell her, Scout.”
    • room
      an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
      His father entered the  room.
    • whiskey
      a liquor made from fermented mash of grain
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • with-it
      having the shrewd resourcefulness needed to survive in an urban environment
      They buy me everything I want, but it’s now—you’ve-got-it-go-play- with-it.
    • cowlick
      a tuft of hair that grows in a different direction from the rest of the hair and usually will not lie flat
      As he told us the old tale his blue eyes would lighten and darken; his laugh was sudden and happy; he habitually pulled at a  cowlick in the center of his forehead.
    • pocket watch
      a watch that is carried in a small watch pocket
      It was a  pocket watch that wouldn’t run, on a chain with an aluminum knife.
    • figure out
      find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
      But I never  figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said.
    • disorderly
      completely unordered and unpredictable and confusing
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of  disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • streak
      a narrow marking of a different color or texture from the background
      Aunt Alexandra, in underlining the moral of young Sam Merriweather’s suicide, said it was caused by a morbid  streak in the family.
    • lightning bug
      nocturnal beetle common in warm regions having luminescent abdominal organs
      Lightning bugs were still about, the night crawlers and flying insects that beat against the screen the summer long had not gone wherever they go when autumn comes.
    • grandma
      the mother of your father or mother
      Grandma’s a wonderful cook,” said Francis.
    • wonder
      the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river  wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • Edgar Rice Burroughs
      United States novelist and author of the Tarzan stories (1875-1950)
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and  Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • court
      an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
      He was in  court one time and they asked him his name.
    • Montgomery
      the state capital of Alabama on the Mobile River
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to  Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • made
      produced by a manufacturing process
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon  made a pile practicing medicine, but in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he knew was not for the glory of God, as the putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • burgle
      commit a burglary; enter and rob a dwelling
      “But why should he try to  burgle John Taylor’s house?
    • clean-living
      morally pure
      She says they’re  clean-living folks.
    • denim
      a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
      Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged,  denim-shirted and floursack-skirted first grade, most of whom had chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature.
    • switch on
      cause to operate by flipping a switch
      Atticus  switched on the ceiling light in the livingroom and found us there, frozen still.
    • chuckle
      a soft partly suppressed laugh
      When we left her, she was still  chuckling.
    • be quiet
      refuse to talk or stop talking; fall silent
      Uncle Jack said if I talked like that he’d lick me again, so I  was quiet.
    • hickory nut
      small hard-shelled nut of North American hickory trees especially the shagbark hickories
      Later, a sack of  hickory nuts appeared on the back steps.
    • call
      utter a sudden loud cry
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who  called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • push
      move with force, "He pushed the table into a corner"
      “You c’n  push.”
    • smilax
      fragile twining plant of South Africa with bright green flattened stems and glossy foliage popular as a floral decoration
      With Christmas came a crate of  smilax and holly.
    • first
      preceding all others in time or space or degree
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill  first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • hell
      any place of pain and turmoil
      The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end; Mrs. Dubose was plain  hell.
    • concentrate on
      center upon
      Miss Caroline, the sixth grade cannot  concentrate on the pyramids for all this racket!”
    • sniff
      perceive by inhaling through the nose
      sniffed it and it smelled all right.
    • river boat
      a boat used on rivers or to ply a river
      The place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life except ice, wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by  river-boats from Mobile.
    • mealtime
      the hour at which a meal is habitually or customarily eaten
      These were abstract speculations for the first month of her stay, as she had little to say to Jem or me, and we saw her only at  mealtimes and at night before we went to bed.
    • Coca
      United States comedienne who starred in early television shows with Sid Caesar (1908-2001)
      A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones; newer ones were outlined with brightly colored glass and broken Coca-Cola bottles.
    • swinging door
      a door that swings on a double hinge; opens in either direction
      Calpurnia sent me through the  swinging door to the diningroom with a stinging smack.
    • cot
      a small bed that folds up for storage or transport
      Summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in  cots, or trying to sleep in the treehouse; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill.
    • furnace room
      a room (usually in the basement of a building) that contains a furnace for heating the building
      Left to its own devices, the class tied Eunice Ann Simpson to a chair and placed her in the  furnace room.
    • kudzu
      fast-growing vine from eastern Asia having tuberous starchy roots and hairy trifoliate leaves and racemes of purple flowers followed by long hairy pods containing many seeds; grown for fodder and forage and root starch; widespread in the southern United States
      At first we saw nothing but a  kudzu-covered front porch, but a closer inspection revealed an arc of water descending from the leaves and splashing in the yellow circle of the street light, some ten feet from source to earth, it seemed to us.
    • over
      beyond the top or upper surface or edge; forward from an upright position
      “Why don’t you come  over, Charles Baker Harris?” he said.
    • big toe
      the first largest innermost toe
      The next day Dill said, “You’re too scared even to put your  big toe in the front yard.”
    • persecute
      cause to suffer
      “Old Adolf Hitler has been prosecutin‘ the—” “ Persecuting Cecil…” “Nome, Miss Gates, it says here—well anyway, old Adolf Hitler has been after the Jews and he’s puttin‘ ’em in prisons and he’s taking away all their property and he won’t let any of ‘em out of the country and he’s washin’ all the feebleminded and—” “Washing the feeble-minded?”
    • talk
      use language
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never  talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to mind his own business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • eye
      the organ of sight
      Dill had seen Dracula, a revelation that moved Jem to  eye him with the beginning of respect.
    • light
      (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
      In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the  light-pole on the corner, a safe distance from the Radley gate.
    • let go
      release, as from one's grip
      Let’s go in the front yard.”
    • shutter
      a hinged blind for a window
      The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green  shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it.
    • good
      having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a  good enough defense for anybody.
    • bong
      a dull resonant sound as of a bell
      The old courthouse clock suffered its preliminary strain and struck the hour, eight deafening  bongs that shook our bones.
    • chicken
      a domestic fowl bred for flesh or eggs; believed to have been developed from the red jungle fowl
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s  chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • foot
      the pedal extremity of vertebrates other than human beings
      Bet it’s a  foot longer.”
    • any
      one or some or every or all without specification
      “Lord, what a name.” “‘s not  any funnier’n yours.
    • sense of direction
      an awareness of your orientation in space
      He traveled with the show all over Mississippi until his infallible  sense of direction told him he was in Abbott County, Alabama, just across the river from Maycomb.
    • pass
      go across or through
      He couldn’t have cared less, so long as he could  pass and punt.
    • murmur
      a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
      “There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into,”  murmured Calpurnia, and she spat meditatively into the yard.
    • family
      primary social group; parents and children
      Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to some members of the  family that we had no recorded ancestors on either side of the Battle of Hastings.
    • reading
      written material intended to be read
      Miss Caroline began the day by  reading us a story about cats.
    • sit in
      attend as a visitor
      According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was  sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook.
    • shorts
      trousers that end at or above the knee
      He wore blue linen  shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • varmint
      any usually predatory wild animal considered undesirable; e.g., coyote
      Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls, which in the summertime were covered with greasy strips of cheesecloth to keep out the  varmints that feasted on Maycomb’s refuse.
    • some
      quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
      Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to  some members of the family that we had no recorded ancestors on either side of the Battle of Hastings.
    • ring finger
      the third finger (especially of the left hand)
      “You’ll have a very unladylike scar on your wedding- ring finger.”
    • football
      any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal
      When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play  football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.
    • cotton
      erect bushy mallow plant or small tree bearing bolls containing seeds with many long hairy fibers
      It was customary for the men in the family to remain on Simon’s homestead, Finch’s Landing, and make their living from  cotton.
    • negro
      relating to or characteristic of or being a member of the traditional racial division of mankind having brown to black pigmentation and tightly curled hair
      The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail alongside  Negroes, so Boo was locked in the courthouse basement.
    • trying
      hard to endure
      “I’m just  trying to tell you the new way they’re teachin‘ the first grade, stubborn.
    • sunnily
      in a cheerful manner
      If I said as  sunnily as I could, “Hey, Mrs. Dubose,” I would receive for an answer, “Don’t you say hey to me, you ugly girl!
    • color
      a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
      The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the  color of the slate-gray yard around it.
    • colon
      the part of the large intestine between the cecum and the rectum; it extracts moisture from food residues before they are excreted
      A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones; newer ones were outlined with brightly colored glass and broken Coca- Cola bottles.
    • here
      in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
      “Don’t have any picture shows  here, except Jesus ones in the courthouse sometimes,” said Jem. “Ever see anything good?”
    • shinny
      a simple version of hockey played by children on the streets (or on ice or on a field) using a ball or can as the puck
      Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with  shinny it made me tight; Miss Stephanie Crawford had long visits with Aunt Alexandra, consisting mostly of Miss Stephanie shaking her head and saying, “Uh, uh, uh.”
    • get up
      rise to one's feet
      Well,” she said,  getting up from the kitchen chair, “it’s enough time to make a pan of cracklin‘ bread, I reckon.
    • store-bought
      purchased; not homemade
      He placed the young town too far away from the only kind of public transportation in those days—river-boat—and it took a man from the north end of the county two days to travel to Maycomb for  store-bought goods.
    • suppertime
      the customary or habitual hour for the evening meal
      We parted at  suppertime, and after our meal Jem and I were settling down to a routine evening, when Atticus did something that interested us: he came into the livingroom carrying a long electrical extension cord.
    • bam
      a sudden very loud noise
      Bam,  bam, bam, and the checkerboard was swept clean of my men.
    • bread line
      a queue of people waiting for free food
      The Governor was eager to scrape a few barnacles off the ship of state; there were sit-down strikes in Birmingham;  bread lines in the cities grew longer, people in the country grew poorer.
    • standing
      social or financial or professional status or reputation
      Walter had picked himself up and was  standing quietly listening to Jem and me.
    • slowly
      without speed (`slow' is sometimes used informally for `slowly')
      People moved  slowly then.
    • settle
      become resolved, fixed, established, or quiet
      We were far too old to  settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • wear
      put clothing on one's body
      He  wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • ask over
      invite someone to one's house
      “Are you all right, darling?” she  asked over and over as she worked me free.
    • side yard
      the grounds at either side of a house
      We leaped over the driveway wall, cut through Miss Rachel’s  side yard and went to Dill’s window.
    • coffee can
      a can for storing ground coffee
      One by one, the congregation came forward and dropped nickels and dimes into a black enameled  coffee can.
    • morning
      the time period between dawn and noon
      Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the  morning.
    • raped
      having been robbed and destroyed by force and violence
      I was just leaving my office to go home when B—Mr. Ewell came in, very excited he was, and said get out to his house quick, some nigger’d  raped his girl.”
    • better
      (comparative of `good') superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
      When he was like that, I knew  better than to bother him.
    • feel
      be conscious of a physical, mental, or emotional state
      She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had  felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember.
    • white
      being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light
      He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow  white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • pocket
      a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles
      Thus we came to know Dill as a  pocket Merlin, whose head teemed with eccentric plans, strange longings, and quaint fancies.
    • shoot
      fire a shot
      Shoot no wonder, then,” said Jem, jerking his thumb at me.
    • camisole
      a short sleeveless undergarment for women
      You should be in a dress and  camisole, young lady!
    • bother
      cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
      When he was like that, I knew better than to bother him.
    • whisper
      speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
      When Walter shook his head a third time someone  whispered, “Go on and tell her, Scout.”
    • lean
      to incline or bend from a vertical position
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he stopped and  leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging crazily on its homemade hinge.
    • parked
      that have been left
      Dr. Reynolds  parked his car in front of our house and walked to the Radley’s every time he called.
    • too
      to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
      We were far  too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • nothing
      in no respect; to no degree
      They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so there was  nothing much Atticus could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was probably the beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.
    • poisonous substance
      any substance that causes injury or illness or death of a living organism
      If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a  poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand out of the way.
    • hit
      deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument
      A baseball  hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked.
    • shoes
      a particular situation
      Of all days Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore  shoes.
    • tire
      lose interest or become bored with something or somebody
      Maycomb was an old town, but it was a  tired old town when I first knew it.
    • still
      not in physical motion
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people  still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • bitty
      (used informally) very small
      “Fat in the middle and little- bitty arms.”
    • get along
      have smooth relations
      He asked how I was  getting along.
    • get in
      to come or go into
      You all  get in outa that hot sun ‘fore you fry alive!”
    • nose
      the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
      Jem’s  nose wrinkled.
    • ear trumpet
      a conical acoustic device formerly used to direct sound to the ear of a hearing-impaired person
      Miss Tutti denied it and lived in a world of silence, but Miss Frutti, not about to miss anything, employed an  ear trumpet so enormous that Jem declared it was a loudspeaker from one of those dog Victrolas.
    • going
      the act of departing
      Miss Stephanie said old Mr. Radley said no Radley was  going to any asylum, when it was suggested that a season in Tuscaloosa might be helpful to Boo. Boo wasn’t crazy, he was high-strung at times.
    • Dracula
      comprises tropical American species usually placed in genus Masdevallia: diminutive plants having bizarre and often sinister-looking flowers with pendulous scapes and motile lips
      Dill had seen  Dracula, a revelation that moved Jem to eye him with the beginning of respect.
    • quieten
      become quiet or quieter
      “Take a good sip, it’ll  quieten you.”
    • stick
      a long thin implement resembling a length of wood
      He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and  stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • Christmas
      a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ; a quarter day in England, Wales, and Ireland
      Mr. Radley’s elder son lived in Pensacola; he came home at  Christmas, and he was one of the few persons we ever saw enter or leave the place.
    • crazy
      affected with madness or insanity
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was  Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • asafoetida
      the brownish gum resin of various plants; has strong taste and odor; formerly used as an antispasmodic
      The warm bittersweet smell of clean Negro welcomed us as we entered the churchyard—Hearts of Love hairdressing mingled with  asafoetida, snuff, Hoyt’s Cologne, Brown’s Mule, peppermint, and lilac talcum.
    • patiently
      with patience; in a patient manner
      “You’re still scared,” murmured Dill  patiently.
    • hands
      (with `in') guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the  hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • ham
      meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
      But at supper that evening when I asked him to pass the damn  ham, please, Uncle Jack pointed at me.
    • along
      in line with a length or direction (often followed by `by' or `beside')
      When we slowed to a walk at the edge of the schoolyard, Jem was careful to explain that during school hours I was not to bother him, I was not to approach him with requests to enact a chapter of Tarzan and the Ant Men, to embarrass him with references to his private life, or tag  along behind him at recess and noon.
    • pick
      look for and gather
      Miss Caroline  picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner.
    • mutter
      talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
      “Can’t get it off the pole,” he  muttered, “or if I got it off I can’t make it stay.
    • pigpen
      a pen for swine
      There was a smell of stale whiskey and  pigpen about, and when I glanced around I discovered that these men were strangers.
    • Barber
      United States composer (1910-1981)
      Misses Tutti and Frutti  Barber were maiden ladies, sisters, who lived together in the only Maycomb residence boasting a cellar.
    • crackle
      make a crackling sound
      It was not often that she made  crackling bread, she said she never had time, but with both of us at school today had been an easy one for her.
    • place
      a point located with respect to surface features of some region
      The  place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life except ice, wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile.
    • touch football
      a version of American football in which the ball carrier is touched rather than tackled
      The Methodists were trying to pay off their church mortgage, and had challenged the Baptists to a game of  touch football.
    • spittoon
      a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)
      Atticus’s office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a  spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
    • flashlight
      a small portable battery-powered electric lamp
      “You should have brought the  flashlight, Jem.” “Didn’t know it was this dark.
    • shoulder
      a ball-and-socket joint between the head of the humerus and a cavity of the scapula
      Shoulder up, I reeled around to face Boo Radley and his bloody fangs; instead, I saw Dill ringing the bell with all his might in Atticus’s face.
    • scoop up
      take out or up with or as if with a scoop
      Jem  scooped up an armful of dirt, patted it into a mound on which he added another load, and another until he had constructed a torso.
    • kitchen stove
      a kitchen appliance used for cooking food
      The cats had long conversations with one another, they wore cunning little clothes and lived in a warm house beneath a  kitchen stove.
    • nineteen
      the cardinal number that is the sum of eighteen and one
      Nineteen-six and Scout, one of em’s nineteen-hundred.
    • stage left
      the part of the stage on the actor's left as the actor faces the audience
      Our only duties, as far as I could gather from our two rehearsals, were to enter from  stage left as Mrs. Merriweather (not only the author, but the narrator) identified us.
    • hip pocket
      a pocket in rear of trousers
      He spat into the shrubbery, then thrust his hands into his  hip pockets and faced Atticus.
    • carnal knowledge
      the act of sexual procreation between a man and a woman; the man's penis is inserted into the woman's vagina and excited until orgasm and ejaculation occur
      He sighed, and said rape was  carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent.
    • cement
      a building material that is a powder made of a mixture of calcined limestone and clay; used with water and sand or gravel to make concrete and mortar
      Dizzy and nauseated, I lay on the  cement and shook my head still, pounded my ears to silence, and heard Jem’s voice: “Scout, get away from there, come on!”
    • looking
      appearing to be as specified; usually used as combining forms
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting  looking at us.
    • pitch black
      a very dark black
      It was  pitch black.
    • today
      on this day as distinct from yesterday or tomorrow
      “Go and eat downtown  today.
    • oak
      a deciduous tree of the genus Quercus; has acorns and lobed leaves
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live  oaks on the square.
    • toy with
      take into consideration, have in view
      Tom Robinson was  toying with them. “…absence of any corroborative evidence, this man was indicted on a capital charge and is now on trial for his life…” I punched Jem. “How long’s he been at it?”
    • from way back
      since long ago
      She’s a troublemaker  from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways—we’re mighty glad to have you all.”
    • travel plan
      a proposed route of travel
      By late afternoon most of my  traveling plans were complete; when Jem and I raced each other up the sidewalk to meet Atticus coming home from work, I didn’t give him much of a race.
    • feebleminded
      retarded in intellectual development
      “Old Adolf Hitler has been prosecutin‘ the—” “Persecuting Cecil…” “Nome, Miss Gates, it says here—well anyway, old Adolf Hitler has been after the Jews and he’s puttin‘ ’em in prisons and he’s taking away all their property and he won’t let any of ‘em out of the country and he’s washin’ all the  feebleminded and—” “Washing the feeble-minded?”
    • arm
      a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
      Charles Lamb PART ONE Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 1 When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his  arm badly broken at the elbow.
    • landing
      the act of coming to land after a voyage
      It was customary for the men in the family to remain on Simon’s homestead, Finch’s  Landing, and make their living from cotton.
    • question
      a sentence of inquiry that asks for a reply
      A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no  questions asked.
    • yawl
      a ship's small boat (usually rowed by 4 or 6 oars)
      I mean it, now-” “ Yawl hush,” growled Jem, “you act like you believe in Hot Steams.”
    • smatter
      speak with spotty or superficial knowledge
      I don’t think-” “‘ Smatter?” said Dill.
    • dish out
      administer or bestow, as in small portions
      Calpurnia poured milk,  dished out potato salad and ham, muttering, “‘shamed of yourselves,” in varying degrees of intensity.
    • chuck
      throw carelessly
      Little  Chuck Little, whose patience with all living things was phenomenal, said, “Which way did he go, Miss Caroline?
    • collection plate
      a shallow receptacle for collection in church
      Besides making change in the  collection plate every Sunday, Mr. Avery sat on the porch every night until nine o’clock and sneezed.
    • misplace
      place (something) where one cannot find it again
      Andrew Jackson appointed him to a position of authority, and Colonel Maycomb’s  misplaced self-confidence and slender sense of direction brought disaster to all who rode with him in the Creek Indian Wars.
    • thank you
      a conversational expression of gratitude
      “Nome  thank you ma’am,” he drawled softly.
    • going-over
      a careful and thorough inspection
      He nodded, produced his handkerchief, gave his face a  going-over and blew his nose violently.
    • square
      (geometry) a plane rectangle with four equal sides and four right angles; a four-sided regular polygon
      In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the  square.
    • begin
      set in motion, cause to start
      He said it  began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • away
      at a distance in space or time
      Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees kept the sun  away.
    • fuss
      an excited state of agitation
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard,  fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • bung
      a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask
      I remember now, she was  bunged up on that side of her face…” Mr. Tate blinked again, as if something had suddenly been made plain to him.
    • neighbor
      a person who lives (or is located) near another
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her  neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • funny
      an account of an amusing incident (usually with a punch line)
      “We better go down there,” said Jem. “They’ll think it’s  funny if we don’t show up.”
    • black
      being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a  black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • be on
      appear in a show, on T.V. or radio
      was on the verge of leavin’—I done done my time for this year.”
    • bout
      a contest or fight (especially between boxers or wrestlers)
      After my  bout with Cecil Jacobs when I committed myself to a policy of cowardice, word got around that Scout Finch wouldn’t fight any more, her daddy wouldn’t let her.
    • lot
      anything (straws or pebbles etc.) taken or chosen at random
      Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the  lot.
    • clipper
      scissors for cutting hair or finger nails (often used in the plural)
      Our activities halted when any of the neighbors appeared, and once I saw Miss Maudie Atkinson staring across the street at us, her hedge  clippers poised in midair.
    • yaws
      an infectious tropical disease resembling syphilis in its early stages; marked by red skin eruptions and ulcerating lesions
      They put the women out in huts when their time came, whatever that was; they had no sense of family—I knew that’d distress Aunty—they subjected children to terrible ordeals when they were thirteen; they were crawling with  yaws and earworms, they chewed up and spat out the bark of a tree into a communal pot and then got drunk on it.
    • poke at
      to push against gently
      Dill asked if I’d like to have a  poke at Boo Radley.
    • fat hen
      European plant naturalized in North America; often collected from the wild as a potherb
      “Cecil Jacobs is a big  fat hen, I think.
    • drop-kick
      drop and kick (a ball) as it touches the ground, as for a field goal
      It was only three forty-five when we got home, so Jem and I  drop-kicked in the back yard until it was time to meet Atticus.
    • Simon
      one of the twelve Apostles (first century)
      If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the creek,  Simon Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t?
    • motivate
      give an incentive for action
      Tim Johnson was advancing at a snail’s pace, but he was not playing or sniffing at foliage: he seemed dedicated to one course and  motivated by an invisible force that was inching him toward us.
    • hip
      either side of the body below the waist and above the thigh
      Miss Blount, a native Maycombian as yet uninitiated in the mysteries of the Decimal System, appeared at the door hands on  hips and announced: “If I hear another sound from this room I’ll burn up everybody in it.
    • get started
      start to be active
      Those Bellingraths’ll look plain puny when I  get started!”
    • looking at
      the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting  looking at us.
    • hard rubber
      a hard nonresilient rubber formed by vulcanizing natural rubber
      It was not quite like  hard rubber, and I had the sensation that it was alive.
    • county line
      the boundary between two counties
      Lives by himself way down near the  county line.
    • unbuttoned
      not buttoned
      He unhitched his watch and chain and placed them on the table, saying, “With the court’s permission—” Judge Taylor nodded, and then Atticus did something I never saw him do before or since, in public or in private: he  unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie, and took off his coat.
    • listen
      hear with intention
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • bathrobe
      a loose-fitting robe of towelling; worn after a bath or swim
      Atticus was holding out my  bathrobe and coat.
    • chunk
      a compact mass
      “Ain’t hateful, just persuades him—‘s not like you’d  chunk him in the fire,” Jem growled.
    • more
      (comparative of `much' used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their  more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • little
      limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
      Atticus’s office in the courthouse contained  little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
    • look up
      seek information from
      looked up to see Miss Caroline standing in the middle of the room, sheer horror flooding her face.
    • pester
      annoy persistently
      “Let’s don’t  pester him, he’ll know when it’s time,” said Jem. The Abbottsville fire truck began pumping water on our house; a man on the roof pointed to places that needed it most.
    • circumstantial evidence
      evidence providing only a basis for inference about the fact in dispute
      We don’t know, but there is  circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.
    • hydrant
      a faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask
      When the men attached its hose to a  hydrant, the hose burst and water shot up, tinkling down on the pavement.
    • forget
      dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
      So Simon, having  forgotten his teacher’s dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves and with their aid established a homestead on the banks of the Alabama River some forty miles above Saint Stephens.
    • behave
      behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself
      She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t  behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • softly
      with little weight or force
      “Nome thank you ma’am,” he drawled  softly.
    • side
      a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
      Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to some members of the family that we had no recorded ancestors on either  side of the Battle of Hastings.
    • scratching
      a harsh noise made by scraping
      I’ve seen his tracks in our back yard many a mornin’, and one night I heard him  scratching on the back screen, but he was gone time Atticus got there.”
    • two
      the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART  TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • vest pocket
      a small pocket in a man's vest
      He drew out an envelope, then reached into his  vest pocket and unclipped his fountain pen.
    • maleness
      the properties characteristic of the male sex
      Dill’s  maleness was beginning to assert itself.
    • briefcase
      a case with a handle; for carrying papers or files or books
      Jem seized his  briefcase and bag, I jumped into his arms, felt his vague dry kiss and said, “‘d you bring me a book? ’d you know Aunty’s here?”
    • hold
      have or hold in one's hands or grip
      “He’ll probably come out after you when he sees you in the yard, then Scout’n‘ me’ll jump on him and  hold him down till we can tell him we ain’t gonna hurt him.”
    • shirt
      a garment worn on the upper half of the body
      He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his  shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • fist
      a hand with the fingers clenched in the palm (as for hitting)
      We were far too old to settle an argument with a  fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • grow up
      become an adult
      Nearly the same age, they had  grown up together at Finch’s Landing.
    • scary
      provoking fear terror
      But Dill got him the third day, when he told Jem that folks in Meridian certainly weren’t as afraid as the folks in Maycomb, that he’d never seen such  scary folks as the ones in Maycomb.
    • lap
      the upper side of the thighs of a seated person
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • under
      below some quantity or limit
      “Folks call me Dill,” said Dill, struggling  under the fence.
    • settle down
      become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style
      Subdued, I fixed my attention upon Reverend Sykes, who seemed to be waiting for me to  settle down.
    • jump
      move forward by leaps and bounds
      Jem had his little sister to think of the time I dared him to  jump off the top of the house: “If I got killed, what’d become of you?” he asked.
    • pointed
      having a point
      Miss Caroline  pointed a shaking finger not at the floor nor at a desk, but to a hulking individual unknown to me.
    • digestive juice
      secretions that aid digestion
      Bit by bit the dead cigar would disappear, to reappear some hours later as a flat slick mess, its essence extracted and mingling with Judge Taylor’s  digestive juices.
    • give
      transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first  gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • cough
      a sudden noisy expulsion of air from the lungs that clears the air passages; a common symptom of upper respiratory infection or bronchitis or pneumonia or tuberculosis
      When he passed we would look at the ground and say, “Good morning, sir,” and he would  cough in reply.
    • hair
      a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
      Jem brushed his  hair back to get a better look.
    • rotogravure
      printing by transferring an image from a photogravure plate to a cylinder in a rotary press
      Behind the rough oak pulpit a faded pink silk banner proclaimed God Is Love, the church’s only decoration except a  rotogravure print of Hunt’s The Light of the World.
    • unfunny
      not funny; especially failing to achieve the intended humor
      In obedience to my father, there followed what I later realized was a sickeningly comic aspect of an  unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers.
    • scowl
      frown with displeasure
      Jem  scowled.
    • weekday
      any day except Sunday (and sometimes except Saturday)
      The doors of the Radley house were closed on weekdays as well as Sundays, and Mr. Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen years.
    • crazily
      in an insane manner
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he stopped and leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging  crazily on its homemade hinge.
    • move
      change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
      People  moved slowly then.
    • aggravate
      make worse
      It aggravates ’em.
    • start
      take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
      I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that.
    • dangle
      hang freely
      As he read along, I noticed that Mrs. Dubose’s corrections grew fewer and farther between, that Jem had even left one sentence  dangling in mid-air.
    • jerk
      a sudden abrupt pull
      “Shoot no wonder, then,” said Jem,  jerking his thumb at me.
    • gambling hell
      a public building in which a variety of games of chance can be played (operated as a business)
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside  gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • understand
      know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
      Miss Caroline and I had conferred twice already, and they were looking at me in the innocent assurance that familiarity breeds  understanding.
    • eyebrow
      the arch of hair above each eye
      I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her  eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste.
    • quelling
      forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority
      Through all the headshaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk.
    • lawyer
      a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22 m Chap...
    • illicitly
      in a manner disapproved or not allowed by custom
      I never deliberately learned to read, but somehow I had been wallowing  illicitly in the daily papers.
    • banana peel
      the skin of a banana (especially when it is stripped off and discarded)
      There were at least twelve  banana peels on the floor by his bed, surrounding an empty milk bottle.
    • push up
      push upward
      Atticus  pushed up his glasses and rubbed his face.
    • crawl
      move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I  crawled into his lap every night.
    • tenterhook
      one of a series of hooks used to hold cloth on a tenter
      I waited, on  tenterhooks, for Uncle Jack to tell Atticus my side of it.
    • find
      discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
      He returned to Saint Stephens only once, to  find a wife, and with her established a line that ran high to daughters.
    • mumble
      talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
      mumbled that I was sorry and retired meditating upon my crime.
    • come to
      cause to experience suddenly
      He said it began the summer Dill  came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • buttoned
      furnished or closed with buttons or something buttonlike
      He wore blue linen shorts that  buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • shoe
      footwear shaped to fit the foot (below the ankle) with a flexible upper of leather or plastic and a sole and heel of heavier material
      Of all days Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore  shoes.
    • upstairs
      on a floor above
      She boarded across the street one door down from us in Miss Maudie Atkinson’s upstairs front room, and when Miss Maudie introduced us to her, Jem was in a haze for days.
    • get to
      arrive at the point of
      “That’s okay, ma’am, you’ll  get to know all the county folks after a while.
    • sick
      affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
      The old house was the same, droopy and  sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move.
    • low-down
      of the most contemptible kind
      I can’t conceive of anyone  low-down enough to do a thing like this, but I hope you found him.”
    • leveler
      a radical who advocates the abolition of social distinctions
      Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great  levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.
    • sneak up
      advance stealthily or unnoticed
      “He sneaked out of the house—turn ‘round— sneaked up, an’ went like this!”
    • sit-down strike
      a strike in which workers refuse to leave the workplace until a settlement is reached
      The Governor was eager to scrape a few barnacles off the ship of state; there were  sit-down strikes in Birmingham; bread lines in the cities grew longer, people in the country grew poorer.
    • bowlegged
      have legs that curve outward at the knees
      “Dill if you don’t hush I’ll knock you  bowlegged.
    • uncrossed
      not crossed
      Mr. Tate  uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.
    • pass by
      move past
      As Mr. Radley  passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • wake up
      stop sleeping
      Miss Stephanie Crawford said she  woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her… said his head was like a skull lookin‘ at her.
    • garbage dump
      a piece of land where waste materials are dumped
      Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town  garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin.
    • saying
      a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
      Scout, you’ll get in trouble if you go around  saying things like that.
    • take advantage
      draw advantages from
      Burris seemed to be afraid of a child half his height, and Miss Caroline  took advantage of his indecision: “Burris, go home.
    • only
      without any others being included or involved
      All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trapping apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was exceeded  only by his stinginess.
    • bathroom
      a room (as in a residence) containing a bathtub or shower and usually a washbasin and toilet
      Sometimes when we made a midnight pilgrimage to the  bathroom we would find him reading.
    • mighty
      having or showing great strength or force or intensity
      Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo‘ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and  mighty!
    • conversation piece
      something interesting that stimulates conversation
      The jail was Maycomb’s only  conversation piece: its detractors said it looked like a Victorian privy; its supporters said it gave the town a good solid respectable look, and no stranger would ever suspect that it was full of niggers.
    • pork and beans
      dried beans cooked with pork and tomato sauce
      Dill made his way through the leftovers and was reaching for a can of  pork and beans in the pantry when Miss Rachel’s Do-oo Je-sus went off in the hall.
    • cousin
      the child of your aunt or uncle
      “You sound like  Cousin Ike Finch,” I said.
    • whiskey bottle
      a bottle for holding whiskey
      “You are too young to understand it,” she said, “but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a  whiskey bottle in the hand of—oh, of your father.”
    • aisle
      a long narrow passage (as in a cave or woods)
      Zeebo rose from his pew and walked down the center  aisle, stopping in front of us and facing the congregation.
    • mind
      that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to  mind his own business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • gum
      any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying
      I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing  gum minus their outer wrappers.
    • glass
      a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
      He would probably have poured it into his milk  glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing.
    • deep in thought
      deeply absorbed in thought
      When we passed our tree he gave it a meditative pat on its cement, and remained  deep in thought.
    • beat
      hit repeatedly
      beat him up twice but it did no good, he only grew closer to Jem. They spent days together in the treehouse plotting and planning, calling me only when they needed a third party.
    • little sister
      a younger sister
      Besides, Jem had his  little sister to think of.
    • knife
      edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
      It was a pocket watch that wouldn’t run, on a chain with an aluminum  knife.
    • teach
      impart skills or knowledge to
      Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to  teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading.
    • chin
      the protruding part of the lower jaw
      I crawled into his lap and tucked my head under his  chin.
    • nice
      pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
      Miss Caroline came to the end of the story and said, “Oh, my, wasn’t that  nice?”
    • hung jury
      a jury that is unable to agree on a verdict (the result is a mistrial)
      “If we’d had two of that crowd, we’d’ve had a  hung jury.”
    • tin can
      airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
      Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at  tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds.
    • breathed
      uttered without voice
      When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had  breathed on them.
    • garishly
      in a tastelessly garish manner
      They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem’s room.
    • ump
      an official at a baseball game
      Just  ump—” Dill’s fat foot hit the ground.
    • bloodcurdling
      extremely alarming
      Through the weeks he had cultivated an expression of polite and detached interest, which he would present to her in answer to her most  bloodcurdling inventions.
    • floor
      the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
      Miss Caroline pointed a shaking finger not at the  floor nor at a desk, but to a hulking individual unknown to me.
    • unroll
      unroll, unfold, or spread out or be unrolled, unfolded, or spread out from a furled state
      I thought they must be coldnatured, as their sleeves were  unrolled and buttoned at the cuffs.
    • through
      having finished or arrived at completion
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running  through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • even
      being level or straight or regular and without variation as e.g. in shape or texture; or being in the same plane or at the same height as something else (i.e. even with)
      “Scout yonder’s been readin‘ ever since she was born, and she ain’t  even started to school yet.
    • plot of ground
      a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation
      The Levy family met all criteria for being Fine Folks: they did the best they could with the sense they had, and they had been living on the same  plot of ground in Maycomb for five generations.
    • stoner
      an attacker who pelts the victim with stones (especially with intent to kill)
      “Heard every word you said,” I muttered. “… wasn’t sleep at all, ‘s about a ship an’ Three-Fingered Fred ‘n’  Stoner’s Boy…” He unhooked my overalls, leaned me against him, and pulled them off.
    • muffle
      deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
      Soft taffeta-like sounds and muffled scurrying sounds filled me with helpless dread.
    • coffee break
      a snack taken during a break in the work day
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning  coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • eat
      take in solid food
      Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you  ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
    • lectern
      desk or stand with a slanted top used to hold a text at the proper height for a lecturer
      I got rid of my ham costume and departed in a hurry, for Mrs. Merriweather was standing at a  lectern in front of the first row of seats making last-minute, frenzied changes in the script.
    • backboard
      a board used to support the back of someone or something
      He had walked ten or eleven of the fourteen miles to Maycomb, off the highway in the scrub bushes lest the authorities be seeking him, and had ridden the remainder of the way clinging to the  backboard of a cotton wagon.
    • pillowcase
      bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow
      Her face was the color of a dirty  pillowcase, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin.
    • squint
      partly close one's eyes, as when hit by direct blinding light
      She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she  squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.
    • finger
      any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving  finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • underline
      draw a line or lines underneath to call attention to
      Jem  underlined it when he asked Atticus if he was going out for the Methodists and Atticus said he’d break his neck if he did, he was just too old for that sort of thing.
    • sure
      having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
      Dill blushed and Jem told me to hush, a  sure sign that Dill had been studied and found acceptable.
    • screen
      partition consisting of a decorative frame or panel that serves to divide a space
      The Radley house had no  screen doors.
    • stand in
      be a substitute
      Now lemme think… reckon we can rock him…” Jem  stood in thought so long that Dill made a mild concession: “I won’t say you ran out on a dare an‘ I’ll swap you The Gray Ghost if you just go up and touch the house.”
    • eyes
      opinion or judgment
      As he told us the old tale his blue  eyes would lighten and darken; his laugh was sudden and happy; he habitually pulled at a cowlick in the center of his forehead.
    • hairdressing
      care for the hair: the activity of washing or cutting or curling or arranging the hair
      The warm bittersweet smell of clean Negro welcomed us as we entered the churchyard—Hearts of Love  hairdressing mingled with asafoetida, snuff, Hoyt’s Cologne, Brown’s Mule, peppermint, and lilac talcum.
    • paper cup
      a disposable cup made of paper; for holding drinks
      Little Chuck brought water in a  paper cup, and she drank it gratefully.
    • peeve
      an annoyed or irritated mood
      Calpurnia looked  peeved, but Atticus looked exhausted.
    • kick
      drive or propel with the foot
      We ran back and found him struggling in the fence,  kicking his pants off to get loose.
    • sensed
      detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues
      Perhaps Calpurnia  sensed that my day had been a grim one: she let me watch her fix supper.
    • guess
      expect, believe, or suppose
      It kept me from driving her crazy on rainy days, I guess.
    • missus
      informal term of address for someone's wife
      “What fer,  missus?”
    • wriggle
      to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
      Hours of wintertime had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope Jem had given me, learning their games, following Jem’s red jacket through  wriggling circles of blind man’s buff, secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.
    • scurry
      to move about or proceed hurriedly
      Soft taffeta-like sounds and muffled  scurrying sounds filled me with helpless dread.
    • routine
      an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
      Thereafter the summer passed in  routine contentment.
    • watching
      the act of observing; taking a patient look
      At last the sawhorses were taken away, and we stood  watching from the front porch when Mr. Radley made his final journey past our house.
    • kill
      cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
      1960 TO  KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • grown
      (of animals) fully developed
      “Naw, don’t anybody much but us pass by there, unless it’s some  grown person’s-” “Grown folks don’t have hidin‘ places.
    • baby
      a very young mammal
      He charges some folks a bushel of potatoes for delivery of a  baby.
    • tea set
      a set of china or silverware for serving tea
      Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves,  tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life.
    • rub
      move over something with pressure
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 3 Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was  rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop.
    • go to bed
      prepare for sleep
      “Sir?” “ Go to bed.”
    • stroll
      a leisurely walk (usually in some public place)
      When he completed his examination of the wisteria vine he  strolled back to me.
    • pole
      a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic
      In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the light- pole on the corner, a safe distance from the Radley gate.
    • found
      food and lodging provided in addition to money
      Jem and I  found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.
    • dressed-up
      dressed in fancy or formal clothing
      One or two of the jury looked vaguely like  dressed-up Cunninghams.
    • first cousin
      the child of your aunt or uncle
      Double  first cousin.”
    • walking
      the act of traveling by foot
      Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot.
    • rest
      take a short break from one's activities in order to relax
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that  rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • Battle of the Marne
      a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918
      If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand out of the way.
    • roomer
      a tenant in someone's house
      Why, I’ll build me a little house and take me a couple of roomers and—gracious, I’ll have the finest yard in Alabama.
    • wordlessly
      without speaking
      Wordlessly, he held up his pants.
    • whittle
      cut small bits or pare shavings from
      Boo bit it off one night when he couldn’t find any cats and squirrels to eat.); she sat in the livingroom and cried most of the time, while Boo slowly  whittled away all the furniture in the house.
    • field hand
      a hired hand on a farm
      There was a kitchen separate from the rest of the house, tacked onto it by a wooden catwalk; in the back yard was a rusty bell on a pole, used to summon field hands or as a distress signal; a widow’s walk was on the roof, but no widows walked there—from it, Simon oversaw his overseer, watched the river-boats, and gazed into the lives of surrounding landholders.
    • whore
      a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
      “Grandma,” he bawled, “she called me a whore-lady and jumped on me!”
    • year
      the period of time that it takes for a planet (as, e.g., Earth or Mars) to make a complete revolution around the sun
      When enough  years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • men
      the force of workers available
      It was customary for the  men in the family to remain on Simon’s homestead, Finch’s Landing, and make their living from cotton.
    • mad
      roused to anger
      Ground, sky and houses melted into a  mad palette, my ears throbbed, I was suffocating.
    • Sunday
      first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
      Of all days  Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore shoes.
    • slosh
      spill or splash copiously or clumsily
      Jem  sloshed water over the mud man and added more dirt.
    • county seat
      the town or city that is the seat of government for a county
      Maycomb, some twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing, was the  county seat of Maycomb County.
    • hurt
      be the source of pain
      “How do you know a match don’t  hurt him?”
    • come along
      come into being or existence, or appear on the scene
      If anyone  came along, Dill would ring the bell.
    • baby-sit
      take watchful responsibility for
      It was customary for field Negroes with tiny children to deposit them in whatever shade there was while their parents worked—usually the  babies sat in the shade between two rows of cotton.
    • high wire
      a tightrope very high above the ground
      We thought it was better to go under the  high wire fence at the rear of the Radley lot, we stood less chance of being seen.
    • ahead
      at or in the front
      Walter looked straight  ahead.
    • sound
      mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium
      When Dill reduced Dracula to dust, and Jem said the show  sounded better than the book, I asked Dill where his father was: “You ain’t said anything about him.”
    • learn
      gain knowledge or skills
      Hours of wintertime had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope Jem had given me,  learning their games, following Jem’s red jacket through wriggling circles of blind man’s buff, secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.
    • swap
      exchange or give (something) in exchange for
      Now lemme think… reckon we can rock him…” Jem stood in thought so long that Dill made a mild concession: “I won’t say you ran out on a dare an‘ I’ll  swap you The Gray Ghost if you just go up and touch the house.”
    • stay away
      stay clear of, avoid
      Lastly, we were to  stay away from that house until we were invited there, we were not to play an asinine game he had seen us playing or make fun of anybody on this street or in this town- “We weren’t makin‘ fun of him, we weren’t laughin’ at him,” said Jem, “we were just-” “So that was what you were doing, wasn’t it?”
    • unbutton
      undo the buttons of
      He unhitched his watch and chain and placed them on the table, saying, “With the court’s permission—” Judge Taylor nodded, and then Atticus did something I never saw him do before or since, in public or in private: he  unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie, and took off his coat.
    • table
      a piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs
      “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the  table when they don’t.
    • begrudge
      be envious of; set one's heart on
      I don’t know of any landowner around here who  begrudges those children any game their father can hit.”
    • complicate
      make more complicated
      I returned to the front yard and busied myself for two hours erecting a  complicated breastworks at the side of the porch, consisting of a tire, an orange crate, the laundry hamper, the porch chairs, and a small U.S. flag Jem gave me from a popcorn box.
    • jury system
      a legal system for determining the facts at issue in a law suit
      “I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the  jury system—that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.
    • curtness
      an abrupt discourteous manner
      His  curtness stung me.
    • belt buckle
      the buckle used to fasten a belt
      “Jem?” My toes touched trousers, a  belt buckle, buttons, something I could not identify, a collar, and a face.
    • crease
      an angular or rounded shape made by folding
      He put the newspaper down very carefully, adjusting its  creases with lingering fingers.
    • help
      give help or assistance; be of service
      “Reason I can’t pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I’ve had to stay out ever‘ spring an’  help Papa with the choppin‘, but there’s another’n at the house now that’s field size.”
    • garbage
      food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)
      We sat waiting for Zeebo to arrive in the  garbage truck.
    • fret
      be agitated or irritated
      “Now don’t you fret, ma’am,” he said.
    • stomp
      walk heavily
      stomped at him to chase him away, but Jem put out his hand and stopped me.
    • church
      a place for public (especially Christian) worship
      They did not go to  church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • alive
      possessing life
      My memory came  alive to see Mrs. Radley occasionally open the front door, walk to the edge of the porch, and pour water on her cannas.
    • once
      on one occasion
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22 m Chap...
    • dig into
      examine physically with or as if with a probe
      I felt Calpurnia’s hand  dig into my shoulder.
    • die
      pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
      Simon lived to an impressive age and  died rich.
    • dead
      no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
      “Is he  dead?”
    • choked
      stopped up; clogged up
      “Then I’m goin‘ with you —” I  choked.
    • coming
      of the relatively near future
      The neighborhood thought when Mr. Radley went under Boo would come out, but it had another think  coming: Boo’s elder brother returned from Pensacola and took Mr. Radley’s place.
    • cubbyhole
      a small compartment
      To reach the courtroom, on the second floor, one passed sundry sunless county cubbyholes: the tax assessor, the tax collector, the county clerk, the county solicitor, the circuit clerk, the judge of probate lived in cool dim hutches that smelled of decaying record books mingled with old damp cement and stale urine.
    • rearrange
      put into a new order or arrangement
      She just  rearranged food on her plate, looking at it sadly while Calpurnia served Jem, Dill and me with a vengeance.
    • gouge
      an impression in a surface (as made by a blow)
      “Don’t blame me when he  gouges your eyes out.
    • changeling
      a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy
      Aunt Alexandra was Atticus’s sister, but when Jem told me about  changelings and siblings, I decided that she had been swapped at birth, that my grandparents had perhaps received a Crawford instead of a Finch.
    • knuckle
      a joint of a finger when the fist is closed
      Francis looked at me carefully, concluded that I had been sufficiently subdued, and crooned softly, “Nigger-lover…” This time, I split my  knuckle to the bone on his front teeth.
    • sports page
      any page in the sports section of a newspaper
      Every night Atticus would read us the  sports pages of the newspapers.
    • breath
      the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
      “There goes the meanest man ever God blew  breath into,” murmured Calpurnia, and she spat meditatively into the yard.
    • sorry
      feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
      I mumbled that I was  sorry and retired meditating upon my crime.
    • all the time
      without respite
      “Good Lord, Miss Maudie, Jem and me beat him  all the time.”
    • ambidextrous
      equally skillful with each hand
      “About your writing with your left hand, are you  ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell?”
    • solicitor
      a British lawyer who gives legal advice and prepares legal documents
      To reach the courtroom, on the second floor, one passed sundry sunless county cubbyholes: the tax assessor, the tax collector, the county clerk, the county solicitor, the circuit clerk, the judge of probate lived in cool dim hutches that smelled of decaying record books mingled with old damp cement and stale urine.
    • hall
      an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
      That cat thing was real fine this mornin‘… Miss Caroline smiled, blew her nose, said, “Thank you, darlings,” dispersed us, opened a book and mystified the first grade with a long narrative about a toadfrog that lived in a  hall.
    • opened
      not sealed or having been unsealed
      Miss Caroline went to her desk and  opened her purse.
    • step on
      place or press the foot on
      Don’t  step on it!”
    • startle
      to stimulate to action
      Reverend Sykes  startled me by saying sternly, “Carlow Richardson, I haven’t seen you up this aisle yet.”
    • sticking
      extending out above or beyond a surface or boundary
      Some tinfoil was  sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun.
    • gone
      no longer retained
      When enough years had  gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • ex cathedra
      with the full authority of the office
      I remembered something he had said about Judge Taylor’s  ex cathedra remarks sometimes exceeding his duty, but that few lawyers ever did anything about them.
    • Lafayette
      a university town in west central Indiana on the Wabash River
      When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry  Lafayette Dubose’s house two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
    • wake
      stop sleeping
      Miss Stephanie Crawford said she  woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her… said his head was like a skull lookin‘ at her.
    • spell
      write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word)
      “I have a Ewell here, but I don’t have a first name… would you  spell your first name for me?”
    • front room
      a room in a private house or establishment where people can sit and talk and relax
      She boarded across the street one door down from us in Miss Maudie Atkinson’s upstairs  front room, and when Miss Maudie introduced us to her, Jem was in a haze for days.
    • voile
      a light semitransparent fabric
      Calpurnia, in her navy  voile dress and tub of a hat, walked between Jem and me.
    • absorbent cotton
      cotton made absorbent by removal of the natural wax
      There was a marble-topped washstand by her bed; on it were a glass with a teaspoon in it, a red ear syringe, a box of  absorbent cotton, and a steel alarm clock standing on three tiny legs.
    • fascinate
      to render motionless, as with a fixed stare or by arousing terror or awe
      The Radley Place  fascinated Dill.
    • stare
      look at with fixed eyes
      We  stared at him until he spoke: “Hey.” “Hey yourself,” said Jem pleasantly.
    • turn to
      direct one's interest or attention towards; go into
      In rainy weather the streets  turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • cussed
      stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
      The judge asked Mr. Conner why he included the last charge; Mr. Conner said they  cussed so loud he was sure every lady in Maycomb heard them.
    • spitball
      a projectile made by chewing a piece of paper and shaping it into a sphere
      “Bet he was hell with a  spitball,” murmured Dill.
    • soaking up
      (chemistry) a process in which one substance permeates another; a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid
      Mr. Braxton Underwood, who had been sitting quietly in a chair reserved for the Press,  soaking up testimony with his sponge of a brain, allowed his bitter eyes to rove over the colored balcony, and they met mine.
    • go off
      run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along
      He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length, then  go off and play by himself behind the car-house.
    • straight
      having no deviations
      Miss Stephanie Crawford said he was so upright he took the word of God as his only law, and we believed her, because Mr. Radley’s posture was ramrod  straight.
    • miss
      fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
      I did not  miss her, but I think Jem did.
    • come home
      become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
      Mr. Radley’s elder son lived in Pensacola; he  came home at Christmas, and he was one of the few persons we ever saw enter or leave the place.
    • lean against
      rest on for support
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he stopped and  leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging crazily on its homemade hinge.
    • go ahead
      proceed (with a plan of action)
      Dill stopped and let Jem  go ahead.
    • washer
      someone who washes things for a living
      “But we can’t have communion with you all-” Apparently deciding that it was easier to define primitive baptistry than closed communion, Miss Maudie said: “Foot- washers believe anything that’s pleasure is a sin.
    • engineering school
      a technical school offering instruction in many industrial arts and applied sciences
      The other boys attended the industrial school and received the best secondary education to be had in the state; one of them eventually worked his way through engineering school at Auburn.
    • stamping ground
      a frequently visited place
      Old Sarum, their  stamping grounds, was populated by two families separate and apart in the beginning, but unfortunately bearing the same name.
    • go through
      go across or through
      “You can’t,” said Jem. “Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta  go through one you say, ‘Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don’t suck my breath.’
    • sit back
      settle into a comfortable sitting position
      sat back down.
    • distress signal
      an internationally recognized signal sent out by a ship or plane indicating that help is needed
      There was a kitchen separate from the rest of the house, tacked onto it by a wooden catwalk; in the back yard was a rusty bell on a pole, used to summon field hands or as a  distress signal; a widow’s walk was on the roof, but no widows walked there—from it, Simon oversaw his overseer, watched the river-boats, and gazed into the lives of surrounding landholders.
    • bird dog
      a gun dog trained to locate or retrieve birds
      Tim was a liver-colored  bird dog, the pet of Maycomb.
    • knuckles
      a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand
      While he cleaned and bandaged my  knuckles, he entertained me with a tale about a funny nearsighted old gentleman who had a cat named Hodge, and who counted all the cracks in the sidewalk when he went to town.
    • collar
      a band that fits around the neck and is usually folded over
      Men’s stiff  collars wilted by nine in the morning.
    • go down
      move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
      Often as not, Miss Maudie and I would sit silently on her porch, watching the sky go from yellow to pink as the sun  went down, watching flights of martins sweep low over the neighborhood and disappear behind the schoolhouse rooftops.
    • two-by-four
      a timber measuring (slightly under) 2 inches by 4 inches in cross section
      Instead of a column, a rough  two-by-four supported one end of the roof.
    • headboard
      a vertical board or panel forming the head of a bedstead
      I pushed the pillow to the  headboard and sat up.
    • unhook
      take off a hook
      Dill’s face appeared at the screen, disappeared, and five minutes later he  unhooked the screen and crawled out.
    • poker
      any of various card games in which players bet that they hold the highest-ranking hand
      “We were playin‘ strip  poker up yonder by the fishpool,” he said.
    • blackboard
      sheet of slate; for writing with chalk
      Miss Caroline printed her name on the  blackboard and said, “This says I am Miss Caroline Fisher.
    • thunderer
      a noisemaker that makes a sound like thunder
      I guess it was because Atticus wasn’t a  thunderer.
    • draw a bead on
      aim with a gun
      drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, “Scout’s a cow—ward!” ringing in my ears.
    • bullet-headed
      having a small round head
      She was  bullet-headed with strange almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, and an Indian-bow mouth.
    • shush
      silence (someone) by uttering `shush!'
      “Reckon they wouldn’t know what it was if she didn’t tell ‘em,” whispered Cecil, who was immediately  shushed.
    • shut up
      cause to be quiet or not talk
      “I do, I mean it,” he said, when I told him to  shut up.
    • morbid
      suggesting the horror of death and decay
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of  morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • offense
      a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings or others
      He said he was trying to get Miss Maudie’s goat, that he had been trying unsuccessfully for forty years, that he was the last person in the world Miss Maudie would think about marrying but the first person she thought about teasing, and the best defense to her was spirited  offense, all of which we understood clearly.
    • thank
      express gratitude or show appreciation to
      “Nome  thank you ma’am,” he drawled softly.
    • cuss
      utter obscenities or profanities
      The judge asked Mr. Conner why he included the last charge; Mr. Conner said they  cussed so loud he was sure every lady in Maycomb heard them.
    • real
      being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
      Our Cal’s a  real good cook.”
    • overall
      including everything
      He did have on a clean shirt and neatly mended  overalls.
    • good night
      a conventional expression of farewell
      You don’t want ’em around you all the time, Dill—” Dill breathed his patient breath, a half-sigh. “— good night, Atticus’s gone all day and sometimes half the night and off in the legislature and I don’t know what—you don’t want ‘em around all the time, Dill, you couldn’t do anything if they were.”
    • cross-examination
      (law) close questioning of a hostile witness in a court of law to discredit or throw a new light on the testimony already provided in direct examination
      Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don’t already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food.
    • sound out
      speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way
      But there came a day when Atticus told us he’d wear us out if we made any noise in the yard and commissioned Calpurnia to serve in his absence if she heard a sound out of us.
    • entitle
      give the right to
      “Well, most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong…” “They’re certainly  entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.
    • make fun
      subject to laughter or ridicule
      Lastly, we were to stay away from that house until we were invited there, we were not to play an asinine game he had seen us playing or  make fun of anybody on this street or in this town- “We weren’t makin‘ fun of him, we weren’t laughin’ at him,” said Jem, “we were just-” “So that was what you were doing, wasn’t it?”
    • pull at
      pluck or pull at with the fingers
      As he told us the old tale his blue eyes would lighten and darken; his laugh was sudden and happy; he habitually  pulled at a cowlick in the center of his forehead.
    • railing
      a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
      He swung his legs over the railing and was sliding down a pillar when he slipped.
    • under it
      under that
      “Do better if you go over it instead of  under it,” I said.
    • plug away
      work doggedly or persistently
      I went to the back yard and found Jem  plugging away at a tin can, which seemed stupid with all the bluejays around.
    • sweat
      salty fluid secreted by sweat glands
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of  sweat and sweet talcum.
    • tiny
      very small
      tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still.
    • stuck
      caught or fixed
      He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and  stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • leftover
      not used up
      She eats all the  leftover fingers and ears from the hospital.”
    • grudge
      a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
      “Everybody who goes home to lunch hold up your hands,” said Miss Caroline, breaking into my new  grudge against Calpurnia.
    • hold off
      wait before acting
      “It’s all over town this morning,” he announced, “all about how we  held off a hundred folks with our bare hands…” Aunt Alexandra stared him to silence.
    • oak tree
      a deciduous tree of the genus Quercus; has acorns and lobed leaves
      Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda;  oak trees kept the sun away.
    • pinprick
      small puncture (as if made by a pin)
      She put away from her whatever it was that gave her a  pinprick of apprehension, and suggested that I give the family a preview in the livingroom.
    • cold snap
      a spell of cold weather
      When people’s azaleas froze in a  cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them.
    • pocket knife
      a knife with a blade that folds into the handle; suitable for carrying in the pocket
      Judge Taylor looked like most judges I had ever seen: amiable, white-haired, slightly ruddy-faced, he was a man who ran his court with an alarming informality—he sometimes propped his feet up, he often cleaned his fingernails with his  pocket knife.
    • smell
      the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
      She looked and  smelled like a peppermint drop.
    • daytime
      the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside
      I was fairly sure Boo Radley was inside that house, but I couldn’t prove it, and felt it best to keep my mouth shut or I would be accused of believing in Hot Steams, phenomena I was immune to in the  daytime.
    • silently
      without speaking
      Often as not, Miss Maudie and I would sit  silently on her porch, watching the sky go from yellow to pink as the sun went down, watching flights of martins sweep low over the neighborhood and disappear behind the schoolhouse rooftops.
    • after
      happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth growing; but  after getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law.
    • knee
      hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
      I could not put out my hands to stop, they were wedged between my chest and  knees.
    • drink
      take in liquids
      Little Chuck brought water in a paper cup, and she  drank it gratefully.
    • tired
      depleted of strength or energy
      Maycomb was an old town, but it was a  tired old town when I first knew it.
    • listening
      the act of hearing attentively
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • clock
      a timepiece that shows the time of day
      The air was so cold and clear we heard the courthouse  clock clank, rattle and strain before it struck the hour.
    • untie
      cause to become loose
      Francis had requested a pair of knee-pants, a red leather booksack, five shirts and an  untied bow tie.
    • bring
      take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
      “Everybody who  brings his lunch put it on top of his desk.”
    • swear out
      deliver a warrant or summons to someone
      We do know in part what Mr. Ewell did: he did what any God-fearing, persevering, respectable white man would do under the circumstances—he  swore out a warrant, no doubt signing it with his left hand, and Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses—his right hand.
    • charlotte
      a mold lined with cake or crumbs and filled with fruit or whipped cream or custard
      She carried a tray of  charlotte.
    • before
      at or in the front
      I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long  before that.
    • white man
      a man who is White
      “Atticus says cheatin‘ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a  white man,” I muttered.
    • homemade
      made or produced in the home or by yourself
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he stopped and leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging crazily on its  homemade hinge.
    • dog
      a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black  dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • reason
      a rational motive for a belief or action
      The judge decided to send the boys to the state industrial school, where boys were sometimes sent for no other  reason than to provide them with food and decent shelter: it was no prison and it was no disgrace.
    • older
      used of the older of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a father from his son
      She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was  older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • Tell
      a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap)
      Tell it to us,” he said.
    • wallow
      roll around, "pigs were wallowing in the mud"
      I never deliberately learned to read, but somehow I had been  wallowing illicitly in the daily papers.
    • on the fence
      characterized by indecision
      We spat ourselves dry, and Jem opened the gate slowly, lifting it aside and resting it  on the fence.
    • big
      above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
      “I’m  big enough to fit mine,” he said.
    • back street
      a narrow street with walls on both sides
      Wooden sawhorses blocked the road at each end of the Radley lot, straw was put down on the sidewalk, traffic was diverted to the  back street.
    • dryly
      in a dry laconic manner
      “Let us leave it at this,” said Atticus  dryly.
    • goddamn
      used as expletives
      “He says you  goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya.”
    • move over
      move in order to make room for someone for something
      I said what did you do, Stephanie,  move over in the bed and make room for him?
    • back out
      move out of a space backwards
      He evidently remembered he was engaged to me, for he ran  back out and kissed me swiftly in front of Jem. “Yawl write, hear?” he bawled after us.
    • jiggle
      move to and fro
      When Mrs. Merriweather shook her head, her black curls  jiggled.
    • sleepy-eyed
      ready to fall asleep
      They were sullen-looking,  sleepy-eyed men who seemed unused to late hours.
    • come alive
      stop sleeping
      My memory  came alive to see Mrs. Radley occasionally open the front door, walk to the edge of the porch, and pour water on her cannas.
    • sit down
      take a seat
      Sitting down, he wasn’t much higher than the collards.
    • open
      affording free passage or access
      My memory came alive to see Mrs. Radley occasionally  open the front door, walk to the edge of the porch, and pour water on her cannas.
    • poke
      hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument
      Miss Caroline walked up and down the rows peering and  poking into lunch containers, nodding if the contents pleased her, frowning a little at others.
    • last
      coming after all others in time or space or degree or being the only one remaining
      His first two clients were the  last two persons hanged in the Maycomb County jail.
    • come down
      move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
      I had spent most of the day climbing up and down, running errands for him, providing him with literature, nourishment and water, and was carrying him blankets for the night when Atticus said if I paid no attention to him, Jem would  come down.
    • catch up with
      catch up with and possibly overtake
      When Walter  caught up with us, Jem made pleasant conversation with him.
    • much
      (quantifier used with mass nouns) great in quantity or degree or extent
      They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so there was nothing  much Atticus could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was probably the beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.
    • below the belt
      disregarding the rules (from the notion of an illegal low blow in boxing)
      He was a real mean one…  below the belt… you ain’t called on to teach folks like that… them ain’t Maycomb’s ways, Miss Caroline, not really… now don’t you fret, ma’am.
    • uncross
      change from a crossed to an uncrossed position
      Mr. Tate  uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.
    • suppose
      expect, believe, or suppose
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22 m Chap...
    • life
      the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones
      The place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain  life except ice, wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile.
    • bang
      the swift release of a store of affective force
      The girl-doll wore bangs.
    • downtown
      the central area or commercial center of a town or city
      “Go and eat  downtown today.
    • felt
      a fabric made of compressed matted animal fibers
      She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had  felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember.
    • tousle
      disarrange or rumple; dishevel
      Jem was standing beside Atticus, groggy and  tousled.
    • son
      a male human offspring
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the- son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a good enough defense for anybody.
    • grinning
      a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
      The moment she was out of sight Francis came out head up and  grinning.
    • ways
      structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired
      The shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s  ways: closed doors meant illness and cold weather only.
    • jailhouse
      a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
      He covered the courthouse and  jailhouse news simply by looking out his upstairs window.
    • spend
      pass time in a specific way
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who  spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • corset
      a woman's close-fitting foundation garment
      Of all days Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore shoes.
    • evening
      the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the  evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • rusty
      covered with or consisting of rust
      His neck was dark gray, the backs of his hands were  rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick.
    • crap game
      playing craps
      A small patch of earth beneath its branches was packed hard from many fights and furtive  crap games.
    • barge in
      enter uninvited; informal
      How would we like it if Atticus  barged in on us without knocking, when we were in our rooms at night?
    • raised
      located or moved above the surround or above the normal position
      Walter looked as if he had been  raised on fish food: his eyes, as blue as Dill Harris’s, were red-rimmed and watery.
    • sickeningly
      in a disgusting manner or to a disgusting degree
      In obedience to my father, there followed what I later realized was a  sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers.
    • talking
      an exchange of ideas via conversation
      “Wasn’t  talking about your father,” she said.
    • pick up
      take and lift upward
      Miss Caroline  picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner.
    • diction
      the manner in which something is expressed in words
      Jem and I were accustomed to our father’s last-will-and-testament  diction, and we were at all times free to interrupt Atticus for a translation when it was beyond our understanding.
    • slap
      a blow from a flat object (as an open hand)
      Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house,  slapped it with his palm and ran back past us, not waiting to see if his foray was successful.
    • truck
      an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling
      The old fire  truck, killed by the cold, was being pushed from town by a crowd of men.
    • clock tower
      a tower with a large clock visible high up on an outside face
      From the other side, however, Greek revival columns clashed with a big nineteenth-century  clock tower housing a rusty unreliable instrument, a view indicating a people determined to preserve every physical scrap of the past.
    • reading lamp
      a lamp that provides light for reading
      Dill and Jem were quiet; when I turned off my  reading lamp there was no strip of light under the door to Jem’s room.
    • hug
      squeeze (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness
      The more we told Dill about the Radleys, the more he wanted to know, the longer he would stand  hugging the light-pole on the corner, the more he would wonder.
    • suddenly
      happening unexpectedly
      Jem  suddenly grinned at him.
    • swivel
      turn on a pivot
      Atticus would flee to his office directly after dinner, where if we sometimes looked in on him, we would find him sitting back in his  swivel chair reading.
    • Eddy
      founder of Christian Science in 1866 (1821-1910)
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s  Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • tennis match
      a match between tennis players
      Through the door I could see Jem on the sofa with a football magazine in front of his face, his head turning as if its pages contained a live  tennis match. “…you’ve got to do something about her,” Aunty was saying.
    • run off
      run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along
      I’ll  run off again—!”
    • parceled out
      given out in portions
      Jem  parceled out our roles: I was Mrs. Radley, and all I had to do was come out and sweep the porch.
    • probably
      with considerable certainty; without much doubt
      They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so there was nothing much Atticus could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was probably the beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.
    • bewilder
      cause to be confused emotionally
      “Atticus, I don’t know, sir… I—” I turned to Jem for an answer, but Jem was even more  bewildered than I. He said he didn’t know how it got there, we did exactly as Atticus had told us, we stood down by the Radley gate away from everybody, we didn’t move an inch—Jem stopped.
    • tranquility
      an untroubled state; free from disturbances
      When in  tranquility, her grammar was as good as anybody’s in Maycomb.
    • done
      having finished or arrived at completion
      The town decided something had to be  done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • glance
      throw a glance at; take a brief look at
      Jem  glanced at me, his eyes twinkling: “Mr. Avery’s sort of shaped like a snowman, ain’t he?”
    • all the way
      completely
      Indeed, Jem grew boastful: “I went  all the way up to the house once,” he said to Walter.
    • kitchen table
      a table in the kitchen
      The  kitchen table was loaded with enough food to bury the family: hunks of salt pork, tomatoes, beans, even scuppernongs.
    • hone
      sharpen with a hone
      Mr. Avery averaged a stick of stovewood per week; he  honed it down to a toothpick and chewed it.
    • truant
      one who is absent from school without permission
      The  truant lady gets ’em here ‘cause she threatens ’em with the sheriff, but she’s give up tryin‘ to hold ’em.
    • browbeat
      discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
      “I don’t know how he done it, but he done it—I said it all happened so fast I—” “Now let’s consider this calmly—” began Atticus, but Mr. Gilmer interrupted with an objection: he was not irrelevant or immaterial, but Atticus was browbeating the witness.
    • moved
      being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
      People  moved slowly then.
    • shadow
      shade within clear boundaries
      When Miss Caroline threatened it with a similar fate the first grade exploded again, becoming cold sober only when the  shadow of Miss Blount fell over them.
    • fight
      be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
      We were far too old to settle an argument with a fist- fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • gamble
      take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside  gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • stay off
      refrain from entering or walking onto
      It  stayed off, and I breathed again.
    • straighten up
      straighten oneself
      Miss Maudie  straightened up and looked toward me.
    • persevere
      be persistent, refuse to stop
      Apparently she had revived enough to persevere in her profession.
    • back door
      an entrance at the rear of a building
      I unlatched the  back door and held it while he crept down the steps.
    • file out
      march out, in a file
      Saved by the bell, Miss Caroline watched the class  file out for lunch.
    • squeeze
      press firmly
      She picked up the limp sprout and  squeezed her thumb up its tiny stalk.
    • almond-shaped
      shaped like an almond
      She was bullet-headed with strange  almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, and an Indian-bow mouth.
    • coverall
      a loose-fitting protective garment that is worn over other clothing
      She was a widow, a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and men’s  coveralls, but after her five o’clock bath she would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty.
    • guff
      unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements)
      Jem had probably stood as much  guff about Atticus lawing for niggers as had I, and I took it for granted that he kept his temper—he had a naturally tranquil disposition and a slow fuse.
    • hot
      used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
      Plucking an occasional camellia, getting a squirt of  hot milk from Miss Maudie Atkinson’s cow on a summer day, helping ourselves to someone’s scuppernongs was part of our ethical culture, but money was different.
    • while
      a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition
      “That’s okay, ma’am, you’ll get to know all the county folks after a  while.
    • besides
      in addition
      Besides, Boo could not live forever on the bounty of the county.
    • hold up
      be the physical support of; carry the weight of
      “Everybody who goes home to lunch  hold up your hands,” said Miss Caroline, breaking into my new grudge against Calpurnia.
    • sigh
      heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
      He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would  sigh at length, then go off and play by himself behind the car-house.
    • stick in
      insert casually
      Some tinfoil was  sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun.
    • leastways
      if nothing else (`leastwise' is informal and `leastways' is colloquial)
      “You know she’s not used to girls,” said Jem, “ leastways, not girls like you.
    • faced
      having a face or facing especially of a specified kind or number; often used in combination
      Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot.
    • sloshed
      very drunk
      Jem  sloshed water over the mud man and added more dirt.
    • tribune
      (ancient Rome) an official elected by the plebeians to protect their interests
      According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from The Maycomb  Tribune to paste in his scrapbook.
    • dresser
      furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
      She sat at a  dresser combing her hair.
    • trousered
      dressed in trousers
      This was a group of white-shirted, khaki- trousered, suspendered old men who had spent their lives doing nothing and passed their twilight days doing same on pine benches under the live oaks on the square.
    • hunch
      an impression that something might be the case
      Jem gulped like a goldfish,  hunched his shoulders and twitched his torso.
    • another
      any of various alternatives; some other
      The shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays,  another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors meant illness and cold weather only.
    • droopy
      hanging down (as from exhaustion or weakness)
      The old house was the same,  droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move.
    • puzzle
      be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide
      Miss Caroline looked  puzzled.
    • speak
      use language
      We stared at him until he  spoke: “Hey.” “Hey yourself,” said Jem pleasantly.
    • most
      (superlative of `many' used with count nouns and often preceded by `the') quantifier meaning the greatest in number
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent  most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • perpetrate
      perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
      You’ve  perpetrated a near libel here in the front yard.
    • potato salad
      any of various salads having chopped potatoes as the base
      Calpurnia poured milk, dished out  potato salad and ham, muttering, “‘shamed of yourselves,” in varying degrees of intensity.
    • tapeworm
      ribbonlike flatworms that are parasitic in the intestines of humans and other vertebrates
      His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him I consulted Atticus: “Reckon he’s got a  tapeworm?”
    • side street
      a street intersecting a main street and terminating there
      We left the corner, crossed the  side street that ran in front of the Radley house, and stopped at the gate.
    • Baptists
      any of various evangelical Protestant churches that believe in the baptism of voluntary believers
      The Methodists were trying to pay off their church mortgage, and had challenged the  Baptists to a game of touch football.
    • swing door
      a door that swings on a double hinge; opens in either direction
      Calpurnia sent me through the  swinging door to the diningroom with a stinging smack.
    • red-rimmed
      rimmed with red
      Walter looked as if he had been raised on fish food: his eyes, as blue as Dill Harris’s, were  red-rimmed and watery.
    • somehow
      in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • Old
      of a very early stage in development
      According to neighborhood legend, when the younger Radley boy was in his teens he became acquainted with some of the Cunninghams from  Old Sarum, an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county, and they formed the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.
    • middle
      an area that is approximately central within some larger region
      He was  middle-aged then, she was fifteen years his junior.
    • stomach
      an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion
      He had a pink face and a big  stomach below his belt.
    • wedged
      wedged or packed in together
      I could not put out my hands to stop, they were  wedged between my chest and knees.
    • paper bag
      a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven-thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes carrying a brown  paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • scot free
      free from harm or penalty
      Funny thing, Atticus Finch might’ve got him off  scot free, but wait—?
    • Makin
      battles in World War II in the Pacific (November 1943); United States Marines took the islands from the Japanese after bitter fighting
      Makin‘ fun of him?”
    • step on it
      move fast
      Don’t  step on it!”
    • ruination
      destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined
      Said Atticus’d be the  ruination of the family an’ he let Jem an me run wild…” From the look on Uncle Jack’s face, I thought I was in for it again.
    • stairwell
      a vertical well around which there is a stairway
      I got separated from Jem and Dill, but made my way toward the wall by the  stairwell, knowing Jem would come for me eventually.
    • all over
      over the entire area
      “He’s poured it  all over-” It was then that Calpurnia requested my presence in the kitchen.
    • shot
      the act of firing a projectile
      “What happened?” asked Jem. “Mr. Radley  shot at a Negro in his collard patch.”
    • syrupy
      overly sweet
      Why she frowned when a child recited from The Grit Paper I never knew, but in some way it was associated with liking fiddling, eating  syrupy biscuits for lunch, being a holy-roller, singing Sweetly Sings the Donkey and pronouncing it dunkey, all of which the state paid teachers to discourage.
    • except
      prevent from being included or considered or accepted
      The place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life  except ice, wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile.
    • punch
      a tool for making holes or indentations
      Dill  punched my shoulder, and we lowered him to the ground.
    • Pensacola
      a town in extreme northwest Florida
      Mr. Radley’s elder son lived in  Pensacola; he came home at Christmas, and he was one of the few persons we ever saw enter or leave the place.
    • broomstick
      the handle of a broom
      The varmints had a lean time of it, for the Ewells gave the dump a thorough gleaning every day, and the fruits of their industry (those that were not eaten) made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane child: what passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs,  broomsticks and tool shafts, all tipped with rusty hammer-heads, snaggle-toothed rake heads, shovels, axes and grubbing hoes, held on with pieces of barbed wire.
    • enclose
      surround completely
      The fence  enclosed a large garden and a narrow wooden outhouse.
    • rinse
      wash off soap or remaining dirt
      Calpurnia  rinsed her hands and followed Jem into the yard.
    • congregation
      the act of congregating
      It was dim inside, with a damp coolness slowly dispelled by the gathering  congregation.
    • polite
      showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.
      I never knew how old Mr. Radley made his living— Jem said he “bought cotton,” a  polite term for doing nothing—but Mr. Radley and his wife had lived there with their two sons as long as anybody could remember.
    • revive
      cause to regain consciousness
      Apparently she had  revived enough to persevere in her profession.
    • slam
      close violently
      I climbed into the back seat of the car without saying good-bye to anyone, and at home I ran to my room and  slammed the door.
    • in the first place
      before now
      “Well,  in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it—you just lit right into me.
    • convict
      find or declare guilty
      “You were both  convicted?”
    • mental hygiene
      the branch of psychiatry concerned with psychological methods
      I wasn’t sure what Jem resented most, but I took umbrage at Mrs. Dubose’s assessment of the family’s  mental hygiene.
    • concentrate
      make denser, stronger, or purer
      Miss Caroline, the sixth grade cannot  concentrate on the pyramids for all this racket!”
    • bet
      stake on the outcome of an issue
      Bet it’s a foot longer.”
    • unschooled
      lacking in schooling
      Mr. Tate’s was  unschooled and blunt, but it was equal to my father’s.
    • change
      become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence
      “Mr. Ewell shouldn’t do that-” “Of course he shouldn’t, but he’ll never  change his ways.
    • croon
      sing softly
      Francis looked at me carefully, concluded that I had been sufficiently subdued, and  crooned softly, “Nigger-lover…” This time, I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth.
    • untied
      not tied
      Francis had requested a pair of knee-pants, a red leather booksack, five shirts and an  untied bow tie.
    • bench
      a long seat for more than one person
      Along its walls unlighted kerosene lamps hung on brass brackets; pine  benches served as pews.
    • shoelace
      a lace used for fastening shoes
      Now that I was compelled to think about it, reading was something that just came to me, as learning to fasten the seat of my union suit without looking around, or achieving two bows from a snarl of shoelaces.
    • playing
      the action of taking part in a game or sport or other recreation
      I was tired of  playing Tom Rover, who suddenly lost his memory in the middle of a picture show and was out of the script until the end, when he was found in Alaska.
    • Methodists
      a Protestant denomination founded on the principles of John Wesley and Charles Wesley
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves  Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • hot chocolate
      a beverage made from cocoa powder and milk and sugar; usually drunk hot
      “Anybody want some  hot chocolate?” he asked.
    • geranium
      any of numerous plants of the family Geraniaceae
      Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red  geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises.
    • scuffle
      fight or struggle in a confused way at close quarters
      From somewhere near by came  scuffling, kicking sounds, sounds of shoes and flesh scraping dirt and roots.
    • tight
      closely constrained or constricted or constricting
      “Why do you think Miss Rachel locks up so  tight at night?
    • tacit consent
      (law) tacit approval of someone's wrongdoing
      Jem went in grinning, and Calpurnia nodded  tacit consent to having Dill in to supper.
    • ooze out
      release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities
      Microscopic grains  oozed out.
    • window box
      a long narrow box for growing plants on a windowsill
      Uncle Jack Finch confined his passion for digging to his  window boxes in Nashville and stayed rich.
    • mimosa
      a mixed drink containing champagne and orange juice
      “Do you smell my  mimosa?
    • always
      at all times; all the time and on every occasion
      She was  always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • go on
      move forward, also in the metaphorical sense
      “Well  go on,” said Dill, “Scout and me’s right behind you.”
    • reach
      move forward or upward in order to touch; also in a metaphorical sense
      By the time we  reached our front steps Walter had forgotten he was a Cunningham.
    • entangle
      twist together or entwine into a confusing mass
      After consulting a tree to ascertain from its lichen which way was south, and taking no lip from the subordinates who ventured to correct him, Colonel Maycomb set out on a purposeful journey to rout the enemy and entangled his troops so far northwest in the forest primeval that they were eventually rescued by settlers moving inland.
    • live down
      live so as to annul some previous behavior
      Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an intense, profane little man, whose father in a fey fit of humor christened Braxton Bragg, a name Mr. Underwood had done his best to  live down.
    • come in
      to come or go into
      It was the kind of box wedding rings  came in, purple velvet with a minute catch.
    • go out
      move out of or depart from
      People said he  went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows.
    • car
      a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
      He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length, then go off and play by himself behind the  car-house.
    • ringworm
      infections of the skin or nails caused by fungi and appearing as itching circular patches
      I went so far as to pay a nickel for the privilege of rubbing my head against the head of Miss Rachel’s cook’s son, who was afflicted with a tremendous  ringworm.
    • flare out
      become flared and widen, usually at one end
      She was not fat, but solid, and she chose protective garments that drew up her bosom to giddy heights, pinched in her waist,  flared out her rear, and managed to suggest that Aunt Alexandra’s was once an hour-glass figure.
    • facts of life
      the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring
      “I’m trying to tell you the  facts of life.”
    • arthritic
      of or pertaining to arthritis
      “And you—” she pointed an arthritic finger at me—“what are you doing in those overalls?
    • held
      occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
      If he  held his mouth right, Mr. Cunningham could get a WPA job, but his land would go to ruin if he left it, and he was willing to go hungry to keep his land and vote as he pleased.
    • rail
      a horizontal bar (usually of wood or metal)
      He swung his legs over the railing and was sliding down a pillar when he slipped.
    • nearly
      (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
      Charles Lamb PART ONE Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 1 When he was  nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
    • Harris
      United States author who wrote the stories about Uncle Remus (1848-1908)
      “I’m Charles Baker  Harris,” he said.
    • hole
      an opening into or through something
      Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot- hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun.
    • lose
      fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
      A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked.
    • giggle
      laugh nervously
      giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron.
    • unladylike
      lacking the behavior or manner or style considered proper for a lady
      “You’ll have a very unladylike scar on your wedding-ring finger.”
    • snow
      precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
      He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned to his shirt, his hair was  snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • hate
      the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action
      I returned to school and  hated Calpurnia steadily until a sudden shriek shattered my resentments.
    • newspaper
      a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
      When it was time to play Boo’s big scene, Jem would sneak into the house, steal the scissors from the sewing-machine drawer when Calpurnia’s back was turned, then sit in the swing and cut up  newspapers.
    • car door
      the door of a car
      His  car door slammed and he drove away.
    • quiet
      characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
      “Nothing,” said Jem. Jem’s evasion told me our game was a secret, so I kept  quiet.
    • days
      the time during which someone's life continues
      The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end; Mrs. Dubose was plain hell.
    • interested
      having or showing interest; especially curiosity or fascination or concern
      She had never told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all  interested in our private lives.
    • legs
      staying power
      Atticus sat down in the swing and crossed his  legs.
    • flintlock
      an obsolete gunlock that has flint embedded in the hammer; the flint makes a spark that ignites the charge
      Said Cousin Joshua said he wasn’t anything but a sewerinspector and tried to shoot him with an old  flintlock pistol, only it just blew up in his hand.
    • wrong
      not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
      Nobody in Maycomb had nerve enough to tell Mr. Radley that his boy was in with the  wrong crowd.
    • point
      a distinguishing or individuating characteristic
      “A hain’t lives there,” he said cordially,  pointing to the Radley house.
    • flying buttress
      a buttress that stands apart from the main structure and connected to it by an arch
      Starkly out of place in a town of square-faced stores and steep-roofed houses, the Maycomb jail was a miniature Gothic joke one cell wide and two cells high, complete with tiny battlements and  flying buttresses.
    • tidiness
      the trait of being neat and orderly
      She owned a bright green square Buick and a black chauffeur, both kept in an unhealthy state of  tidiness, but today they were nowhere to be seen.
    • long time
      a prolonged period of time
      Before Jem went to his room, he looked for a  long time at the Radley Place.
    • riverside
      the bank of a river
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s  riverside gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • near miss
      an accidental collision that is narrowly avoided
      Jem, who hadn’t been  near Miss Maudie’s scuppernong arbor since last summer, and who knew Miss Maudie wouldn’t tell Atticus if he had, issued a general denial.
    • tangle with
      get involved in or with
      Rather than risk a  tangle with Calpurnia, I did as Jem told me.
    • on it
      on that
      She gave the money to Dill, who went to the picture show twenty times  on it.
    • trudge
      walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
      He  trudged along, dragging the pole behind him on the sidewalk.
    • extra time
      playing time beyond regulation, to break a tie
      Jem arbitrated, awarded me first push with an  extra time for Dill, and I folded myself inside the tire.
    • long sleeve
      a sleeve extending from shoulder to wrist
      They wore cotton sunbonnets and dresses with  long sleeves.
    • forehead
      the part of the face above the eyes
      As he told us the old tale his blue eyes would lighten and darken; his laugh was sudden and happy; he habitually pulled at a cowlick in the center of his  forehead.
    • leg
      a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s  leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • purposeful
      serving as or indicating the existence of a purpose or goal
      All the spectators were as relaxed as Judge Taylor, except Jem. His mouth was twisted into a  purposeful half-grin, and his eyes happy about, and he said something about corroborating evidence, which made me sure he was showing off.
    • might
      physical strength
      Miss Stephanie said old Mr. Radley said no Radley was going to any asylum, when it was suggested that a season in Tuscaloosa  might be helpful to Boo. Boo wasn’t crazy, he was high-strung at times.
    • every night
      at the end of each day
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap  every night.
    • undulate
      move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
      From time to time she would open her mouth wide, and I could see her tongue  undulate faintly.
    • hooky
      failure to attend (especially school)
      “Playing  hooky, I suppose.
    • scissors
      an edge tool having two crossed pivoting blades
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the  scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • positively
      so as to be positive; in a positive manner
      One evening we were privileged to witness a performance by him which seemed to have been his  positively last, for he never did it again so long as we watched.
    • bump
      an impact (as from a collision)
      I could only hope that Jem would outrun the tire and me, or that I would be stopped by a  bump in the sidewalk.
    • return
      go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
      He  returned to Saint Stephens only once, to find a wife, and with her established a line that ran high to daughters.
    • show
      make visible or noticeable
      She gave the money to Dill, who went to the picture  show twenty times on it.
    • whip through
      go through very fast
      Greasy-faced children popped-the- whip through the crowd, and babies lunched at their mothers’ breasts.
    • thigh
      the part of the leg between the hip and the knee
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his  thigh.
    • pink
      of a light shade of red
      She had bright auburn hair,  pink cheeks, and wore crimson fingernail polish.
    • no matter
      in spite of everything; without regard to drawbacks
      He always spoke nicely to me,  no matter what folks said he did.
    • waiting
      the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
      Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us, not  waiting to see if his foray was successful.
    • hard
      resisting weight or pressure
      She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as  hard.
    • desk
      a piece of furniture with a writing surface and usually drawers or other compartments
      “Everybody who brings his lunch put it on top of his  desk.”
    • squinting
      having eyes half closed in order to see better
      We had gone about five hundred yards beyond the Radley Place when I noticed Jem  squinting at something down the street.
    • cheesecloth
      a coarse loosely woven cotton gauze; originally used to wrap cheeses
      Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls, which in the summertime were covered with greasy strips of  cheesecloth to keep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb’s refuse.
    • toneless
      lacking in tone or expression
      Jem was talking in an unhurried, flat toneless voice.
    • different
      unlike in nature or quality or form or degree
      I don’t want you hollerin‘ something  different the minute I get back.”
    • perforate
      make a hole into or between, as for ease of separation
      “I wondered why he had those marks on him, His sleeves were  perforated with little holes.
    • swish
      move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound
      He flung open the gate, danced Dill and me through, and shooed us between two rows of  swishing collards.
    • speck
      a very small spot
      Tim Johnson was not much more than a  speck in the distance, but he was closer to us.
    • crate
      a rugged box (usually made of wood); used for shipping
      With Christmas came a crate of smilax and holly.
    • run around
      play boisterously
      “If Uncle Atticus lets you  run around with stray dogs, that’s his own business, like Grandma says, so it ain’t your fault.
    • beauty parlor
      a shop where hairdressers and beauticians work
      “Yes sir, Mrs. Perkins, that J. Grimes Everett is a martyred saint, he… needed to get married so they ran… to the  beauty parlor every Saturday afternoon… soon as the sun goes down.
    • be after
      have the will and intention to carry out some action
      That Stephanie’s  been after my recipe for thirty years, and if she thinks I’ll give it to her just because I’m staying with her she’s got another think coming.”
    • licked
      having been got the better of
      licked it and waited for a while.
    • receive
      get something; come into possession of
      The other boys attended the industrial school and  received the best secondary education to be had in the state; one of them eventually worked his way through engineering school at Auburn.
    • peeved
      aroused to impatience or anger
      Calpurnia looked  peeved, but Atticus looked exhausted.
    • unbleached
      not artificially colored or bleached
      An oppressive odor met us when we crossed the threshold, an odor I had met many times in rain-rotted gray houses where there are coal-oil lamps, water dippers, and  unbleached domestic sheets.
    • slimness
      the property of an attractively thin person
      His eyebrows were becoming heavier, and I noticed a new  slimness about his body.
    • flick
      throw or toss with a quick motion
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts  flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • Johnson
      36th President of the United States; was elected vice president and succeeded Kennedy when Kennedy was assassinated (1908-1973)
      “That’s old Tim  Johnson, ain’t it?”
    • barnyard
      a yard adjoining a barn
      People caught hookworms going barefooted in  barnyards and hog wallows.
    • stinginess
      a lack of generosity; a general unwillingness to part with money
      All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trapping apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was exceeded only by his  stinginess.
    • secede
      withdraw from an organization or communion
      (When Alabama  seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, Winston County seceded from Alabama, and every child in Maycomb County knew it.)
    • malted
      of grain that has been converted into malt
      By the time Mrs. Cat called the drugstore for an order of chocolate  malted mice the class was wriggling like a bucketful of catawba worms.
    • bust
      a sculpture of the head and shoulders of a person
      “I said come here, nigger, and  bust up this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you.
    • touch
      make physical contact with, come in contact with
      Now lemme think… reckon we can rock him…” Jem stood in thought so long that Dill made a mild concession: “I won’t say you ran out on a dare an‘ I’ll swap you The Gray Ghost if you just go up and  touch the house.”
    • ring
      a toroidal shape
      It was the kind of box wedding rings came in, purple velvet with a minute catch.
    • fit
      meeting adequate standards for a purpose
      “I’m big enough to  fit mine,” he said.
    • far
      at or to or from a great distance in space
      We were  far too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus.
    • mill around
      move about in a confused manner
      The high school building had a wide downstairs hallway; people  milled around booths that had been installed along each side.
    • chewer
      someone who chews (especially someone who chews tobacco)
      Fans crackled, feet shuffled, tobacco- chewers were in agony.
    • chin up
      raise oneself while hanging from one's hands until one's chin is level with the support bar
      Boo had drifted to a corner of the room, where he stood with his  chin up, peering from a distance at Jem. I took him by the hand, a hand surprisingly warm for its whiteness.
    • casually
      in an unconcerned manner
      Dill stretched, yawned, and said altogether too  casually.
    • choke
      struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
      “Then I’m goin‘ with you —” I  choked.
    • head off
      prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
      It was clear enough to the rest of us: Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his  head off.
    • cake
      baked goods made from or based on a mixture of flour, sugar, eggs, and fat
      She made the best  cakes in the neighborhood.
    • bump into
      collide violently with an obstacle
      We had slowed to a cautious gait, and were feeling our way forward so as not to bump into the tree.
    • scissor
      cut with or as if with scissors
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the  scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • go in
      to come or go into
      “Let’s  go in the front yard.”
    • wrapping
      the covering (usually paper or cellophane) in which something is wrapped
      That keeps ‘em from  wrapping around you-” “Don’t you believe a word he says, Dill,” I said.
    • expansively
      in an impressively expansive manner
      “Been comin‘ to the first day o’ the first grade fer three year now,” he said  expansively.
    • lemonade
      sweetened beverage of diluted lemon juice
      Calpurnia appeared in the front door and yelled, “ Lemonade time!
    • sprint
      run very fast, usually for a short distance
      Jem and Walter returned to school ahead of me: staying behind to advise Atticus of Calpurnia’s iniquities was worth a solitary  sprint past the Radley Place.
    • wire
      ligament made of metal and used to fasten things or make cages or fences etc
      We went to the  wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting looking at us.
    • explain
      make plain and comprehensible
      When we slowed to a walk at the edge of the schoolyard, Jem was careful to  explain that during school hours I was not to bother him, I was not to approach him with requests to enact a chapter of Tarzan and the Ant Men, to embarrass him with references to his private life, or tag along behind him at recess and noon.
    • gently
      in a gentle manner
      Little Chuck’s face contracted and he said gently, “You mean him, ma’am?
    • carry
      move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven-thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes  carrying a brown paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • battle of Hastings
      the decisive battle in which William the Conqueror (duke of Normandy) defeated the Saxons under Harold II (1066) and thus left England open for the Norman Conquest
      Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to some members of the family that we had no recorded ancestors on either side of the  Battle of Hastings.
    • stand up
      rise to one's feet
      The boy  stood up.
    • kept
      (especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
      Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees  kept the sun away.
    • shut-in
      someone who is incapacitated by a chronic illness or injury
      When we reached the auditorium, the whole town was there except Atticus and the ladies worn out from decorating, and the usual outcasts and  shut-ins.
    • break
      destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
      Charles Lamb PART ONE Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 1 When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly  broken at the elbow.
    • fat
      a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
      There he would stand, his arm around the  fat pole, staring and wondering.
    • road
      an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
      Wooden sawhorses blocked the  road at each end of the Radley lot, straw was put down on the sidewalk, traffic was diverted to the back street.
    • repertoire
      the entire range of skills or aptitudes or devices used in a particular field or occupation
      But by the end of August our  repertoire was vapid from countless reproductions, and it was then that Dill gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • smile
      a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
      Atticus ain’t got time to teach me anything,” I added, when Miss Caroline  smiled and shook her head.
    • knock
      deliver a sharp blow or push :"He knocked the glass clear across the room"
      Jem said if Dill wanted to get himself killed, all he had to do was go up and  knock on the front door.
    • Mount Everest
      a mountain in the central Himalayas on the border of Tibet and Nepal; the highest mountain peak in the world (29,028 feet high)
      Had I ever harbored the mystical notions about mountains that seem to obsess lawyers and judges, Aunt Alexandra would have been analogous to  Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there.
    • tweezer
      a hand tool for holding consisting of a compound lever for grasping
      I interrupted to make Uncle Jack let me know when he would pull it out, but he held up a bloody splinter in a pair of  tweezers and said he yanked it while I was laughing, that was what was known as relativity.
    • crispness
      firm but easily broken
      Miss Maudie’s old  crispness was returning: “The handful of people in this town with background, that’s who they are.”
    • awake
      not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
      Next morning I  awoke, looked out the window and nearly died of fright.
    • refreshment
      snacks and drinks served as a light meal
      Her Missionary Society  refreshments added to her reputation as a hostess (she did not permit Calpurnia to make the delicacies required to sustain the Society through long reports on Rice Christians); she joined and became Secretary of the Maycomb Amanuensis Club.
    • vital statistics
      data relating to births and deaths and health and diseases and marriages
      Jem’s mind was occupied mostly with the  vital statistics of every college football player in the nation.
    • go up
      move upward
      Jem said if Dill wanted to get himself killed, all he had to do was  go up and knock on the front door.
    • relativity
      the quality of being relative and having significance only in relation to something else
      I interrupted to make Uncle Jack let me know when he would pull it out, but he held up a bloody splinter in a pair of tweezers and said he yanked it while I was laughing, that was what was known as  relativity.
    • retrieve
      get or find back; recover the use of
      retrieved my plate and finished dinner in the kitchen, thankful, though, that I was spared the humiliation of facing them again.
    • filthy
      disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
      He was the  filthiest human I had ever seen.
    • wad
      a small mass of soft material
      When Jem came home he asked me where I got such a  wad.
    • defend
      protect against a challenge or attack
      What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets-” “Atticus don’t ever do anything to Jem and me in the house that he don’t do in the yard,” I said, feeling it my duty to  defend my parent.
    • kiss
      touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.
      Calpurnia bent down and  kissed me.
    • caste system
      a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity
      There was indeed a  caste system in Maycomb, but to my mind it worked this way: the older citizens, the present generation of people who had lived side by side for years and years, were utterly predictable to one another: they took for granted attitudes, character shadings, even gestures, as having been repeated in each generation and refined by time.
    • cotton on
      understand, usually after some initial difficulty
      Whoever it was wore thick cotton pants; what I thought were trees rustling was the soft swish of  cotton on cotton, wheek, wheek, with every step.
    • winking
      a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
      Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level,  winking at me in the afternoon sun.
    • scowling
      sullen or unfriendly in appearance
      Jem was  scowling triumphantly.
    • peppermint
      red gum tree of Tasmania
      She looked and smelled like a  peppermint drop.
    • times
      a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
      She gave the money to Dill, who went to the picture show twenty  times on it.
    • at home
      at, to, or toward the place where you reside
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped  at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • sleep
      a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
      Summer was our best season: it was  sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the treehouse; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill.
    • thumb
      the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb
      His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his  thumb parallel to his thigh.
    • born
      brought into existence
      He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County  born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town.
    • years
      a prolonged period of time
      When enough  years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • ramshackle
      in deplorable condition
      The back of the Radley house was less inviting than the front: a  ramshackle porch ran the width of the house; there were two doors and two dark windows between the doors.
    • cold
      having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
      When people’s azaleas froze in a  cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them.
    • think of
      devise or invent
      Jem wanted Dill to know once and for all that he wasn’t scared of anything: “It’s just that I can’t  think of a way to make him come out without him gettin‘ us.”
    • cottonseed
      seed of cotton plants; source of cottonseed oil
      I liked his smell: it was of leather, horses, cottonseed.
    • cathedra
      a throne that is the official chair of a bishop
      I remembered something he had said about Judge Taylor’s ex  cathedra remarks sometimes exceeding his duty, but that few lawyers ever did anything about them.
    • slushy
      being or resembling melting snow
      “You’ll see,” said Jem, and we transferred as much snow as we could from Miss Maudie’s yard to ours, a  slushy operation.
    • paper
      a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven-thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes carrying a brown  paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • talk about
      to consider or examine in speech or writing
      “Wasn’t  talking about your father,” she said.
    • thirty
      the cardinal number that is the product of ten and three
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven- thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes carrying a brown paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • secondary education
      education beyond the elementary grades; provided by a high school or college preparatory school
      The other boys attended the industrial school and received the best  secondary education to be had in the state; one of them eventually worked his way through engineering school at Auburn.
    • fall from grace
      revert back to bad behavior after a period of good behavior
      Atticus seemed to have forgotten my noontime  fall from grace; he was full of questions about school.
    • exhilarate
      fill with sublime emotion
      I was  exhilarated.
    • follow
      to travel behind, go after, come after
      Dill and I  followed on his heels.
    • speller
      someone who spells words
      During a controversy of this character, Jeems Cunningham testified that his mother spelled it Cunningham on deeds and things, but she was really a Coningham, she was an uncertain  speller, a seldom reader, and was given to looking far away sometimes when she sat on the front gallery in the evening.
    • circumstantial
      fully detailed and specific about particulars
      We don’t know, but there is  circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.
    • irritate
      cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
      In England, Simon was  irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • hook
      a mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something
      He fingered the straps of his overalls, nervously picking at the metal  hooks.
    • slick
      made slick by e.g. ice or grease
      See how they’ve been  slicked up?
    • hypnotize
      induce hypnosis in
      With one phrase he had turned happy picknickers into a sulky, tense, murmuring crowd, being slowly  hypnotized by gavel taps lessening in intensity until the only sound in the courtroom was a dim pink-pinkpink: the judge might have been rapping the bench with a pencil.
    • timberland
      land that is covered with trees and shrubs
      As a result the town remained the same size for a hundred years, an island in a patchwork sea of cottonfields and  timberland.
    • smugness
      an excessive feeling of self-satisfaction
      Smugness faded from it, replaced by a dogged earnestness that fooled Judge Taylor not at all: as long as Mr. Ewell was on the stand, the judge kept his eyes on him, as if daring him to make a false move.
    • surprise
      come upon or take unawares
      We looked at her in  surprise, for Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people.
    • bit by bit
      a little bit at a time
      Bit by bit, I told him the day’s misfortunes. “-and she said you taught me all wrong, so we can’t ever read any more, ever.
    • apron
      a garment of cloth or leather or plastic that is tied about the waist and worn to protect your clothing
      Atticus suggested that Jem hone down his creation’s front a little, swap a broom for the stovewood, and put an  apron on him.
    • bruise
      an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration
      There was already  bruises comin‘ on her arms, and it happened about thirty minutes before—” “How do you know?”
    • bad
      having undesirable or negative qualities
      “Atticus, that’s  bad,” I said.
    • walk around
      walk around something
      You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-” “Sir?” “-until you climb into his skin and  walk around in it.”
    • shuttered
      provided with shutters or shutters as specified; often used in combination
      We went by Mrs. Dubose’s house, standing empty and  shuttered, her camellias grown up in weeds and johnson grass.
    • anywhere
      at or in or to any place
      The Radleys, welcome  anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb.
    • taffy
      chewy candy of sugar or syrup boiled until thick and pulled until glossy
      The high-school auditorium would be open, there would be a pageant for the grown-ups; applebobbing, taffy-pulling, pinning the tail on the donkey for the children.
    • supper
      a light evening meal; served in early evening if dinner is at midday or served late in the evening at bedtime
      Perhaps Calpurnia sensed that my day had been a grim one: she let me watch her fix  supper.
    • emerge
      come out into view, as from concealment
      Dill and Jem  emerged from a brief huddle: “If you stay you’ve got to do what we tell you,” Dill warned.
    • loose
      not affixed
      A storm of laughter broke  loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me.
    • minutes
      a written account of what transpired at a meeting
      Jem’s free dispensation of my pledge irked me, but precious noontime  minutes were ticking away.
    • hookah
      an oriental tobacco pipe with a long flexible tube connected to a container where the smoke is cooled by passing through water
      When Uncle Jack caught me, he kept me laughing about a preacher who hated going to church so much that every day he stood at his gate in his dressing-gown, smoking a  hookah and delivering five-minute sermons to any passers-by who desired spiritual comfort.
    • word
      a unit of language that native speakers can identify
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many  words in buying and selling, Simon made a pile practicing medicine, but in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he knew was not for the glory of God, as the putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • locate
      discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining
      He searched the scalp above his forehead,  located his guest and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.
    • disapproval
      an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
      Are you going to take out your  disapproval on his children?”
    • immaterial
      (often followed by `to') lacking importance; not mattering one way or the other
      “Can’t see what witness’s literacy has to do with the case, irrelevant’n‘ immaterial.”
    • fruity
      tasting or smelling richly of or as of fruit
      One Sunday night, lost in  fruity metaphors and florid diction, Judge Taylor’s attention was wrenched from the page by an irritating scratching noise.
    • ugly
      displeasing to the senses
      You might hear some  ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down.
    • exactly
      indicating exactness or preciseness
      “Not  exactly.
    • syrup
      a thick sweet sticky liquid
      Atticus summoned Calpurnia, who returned bearing the  syrup pitcher.
    • half
      one of two equal parts of a divisible whole
      You got anything needs readin‘ I can do it…” “How old are you,” asked Jem, “four-and-a- half?”
    • book
      physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together
      When Dill reduced Dracula to dust, and Jem said the show sounded better than the  book, I asked Dill where his father was: “You ain’t said anything about him.”
    • beholden
      under a moral obligation to someone
      “She said she was going to leave this world  beholden to nothing and nobody.
    • barker
      someone who stands in front of a show (as at a carnival) and gives a loud colorful sales talk to potential customers
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • knot
      any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object
      Some tinfoil was sticking in a  knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun.
    • outdoors
      outside a building
      They thought I spent too much time in God’s  outdoors and not enough time inside the house reading the Bible.”
    • clink
      a short light metallic sound
      Jem and I followed suit, and received a soft, “Thank you, thank you,” as our dimes  clinked.
    • back down
      move backwards from a certain position
      I sat  back down.
    • get out
      move out of or depart from
      “He can  get out at night when we’re all asleep…” I said.
    • certainly
      definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely')
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and  certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • Birmingham
      a city in central England; 2nd largest English city and an important industrial and transportation center
      The Governor was eager to scrape a few barnacles off the ship of state; there were sit-down strikes in  Birmingham; bread lines in the cities grew longer, people in the country grew poorer.
    • cat
      feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
      Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any  cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
    • silent
      marked by absence of sound
      Jem was  silent.
    • lengthy
      relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
      Although her fits had passed off, she was in every other way her old self: when Sir Walter Scott became involved in  lengthy descriptions of moats and castles, Mrs. Dubose would become bored and pick on us: “Jeremy Finch, I told you you’d live to regret tearing up my camellias.
    • migrate
      move from one country or region to another and settle there
      He said the Cunninghams hadn’t taken anything from or off of anybody since they  migrated to the New World.
    • hoe
      a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle
      Jem ran to the back yard, produced the garden  hoe and began digging quickly behind the woodpile, placing any worms he found to one side.
    • handkerchief
      a square piece of cloth used for wiping the eyes or nose or as a costume accessory
      Aunt Alexandra ministered to Francis, wiping his tears away with her handkerchief, rubbing his hair, patting his cheek.
    • time-honored
      acceptable for a long time
      I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a  time-honored method of sealing oral contracts.
    • quietly
      with low volume
      Walter had picked himself up and was standing  quietly listening to Jem and me.
    • wrathfully
      in a wrathful manner
      Mayella sniffed  wrathfully and looked at Atticus.
    • knobby
      having knobs
      Her hands were  knobby, and the cuticles were grown up over her fingernails.
    • aridity
      a deficiency of moisture (especially when resulting from a permanent absence of rainfall)
      His voice had lost its  aridity, its detachment, and he was talking to the jury as if they were folks on the post office corner.
    • kind
      having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
      “First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all  kinds of folks.
    • refilling
      filling again by supplying what has been used up
      And so they went, down the row of laughing women, around the diningroom, refilling coffee cups, dishing out goodies as though their only regret was the temporary domestic disaster of losing Calpurnia.
    • britches
      informal term for breeches
      “You’re mighty dressed up, Miss Jean Louise,” she said, “Where are your  britches today?”
    • matter
      that which has mass and occupies space
      In this  matter we were lucky to have Dill.
    • a little
      to a small degree; somewhat
      Miss Caroline walked up and down the rows peering and poking into lunch containers, nodding if the contents pleased her, frowning  a little at others.
    • Joshua
      (Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho
      She left the room and returned with a purple-covered book on which Meditations of  Joshua S. St. Clair was stamped in gold.
    • testify
      give testimony in a court of law
      We asked Miss Maudie to elucidate: she said Miss Stephanie seemed to know so much about the case she might as well be called on to  testify.
    • register
      an official written record of names or events or transactions
      I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile  Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste.
    • clean
      free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits
      He did have on a  clean shirt and neatly mended overalls.
    • houseful
      as many as a house will accommodate
      He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that  houseful of children out there.
    • job
      a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee
      Jem condescended to take me to school the first day, a  job usually done by one’s parents, but Atticus had said Jem would be delighted to show me where my room was.
    • dark
      devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black
      Jem said, “He goes out, all right, when it’s pitch  dark.
    • leftovers
      food remaining from a previous meal
      Dill made his way through the  leftovers and was reaching for a can of pork and beans in the pantry when Miss Rachel’s Do-oo Je-sus went off in the hall.
    • expunge
      remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
      Judge Taylor told the reporter to  expunge anything he happened to have written down after Mr. Finch if you were a nigger like me you’d be scared too, and told the jury to disregard the interruption.
    • Bam
      an ancient city in southeastern Iran; destroyed by an earthquake in 2003
      Bam, bam, bam, and the checkerboard was swept clean of my men.
    • pulling
      the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
      Smoke was rolling off our house and Miss Rachel’s house like fog off a riverbank, and men were  pulling hoses toward them.
    • freeze
      change from a liquid to a solid when cold
      When people’s azaleas  froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them.
    • picture frame
      a framework in which a picture is mounted
      Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard containing the remains of a Model-T Ford (on blocks), a discarded dentist’s chair, an ancient icebox, plus lesser items: old shoes, worn-out table radios,  picture frames, and fruit jars, under which scrawny orange chickens pecked hopefully.
    • Tuscaloosa
      a university town in west central Alabama
      Miss Stephanie said old Mr. Radley said no Radley was going to any asylum, when it was suggested that a season in  Tuscaloosa might be helpful to Boo. Boo wasn’t crazy, he was high-strung at times.
    • poking
      a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
      Miss Caroline walked up and down the rows peering and  poking into lunch containers, nodding if the contents pleased her, frowning a little at others.
    • closer
      (comparative of `near' or `close') within a shorter distance
      I beat him up twice but it did no good, he only grew  closer to Jem. They spent days together in the treehouse plotting and planning, calling me only when they needed a third party.
    • wheelchair
      a movable chair mounted on large wheels; for invalids or those who cannot walk; frequently propelled by the occupant
      She was very old; she spent most of each day in bed and the rest of it in a  wheelchair.
    • cross
      a marking that consists of lines that cross each other
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever  crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • self-doubt
      lack of self-confidence
      When Aunt Alexandra went to school,  self-doubt could not be found in any textbook, so she knew not its meaning.
    • faint
      deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
      I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a  faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste.
    • annoy
      cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
      I knew I had  annoyed Miss Caroline, so I let well enough alone and stared out the window until recess when Jem cut me from the covey of first-graders in the schoolyard.
    • office
      place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
      Atticus’s  office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
    • indecision
      the trait of irresolution; a lack of firmness of character or purpose
      Burris seemed to be afraid of a child half his height, and Miss Caroline took advantage of his  indecision: “Burris, go home.
    • noise
      sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
      But there came a day when Atticus told us he’d wear us out if we made any  noise in the yard and commissioned Calpurnia to serve in his absence if she heard a sound out of us.
    • raving mad
      talking or behaving irrationally
      Why reasonable people go stark  raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand… I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town.
    • nightshirt
      nightclothes worn by men
      They worked in pajama tops and  nightshirts stuffed into their pants, but I became aware that I was slowly freezing where I stood.
    • soap
      a cleansing agent made from the salts of vegetable or animal fats
      “A good home remedy for—Burris, I want you to go home and wash your hair with lye  soap.
    • snapshot
      an informal photograph; usually made with a small hand-held camera
      He reached into his coat pocket and brought out some  snapshots.
    • streaked
      marked with or as if with stripes or linear discolorations
      Beneath its sweat- streaked dirt Dill’s face went white.
    • lonesome
      marked by dejection from being alone
      “The house got so  lonesome ‘long about two o’clock I had to turn on the radio.”
    • colorless
      weak in color; not colorful
      He was a thin leathery man with colorless eyes, so colorless they did not reflect light.
    • peephole
      a hole (in a door or an oven etc) through which you can peep
      Mrs. Crenshaw thoughtfully left two  peepholes for me.
    • move around
      pass to the other side of
      “Nobody’s moved, hardly,” said Jem. “They  moved around some when the jury went out,” said Reverend Sykes.
    • hunched
      having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
      Jem gulped like a goldfish,  hunched his shoulders and twitched his torso.
    • instead
      in place of, or as an alternative to
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting—  instead we found someone sitting looking at us.
    • work
      activity directed toward making or doing something
      In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren, and as Simon called himself a Methodist, he  worked his way across the Atlantic to Philadelphia, thence to Jamaica, thence to Mobile, and up the Saint Stephens.
    • next door
      at or in or to the adjacent residence
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I heard something  next door in Miss Rachel Haverford’s collard patch.
    • pot plant
      a plant suitable for growing in a flowerpot (especially indoors)
      I kept a fire in there last night for my  potted plants.
    • beginning
      the act of starting something
      They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so there was nothing much Atticus could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was probably the  beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.
    • go back
      return in thought or speech to something
      Now don’t you be afraid, you just  go back to your desk and teach us some more.”
    • stale
      lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
      There was a smell of  stale whiskey and pigpen about, and when I glanced around I discovered that these men were strangers.
    • up to
      busy or occupied with
      Before the first morning was over, Miss Caroline Fisher, our teacher, hauled me  up to the front of the room and patted the palm of my hand with a ruler, then made me stand in the corner until noon.
    • jabbing
      a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
      I watched him making  jabbing motions for so long, I abandoned my post and went to him.
    • bucketful
      the quantity contained in a bucket
      By the time Mrs. Cat called the drugstore for an order of chocolate malted mice the class was wriggling like a  bucketful of catawba worms.
    • go with
      go or occur together
      Dill and Jem were simply going to peep in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could get a look at Boo Radley, and if I didn’t want to  go with them I could go straight home and keep my fat flopping mouth shut, that was all.
    • vest
      a man's sleeveless garment worn underneath a coat
      There was nowhere to go, but I turned to go and met Atticus’s  vest front.
    • other
      not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
      The judge decided to send the boys to the state industrial school, where boys were sometimes sent for no  other reason than to provide them with food and decent shelter: it was no prison and it was no disgrace.
    • need
      have need of
      You got anything  needs readin‘ I can do it…” “How old are you,” asked Jem, “four-and-a-half?”
    • trot
      ride at a trot
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his  trot-lines were full.
    • coffee
      a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning  coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • three
      the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
      So Simon, having forgotten his teacher’s dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought  three slaves and with their aid established a homestead on the banks of the Alabama River some forty miles above Saint Stephens.
    • back end
      the side of an object that is opposite its front
      Jem, somebody was-” “Yes you will, you’ll watch the  back end of the lot and Dill’s gonna watch the front of the house an‘ up the street, an’ if anybody comes he’ll ring the bell.
    • name
      a language unit by which a person or thing is known
      Atticus had urged them to accept the state’s generosity in allowing them to plead Guilty to second-degree murder and escape with their lives, but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb County a  name synonymous with jackass.
    • ground
      the solid part of the earth's surface
      The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you.
    • get off
      leave a vehicle, aircraft, etc.
      Two days later Dill arrived in a blaze of glory: he had ridden the train by himself from Meridian to Maycomb Junction (a courtesy title—Maycomb Junction was in Abbott County) where he had been met by Miss Rachel in Maycomb’s one taxi; he had eaten dinner in the diner, he had seen two twins hitched together  get off the train in Bay St. Louis and stuck to his story regardless of threats.
    • outhouse
      a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate
      One night, in an excessive spurt of high spirits, the boys backed around the square in a borrowed flivver, resisted arrest by Maycomb’s ancient beadle, Mr. Conner, and locked him in the courthouse  outhouse.
    • growl
      to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
      “Ain’t hateful, just persuades him—‘s not like you’d chunk him in the fire,” Jem growled.
    • sip
      drink in sips
      Thus the dicta No Crawford Minds His Own Business, Every Third Merriweather Is Morbid, The Truth Is Not in the Delafields, All the Bufords Walk Like That, were simply guides to daily living: never take a check from a Delafield without a discreet call to the bank; Miss Maudie Atkinson’s shoulder stoops because she was a Buford; if Mrs. Grace Merriweather  sips gin out of Lydia E. Pinkham bottles it’s nothing unusual—her mother did the same.
    • come up
      move upward
      None of them saw us  come up.
    • poke into
      enter briefly
      Miss Caroline walked up and down the rows peering and  poking into lunch containers, nodding if the contents pleased her, frowning a little at others.
    • tag along
      go along with, often uninvited
      When we slowed to a walk at the edge of the schoolyard, Jem was careful to explain that during school hours I was not to bother him, I was not to approach him with requests to enact a chapter of Tarzan and the Ant Men, to embarrass him with references to his private life, or  tag along behind him at recess and noon.
    • wipe
      rub with a circular motion
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • between
      in the interval
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance  between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • decided
      recognizable; marked
      The town  decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • neck
      the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
      His  neck was dark gray, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick.
    • shyly
      in a shy or timid or bashful manner
      “It is, ain’t it?” he said  shyly.
    • sister
      a female person who has the same parents as another person
      Their  sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • pay
      give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
      You can  pay me back tomorrow.”
    • feral
      wild and menacing
      Jem made a  feral noise in his throat.
    • dictum
      an authoritative declaration
      So Simon, having forgotten his teacher’s  dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves and with their aid established a homestead on the banks of the Alabama River some forty miles above Saint Stephens.
    • swipe
      a sweeping stroke or blow
      Jem made a tentative  swipe under the bed.
    • closed
      not open
      The shutters and doors of the Radley house were  closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors meant illness and cold weather only.
    • tutorial
      a session of intensive tuition given by a tutor to an individual or to a small number of students
      Jem, educated on a half-Decimal half- Duncecap basis, seemed to function effectively alone or in a group, but Jem was a poor example: no  tutorial system devised by man could have stopped him from getting at books.
    • climb
      go up or advance
      But to  climb the Radley front steps and call, “He-y,” of a Sunday afternoon was something their neighbors never did.
    • skewed
      having an oblique or slanting direction or position
      He was sitting behind his table; his chair was  skewed to one side, his legs were crossed and one arm was resting on the back of his chair.
    • saddlebag
      a large bag (or pair of bags) hung over a saddle
      He sent them packing next day armed with their charts and five quarts of shinny in their  saddlebags— two apiece and one for the Governor.
    • block off
      obstruct access to
      When Jem an‘ I fuss Atticus doesn’t ever just listen to Jem’s side of it, he hears mine too, an’ in the second place you told me never to use words like that except in ex-extreme provocation, and Francis provocated me enough to knock his  block off—” Uncle Jack scratched his head.
    • asinine
      devoid of intelligence
      Lastly, we were to stay away from that house until we were invited there, we were not to play an  asinine game he had seen us playing or make fun of anybody on this street or in this town- “We weren’t makin‘ fun of him, we weren’t laughin’ at him,” said Jem, “we were just-” “So that was what you were doing, wasn’t it?”
    • major premise
      the premise of a syllogism that contains the major term (which is the predicate of the conclusion)
      I pulled at his sleeve, and we were followed up the sidewalk by a philippic on our family’s moral degeneration, the  major premise of which was that half the Finches were in the asylum anyway, but if our mother were living we would not have come to such a state.
    • laugh
      produce laughter
      As he told us the old tale his blue eyes would lighten and darken; his  laugh was sudden and happy; he habitually pulled at a cowlick in the center of his forehead.
    • rose
      any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
      rose graciously on Walter’s behalf: “Ah—Miss Caroline?”
    • mule
      hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; usually sterile
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony  mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • torso
      the body excluding the head and neck and limbs
      Jem scooped up an armful of dirt, patted it into a mound on which he added another load, and another until he had constructed a  torso.
    • shoo
      drive away by crying `shoo!'
      He flung open the gate, danced Dill and me through, and  shooed us between two rows of swishing collards.
    • spent
      depleted of energy, force, or strength
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who  spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • dress
      put on clothes
      She also wore high-heeled pumps and a red-and-white-striped  dress.
    • rarely
      not often
      We looked at her in surprise, for Calpurnia  rarely commented on the ways of white people.
    • button
      a round fastener sewn to shirts and coats etc to fit through buttonholes
      He wore blue linen shorts that  buttoned to his shirt, his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.
    • smugly
      in a smug manner
      As Judge Taylor banged his gavel, Mr. Ewell was sitting  smugly in the witness chair, surveying his handiwork.
    • adult
      a fully developed person from maturity onward
      Jem felt his age and gravitated to the  adults, leaving me to entertain our cousin.
    • finally
      as the end result of a succession or process
      “Yeb’m,” he  finally mumbled.
    • fight down
      fight against or resist strongly
      I was trying to  fight down the automatic terror rising in me.
    • doorknob
      a knob used to release the catch when opening a door (often called `doorhandle' in Great Britain)
      His fingers found the front  doorknob.
    • picking
      the act of picking (crops or fruit or hops etc.)
      He fingered the straps of his overalls, nervously  picking at the metal hooks.
    • waistline
      the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
      He looked thoughtfully at it for a moment, then he molded a big stomach below the figure’s  waistline.
    • reform school
      correctional institution for the detention and discipline and training of young or first offenders
      If you aren’t sent to the reform school before next week, my name’s not Dubose!”
    • live with
      tolerate or accommodate oneself to
      “Well, most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong…” “They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can  live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.
    • glassful
      the quantity a glass will hold
      Jem gulped down his second  glassful and slapped his chest.
    • beat up
      give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
      She was pretty well  beat up, but I heaved her to her feet and she washed her face in a bucket in the corner and said she was all right.
    • catch it
      receive punishment; be scolded or reprimanded
      One afternoon as I raced by, something caught my eye and  caught it in such a way that I took a deep breath, a long look around, and went back.
    • go under
      go under, "The raft sank and its occupants drowned"
      The neighborhood thought when Mr. Radley  went under Boo would come out, but it had another think coming: Boo’s elder brother returned from Pensacola and took Mr. Radley’s place.
    • standing room
      room for passengers or spectators to stand
      The old men ahead of them would take most of the  standing room.
    • blanket
      bedding that keeps a person warm in bed
      I had spent most of the day climbing up and down, running errands for him, providing him with literature, nourishment and water, and was carrying him  blankets for the night when Atticus said if I paid no attention to him, Jem would come down.
    • curve
      the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes
      The Radley Place jutted into a sharp  curve beyond our house.
    • side pocket
      a pocket on the side of a billiard table
      Mr. Tate reached in his  side pocket and withdrew a long switchblade knife.
    • footlights
      theater light at the front of a stage that illuminate the set and actors
      The auditorium was filling with people; the Maycomb County High School band had assembled in front below the stage; the stage  footlights were on and the red velvet curtain rippled and billowed from the scurrying going on behind it.
    • hose
      a flexible pipe for conveying a liquid or gas
      When the men attached its  hose to a hydrant, the hose burst and water shot up, tinkling down on the pavement.
    • redden
      turn red or redder
      “No sir,” said Jem,  reddening.
    • Andrew Jackson
      7th president of the US; successfully defended New Orleans from the British in 1815; expanded the power of the presidency (1767-1845)
      I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with  Andrew Jackson.
    • schooldays
      the time of life when you are going to school
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 4 The remainder of my  schooldays were no more auspicious than the first.
    • delete
      cut or eliminate
      Atticus told me to  delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.
    • stay put
      stay put (in a certain place)
      “I thought I told you and Jem to  stay put,” he said.
    • girl
      a young woman
      I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a  girl it’s mortifyin’.”
    • corrugated iron
      usually galvanized sheet iron or sheet steel shaped into straight parallel ridges and hollows
      The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening onto a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone.
    • patch
      a small contrasting part of something
      Early one morning as we were beginning our day’s play in the back yard, Jem and I heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford’s collard  patch.
    • afraid
      filled with fear or apprehension
      But Dill got him the third day, when he told Jem that folks in Meridian certainly weren’t as  afraid as the folks in Maycomb, that he’d never seen such scary folks as the ones in Maycomb.
    • five
      the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
      During his first  five years in Maycomb, Atticus practiced economy more than anything; for several years thereafter he invested his earnings in his brother’s education.
    • a lot
      to a very great degree or extent
      “First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along  a lot better with all kinds of folks.
    • horn-rimmed
      having the frame made of horn or tortoise shell or plastic that simulates either
      Mr. Heck Tate sat looking intently at Boo through his  horn-rimmed glasses.
    • jammed
      filled to capacity
      He stuck her sunhat on the snowman’s head and  jammed her hedge-clippers into the crook of his arm.
    • damn
      something of little value
      Jem, that  damn lady says Atticus’s been teaching me to read and for him to stop it-” “Don’t worry, Scout,” Jem comforted me.
    • dry up
      lose water or moisture
      When it comes fall this  dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!”
    • brown
      of a color similar to that of wood or earth
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven-thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes carrying a  brown paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • drop
      let fall to the ground
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling hell, the Dew- Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • unsanitary
      not sanitary or healthful
      But Cecil said his mother said it was  unsanitary to eat after folks.
    • flip
      turn upside down, or throw so as to reverse
      flip of the coin revealed the uncompromising lineaments of Aunt Alexandra and Francis.
    • look away
      avert one's gaze
      He seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and  looked away.
    • spoke
      support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
      We stared at him until he  spoke: “Hey.” “Hey yourself,” said Jem pleasantly.
    • hooked
      curved down like an eagle's beak
      The big man blinked and  hooked his thumbs in his overall straps.
    • liked
      found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
      He  liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town.
    • despise
      look down on with disdain
      I hate you an‘  despise you an’ hope you die tomorrow!”
    • must
      a necessary or essential thing
      So to school you  must go.”
    • blink
      a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
      The boy  blinked.
    • shaking
      the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
      Miss Caroline pointed a  shaking finger not at the floor nor at a desk, but to a hulking individual unknown to me.
    • contentious
      inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits
      “Ain’t got no mother,” was the answer, “and their paw’s right  contentious.”
    • assault and battery
      an assault in which the assailant makes physical contact
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • make it
      succeed in a big way; get to the top
      Two live oaks stood at the edge of the Radley lot; their roots reached out into the side-road and  made it bumpy.
    • highway
      a major road for any form of motor transport
      He had walked ten or eleven of the fourteen miles to Maycomb, off the  highway in the scrub bushes lest the authorities be seeking him, and had ridden the remainder of the way clinging to the backboard of a cotton wagon.
    • hymn
      a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
      I could not remember not being able to read  hymns.
    • connive at
      give one's silent approval to
      Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him… if I connived at something like this, frankly I couldn’t meet his eye, and the day I can’t do that I’ll know I’ve lost him.
    • pulpit
      a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three  pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • stolidly
      in a stolid manner
      “Doesn’t make it right,” said Jem  stolidly.
    • chance
      an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
      What Jem called the Dewey Decimal System was school-wide by the end of my first year, so I had no  chance to compare it with other teaching techniques.
    • thin
      of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section
      He was a  thin leathery man with colorless eyes, so colorless they did not reflect light.
    • tingle
      cause a stinging or tingling sensation
      A minute later, nerves still  tingling, Jem and I were on the sidewalk headed for home.
    • cellophane
      a transparent paperlike product that is impervious to moisture and used to wrap candy or cigarettes etc.
      Hey, look—” Some invisible signal had made the lunchers on the square rise and scatter bits of newspaper,  cellophane, and wrapping paper.
    • toilet paper
      a soft thin absorbent paper for use in toilets
      He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didn’t see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented  toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadn’t?
    • come around
      change one's position or opinion
      “Tell you, Atticus,” Cousin Ike would say, “the Missouri Compromise was what licked us, but if I had to go through it agin I’d walk every step of the way there an‘ every step back jist like I did before an’ furthermore we’d whip ‘em this time… now in 1864, when Stonewall Jackson  came around by—I beg your pardon, young folks.
    • worrying
      the act of harassing someone
      There are just some kind of men who—who’re so busy  worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
    • mantelpiece
      shelf that projects from wall above fireplace
      Jem read for perhaps twenty minutes, during which time I looked at the soot-stained  mantelpiece, out the window, anywhere to keep from looking at her.
    • evidence
      your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief
      The  evidence boils down to you-did—I-didn’t.
    • sill
      structural member consisting of a continuous horizontal timber forming the lowest member of a framework or supporting structure
      Think maybe I can make it stick on the window  sill, at least.”
    • touched
      having come into contact
      “You  touched the house once!”
    • later
      happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
      Jem was the product of their first year of marriage; four years  later I was born, and two years later our mother died from a sudden heart attack.
    • foolproof
      not liable to failure
      It had been a placid week: I had minded Aunty; Jem had outgrown the treehouse, but helped Dill and me construct a new rope ladder for it; Dill had hit upon a  foolproof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost to ourselves (place a trail of lemon drops from the back door to the front yard and he’d follow it, like an ant).
    • raise up
      change the arrangement or position of
      raised up on my elbow, facing Dill’s outline.
    • high
      (literal meaning) being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like `knee-high')
      He returned to Saint Stephens only once, to find a wife, and with her established a line that ran  high to daughters.
    • confuse
      mistake one thing for another
      According to neighborhood legend, when the younger Radley boy was in his teens he became acquainted with some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum, an enormous and  confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county, and they formed the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.
    • stare down
      overcome or cause to waver or submit by (or as if by) staring
      The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we  stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move.
    • populate
      inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of
      Old Sarum, their stamping grounds, was  populated by two families separate and apart in the beginning, but unfortunately bearing the same name.
    • drunkenly
      showing effects of much strong drink
      The remains of a picket  drunkenly guarded the front yard— a “swept” yard that was never swept— where johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew in abundance.
    • Saturday
      the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
      Atticus kept us in fits that evening, gravely reading columns of print about a man who sat on a flagpole for no discernible reason, which was reason enough for Jem to spend the following  Saturday aloft in the treehouse.
    • snug
      enjoying or affording comforting warmth and shelter especially in a small space
      It was all right for Miss Maudie to talk—she was old and  snug on her porch.
    • rake
      a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil
      “Now get the basket and haul all the snow you can  rake up from the back yard to the front.
    • icebox
      white goods in which food can be stored at low temperatures
      Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard containing the remains of a Model-T Ford (on blocks), a discarded dentist’s chair, an ancient  icebox, plus lesser items: old shoes, worn-out table radios, picture frames, and fruit jars, under which scrawny orange chickens pecked hopefully.
    • rope ladder
      a ladder with side pieces of rope
      It had been a placid week: I had minded Aunty; Jem had outgrown the treehouse, but helped Dill and me construct a new  rope ladder for it; Dill had hit upon a foolproof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost to ourselves (place a trail of lemon drops from the back door to the front yard and he’d follow it, like an ant).
    • screaming
      resembling a scream in effect
      Mrs. Radley ran  screaming into the street that Arthur was killing them all, but when the sheriff arrived he found Boo still sitting in the livingroom, cutting up the Tribune.
    • chop
      cut with a hacking tool
      Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged, denim-shirted and floursack-skirted first grade, most of whom had  chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature.
    • white woman
      a woman who is White
      Until my father explained it to me later, I did not understand the subtlety of Tom’s predicament: he would not have dared strike a  white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long, so he took the first opportunity to run—a sure sign of guilt.
    • gray
      of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
      The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate- gray yard around it.
    • sulky
      sullen or moody
      With one phrase he had turned happy picknickers into a  sulky, tense, murmuring crowd, being slowly hypnotized by gavel taps lessening in intensity until the only sound in the courtroom was a dim pink-pinkpink: the judge might have been rapping the bench with a pencil.
    • khaki
      a sturdy twilled cloth of a yellowish brown color used especially for military uniforms
      A thin man in  khaki pants came up the aisle and deposited a coin.
    • saliva
      a clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches
      When she drew it away, it trailed a long silver thread of  saliva.
    • wads
      a large number or amount
      Inside, surrounded by  wads of damp cotton, was a white, waxy, perfect camellia.
    • case
      an occurrence of something
      “Sometimes it’s better to bend the law a little in special  cases.
    • wall
      an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
      We leaped over the low  wall that separated Miss Rachel’s yard from our driveway.
    • gargle
      rinse one's mouth and throat with mouthwash
      You go  gargle—right now, you hear me?”
    • telephone operator
      someone who helps callers get the person they are calling
      Eula May was Maycomb’s leading  telephone operator.
    • soft
      yielding readily to pressure or weight
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like  soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.
    • fast
      acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly
      As the year passed, released from school thirty minutes before Jem, who had to stay until three o’clock, I ran by the Radley Place as  fast as I could, not stopping until I reached the safety of our front porch.
    • starch
      a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice; an important foodstuff and used otherwise especially in adhesives and as fillers and stiffeners for paper and textiles
      She had put so much  starch in my dress it came up like a tent when I sat down.
    • be born
      come into existence through birth
      She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember.
    • become
      come into existence
      According to neighborhood legend, when the younger Radley boy was in his teens he  became acquainted with some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum, an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county, and they formed the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.
    • seat
      any support where you can sit (especially the part of a chair or bench etc. on which you sit)
      Maycomb, some twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing, was the county seat of Maycomb County.
    • reporter
      a person who investigates and reports or edits news stories
      “No…” Atticus walked to the court  reporter’s desk and bent down to the furiously scribbling hand.
    • straight face
      a serious facial expression giving no evidence of interest or amusement
      All the time Ewell was on the stand I couldn’t dare look at John and keep a straight face.
    • erratically
      in an erratic unpredictable manner
      He walked  erratically, as if his right legs were shorter than his left legs.
    • look across
      be oriented in a certain direction
      She  looked across the street at us.
    • package
      a wrapped container
      I see it-” Jem looked around, reached up, and gingerly pocketed a tiny shiny  package.
    • Mardi Gras
      the last day before Lent
      “It’s like we were goin‘ to  Mardi Gras,” said Jem. “What’s all this for, Cal?” “I don’t want anybody sayin‘ I don’t look after my children,” she muttered.
    • take off
      remove clothes
      When they saw Jem and me with Calpurnia, the men stepped back and  took off their hats; the women crossed their arms at their waists, weekday gestures of respectful attention.
    • nagging
      continually complaining or faultfinding
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 5 My  nagging got the better of Jem eventually, as I knew it would, and to my relief we slowed down the game for a while.
    • crisscrossed
      marked with crossing lines
      A network of tiny lines  crisscrossed her palms, brown with dirt and dried blood.
    • have a fit
      get very angry and fly into a rage
      Today she had antagonized Jem for nearly two hours with no intention of  having a fit, and I felt hopelessly trapped.
    • innards
      internal organs collectively (especially those in the abdominal cavity)
      “These are his  innards,” and our hands were thrust into a plate of cold spaghetti.
    • underwater
      beneath the surface of the water
      He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an  underwater swimmer: time had slowed to a nauseating crawl.
    • really
      in actual fact
      I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it  really began with Andrew Jackson.
    • see the light
      change for the better
      She’s going to tell your father and then you’ll wish you never  saw the light of day!
    • wear out
      deteriorate through use or stress
      He was worn out, dirty beyond belief, and home.
    • arms
      weapons considered collectively
      As I was the last to leave, I saw her sink down into her chair and bury her head in her  arms.
    • seldom
      not often
      When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was  seldom self-conscious about his injury.
    • frowning
      showing displeasure or anger
      He walked to the corner of the lot, then back again, studying the simple terrain as if deciding how best to effect an entry,  frowning and scratching his head.
    • round the bend
      informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
      “Why, Atticus said he went  round the bend at the University.
    • watch out
      be vigilant, be on the lookout or be careful
      “Dill, you  watch out, now,” I warned.
    • kind of
      to some (great or small) extent
      “First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all  kinds of folks.
    • simply
      in a simple manner; without extravagance or embellishment
      As the Cunninghams had no money to pay a lawyer, they  simply paid us with what they had.
    • lunch
      a midday meal
      “Everybody who goes home to  lunch hold up your hands,” said Miss Caroline, breaking into my new grudge against Calpurnia.
    • wriggling
      moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
      Hours of wintertime had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope Jem had given me, learning their games, following Jem’s red jacket through  wriggling circles of blind man’s buff, secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.
    • bedroom
      a room used primarily for sleeping
      There were six  bedrooms upstairs, four for the eight female children, one for Welcome Finch, the sole son, and one for visiting relatives.
    • furtive
      secret and sly or sordid
      “Something  furtive,” Aunt Alexandra said.
    • smooth-faced
      lacking hair on the face
      A balding,  smooth-faced man, he could have been anywhere between forty and sixty.
    • second
      coming next after the first in position in space or time or degree or magnitude
      Atticus had urged them to accept the state’s generosity in allowing them to plead Guilty to  second-degree murder and escape with their lives, but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb County a name synonymous with jackass.
    • haul
      draw slowly or heavily
      Before the first morning was over, Miss Caroline Fisher, our teacher,  hauled me up to the front of the room and patted the palm of my hand with a ruler, then made me stand in the corner until noon.
    • chain
      a series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament
      Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him  chained to the bed most of the time.
    • perspire
      excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin
      Then he took off his glasses and wiped them, and we saw another “first”: we had never seen him sweat—he was one of those men whose faces never  perspired, but now it was shining tan.
    • rehash
      present or use over, with no or few changes
      Jem and I would listen respectfully to Atticus and Cousin Ike  rehash the war.
    • write
      write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word)
      Miss Caroline caught me  writing and told me to tell my father to stop teaching me.
    • pantry
      a small storeroom for storing foods or wines
      Jem, there’s some wrapping paper in the pantry, I think.
    • real property
      property consisting of houses and land
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 11 When we were small, Jem and I confined our activities to the southern neighborhood, but when I was well into the second grade at school and tormenting Boo Radley became passe, the business section of Maycomb drew us frequently up the street past the  real property of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose.
    • pretty
      pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
      She was a  pretty little thing.
    • furniture
      furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy
      Boo bit it off one night when he couldn’t find any cats and squirrels to eat.); she sat in the livingroom and cried most of the time, while Boo slowly whittled away all the  furniture in the house.
    • toe
      one of the digits of the foot
      The next day Dill said, “You’re too scared even to put your big  toe in the front yard.”
    • in that
      (formal) in or into that thing or place
      “It was sticking  in that tree yonder, the one comin‘ from school.”
    • reasonable
      showing reason or sound judgment
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth growing; but after getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a  reasonable income from the law.
    • bucket
      a roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top
      Molasses  buckets appeared from nowhere, and the ceiling danced with metallic light.
    • grind
      reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading
      When he passed we would look at the  ground and say, “Good morning, sir,” and he would cough in reply.
    • virgin forest
      forest or woodland having a mature or overly mature ecosystem more or less uninfluenced by human activity
      She chanted mournfully about Maycomb County being older than the state, that it was a part of the Mississippi and Alabama Territories, that the first white man to set foot in the  virgin forests was the Probate Judge’s great-grandfather five times removed, who was never heard of again.
    • glisten
      be shiny, as if wet
      Miss Maudie’s old sunhat  glistened with snow crystals.
    • shrieked
      uttered in a shrill scream as of pain or terror
      Jem, naturally, was Boo: he went under the front steps and  shrieked and howled from time to time.
    • wait on
      work for or be a servant to
      “Grandma says all men should learn to cook, that men oughta be careful with their wives and  wait on ‘em when they don’t feel good,” said my cousin.
    • resume
      take up or begin anew
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and  resumed his activities.
    • few
      a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `a'; a small but indefinite number
      Mr. Radley’s elder son lived in Pensacola; he came home at Christmas, and he was one of the  few persons we ever saw enter or leave the place.
    • pat
      hit lightly
      Before the first morning was over, Miss Caroline Fisher, our teacher, hauled me up to the front of the room and  patted the palm of my hand with a ruler, then made me stand in the corner until noon.
    • douse
      wet thoroughly
      There went with the house the usual legend about the Yankees: one Finch female, recently engaged, donned her complete trousseau to save it from raiders in the neighborhood; she became stuck in the door to the Daughters’ Staircase but was doused with water and finally pushed through.
    • viscous
      having a relatively high resistance to flow
      Occasionally it would say, “Pt,” like some  viscous substance coming to a boil.
    • feeling
      a physical sensation that you experience
      “I’m  feeling all right, really.”
    • pork
      meat from a domestic hog or pig
      Dill made his way through the leftovers and was reaching for a can of  pork and beans in the pantry when Miss Rachel’s Do-oo Je-sus went off in the hall.
    • overnight
      during or for the length of one night
      Jem sat from after breakfast until sunset and would have remained  overnight had not Atticus severed his supply lines.
    • myopic
      unable to see distant objects clearly
      Instead, Maycomb grew and sprawled out from its hub, Sinkfield’s Tavern, because Sinkfield reduced his guests to  myopic drunkenness one evening, induced them to bring forward their maps and charts, lop off a little here, add a bit there, and adjust the center of the county to meet his requirements.
    • hexagonal
      having six sides or divided into hexagons
      My arms were beginning to tingle, and they were red with small  hexagonal marks.
    • gardenia
      any of various shrubs and small trees of the genus Gardenia having large fragrant white or yellow flowers
      Mr. Ewell wrote on the back of the envelope and looked up complacently to see Judge Taylor staring at him as if he were some fragrant  gardenia in full bloom on the witness stand, to see Mr. Gilmer half-sitting, half-standing at his table.
    • piece of paper
      paper used for writing or printing
      Dill took a  piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to Jem. The three of us walked cautiously toward the old house.
    • tray
      an open receptacle for holding or displaying or serving articles or food
      She carried a  tray of charlotte.
    • dress up
      put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive
      One or two of the jury looked vaguely like  dressed-up Cunninghams.
    • running
      the act of running; traveling on foot at a fast pace
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing,  running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • queasy
      causing or able to cause nausea
      The name Ewell gave me a  queasy feeling.
    • guilty
      responsible for or chargeable with a reprehensible act
      Atticus had urged them to accept the state’s generosity in allowing them to plead Guilty to second-degree murder and escape with their lives, but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb County a name synonymous with jackass.
    • kin
      a person having kinship with another or others
      She never let a chance escape her to point out the shortcomings of other tribal groups to the greater glory of our own, a habit that amused Jem rather than annoyed him: “Aunty better watch how she talks—scratch most folks in Maycomb and they’re  kin to us.”
    • lightning rod
      a metallic conductor that is attached to a high point and leads to the ground; protects the building from destruction by lightning
      Lightning rods guarding some graves denoted dead who rested uneasily; stumps of burned-out candles stood at the heads of infant graves.
    • junction
      an act of joining or adjoining things
      Two days later Dill arrived in a blaze of glory: he had ridden the train by himself from Meridian to Maycomb  Junction (a courtesy title—Maycomb Junction was in Abbott County) where he had been met by Miss Rachel in Maycomb’s one taxi; he had eaten dinner in the diner, he had seen two twins hitched together get off the train in Bay St. Louis and stuck to his story regardless of threats.
    • darky
      (ethnic slur) offensive term for Black people
      That  darky’s wife.
    • in this
      (formal) in or into that thing or place
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a pile practicing medicine, but  in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he knew was not for the glory of God, as the putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • idea
      the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
      He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the  idea of making Boo Radley come out.
    • rise
      move upward
      rose graciously on Walter’s behalf: “Ah—Miss Caroline?”
    • hipped
      having hips; or having hips as specified (usually in combination)
      Atticus said one time the reason Aunty’s so  hipped on the family is because all we’ve got’s background and not a dime to our names.”
    • play tricks
      deceive somebody
      No, only last summer—no, summer before last, when… time was  playing tricks on me.
    • straw
      plant fiber used e.g. for making baskets and hats or as fodder
      Wooden sawhorses blocked the road at each end of the Radley lot,  straw was put down on the sidewalk, traffic was diverted to the back street.
    • empty
      holding or containing nothing
      I returned and gazed around the curve at the  empty road.
    • squalor
      sordid dirtiness
      Out there in J. Grimes Everett’s land there’s nothing but sin and  squalor.”
    • scrape
      cut the surface of; wear away the surface of
      Jem said if we waited until it snowed some more we could  scrape it all up for a snowman.
    • halfway
      at half the distance; at the middle
      Halfway through the collards I tripped; as I tripped the roar of a shotgun shattered the neighborhood.
    • scamper
      to move about or proceed hurriedly
      Below us, heads turned, feet scraped the floor, babies were shifted to shoulders, and a few children  scampered out of the courtroom.
    • bus
      a vehicle carrying many passengers; used for public transport
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the  bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • bow tie
      a man's tie that ties in a bow
      Francis had requested a pair of knee-pants, a red leather booksack, five shirts and an untied  bow tie.
    • bit
      a small piece or quantity of something
      Bit by bit, I told him the day’s misfortunes. “-and she said you taught me all wrong, so we can’t ever read any more, ever.
    • steam engine
      external-combustion engine in which heat is used to raise steam which either turns a turbine or forces a piston to move up and down in a cylinder
      Jem thought he had enough to buy a miniature  steam engine for himself and a twirling baton for me.
    • mildly
      to a moderate degree
      If the remainder of the school year were as fraught with drama as the first day, perhaps it would be  mildly entertaining, but the prospect of spending nine months refraining from reading and writing made me think of running away.
    • pitcher
      (baseball) the person who does the pitching
      Atticus summoned Calpurnia, who returned bearing the syrup  pitcher.
    • box
      a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
      We ran home, and on the front porch we looked at a small  box patchworked with bits of tinfoil collected from chewing-gum wrappers.
    • surprised
      taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
      He seemed  surprised when he saw most of the back yard in the front yard, but he said we had done a jim-dandy job.
    • ripple
      a small wave on the surface of a liquid
      Old Mrs. Radley died that winter, but her death caused hardly a  ripple—the neighborhood seldom saw her, except when she watered her cannas.
    • tooth
      hard bonelike structures in the jaws of vertebrates; used for biting and chewing or for attack and defense
      There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what  teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.
    • live in
      live in the house where one works
      Mr. Radley’s elder son  lived in Pensacola; he came home at Christmas, and he was one of the few persons we ever saw enter or leave the place.
    • push back
      cause to move back by force or influence
      He  pushed back my bangs and looked at me.
    • handed
      having or involving the use of hands
      Mr. Tate  handed the rifle to Atticus; Jem and I nearly fainted.
    • tremble
      move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
      I got to my feet,  trembling as I thawed.
    • pestering
      causing irritation or annoyance
      His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop  pestering him I consulted Atticus: “Reckon he’s got a tapeworm?”
    • school day
      any day on which school is in session
      Jem said he reckoned he wasn’t, he’d passed the Radley Place every  school day of his life.
    • envelope
      a flat (usually rectangular) container for a letter, thin package, etc.
      Jem put the note in an  envelope.
    • come by
      obtain, especially accidentally
      As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and dimes were hard to  come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.
    • business
      the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to mind his own  business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • edge
      a line determining the limits of an area
      My memory came alive to see Mrs. Radley occasionally open the front door, walk to the  edge of the porch, and pour water on her cannas.
    • mandrake
      a plant of southern Europe and North Africa having purple flowers, yellow fruits and a forked root formerly thought to have magical powers
      I so often wondered how she could be Atticus’s and Uncle Jack’s sister that I revived half-remembered tales of changelings and  mandrake roots that Jem had spun long ago.
    • confusing
      causing confusion or disorientation
      According to neighborhood legend, when the younger Radley boy was in his teens he became acquainted with some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum, an enormous and  confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county, and they formed the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.
    • enunciate
      express or state clearly
      Prejudice,” she  enunciated carefully.
    • rotted
      damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless
      Rain- rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees kept the sun away.
    • reassure
      cause to feel sure; give reassurance to
      reassured him: “Can’t anybody tell what you’re gonna do lest they live in the house with you, and even I can’t tell sometimes.”
    • notice
      the act of noticing or paying attention
      No one had  noticed him, probably, because Miss Caroline and I had entertained the class most of the morning.
    • wrap
      cloak that is folded or wrapped around a person
      That keeps ‘em from  wrapping around you-” “Don’t you believe a word he says, Dill,” I said.
    • getting
      the act of acquiring something
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth growing; but after  getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law.
    • trunk
      the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber
      I’m gonna put em in my  trunk.”
    • each
      (used of count nouns) every one considered individually
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who  each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • foam at the mouth
      be in a state of uncontrolled anger
      He’ll probably follow the road…” I thought mad dogs  foamed at the mouth, galloped, leaped and lunged at throats, and I thought they did it in August.
    • two-step
      a ballroom dance in duple meter; marked by sliding steps
      Jem skipped  two steps, put his foot on the porch, heaved himself to it, and teetered a long moment.
    • get around
      move around; move from place to place
      After my bout with Cecil Jacobs when I committed myself to a policy of cowardice, word  got around that Scout Finch wouldn’t fight any more, her daddy wouldn’t let her.
    • wash
      clean with some chemical process
      Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never  wash the blood off.
    • kerosene lamp
      a lamp that burns oil (as kerosine) for light
      Along its walls unlighted kerosene lamps hung on brass brackets; pine benches served as pews.
    • face up
      deal with (something unpleasant) head on
      “Scared of arrest, scared you’d have to  face up to what you did?”
    • songbird
      any bird having a musical call
      He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of  songbirds by hunters and children, and Maycomb thought he was trying to write an editorial poetical enough to be reprinted in The Montgomery Advertiser.
    • grimly
      in a grim implacable manner
      “That is three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford,” said Miss Maudie  grimly.
    • go over
      examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition
      “Do better if you  go over it instead of under it,” I said.
    • defense
      the act of defending someone or something against attack or injury
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a good enough  defense for anybody.
    • fun
      activities that are enjoyable or amusing
      I never thought it as much  fun as Tarzan, and I played that summer with more than vague anxiety despite Jem’s assurances that Boo Radley was dead and nothing would get me, with him and Calpurnia there in the daytime and Atticus home at night.
    • clear
      readily apparent to the mind
      I thought I had made things sufficiently  clear.
    • contradict
      prove negative; show to be false
      “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t called on to  contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t.
    • craw
      a pouch in many birds and some lower animals that resembles a stomach for storage and preliminary maceration of food
      Bob Ewell’s got a kitchen knife in his  craw.”
    • scat
      flee; take to one's heels; cut and run
      So  scat,” he said to me.
    • impressionistic
      of or relating to or based on an impression rather than on facts or reasoning
      No comment seemed to be expected of us, and the class received these  impressionistic revelations in silence.
    • dinner
      the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
      “Come on home to  dinner with us, Walter,” he said.
    • marry
      take in marriage
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she  married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • pause
      cease an action temporarily
      Miss Maudie’s benevolence extended to Jem and Dill, whenever they  paused in their pursuits: we reaped the benefits of a talent Miss Maudie had hitherto kept hidden from us.
    • rattle
      make short successive sounds
      The air was so cold and clear we heard the courthouse clock clank,  rattle and strain before it struck the hour.
    • mutt
      an inferior dog or one of mixed breed
      Besides being the sassiest, most disrespectful  mutts who ever passed her way, we were told that it was quite a pity our father had not remarried after our mother’s death.
    • lock up
      secure by locking
      “Why do you think Miss Rachel  locks up so tight at night?
    • cover
      provide with a covering or cause to be covered
      At first we saw nothing but a kudzu- covered front porch, but a closer inspection revealed an arc of water descending from the leaves and splashing in the yellow circle of the street light, some ten feet from source to earth, it seemed to us.
    • roll
      move by turning over or rotating
      Miss Caroline inspected her  roll-book.
    • dim
      lacking in light; not bright or harsh
      I was proceeding on the  dim theory, aside from the innate attractiveness of such words, that if Atticus discovered I had picked them up at school he wouldn’t make me go.
    • drunk
      someone who is intoxicated
      “He never  drunk a drop in his life—nome, yes he did.
    • clear the air
      dispel differences or negative emotions
      Best way to  clear the air is to have it all out in the open.
    • fight back
      defend oneself
      “Did you scream and  fight back?”
    • hushing
      a fricative sound (especially as an expression of disapproval)
      “I’m sorry if I spoke sharply, Heck,” Atticus said simply, “but nobody’s  hushing this up.
    • record book
      a compilation of the known facts regarding something or someone
      To reach the courtroom, on the second floor, one passed sundry sunless county cubbyholes: the tax assessor, the tax collector, the county clerk, the county solicitor, the circuit clerk, the judge of probate lived in cool dim hutches that smelled of decaying  record books mingled with old damp cement and stale urine.
    • uncontrollably
      in an uncontrolled manner
      His voice rose  uncontrollably, “Atticus, what’s the matter?”
    • reshape
      shape anew or differently
      Mrs. Merriweather galloped to me,  reshaped the chicken wire, and thrust me inside.
    • cook
      transform by heating
      We lived on the main residential street in town— Atticus, Jem and I, plus Calpurnia our  cook.
    • someday
      some unspecified time in the future
      Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.”
    • carve
      engrave or cut by chipping away at a surface
      Jem let me do the honors: I pulled out two small images  carved in soap.
    • evasion
      the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver
      “Nothing,” said Jem. Jem’s  evasion told me our game was a secret, so I kept quiet.
    • sneeze
      exhale spasmodically, as when an irritant entered one's nose
      Besides making change in the collection plate every Sunday, Mr. Avery sat on the porch every night until nine o’clock and  sneezed.
    • airtight
      not allowing air or gas to pass in or out
      “Well, he can make somebody’s will so  airtight can’t anybody meddle with it.”
    • arbor
      a framework that supports climbing plants
      Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the  arbor, and explore her vast back lot, terms so generous we seldom spoke to her, so careful were we to preserve the delicate balance of our relationship, but Jem and Dill drove me closer to her with their behavior.
    • plate
      dish on which food is served or from which food is eaten
      Jem ran to the kitchen and asked Calpurnia to set an extra  plate, we had company.
    • scurrying
      moving with great haste
      Soft taffeta-like sounds and muffled  scurrying sounds filled me with helpless dread.
    • nowhere
      not anywhere; in or at or to no place
      There was no hurry, for there was  nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.
    • boot
      footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg
      He was long-nosed, wore  boots with shiny metal eye-holes, boot pants and a lumber jacket.
    • Adolf Hitler
      German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)
      When his turn came, he went to the front of the room and began, “Old Hitler—” “ Adolf Hitler, Cecil,” said Miss Gates.
    • come before
      be the predecessor of
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys  came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • basement
      the lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below ground level; often used for storage
      The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes, so Boo was locked in the courthouse  basement.
    • philippic
      a speech of violent denunciation
      I pulled at his sleeve, and we were followed up the sidewalk by a philippic on our family’s moral degeneration, the major premise of which was that half the Finches were in the asylum anyway, but if our mother were living we would not have come to such a state.
    • hushed
      in a softened tone
      I turned to Calpurnia but was  hushed before I opened my mouth.
    • may
      thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries; established as an escape in eastern North America
      Miss Stephanie said old Mr. Radley said no Radley was going to any asylum, when it was suggested that a season in Tuscaloosa  might be helpful to Boo. Boo wasn’t crazy, he was high-strung at times.
    • itch
      an irritating cutaneous sensation that produces a desire to scratch
      “Do you  itch, Jem?” I asked as politely as I could.
    • groggy
      stunned or confused and slow to react (as from blows or drunkenness or exhaustion)
      Jem was standing beside Atticus,  groggy and tousled.
    • leafed
      having leaves or leaves as specified; often used in combination
      From her desk she produced a thick volume,  leafed through its pages and read for a moment.
    • papoose
      an American Indian infant
      Those unable to sit were strapped  papoose-style on their mothers’ backs, or resided in extra cotton bags.
    • speak up
      express one's opinion openly and without fear or hesitation
      Mr. Underwood  spoke up.
    • tell on
      give away information about somebody
      She had never  told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all interested in our private lives.
    • comfortable
      providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief (`comfy' is informal)
      “I’d feel mighty  comfortable if you did now,” he said.
    • moving
      in motion
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s  moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • hardware
      instrumentalities (tools or implements) made of metal
      At each seat was a cheap cardboard fan bearing a garish Garden of Gethsemane, courtesy Tyndal’s Hardware Co. (You-Name-It-We-Sell-It).
    • bend
      form a curve
      Calpurnia  bent down and kissed me.
    • woodpile
      a pile or stack of wood to be used for fuel
      Jem ran to the back yard, produced the garden hoe and began digging quickly behind the  woodpile, placing any worms he found to one side.
    • sleepy
      ready to fall asleep
      They were sullen-looking,  sleepy-eyed men who seemed unused to late hours.
    • soil erosion
      the washing away of soil by the flow of water
      And for goodness’ sake put some of the county back where it belongs, the  soil erosion’s bad enough as it is.”
    • careful
      exercising caution or showing care or attention
      When we slowed to a walk at the edge of the schoolyard, Jem was careful to explain that during school hours I was not to bother him, I was not to approach him with requests to enact a chapter of Tarzan and the Ant Men, to embarrass him with references to his private life, or tag along behind him at recess and noon.
    • rug
      floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile)
      He carried my baton in one hand; its filthy yellow tassel trailed on the  rug.
    • swear
      to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
      swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it’s mortifyin’.”
    • top
      the upper part of anything
      Jem had his little sister to think of the time I dared him to jump off the  top of the house: “If I got killed, what’d become of you?” he asked.
    • same
      same in identity
      The old house was the  same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move.
    • asleep
      in a state of sleep
      “He can get out at night when we’re all  asleep…” I said.
    • burst
      come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
      I was  bursting with a sudden thought.
    • fingering
      the placement of the fingers for playing different notes (or sequences of notes) on a musical instrument
      He picked up the camellia, and when I went off to bed I saw him  fingering the wide petals.
    • glad
      showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
      Knowing that Mr. Radley’s word was his bond, the judge was glad to do so.
    • classmate
      an acquaintance that you go to school with
      He was much older than the parents of our school contemporaries, and there was nothing Jem or I could say about him when our  classmates said, “My father—” Jem was football crazy.
    • burned-out
      destroyed or badly damaged by fire
      Lightning rods guarding some graves denoted dead who rested uneasily; stumps of  burned-out candles stood at the heads of infant graves.
    • wishful thinking
      the illusion that what you wish for is actually true
      It was  wishful thinking.
    • club member
      someone who is a member of a club
      “Whoa now, just a minute,” said a  club member, holding up his walking stick.
    • bawl
      cry loudly
      He evidently remembered he was engaged to me, for he ran back out and kissed me swiftly in front of Jem. “Yawl write, hear?” he  bawled after us.
    • hated
      treated with contempt
      I returned to school and  hated Calpurnia steadily until a sudden shriek shattered my resentments.
    • meet
      come together
      She was a Graham from Montgomery; Atticus  met her when he was first elected to the state legislature.
    • rippled
      shaken into waves or undulations as by wind
      Tom Robinson’s powerful shoulders  rippled under his thin shirt.
    • end
      either extremity of something that has length
      The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on  end; Mrs. Dubose was plain hell.
    • conclude
      bring to a close
      “She likes Jem better’n she likes me, anyway,” I  concluded, and suggested that Atticus lose no time in packing her off.
    • do away with
      terminate, end, or take out
      We oughta  do away with juries.”
    • screwdriver
      a hand tool for driving screws; has a tip that fits into the head of a screw
      I said you got a  screwdriver, Miss Mayella?
    • being
      the state or fact of existing
      When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never  being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.
    • bear
      be pregnant with
      He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County  born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town.
    • clown
      a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior
      “I think I’ll be a  clown when I get grown,” said Dill.
    • year of grace
      any year of the Christian era
      There is a tendency in this  year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions.
    • eased
      (of pain or sorrow) made easier to bear
      We  eased in beside Miss Maudie, who looked around.
    • dispel
      to cause to separate and go in different directions
      It was dim inside, with a damp coolness slowly  dispelled by the gathering congregation.
    • run out
      use up all one's strength and energy and stop working
      “You gonna  run out on a dare?” asked Dill.
    • riding boot
      a boot without laces that is worn for riding horses; part of a riding habit
      He wore the only English  riding boots I had ever seen.
    • ear
      the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
      “In a pig’s  ear you did, Dill.
    • siren
      a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound
      We had no chance to find out: Miss Rachel went off like the town fire  siren: “Doo- o Jee-sus, Dill Harris!
    • time of day
      clock time
      “Where are you two going at this  time of day?” she shouted.
    • puzzlement
      confusion resulting from failure to understand
      Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in  puzzlement.
    • belt
      endless loop of flexible material between two rotating shafts or pulleys
      He was a real mean one… below the  belt… you ain’t called on to teach folks like that… them ain’t Maycomb’s ways, Miss Caroline, not really… now don’t you fret, ma’am.
    • reason out
      decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion
      Mr. Link Deas eventually received the impression that Helen was coming to work each morning from the wrong direction, and dragged the  reason out of her.
    • usual
      occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
      “We’ll consider it sealed without the  usual formality,” Atticus said, when he saw me preparing to spit.
    • figured
      (of e.g. fabric design) adorned with patterns
      Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem  figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time.
    • lean back
      move the upper body backwards and down
      In possession of his court once more, Judge Taylor  leaned back in his chair.
    • high school
      a public secondary school usually including grades 9 through 12
      It was then my burning ambition to grow up and twirl with the Maycomb County  High School band.
    • stage
      any distinct time period in a sequence of events
      Bad language is a  stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re not attracting attention with it.
    • turn on
      cause to operate by flipping a switch
      “The house got so lonesome ‘long about two o’clock I had to  turn on the radio.”
    • parent
      a father or mother; one who begets or one who gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child; a relative who plays the role of guardian
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his  parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • cynical
      believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others
      The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the  cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption—the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.
    • sundown
      the time in the evening at which the sun begins to fall below the horizon
      Every thing that happens in this town’s out to the Quarters before  sundown.”
    • release
      grant freedom to; free from confinement
      If the judge  released Arthur, Mr. Radley would see to it that Arthur gave no further trouble.
    • dazedly
      in a daze; in a dazed manner
      Tim Johnson came into sight, walking  dazedly in the inner rim of the curve parallel to the Radley house.
    • tacky
      tastelessly showy
      “Aw,  tacky.
    • in a way
      from some points of view
      Aunt Alexandra managed to smile  in a way that conveyed a gentle apology to Cousin Lily and firm disapproval to me.
    • scrubbed
      made clean by scrubbing
      Inside were two  scrubbed and polished pennies, one on top of the other.
    • get along with
      have smooth relations
      “I mean, is he good to you, is he easy to  get along with?”
    • attention
      the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
      Miss Scout, if you give me your  attention I’ll tell you what entailment is.
    • cut across
      cut using a diagonal line
      A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would  cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked.
    • left over
      not used up
      He did a fair job, only one spring and two tiny pieces  left over, but the watch would not run.
    • stays
      a woman's close-fitting foundation garment
      “Arthur Radley just  stays in the house, that’s all,” said Miss Maudie.
    • inaudible
      impossible to hear; imperceptible by the ear
      Jem’s lips moved, but his, “Yes sir,” was  inaudible.
    • negligee
      a loose dressing gown for women
      Miss Rachel Haverford’s excuse for a glass of neat whiskey every morning was that she never got over the fright of finding a rattler coiled in her bedroom closet, on her washing, when she went to hang up her  negligee.
    • churchgoer
      a religious person who goes to church regularly
      Judge Taylor was not a Sunday-night churchgoer: Mrs. Taylor was.
    • tax system
      a legal system for assessing and collecting taxes
      “Oh, Scout, it’s like reorganizing the  tax systems of the counties and things.
    • in on
      participating in or knowledgeable out
      How would we like it if Atticus barged  in on us without knocking, when we were in our rooms at night?
    • awkwardly
      in an awkward manner
      It was twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing,  awkwardly inland for such an old town.
    • slow down
      lose velocity; move more slowly
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 5 My nagging got the better of Jem eventually, as I knew it would, and to my relief we  slowed down the game for a while.
    • own
      belonging to or on behalf of a specified person (especially yourself); preceded by a possessive
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to mind his  own business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • concede
      give over; surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another
      It was all right to shut him up, Mr. Radley  conceded, but insisted that Boo not be charged with anything: he was not a criminal.
    • suspiciously
      with suspicion
      Our father’s mouth was  suspiciously firm, as if he were trying to hold it in line.
    • frosting
      a flavored sugar topping used to coat and decorate cakes
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with  frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.
    • duress
      compulsory force or threat
      Mr. Merriweather, a faithful Methodist under  duress, apparently saw nothing personal in singing, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…” It was the general opinion of Maycomb, however, that Mrs. Merriweather had sobered him up and made a reasonably useful citizen of him.
    • O.K.
      in a satisfactory or adequate manner
      You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways—a Finch waiting on tables at the  O.K. Café—hah!”
    • cross-eyed
      having convergent strabismus
      As I made my way home, I felt very old, but when I looked at the tip of my nose I could see fine misty beads, but looking  cross-eyed made me dizzy so I quit.
    • sound asleep
      sleeping deeply
      But the officers of the court, the ones present—Atticus, Mr. Gilmer, Judge Taylor sound asleep, and Bert, were the only ones whose behavior seemed normal.
    • black tie
      a black bow tie worn with a dinner jacket
      He was a short, stocky man in a black suit,  black tie, white shirt, and a gold watch-chain that glinted in the light from the frosted windows.
    • nauseated
      feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit
      Dizzy and  nauseated, I lay on the cement and shook my head still, pounded my ears to silence, and heard Jem’s voice: “Scout, get away from there, come on!”
    • dining table
      a table at which meals are served
      At Christmas dinner, I sat at the little table in the diningroom; Jem and Francis sat with the adults at the  dining table.
    • make sure
      make a point of doing something; act purposefully and intentionally
      “Only a week longer, I think,” she said, “just to  make sure…” Jem rose.
    • mash
      to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition
      “Why couldn’t I  mash him?”
    • wholehearted
      with unconditional and enthusiastic devotion
      I could see nothing in Mayella’s expression to justify Atticus’s assumption that he had secured her  wholehearted cooperation.
    • teeny
      (used informally) very small
      There’s a little  teeny light way off somewhere, though.”
    • crumple
      to gather something into small wrinkles or folds
      Tim Johnson leaped, flopped over and  crumpled on the sidewalk in a brown-and-white heap.
    • yet
      up to the present time
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land,  yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • look out
      be vigilant, be on the lookout or be careful
      Next morning I awoke,  looked out the window and nearly died of fright.
    • stay over
      stay overnight
      “He can  stay over sometimes after school, too.
    • busted
      out of working order (`busted' is an informal substitute for `broken')
      “Not the same chiffarobe you  busted up?” asked Atticus.
    • narrowed
      made narrow; limited in breadth
      Miss Maudie’s eyes  narrowed.
    • trashy
      tastelessly showy
      It’s hard to explain—ignorant,  trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves.
    • unforgivable
      not excusable
      The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb.
    • doorway
      the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close
      When I appeared in the  doorway, Aunty would look as if she regretted her request; I was usually mud-splashed or covered with sand.
    • lots
      a large number or amount
      Why, he can do  lots of things.”
    • invite
      ask someone in a friendly way to do something
      Lastly, we were to stay away from that house until we were  invited there, we were not to play an asinine game he had seen us playing or make fun of anybody on this street or in this town- “We weren’t makin‘ fun of him, we weren’t laughin’ at him,” said Jem, “we were just-” “So that was what you were doing, wasn’t it?”
    • as well
      in addition
      She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave  as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come.
    • worn out
      drained of energy or effectiveness; extremely tired; completely exhausted
      He was worn out, dirty beyond belief, and home.
    • edification
      uplifting enlightenment
      “No,” said Atticus, “putting his life’s history on display for the  edification of the neighborhood.”
    • unhurried
      relaxed and leisurely; without hurry or haste
      Jem was talking in an  unhurried, flat toneless voice.
    • refill
      fill something that had previously been emptied
      And so they went, down the row of laughing women, around the diningroom, refilling coffee cups, dishing out goodies as though their only regret was the temporary domestic disaster of losing Calpurnia.
    • rested
      not tired; refreshed as by sleeping or relaxing
      Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that  rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
    • hateful
      evoking or deserving hatred
      Dill said striking a match under a turtle was  hateful.
    • flagpole
      a tall staff or pole on which a flag is raised
      Atticus kept us in fits that evening, gravely reading columns of print about a man who sat on a  flagpole for no discernible reason, which was reason enough for Jem to spend the following Saturday aloft in the treehouse.
    • double-barreled
      having two barrels mounted side by side
      Mr. Underwood and a  double-barreled shotgun were leaning out his window above The Maycomb Tribune office.
    • bottom
      the lower side of anything
      Jem held up the  bottom wire and motioned Dill under it.
    • telephone
      electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
      The  telephone rang and Atticus left the breakfast table to answer it.
    • red
      red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
      In rainy weather the streets turned to  red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • warm
      having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
      The cats had long conversations with one another, they wore cunning little clothes and lived in a warm house beneath a kitchen stove.
    • stumble
      miss a step and fall or nearly fall
      Atticus rose at his usual ungodly hour and was in the livingroom behind the Mobile Register when we  stumbled in.
    • jump off
      jump down from an elevated point
      Jem had his little sister to think of the time I dared him to  jump off the top of the house: “If I got killed, what’d become of you?” he asked.
    • wave
      (physics) a movement up and down or back and forth
      The Dewey Decimal System consisted, in part, of Miss Caroline  waving cards at us on which were printed “the,” “cat,” “rat,” “man,” and “you.”
    • mocker
      someone who jeers or mocks or treats something with contempt or calls out in derision
      High above us in the darkness a solitary  mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful unawareness of whose tree he sat in, plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird to the irascible qua-ack of a bluejay, to the sad lament of Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor Will.
    • store
      a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
      They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the  stores around it, took their time about everything.
    • drove
      a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
      As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo  drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.
    • papa
      an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
      “Reason I can’t pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I’ve had to stay out ever‘ spring an’ help  Papa with the choppin‘, but there’s another’n at the house now that’s field size.”
    • small
      limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
      Any stealthy  small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work.
    • squeak
      make a high-pitched, screeching noise
      The gate  squeaked.
    • confine
      place limits on (extent or access)
      Uncle Jack Finch  confined his passion for digging to his window boxes in Nashville and stayed rich.
    • devilry
      wicked and cruel behavior
      Dill was a villain’s villain: he could get into any character part assigned him, and appear tall if height was part of the  devilry required.
    • swimmer
      a person who travels through the water by swimming
      He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer: time had slowed to a nauseating crawl.
    • land
      the solid part of the earth's surface
      It was customary for the men in the family to remain on Simon’s homestead, Finch’s  Landing, and make their living from cotton.
    • easy
      posing no difficulty; requiring little effort
      It was not often that she made crackling bread, she said she never had time, but with both of us at school today had been an  easy one for her.
    • greasy
      containing an unusual amount of grease or oil
      Greasy-faced children popped-the-whip through the crowd, and babies lunched at their mothers’ breasts.
    • steam
      water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere
      I mean it, now-” “Yawl hush,” growled Jem, “you act like you believe in Hot  Steams.”
    • calomel
      a tasteless colorless powder used medicinally as a cathartic
      Perhaps she had given him a dose of  calomel.
    • inch
      a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot
      As for me, I knew nothing except what I gathered from Time magazine and reading everything I could lay hands on at home, but as I  inched sluggishly along the treadmill of the Maycomb County school system, I could not help receiving the impression that I was being cheated out of something.
    • row
      an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
      Miss Caroline walked up and down the  rows peering and poking into lunch containers, nodding if the contents pleased her, frowning a little at others.
    • broke
      lacking funds
      A storm of laughter  broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me.
    • gentleman
      a man of refinement
      Little Chuck Little was another member of the population who didn’t know where his next meal was coming from, but he was a born  gentleman.
    • part
      one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole
      1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS l DEDICATION l  PART ONE m Chapter 1 m Chapter 2 m Chapter 3 m Chapter 4 m Chapter 5 m Chapter 6 m Chapter 7 m Chapter 8 m Chapter 9 m Chapter 10 m Chapter 11 l PART TWO m Chapter 12 m Chapter 13 m Chapter 14 m Chapter 15 m Chapter 16 m Chapter 17 m Chapter 18 m Chapter 19 m Chapter 20 m Chapter 21 m Chapter 22...
    • hurry
      move very fast
      There was no  hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.
    • pleasantly
      in an enjoyable manner
      We stared at him until he spoke: “Hey.” “Hey yourself,” said Jem  pleasantly.
    • crossed
      placed crosswise
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever  crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • running away
      the act of leaving (without permission) the place you are expected to be
      If the remainder of the school year were as fraught with drama as the first day, perhaps it would be mildly entertaining, but the prospect of spending nine months refraining from reading and writing made me think of  running away.
    • noticed
      being perceived or observed
      No one had  noticed him, probably, because Miss Caroline and I had entertained the class most of the morning.
    • serve
      devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas
      But there came a day when Atticus told us he’d wear us out if we made any noise in the yard and commissioned Calpurnia to  serve in his absence if she heard a sound out of us.
    • on that
      on that
      “Please,” I pleaded, “can’tcha just think about it for a minute— by yourself  on that place—” “Shut up!”
    • as needed
      according to need (physicians use PRN in writing prescriptions)
      Jem would reappear  as needed in the shapes of the sheriff, assorted townsfolk, and Miss Stephanie Crawford, who had more to say about the Radleys than anybody in Maycomb.
    • law
      the collection of rules imposed by authority
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read  law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • corroborative
      serving to support or corroborate
      Tom Robinson was toying with them. “…absence of any  corroborative evidence, this man was indicted on a capital charge and is now on trial for his life…” I punched Jem. “How long’s he been at it?”
    • William Jennings Bryan
      United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)
      “Look at all those folks—you’d think  William Jennings Bryan was speakin‘.”
    • mutilate
      destroy or injure severely
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found  mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • twilight
      the time of day immediately following sunset
      But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a girl, I spent most of the remaining  twilights that summer sitting with Miss Maudie Atkinson on her front porch.
    • ravel
      disentangle
      “Gracious child, I was  raveling a thread, wasn’t even thinking about your father, but now that I am I’ll say this: Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.
    • advertiser
      someone whose business is advertising
      We were surprised one morning to see a cartoon in the Montgomery  Advertiser above the caption, “Maycomb’s Finch.”
    • hitch
      to hook or entangle
      Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules  hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
    • unburdened
      not burdened with difficulties or responsibilities
      As he lived in Mobile, he could not inform on me to school authorities, but he managed to tell everything he knew to Aunt Alexandra, who in turn  unburdened herself to Atticus, who either forgot it or gave me hell, whichever struck his fancy.
    • stark naked
      (used informally) completely unclothed
      He never loosened a scrap of his clothing until he undressed at bedtime, and to Jem and me, this was the equivalent of him standing before us  stark naked.
    • latch
      catch for fastening a door or gate; a bar that can be lowered or slid into a groove
      He came up the back steps,  latched the door behind him, and sat on his cot.
    • sling
      a simple weapon consisting of a looped strap in which a projectile is whirled and then released
      “Well, it was all  slung about, like there was a fight.”
    • Confederate Army
      the southern army during the American Civil War
      For the life of me, I did not understand how he could sit there in cold blood and read a newspaper when his only son stood an excellent chance of being murdered with a  Confederate Army relic.
    • Spanish-American War
      a war between the United States and Spain in 1898
      Backstage, Cecil and I found the narrow hallway teeming with people: adults in homemade three-corner hats, Confederate caps,  Spanish-American War hats, and World War helmets.
    • mushy
      having the consistency of mush
      I looked back at my  mushy footprints.
    • scrapbook
      an album into which clippings or notes or pictures can be pasted
      According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his  scrapbook.
    • palliation
      easing the severity of a pain or a disease without removing the cause
      She was a less than satisfactory source of palliation, but she did give Jem a hot biscuit-and-butter which he tore in half and shared with me.
    • postponement
      act of putting off to a future time
      John Taylor was kind enough to give us a  postponement…” “If you shouldn’t be defendin‘ him, then why are you doin’ it?”
    • quell
      suppress or crush completely
      Through all the headshaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk.
    • jerking
      an abrupt spasmodic movement
      “Shoot no wonder, then,” said Jem,  jerking his thumb at me.
    • elbow
      hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped
      Charles Lamb PART ONE Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 1 When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
    • drool
      saliva spilling from the mouth
      There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he  drooled most of the time.
    • though
      (postpositive) however
      I retrieved my plate and finished dinner in the kitchen, thankful,  though, that I was spared the humiliation of facing them again.
    • facing
      an ornamental coating to a building
      I retrieved my plate and finished dinner in the kitchen, thankful, though, that I was spared the humiliation of  facing them again.
    • slow
      not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
      When we  slowed to a walk at the edge of the schoolyard, Jem was careful to explain that during school hours I was not to bother him, I was not to approach him with requests to enact a chapter of Tarzan and the Ant Men, to embarrass him with references to his private life, or tag along behind him at recess and noon.
    • switch
      control consisting of a mechanical or electrical or electronic device for making or breaking or changing the connections in a circuit
      Jem procured some peachtree  switches from the back yard, plaited them, and bent them into bones to be covered with dirt.
    • starkly
      in a stark manner
      Starkly out of place in a town of square-faced stores and steep-roofed houses, the Maycomb jail was a miniature Gothic joke one cell wide and two cells high, complete with tiny battlements and flying buttresses.
    • frown
      a facial expression of dislike or displeasure
      He walked to the corner of the lot, then back again, studying the simple terrain as if deciding how best to effect an entry,  frowning and scratching his head.
    • motivated
      provided with a motive or given incentive for action
      Tim Johnson was advancing at a snail’s pace, but he was not playing or sniffing at foliage: he seemed dedicated to one course and  motivated by an invisible force that was inching him toward us.
    • leap
      move forward by leaps and bounds
      We  leaped over the low wall that separated Miss Rachel’s yard from our driveway.
    • impedimenta
      the baggage and equipment carried by an army
      There was no sign of piano, organ, hymn-books, church programs—the familiar ecclesiastical  impedimenta we saw every Sunday.
    • abusive
      characterized by physical or psychological maltreatment
      The town decided something had to be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using  abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female.
    • chew up
      censure severely or angrily
      They put the women out in huts when their time came, whatever that was; they had no sense of family—I knew that’d distress Aunty—they subjected children to terrible ordeals when they were thirteen; they were crawling with yaws and earworms, they  chewed up and spat out the bark of a tree into a communal pot and then got drunk on it.
    • square deal
      fair treatment
      The one place where a man ought to get a  square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.
    • no matter what happens
      in spite of all obstacles
      “I don’t want either of you bearing a grudge about this thing,  no matter what happens.”
    • majority rule
      the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group
      The one thing that doesn’t abide by  majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
    • untrammeled
      not confined or limited
      He liked to tell things his own way,  untrammeled by state or defense, and sometimes it took him a while.
    • squat
      sit on one's heels
      He stopped in front of the dog,  squatted, turned around and tapped his finger on his forehead above his left eye.
    • wearing
      (geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
      I looked down and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket I was  wearing around my shoulders, squaw-fashion.
    • recess
      a state of abeyance or suspended business
      When we slowed to a walk at the edge of the schoolyard, Jem was careful to explain that during school hours I was not to bother him, I was not to approach him with requests to enact a chapter of Tarzan and the Ant Men, to embarrass him with references to his private life, or tag along behind him at recess and noon.
    • beyond
      farther along in space or time or degree
      The Radley Place jutted into a sharp curve  beyond our house.
    • below
      in or to a place that is lower
      He was a real mean one…  below the belt… you ain’t called on to teach folks like that… them ain’t Maycomb’s ways, Miss Caroline, not really… now don’t you fret, ma’am.
    • involve
      contain as a part
      Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment  involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life.
    • first name
      the name that precedes the surname
      “I have a Ewell here, but I don’t have a first name… would you spell your first name for me?”
    • wispy
      thin and weak
      A shock of  wispy newwashed hair stood up from his forehead; his nose was thin, pointed, and shiny; he had no chin to speak of—it seemed to be part of his crepey neck. “—so help me God,” he crowed.
    • come on
      move towards
      Come on home to dinner with us, Walter,” he said.
    • sew
      create (clothes) with cloth
      When it was time to play Boo’s big scene, Jem would sneak into the house, steal the scissors from the  sewing-machine drawer when Calpurnia’s back was turned, then sit in the swing and cut up newspapers.
    • God
      the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
      Mindful of John Wesley’s strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a pile practicing medicine, but in this pursuit he was unhappy lest he be tempted into doing what he knew was not for the glory of  God, as the putting on of gold and costly apparel.
    • keep on
      allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature
      “No sir,” I murmured, and made a final stand: “But if I  keep on goin‘ to school, we can’t ever read any more…” “That’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”
    • jimmy
      to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
      I suppose I should include Uncle  Jimmy, Aunt Alexandra’s husband, but as he never spoke a word to me in my life except to say, “Get off the fence,” once, I never saw any reason to take notice of him.
    • soaking
      the act of making something completely wet
      In Maycomb County, it was easy to tell when someone bathed regularly, as opposed to yearly lavations: Mr. Ewell had a scalded look; as if an overnight soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt, his skin appeared to be sensitive to the elements.
    • Dixie
      the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861
      I picked up a football magazine, found a picture of Dixie Howell, showed it to Jem and said, “This looks like you.”
    • move back
      pull back or move away or backward
      Then it turned and  moved back across Jem, walked along the porch and off the side of the house, returning as it had come.
    • win
      a victory (as in a race or other competition)
      Calpurnia always  won, mainly because Atticus always took her side.
    • monosyllabic
      having or characterized by or consisting of one syllable
      My replies were  monosyllabic and he did not press me.
    • connive
      form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
      Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him… if I connived at something like this, frankly I couldn’t meet his eye, and the day I can’t do that I’ll know I’ve lost him.
    • usually
      under normal conditions
      Jem condescended to take me to school the first day, a job  usually done by one’s parents, but Atticus had said Jem would be delighted to show me where my room was.
    • massage
      kneading and rubbing parts of the body to increase circulation and promote relaxation
      As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem’s hair, his one gesture of affection.
    • misdemeanor
      a crime less serious than a felony
      In Maycomb County, hunting out of season was a misdemeanor at law, a capital felony in the eyes of the populace.
    • copy out
      copy very carefully and as accurately as possible
      She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then  copying out a chapter of the Bible beneath.
    • sit-down
      a strike in which workers refuse to leave the workplace until a settlement is reached
      The Governor was eager to scrape a few barnacles off the ship of state; there were  sit-down strikes in Birmingham; bread lines in the cities grew longer, people in the country grew poorer.
    • deep
      having great spatial extension or penetration downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or laterally or outward from a center; sometimes used in combination
      The house was low, was once white with a  deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it.
    • window frame
      the framework that supports a window
      The fire was well into the second floor and had eaten its way to the roof:  window frames were black against a vivid orange center.
    • excuse
      a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.
      “Well, Burris,” said Miss Caroline, “I think we’d better  excuse you for the rest of the afternoon.
    • unhitch
      unfasten or release from or as if from a hitch
      He  unhitched his watch and chain and placed them on the table, saying, “With the court’s permission—” Judge Taylor nodded, and then Atticus did something I never saw him do before or since, in public or in private: he unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie, and took off his coat.
    • fatalistic
      of or relating to fatalism
      “Don’t you oh well me, sir,” Miss Maudie replied, recognizing Jem’s  fatalistic noises, “you are not old enough to appreciate what I said.”
    • budge
      move very slightly
      We were accustomed to prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus’s instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of  budging.
    • best
      (superlative of `good') having the most positive qualities
      The other boys attended the industrial school and received the  best secondary education to be had in the state; one of them eventually worked his way through engineering school at Auburn.
    • make noise
      emit a noise
      “No you ain’t, you’ll just  make noise.”
    • missionary
      someone sent on a mission--especially a religious or charitable mission to a foreign country
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.
    • fuzzy
      covering with fine light hairs
      The moon was setting and the lattice-work shadows were fading into  fuzzy nothingness.
    • yellow
      yellow color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of sunflowers or ripe lemons
      There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were  yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.
    • distance
      the property created by the space between two objects or points
      When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries (within calling  distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
    • tired of
      having a strong distaste from surfeit
      He was clearly  tired of being our character man.
    • kerosene
      a flammable hydrocarbon oil used as fuel in lamps and heaters
      When you’ve done that, treat your scalp with  kerosene.”
    • sit up
      change to an upright sitting position
      I pushed the pillow to the headboard and  sat up.
    • all of a sudden
      happening unexpectedly
      “We-ll,” I said, “who’s so high and mighty  all of a sudden?”
    • come back
      go back to something earlier
      Mr. Radley walked to town at eleven-thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve, sometimes carrying a brown paper bag that the neighborhood assumed contained the family groceries.
    • do the honors
      act as the host and receive or introduce one's guests
      Jem let me  do the honors: I pulled out two small images carved in soap.
    • do in
      get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing
      “Wonder what he  does in there,” he would murmur.
    • sibilant
      of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as `f', `s', `z', or `th' in both `thin' and `then')
      She had a curious habit of prefacing everything she said with a soft  sibilant sound.
    • cow
      female of domestic cattle: "`moo-cow' is a child's term"
      You don’t have to learn much out of books that way—it’s like if you wanta learn about  cows, you go milk one, see?”
    • wrongful
      not just or fair
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged  wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a good enough defense for anybody.
    • enema
      an injection of a liquid through the anus to stimulate evacuation; sometimes used for diagnostic purposes
      Turning to face our accusers, we would see only a couple of farmers studying the  enema bags in the Mayco Drugstore window.
    • remind
      put in the mind of someone
      He reminded me of a car stuck in a sandbed.
    • slop
      deep soft mud in water or slush
      In rainy weather the streets turned to red  slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.
    • figure
      alternative names for the body of a human being
      Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem  figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time.
    • turtle
      any of various aquatic and land reptiles having a bony shell and flipper-like limbs for swimming
      “Lemme think a minute… it’s sort of like making a  turtle come out…” “How’s that?” asked Dill.
    • blow over
      disappear gradually
      If we just let them know we forgive ‘em, that we’ve forgotten it, then this whole thing’ll  blow over.”
    • Stonewall Jackson
      general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War whose troops at the first Battle of Bull Run stood like a stone wall (1824-1863)
      “Tell you, Atticus,” Cousin Ike would say, “the Missouri Compromise was what licked us, but if I had to go through it agin I’d walk every step of the way there an‘ every step back jist like I did before an’ furthermore we’d whip ‘em this time… now in 1864, when Stonewall Jackson came around by—I beg your pardon, young folks.
    • out loud
      using the voice; not silently
      She wants me to come every afternoon after school and Saturdays and read to her  out loud for two hours.
    • roly-poly
      short and plump
      roly-poly had found his way inside the house; I reasoned that the tiny varmint had crawled up the steps and under the door.
    • lick
      pass the tongue over
      licked it and waited for a while.
    • revived
      restored to consciousness or life or vigor
      Apparently she had  revived enough to persevere in her profession.
    • stuff
      the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
      He died years ago and they  stuffed him up the chimney.”
    • lye
      a strong solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide
      “A good home remedy for—Burris, I want you to go home and wash your hair with  lye soap.
    • cry
      shed tears because of sadness, rage, or pain
      He waited until he was sure she was  crying, then he shuffled out of the building.
    • find out
      find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort
      “You’ll  find out.”
    • squirrel
      a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail
      Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw  squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
    • dreamlike
      resembling a dream
      What happened after that had a  dreamlike quality: in a dream I saw the jury return, moving like underwater swimmers, and Judge Taylor’s voice came from far away and was tiny.
    • teem
      be teeming, be abuzz
      Thus we came to know Dill as a pocket Merlin, whose head  teemed with eccentric plans, strange longings, and quaint fancies.
    • akimbo
      with hands on hips and elbows extending outward
      She was now standing arms  akimbo, her shoulders drooping a little, her head cocked to one side, her glasses winking in the sunlight.
    • faded
      having lost freshness or brilliance of color
      For some reason, my first year of school had wrought a great change in our relationship: Calpurnia’s tyranny, unfairness, and meddling in my business had  faded to gentle grumblings of general disapproval.
    • forefinger
      the finger next to the thumb
      He searched the scalp above his forehead, located his guest and pinched it between his thumb and  forefinger.
    • put down
      put in a horizontal position
      Wooden sawhorses blocked the road at each end of the Radley lot, straw was  put down on the sidewalk, traffic was diverted to the back street.
    • roomful
      the quantity a room will hold
      You’ve got a  roomful of things.
    • jacket
      a short coat
      Hours of wintertime had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope Jem had given me, learning their games, following Jem’s red  jacket through wriggling circles of blind man’s buff, secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.
    • gingerly
      in a gingerly manner
      I see it-” Jem looked around, reached up, and  gingerly pocketed a tiny shiny package.
    • woman
      an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
      Mrs. Dubose lived two doors up the street from us; neighborhood opinion was unanimous that Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old woman who ever lived.
    • right smart
      (Southern or Midland) considerable
      “I said somethin‘ like, why Miss Mayella, that’s  right smart o’you to treat ’em.
    • lie
      be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his time  lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • last-ditch
      of something done as a final recourse (especially to prevent a crisis or disaster)
      Mr. Cunningham displayed no interest in his son, so I tackled his entailment once more in a  last-ditch effort to make him feel at home.
    • dig
      turn up, loosen, or remove earth
      Uncle Jack Finch confined his passion for  digging to his window boxes in Nashville and stayed rich.
    • sharply
      very suddenly and to a great degree
      Jem’s ears reddened from Atticus’s compliment, but he looked up  sharply when he saw Atticus stepping back.
    • acquittal
      a judgment of not guilty
      It was either a straight  acquittal or nothing.”
    • sleeve
      the part of a garment that is attached at the armhole and that provides a cloth covering for the arm
      I pulled at his  sleeve, and we were followed up the sidewalk by a philippic on our family’s moral degeneration, the major premise of which was that half the Finches were in the asylum anyway, but if our mother were living we would not have come to such a state.
    • cigar
      a roll of tobacco for smoking
      He permitted smoking in his courtroom but did not himself indulge: sometimes, if one was lucky, one had the privilege of watching him put a long dry  cigar into his mouth and munch it slowly up.
    • jab
      poke or thrust abruptly
      I watched him making  jabbing motions for so long, I abandoned my post and went to him.
    • past
      earlier than the present time; no longer current
      At last the sawhorses were taken away, and we stood watching from the front porch when Mr. Radley made his final journey  past our house.
    • squatting
      the act of assuming or maintaining a crouching position with the knees bent and the buttocks near the heels
      Somewhere, I had received the impression that Fine Folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had, but Aunt Alexandra was of the opinion, obliquely expressed, that the longer a family had been  squatting on one patch of land the finer it was.
    • backwards
      in a manner or order or direction the reverse of normal
      “You got it  backwards, Dill,” said Jem. “Clowns are sad, it’s folks that laugh at them.”
    • waxy
      made of or covered with wax
      Inside, surrounded by wads of damp cotton, was a white, waxy, perfect camellia.
    • fade
      become less clearly visible or distinguishable; disappear gradually or seemingly
      The tang was  fading, anyway.
    • moon
      the natural satellite of the Earth
      In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the  moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the light-pole on the corner, a safe distance from the Radley gate.
    • creep
      move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
      Jem and I  crept around the yard for days.
    • lost
      having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity
      A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked.
    • Tarzan
      a man raised by apes who was the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs
      He played the character parts formerly thrust upon me— the ape in  Tarzan, Mr. Crabtree in The Rover Boys, Mr. Damon in Tom Swift.
    • slip
      move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
      Less than two weeks later we found a whole package of chewing gum, which we enjoyed, the fact that everything on the Radley Place was poison having  slipped Jem’s memory.
    • advantage
      the quality of having a superior or more favorable position
      Burris seemed to be afraid of a child half his height, and Miss Caroline took advantage of his indecision: “Burris, go home.
    • remain
      continue in a place, position, or situation
      It was customary for the men in the family to  remain on Simon’s homestead, Finch’s Landing, and make their living from cotton.
    • bittersweet
      having a taste that is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness
      The warm  bittersweet smell of clean Negro welcomed us as we entered the churchyard—Hearts of Love hairdressing mingled with asafoetida, snuff, Hoyt’s Cologne, Brown’s Mule, peppermint, and lilac talcum.
    • declare
      state emphatically and authoritatively
      Jem said, “Scout, you can be Mrs. Radley-” “I  declare if I will.
    • navigate
      direct carefully and safely
      When I was able to  navigate, I ran back to them as fast as my shaking knees would carry me.
    • turn off
      cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch
      Dill and Jem were quiet; when I  turned off my reading lamp there was no strip of light under the door to Jem’s room.
    • testimony
      something that serves as evidence
      Mr. Ewell, you will keep your  testimony within the confines of Christian English usage, if that is possible.
    • sack
      a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
      Later, a  sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps.
    • protest
      a formal and solemn declaration of objection
      “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in syrup,” I  protested.
    • rankle
      gnaw into; make resentful or angry
      Atticus’s remarks were still  rankling, which made me miss the request in Jem’s question.
    • wedge
      something solid that is usable as an inclined plane (shaped like a V) that can be pushed between two things to separate them
      I could not put out my hands to stop, they were  wedged between my chest and knees.
    • rifle
      a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore
      He declined to let us take our air  rifles to the Landing (I had already begun to think of shooting Francis) and said if we made one false move he’d take them away from us for good.
    • jubilantly
      in a joyous manner
      Jem picked up a rock and threw it  jubilantly at the carhouse.
    • smelly
      offensively malodorous
      I pushed my way through dark  smelly bodies and burst into the circle of light.
    • shred
      a small piece of cloth or paper
      I understood, pondered a while, and concluded that the only way I could retire with a  shred of dignity was to go to the bathroom, where I stayed long enough to make them think I had to go.
    • arbitrate
      act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
      Jem  arbitrated, awarded me first push with an extra time for Dill, and I folded myself inside the tire.
    • peeled
      (used informally) completely unclothed
      It was an ancient paint- peeled frame building, the only church in Maycomb with a steeple and bell, called First Purchase because it was paid for from the first earnings of freed slaves.
    • rimmed
      having a rim or a rim of a specified kind
      Walter looked as if he had been raised on fish food: his eyes, as blue as Dill Harris’s, were red- rimmed and watery.
    • mother
      a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
      Our  mother died when I was two, so I never felt her absence.
    • long ago
      of the distant or comparatively distant past
      The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had  long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it.
    • pinched
      as if squeezed uncomfortably tight
      He searched the scalp above his forehead, located his guest and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.
    • break camp
      leave a camp
      When Atticus returned he told me to  break camp.
    • twinkle
      gleam or glow intermittently
      Jem glanced at me, his eyes  twinkling: “Mr. Avery’s sort of shaped like a snowman, ain’t he?”
    • encourage
      inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to
      As this was his first complete sentence in several days, I  encouraged him: “About what?”
    • staring
      (used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
      There he would stand, his arm around the fat pole,  staring and wondering.
    • immoral
      deliberately violating accepted principles of right and wrong
      The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption—the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically  immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.
    • learned
      having or showing profound knowledge
      I never deliberately  learned to read, but somehow I had been wallowing illicitly in the daily papers.
    • becoming
      according with custom or propriety
      When Miss Caroline threatened it with a similar fate the first grade exploded again,  becoming cold sober only when the shadow of Miss Blount fell over them.
    • memory
      the cognitive processes whereby past experience is remembered
      But there came a day, barely within Jem’s  memory, when Boo Radley was heard from and was seen by several people, but not by Jem. He said Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to mind his own business and let the Radleys mind theirs, they had a right to; but when it happened Jem said Atticus shook his head and said, “Mm, mm, mm.”
    • telling
      disclosing unintentionally
      He had been on the verge of  telling me something all evening; his face would brighten and he would lean toward me, then he would change his mind.
    • bite
      to grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws
      Walter stood where he was,  biting his lip.
    • guilt
      the state of having committed an offense
      Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the  guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves.
    • stand watch
      watch over so as to protect
      At last the sawhorses were taken away, and we  stood watching from the front porch when Mr. Radley made his final journey past our house.
    • supposed
      required or under orders
      You’re  supposed to mark ’em absent the rest of the year…” “But what about their parents?” asked Miss Caroline, in genuine concern.
    • sunbonnet
      a large bonnet that shades the face; worn by girls and women
      They wore cotton  sunbonnets and dresses with long sleeves.
    • plead
      appeal or request earnestly
      Atticus had urged them to accept the state’s generosity in allowing them to  plead Guilty to second-degree murder and escape with their lives, but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb County a name synonymous with jackass.
    • tub
      a relatively large open container that you fill with water and use to wash the body
      If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin  tub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand out of the way.
    • canna
      any plant of the genus Canna having large sheathing leaves and clusters of large showy flowers
      My memory came alive to see Mrs. Radley occasionally open the front door, walk to the edge of the porch, and pour water on her  cannas.
    • reassured
      having confidence restored; freed from anxiety
      reassured him: “Can’t anybody tell what you’re gonna do lest they live in the house with you, and even I can’t tell sometimes.”
    • sneak out
      leave furtively and stealthily
      “He  sneaked out of the house—turn ‘round—sneaked up, an’ went like this!”
    • eat at
      become ground down or deteriorate
      Yo‘ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin‘ ’em—if you can’t act fit to  eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen!”
    • allergic
      characterized by or caused by allergy
      On Saturdays, armed with our nickels, when Jem permitted me to accompany him (he was now positively  allergic to my presence when in public), we would squirm our way through sweating sidewalk crowds and sometimes hear, “There’s his chillun,” or, “Yonder’s some Finches.”
    • realized
      successfully completed or brought to an end
      When Atticus went inside the house to retrieve a file he had forgotten to take to work that morning, Jem finally  realized that he had been done in by the oldest lawyer’s trick on record.
    • burlap
      coarse jute fabric
      She was bending over some small bushes, wrapping them in  burlap bags.
    • under that
      under that
      “Bob Ewell’s lyin‘ on the ground  under that tree down yonder with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs.
    • suitcase
      a portable rectangular container for carrying clothes
      Calpurnia picked up Aunty’s heavy  suitcase and opened the door.
    • interest
      a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
      North Alabama was full of Liquor  Interests, Big Mules, steel companies, Republicans, professors, and other persons of no background.
    • wheeled
      having wheels; often used in combination
      “Not being  wheeled around yet, am I? Neither’s your father.
    • life history
      an account of the series of events making up a person's life
      “No,” said Atticus, “putting his  life’s history on display for the edification of the neighborhood.”
    • tightly
      in a tight or constricted manner
      “Scout, he’s stuck…” breathed Jem. “Oh God…” Mr. Avery was wedged  tightly.
    • yelling
      uttering a loud inarticulate cry as of pain or excitement
      Through all the headshaking, quelling of nausea and Jem- yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk.
    • covered
      overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
      At first we saw nothing but a kudzu- covered front porch, but a closer inspection revealed an arc of water descending from the leaves and splashing in the yellow circle of the street light, some ten feet from source to earth, it seemed to us.
    • fold
      bend or lay so that one part covers the other
      Jem arbitrated, awarded me first push with an extra time for Dill, and I  folded myself inside the tire.
    • fighting
      the act of fighting; any contest or struggle
      Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me  fighting any more; I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be.
    • tie up
      secure with or as if with ropes
      You reckon you could  tie up my hand?
    • staircase
      a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps
      Simple enough; but the daughters’ rooms could be reached only by one  staircase, Welcome’s room and the guestroom only by another.
    • circle
      ellipse in which the two axes are of equal length; a plane curve generated by one point moving at a constant distance from a fixed point
      They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation, but worshiped at home; Mrs. Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary  circle.
    • teeth
      the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
      There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what  teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.
    • taffeta
      a crisp smooth lustrous fabric
      Soft  taffeta-like sounds and muffled scurrying sounds filled me with helpless dread.
    • bloodstained
      covered with blood
      Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were  bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
    • husky
      deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
      The last syllable, held to a  husky hum, was followed by Zeebo saying, “That we call the sweet forever.”
    • sluggishly
      in a sluggish manner
      As for me, I knew nothing except what I gathered from Time magazine and reading everything I could lay hands on at home, but as I inched sluggishly along the treadmill of the Maycomb County school system, I could not help receiving the impression that I was being cheated out of something.
    • crowd
      a large number of things or people considered together
      Nobody in Maycomb had nerve enough to tell Mr. Radley that his boy was in with the wrong  crowd.
    • make up
      form or compose
      She had wanted to  make up with me, that was it.
    • barbershop
      a shop where men can get their hair cut
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the  barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • manacle
      shackle that consists of a metal loop that can be locked around the wrist; usually used in pairs
      Still in wrist  manacles, he wandered two miles out of Meridian where he discovered a small animal show and was immediately engaged to wash the camel.
    • wondering
      showing curiosity
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river  wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • forgotten
      not noticed inadvertently
      So Simon, having  forgotten his teacher’s dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves and with their aid established a homestead on the banks of the Alabama River some forty miles above Saint Stephens.
    • ticking
      a metallic tapping sound
      Jem’s free dispensation of my pledge irked me, but precious noontime minutes were  ticking away.
    • missed
      not caught with the senses or the mind
      “I  missed you today,” she said.
    • discard
      anything that is cast aside or discarded
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to  discard their initial suspicions.
    • crumble
      break or fall apart into fragments
      I watched our Absolute Morphodite go black and  crumble; Miss Maudie’s sunhat settled on top of the heap.
    • naming
      the verbal act of naming
      Atticus said  naming people after Confederate generals made slow steady drinkers.
    • over here
      in a specified area or place
      “Don’t yawl come  over here for a while,” he called.
    • ringing
      the sound of a bell ringing
      Shoulder up, I reeled around to face Boo Radley and his bloody fangs; instead, I saw Dill  ringing the bell with all his might in Atticus’s face.
    • look back
      look towards one's back
      When enough years had gone by to enable us to  look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.
    • get it on
      have sexual intercourse with
      “I can’t  get it on in the dark.”
    • hinge
      a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
      This was enough to make Jem march to the corner, where he stopped and leaned against the light-pole, watching the gate hanging crazily on its homemade  hinge.
    • peek
      throw a glance at; take a brief look at
      Jem  peeked up the sidewalk.
    • hardware store
      a store selling hardware
      It stood on no lonely hill, but was wedged between Tyndal’s  Hardware Store and The Maycomb Tribune office.
    • nauseating
      causing or able to cause nausea
      He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer: time had slowed to a  nauseating crawl.
    • throaty
      sounding as if pronounced low in the throat
      He was beginning to preface some things he said with a throaty noise, and I thought he must at last be getting old, but he looked the same.
    • sewing
      joining or attaching by stitches
      When it was time to play Boo’s big scene, Jem would sneak into the house, steal the scissors from the  sewing-machine drawer when Calpurnia’s back was turned, then sit in the swing and cut up newspapers.
    • dirty
      soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
      When we went in the house I saw he had been crying; his face was  dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him.
    • grandparent
      a parent of your father or mother
      Henry and his wife deposited Francis at his  grandparents’ every Christmas, then pursued their own pleasures.
    • trial
      the act of testing something
      Dill was becoming something of a  trial anyway, following Jem about.
    • look up to
      feel admiration for
      looked up to see Miss Caroline standing in the middle of the room, sheer horror flooding her face.
    • balance
      harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design)
      Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot, terms so generous we seldom spoke to her, so careful were we to preserve the delicate balance of our relationship, but Jem and Dill drove me closer to her with their behavior.
    • resilient
      recovering readily from adversity, depression, or the like
      As I passed the bed I stepped on something warm,  resilient, and rather smooth.
    • puzzled
      filled with bewilderment
      Miss Caroline looked  puzzled.
    • good morning
      a conventional expression of greeting or farewell
      When he passed we would look at the ground and say, “ Good morning, sir,” and he would cough in reply.
    • rear end
      the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
      “Miss Maudie’s  rear end.”
    • doll
      a small replica of a person; used as a toy
      Jem looked from the girl- doll to me.
    • wheat flour
      flour prepared from wheat
      The place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life except ice,  wheat flour, and articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile.
    • country people
      people living in the same country; compatriots
      Most of the county, it seemed, was there: the hall was teeming with slicked-up  country people.
    • fire
      the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke
      I told Jem if he set  fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him.
    • throat
      the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone
      “…Mr. Nathan put cement in that tree, Atticus, an‘ he did it to stop us findin’ things—he’s crazy, I reckon, like they say, but Atticus, I swear to God he ain’t ever harmed us, he ain’t ever hurt us, he coulda cut my  throat from ear to ear that night but he tried to mend my pants instead… he ain’t ever hurt us, Atticus—” Atticus said, “Whoa, son,” so gently that I was greatly heartened.
    • keep out
      prevent from entering; shut out
      Jem and I had always enjoyed the free run of Miss Maudie’s yard if we  kept out of her azaleas, but our contact with her was not clearly defined.
    • appear
      come into sight or view
      I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line  appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste.
    • create
      bring into existence
      Business was excellent when Governor William Wyatt Bibb, with a view to promoting the newly  created county’s domestic tranquility, dispatched a team of surveyors to locate its exact center and there establish its seat of government.
    • hour
      a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
      A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer.
    • portrait painter
      a painter or drawer of portraits
      “Son, I can’t tell what you’re going to be—an engineer, a lawyer, or a  portrait painter.
    • packed
      filled to capacity
      We had just come to her gate when Jem snatched my baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose’s front yard, forgetting everything Atticus had said, forgetting that she  packed a pistol under her shawls, forgetting that if Mrs. Dubose missed, her girl Jessie probably wouldn’t.
    • leaning
      the act of deviating from a vertical position
      I turned to Atticus, but Atticus had gone to the jail and was  leaning against it with his face to the wall.
    • sob
      weep convulsively
      Jem’s breath came in  sobs: “Fence by the schoolyard!—hurry,
    • fetch
      go or come after and bring or take back
      I’ll just  fetch you some cool water.”
    • so long
      a farewell remark
      He couldn’t have cared less,  so long as he could pass and punt.
    • soon
      in the near future
      It’ll be in all the grades  soon.
    • disgrace
      a state of dishonor
      The judge decided to send the boys to the state industrial school, where boys were sometimes sent for no other reason than to provide them with food and decent shelter: it was no prison and it was no  disgrace.
    • fey
      suggestive of an elf in strangeness and otherworldliness
      Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an intense, profane little man, whose father in a  fey fit of humor christened Braxton Bragg, a name Mr. Underwood had done his best to live down.
    • curdle
      go bad or sour
      Aunt Alexandra had got it backwards: the business part of the meeting was blood- curdling, the social hour was dreary.
    • pick at
      eat like a bird
      He fingered the straps of his overalls, nervously  picking at the metal hooks.
    • safely
      with safety; in a safe manner
      Safely on our porch, panting and out of breath, we looked back.
    • fretfully
      in a fretful manner
      Sometimes a baby would cry out  fretfully, and a child would scurry out, but the grown people sat as if they were in church.
    • hold out
      wait uncompromisingly for something desirable
      Hold out your hand.”
    • midair
      some point in the air; above ground level
      Our activities halted when any of the neighbors appeared, and once I saw Miss Maudie Atkinson staring across the street at us, her hedge clippers poised in  midair.
    • sneak
      to go stealthily or furtively
      When it was time to play Boo’s big scene, Jem would  sneak into the house, steal the scissors from the sewing-machine drawer when Calpurnia’s back was turned, then sit in the swing and cut up newspapers.
    • primly
      in a prissy manner
      “State will not prejudice the witness against counsel for the defense,” murmured Judge Taylor  primly, “at least not at this time.”
    • marksmanship
      skill in shooting
      Marksmanship’s a gift of God, a talent—oh, you have to practice to make it perfect, but shootin’s different from playing the piano or the like.
    • jingle
      a metallic sound
      I think some money changed hands in this transaction, for as we trotted around the corner past the Radley Place I heard an unfamiliar  jingle in Jem’s pockets.
    • blow
      be in motion due to some air or water current
      “There goes the meanest man ever God  blew breath into,” murmured Calpurnia, and she spat meditatively into the yard.
    • line
      a length (straight or curved) without breadth or thickness; the trace of a moving point
      He returned to Saint Stephens only once, to find a wife, and with her established a  line that ran high to daughters.
    • law practice
      the practice of law
      Atticus’s office was in the courthouse when he began his  law practice, but after several years of it he moved to quieter quarters in the Maycomb Bank building.
    • pod
      the vessel that contains the seeds of a plant (not the seeds themselves)
      Refreshed by food, Dill recited this narrative: having been bound in chains and left to die in the basement (there were basements in Meridian) by his new father, who disliked him, and secretly kept alive on raw field peas by a passing farmer who heard his cries for help (the good man poked a bushel  pod by pod through the ventilator), Dill worked himself free by pulling the chains from the wall.
    • ambrosia
      (classical mythology) the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal
      But her cooking made up for everything: three kinds of meat, summer vegetables from her pantry shelves; peach pickles, two kinds of cake and  ambrosia constituted a modest Christmas dinner.
    • hugging
      affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs)
      The more we told Dill about the Radleys, the more he wanted to know, the longer he would stand  hugging the light-pole on the corner, the more he would wonder.
    • get a look
      see something for a brief time
      Dill and Jem were simply going to peep in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could  get a look at Boo Radley, and if I didn’t want to go with them I could go straight home and keep my fat flopping mouth shut, that was all.
    • a few
      more than one but indefinitely small in number
      He made  a few hesitant steps and stopped in front of the Radley gate; then he tried to turn around, but was having difficulty.
    • sit by
      be inactive or indifferent while something is happening
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 6 “Yes,” said our father, when Jem asked him if we could go over and  sit by Miss Rachel’s fishpool with Dill, as this was his last night in Maycomb.
    • trouble
      a source of difficulty
      If the judge released Arthur, Mr. Radley would see to it that Arthur gave no further  trouble.
    • free
      able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint
      Jem’s  free dispensation of my pledge irked me, but precious noontime minutes were ticking away.
    • skew
      turn or place at an angle
      He was sitting behind his table; his chair was  skewed to one side, his legs were crossed and one arm was resting on the back of his chair.
    • hollowness
      the state of being hollow: having an empty space within
      His cheeks were thin to  hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind.
    • objective case
      the case of nouns serving as the direct object of a verb
      To all parties present and participating in the life of the county, Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would uphold it; she was born in the  objective case; she was an incurable gossip.
    • business suit
      a suit of clothes traditionally worn by businessmen
      He wore an ordinary  business suit, which made him look somehow like every other man: gone were his high boots, lumber jacket, and bullet-studded belt.
    • livery stable
      stable where horses and vehicles are kept for hire
      Each child did what he wanted to do, with assistance from other children if there was anything to be moved, such as placing a light buggy on top of the  livery stable.
    • unsuccessfully
      without success
      He said he was trying to get Miss Maudie’s goat, that he had been trying  unsuccessfully for forty years, that he was the last person in the world Miss Maudie would think about marrying but the first person she thought about teasing, and the best defense to her was spirited offense, all of which we understood clearly.
    • rover
      someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
      He played the character parts formerly thrust upon me— the ape in Tarzan, Mr. Crabtree in The  Rover Boys, Mr. Damon in Tom Swift.
    • wrist
      a joint between the distal end of the radius and the proximal row of carpal bones
      Jem grabbed his left wrist and my right wrist, I grabbed my left wrist and Jem’s right wrist, we crouched, and Dill sat on our saddle.
    • finale
      the closing section of a musical composition
      Then the assembled company would sing, “Maycomb County, Maycomb County, we will aye be true to thee,” as the grand  finale, and Mrs. Merriweather would mount the stage with the state flag.
    • right hand
      the hand that is on the right side of the body
      He was among the most diminutive of men, but when Burris Ewell turned toward him, Little Chuck’s  right hand went to his pocket.
    • gravitate
      move toward
      Jem felt his age and  gravitated to the adults, leaving me to entertain our cousin.
    • ninety-eight
      being eight more than ninety
      Mrs. Dubose won, all  ninety-eight pounds of her.
    • cheekbone
      the arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek
      His  cheekbones were sharp and his mouth was wide, with a thin upper lip and a full lower lip.
    • full
      containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were  full.
    • alphabet
      a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language
      Then she went to the blackboard and printed the  alphabet in enormous square capitals, turned to the class and asked, “Does anybody know what these are?”
    • shriek
      sharp piercing cry
      I returned to school and hated Calpurnia steadily until a sudden  shriek shattered my resentments.
    • fingered
      having or resembling a finger or fingers; often used in combination
      He  fingered the straps of his overalls, nervously picking at the metal hooks.
    • quick
      moving quickly and lightly
      Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen  quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner.
    • saved
      rescued; especially from the power and consequences of sin
      If I could have explained these things to Miss Caroline, I would have  saved myself some inconvenience and Miss Caroline subsequent mortification, but it was beyond my ability to explain things as well as Atticus, so I said, “You’re shamin‘ him, Miss Caroline.
    • growing
      relating to or suitable for growth
      John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth  growing; but after getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law.
    • every last
      (used as intensive) every
      “I know  every last one of you’s in there a-layin‘ on the floor!
    • talking to
      a lengthy rebuke
      Talking to Francis gave me the sensation of settling slowly to the bottom of the ocean.
    • bullet hole
      a hole made by a bullet passing through it
      Seventeen  bullet holes in him.
    • guts
      fortitude and determination
      “He had  guts enough to pester a poor colored woman, he had guts enough to pester Judge Taylor when he thought the house was empty, so do you think he’da met you to your face in daylight?”
    • allege
      report or maintain
      The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the  alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming- to-him was a good enough defense for anybody.
    • set
      put into a certain place or abstract location
      I told Jem if he  set fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him.
    • sit around
      be around, often idly or without specific purpose
      Afterwards, the adults made for the livingroom and  sat around in a dazed condition.
    • incestuous
      relating to or involving incest
      Would you say the Finches have an  Incestuous Streak?”
    • crying
      the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds)
      He waited until he was sure she was  crying, then he shuffled out of the building.
    • Christmas Eve
      the day before Christmas
      Every  Christmas Eve day we met Uncle Jack at Maycomb Junction, and he would spend a week with us.
    • close
      at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
      The shutters and doors of the Radley house were  closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors meant illness and cold weather only.
    • announce
      make known; make an announcement
      Miss Blount, a native Maycombian as yet uninitiated in the mysteries of the Decimal System, appeared at the door hands on hips and  announced: “If I hear another sound from this room I’ll burn up everybody in it.
    • pronouncement
      an authoritative declaration
      Having never questioned Jem’s  pronouncements, I saw no reason to begin now.
    • foggy
      filled or abounding with fog or mist
      There was a man Dill had heard of who had a boat that he rowed across to a  foggy island where all these babies were; you could order one— “That’s a lie.
    • save
      bring into safety
      If I could have explained these things to Miss Caroline, I would have  saved myself some inconvenience and Miss Caroline subsequent mortification, but it was beyond my ability to explain things as well as Atticus, so I said, “You’re shamin‘ him, Miss Caroline.
    • candy
      a rich sweet made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts
      When he returned he was carrying a  candy box.
    • run down
      injure or kill by running over, as with a vehicle
      Jem looked at me furiously, could not decline,  ran down the sidewalk, treaded water at the gate, then dashed in and retrieved the tire.
    • amble
      walk leisurely
      They  ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything.
    • cowhide
      the hide of a cow
      Just inside the railing that divided the spectators from the court, the witnesses sat on  cowhide-bottomed chairs.
    • furthermore
      in addition
      Furthermore, I couldn’t help noticing that my father had served for years in the state legislature, elected each time without opposition, innocent of the adjustments my teachers thought essential to the development of Good Citizenship.
    • younger
      used of the younger of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a son from his father
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • hesitate
      pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
      Jem  hesitated at the door.
    • care
      the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
      He couldn’t have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt.
    • hang around
      be about
      They did little, but enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey.
    • rubbing
      effort expended in moving one object over another with pressure
      Contents - Prev / Next Chapter 3 Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was  rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop.
    • dumpy
      short and thick; as e.g. having short legs and heavy musculature
      Or two  dumpy countrywomen in straw hats sitting in a Hoover cart.
    • wholeheartedly
      without reserve; without reservation
      Ladies seemed to live in faint horror of men, seemed unwilling to approve  wholeheartedly of them.
    • twenty
      the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one
      Maycomb, some  twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing, was the county seat of Maycomb County.
    • terrify
      fill with terror; frighten greatly
      He was one of the few men of science who never  terrified me, probably because he never behaved like a doctor.
    • accuse
      blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against
      I was fairly sure Boo Radley was inside that house, but I couldn’t prove it, and felt it best to keep my mouth shut or I would be  accused of believing in Hot Steams, phenomena I was immune to in the daytime.
    • litigant
      (law) a party to a lawsuit; someone involved in litigation
      When asked upon what grounds, Judge Taylor said, “Champertous connivance,” and declared he hoped to God the  litigants were satisfied by each having had their public say.
    • maniac
      an insane person
      Atticus would snap off the radio and say, “Hmp!” I asked him once why he was impatient with Hitler and Atticus said, “Because he’s a  maniac.”
    • riled
      aroused to impatience or anger
      “When he’s— riled, has he ever beaten you?”
    • almost
      (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
      When I was  almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
    • scoop
      the shovel or bucket of a dredge or backhoe
      Jem  scooped up an armful of dirt, patted it into a mound on which he added another load, and another until he had constructed a torso.
    • maddening
      extremely annoying or displeasing
      “Huh?” In addition to Jem’s newly developed characteristics, he had acquired a maddening air of wisdom.
    • go across
      go across or through
      Rather nervous, I took a seat beside Miss Maudie and wondered why ladies put on their hats to  go across the street.
    • color in
      add color to
      There was no  color in his face except at the tip of his nose, which was moistly pink.
    • married
      joined in matrimony
      Their sister Alexandra was the Finch who remained at the Landing: she  married a taciturn man who spent most of his time lying in a hammock by the river wondering if his trot-lines were full.
    • strip
      take off or remove
      Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South, as it left his descendants  stripped of everything but their land, yet the tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law, and his younger brother went to Boston to study medicine.
    • pleading
      begging
      They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so there was nothing much Atticus could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was probably the beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of criminal law.
    • encumber
      hold back
      Walking toward the office, Dill and I fell into step behind Atticus and Jem. Dill was  encumbered by the chair, and his pace was slower.
    • fall
      descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
      When Miss Caroline threatened it with a similar fate the first grade exploded again, becoming cold sober only when the shadow of Miss Blount  fell over them.
    • sin
      an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will
      “But we can’t have communion with you all-” Apparently deciding that it was easier to define primitive baptistry than closed communion, Miss Maudie said: “Foot-washers believe anything that’s pleasure is a  sin.
    • subside
      sink to a lower level or form a depression
      “Well, the night of November twenty-one I was comin‘ in from the woods with a load o’kindlin’ and just as I got to the fence I heard Mayella screamin‘ like a stuck hog inside the house—” Here Judge Taylor glanced sharply at the witness and must have decided his speculations devoid of evil intent, for he  subsided sleepily.
    • article of clothing
      a covering designed to be worn on a person's body
      The place was self-sufficient: modest in comparison with the empires around it, the Landing nevertheless produced everything required to sustain life except ice, wheat flour, and  articles of clothing, supplied by river-boats from Mobile.
    • jet-black
      of the blackest black; similar to the color of jet or coal
      His age was beginning to show, his one sign of inner turmoil, the strong line of his jaw melted a little, one became aware of telltale creases forming under his ears, one noticed not his  jet-black hair but the gray patches growing at his temples.
    • overrule
      rule against
      Overruled.”
    • pinch
      squeeze tightly between the fingers
      He searched the scalp above his forehead, located his guest and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.
    • basket
      a container that is usually woven and has handles
      The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back—no church  baskets and no scrip stamps.
    • padded
      softened by the addition of cushions or padding
      The following Monday afternoon Jem and I climbed the steep front steps to Mrs. Dubose’s house and  padded down the open hallway.
    • identify
      recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something
      She  identified him as the one, so I took him in.
    • plastering
      the application of plaster
      Jem scooped up some snow and began  plastering it on.
    • cold weather
      a period of unusually cold weather
      The shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors meant illness and  cold weather only.
    • discarded
      thrown away
      If Walter had owned any shoes he would have worn them the first day of school and then  discarded them until midwinter.
    • blind
      unable to see
      Hours of wintertime had found me in the treehouse, looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope Jem had given me, learning their games, following Jem’s red jacket through wriggling circles of  blind man’s buff, secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.
    • takin
      large heavily built goat antelope of eastern Himalayan area
      My curiosity burst: “Why were you all  takin‘ up collection for Tom Robinson’s wife?”
    • rock
      material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust
      Now lemme think… reckon we can  rock him…” Jem stood in thought so long that Dill made a mild concession: “I won’t say you ran out on a dare an‘ I’ll swap you The Gray Ghost if you just go up and touch the house.”
    • penmanship
      beautiful handwriting
      If I reproduced her  penmanship satisfactorily, she rewarded me with an open-faced sandwich of bread and butter and sugar.
    • Robert E. Lee
      American general who led the Confederate Armies in the American Civil War (1807-1870)
      “… Robert E. Lee Ewell!”
    • dry
      free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
      When it comes fall this  dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!”
    • thinking
      endowed with the capacity to reason
      He seemed to be  thinking again.
    • fence in
      enclose with a fence
      Reverend Sykes used his pulpit more freely to express his views on individual lapses from grace: Jim Hardy had been absent from church for five Sundays and he wasn’t sick; Constance Jackson had better watch her ways—she was in grave danger for quarreling with her neighbors; she had erected the only spite  fence in the history of the Quarters.
    • out of the way
      in a remote location or at a distance from the usual route
      If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand  out of the way.
    • call on
      have recourse to or make an appeal or request for help or information to
      “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t  called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t.
    • biscuit
      small round bread leavened with baking-powder or soda
      She was a less than satisfactory source of palliation, but she did give Jem a hot  biscuit-and-butter which he tore in half and shared with me.
    • cellar
      the lowermost portion of a structure partly or wholly below ground level; often used for storage
      Our houses had no cellars; they were built on stone blocks a few feet above the ground, and the entry of reptiles was not unknown but was not commonplace.
    • stewing
      an extreme state of worry and agitation
      My confidence in pulpit Gospel lessened at the vision of Miss Maudie  stewing forever in various Protestant hells.
    • stumping
      campaigning for something by making political speeches (stump speeches)
      Jem knew as well as I that it was difficult to walk fast without  stumping a toe, tripping on stones, and other inconveniences, and I was barefooted.
    • munch
      chew noisily
      He permitted smoking in his courtroom but did not himself indulge: sometimes, if one was lucky, one had the privilege of watching him put a long dry cigar into his mouth and  munch it slowly up.
    • together
      in contact with each other or in proximity
      He had probably never seen three quarters  together at the same time in his life.
    • doubt
      the state of being unsure of something
      “I don’t want you all to be disappointed, but I  doubt if there’ll be enough snow for a snowball, even.”
    • scrub
      wash thoroughly
      Inside were two  scrubbed and polished pennies, one on top of the other.
    • bounce
      spring back; spring away from an impact
      There was no acknowledgement save he-en  bouncing off the distant schoolhouse wall.
    • suffocate
      deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
      Ground, sky and houses melted into a mad palette, my ears throbbed, I was suffocating.
    • costumed
      dressed in clothing characteristic of a period, country, or class
      She thought it would be adorable if some of the children were  costumed to represent the county’s agricultural products: Cecil Jacobs would be dressed up to look like a cow; Agnes Boone would make a lovely butterbean, another child would be a peanut, and on down the line until Mrs. Merriweather’s imagination and the supply of children were exhausted.
    • cool
      neither warm nor very cold; giving relief from heat
      I’ll just fetch you some  cool water.”
    • separate
      standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything
      I could not remember when the lines above Atticus’s moving finger separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to Be Enacted into Laws, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow—anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night.
    • cut
      separate with or as if with an instrument
      A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would  cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked.
    • interrupt
      make a break in
      Atticus was expounding upon farm problems when Walter  interrupted to ask if there was any molasses in the house.
    • defending
      attempting to or designed to prevent an opponent from winning or scoring
      “I’m simply  defending a Negro—his name’s Tom Robinson.
    • top off
      fill to the point of almost overflowing
      He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the  tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves.
    • unscrew
      loosen something by unscrewing it
      He  unscrewed the fountain-pen cap and placed it gently on his table.
    • snake
      limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
      “How does a  snake feel?”
    • show up
      appear or become visible; make a showing
      That’n never showed up, did it?
    • event
      something that happens at a given place and time
      When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the  events leading to his accident.
    • for the time being
      temporarily
      He said Miss Maudie would stay with Miss Stephanie  for the time being.
    • puny
      (used especially of persons) of inferior size
      You look right  puny for goin’ on seven.”
    • believe
      accept as true; take to be true
      Miss Stephanie Crawford said he was so upright he took the word of God as his only law, and we believed her, because Mr. Radley’s posture was ramrod straight.
    • water
      binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
      In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws  water, but drew him no nearer than the light-pole on the corner, a safe distance from the Radley gate.
    • run along
      be in line with; form a line along
      You run along now and let me get supper on the table.”
    • fountain pen
      a pen that is supplied with ink from a reservoir in its barrel
      He drew out an envelope, then reached into his vest pocket and unclipped his  fountain pen.
    • furiously
      in a manner marked by extreme or violent energy
      Jem looked at me  furiously, could not decline, ran down the sidewalk, treaded water at the gate, then dashed in and retrieved the tire.
    • eventually
      after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
      Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who  eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.
    • light bulb
      electric lamp consisting of a transparent or translucent glass housing containing a wire filament (usually tungsten) that emits light when heated by electricity
      There was a  light bulb on the end.
    • football field
      the playing field on which football is played
      It was the size of a  football field.
    • hands down
      with no difficulty
      Mr. Tate ran his  hands down his thighs.
    • Old Testament
      the collection of books comprising the sacred scripture of the Hebrews and recording their history as the chosen people; the first half of the Christian Bible
      Miss Maudie’s face likened such an occurrence unto an  Old Testament pestilence.
    • sense
      the faculty through which the external world is apprehended
      Then he jumped, landed unhurt, and his  sense of responsibility left him until confronted by the Radley Place.
    • needed
      necessary for relief or supply
      Jem would reappear as  needed in the shapes of the sheriff, assorted townsfolk, and Miss Stephanie Crawford, who had more to say about the Radleys than anybody in Maycomb.
    • pew
      long bench with backs; used in church by the congregation
      With that, Calpurnia led us to the church door where we were greeted by Reverend Sykes, who led us to the front  pew.
    • nightfall
      the time of day immediately following sunset
      Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by  nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.
    • three-legged
      having or as if having three legs
      John looked at him as if he were a  three-legged chicken or a square egg.
    • plus
      on the positive side or higher end of a scale
      We lived on the main residential street in town— Atticus, Jem and I,  plus Calpurnia our cook.
    • mine
      excavation in the earth from which ores and minerals are extracted
      “I’m big enough to fit  mine,” he said.
    • expect
      regard something as probable or likely
      We went to the wire fence to see if there was a puppy— Miss Rachel’s rat terrier was expecting— instead we found someone sitting looking at us.
    • snap off
      break a piece from a whole
      Atticus would  snap off the radio and say, “Hmp!” I asked him once why he was impatient with Hitler and Atticus said, “Because he’s a maniac.”
    • dished
      shaped like a dish or pan
      Calpurnia poured milk,  dished out potato salad and ham, muttering, “‘shamed of yourselves,” in varying degrees of intensity.
    • whalebone
      a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets
      Aunt Alexandra rose and smoothed the various  whalebone ridges along her hips.
    • dipper
      a ladle that has a cup with a long handle
      An oppressive odor met us when we crossed the threshold, an odor I had met many times in rain-rotted gray houses where there are coal-oil lamps, water dippers, and unbleached domestic sheets.
    • pad
      a flat mass of soft material used for protection, stuffing, or comfort
      The following Monday afternoon Jem and I climbed the steep front steps to Mrs. Dubose’s house and  padded down the open hallway.
    • take exception
      raise a formal objection in a court of law
      “Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard—” “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” But Jem  took exception to Reverend Sykes, and we were subjected to a lengthy review of the evidence with Jem’s ideas on the law regarding rape: it wasn’t rape if she let you, but she had to be eighteen—in Alabama, that is—and Mayella was nineteen.
    • bulb
      anything with a round shape resembling a teardrop
      There was a light  bulb on the end.
    • get married
      take in marriage
      Don’t say anything about it yet, but we’re gonna  get married as soon as we’re big enough.
    • benignly
      in a benign manner
      He turned slowly in his swivel chair and looked  benignly at the witness.
    • protrude
      extend out or project in space
      Her bottom plate was not in, and her upper lip  protruded; from time to time she would draw her nether lip to her upper plate and carry her chin with it.
    • sing
      produce tones with the voice
      They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but  sing their hearts out for us.
    • pathway
      a trodden path
      They parted and made a small  pathway to the church door for us.
    • troublemaker
      someone who deliberately stirs up trouble
      She’s a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways—we’re mighty glad to have you all.”
    • due process of law
      (law) the administration of justice according to established rules and principles; based on the principle that a person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards
      Senseless killing—Tom had been given  due process of law to the day of his death; he had been tried openly and convicted by twelve good men and true; my father had fought for him all the way.
    • yaw
      an erratic deflection from an intended course