Abyss N. Gulf Or Void Too Deep for Measurement

Vocab 2 Q4 G11

1. abyss n. gulf or void too deep for measurement With every groan of the wheels on the rail, we felt that an abyss was about to open beneath our bodies. 2. pestilential adj. like a pestilence or deadly infection; dangerous and harmful The heat, the thirst, the pestilential stench, the suffocating lack of air—these were as nothing compared with these screams which tore us to shreds. 3. scouring v. roaming about, searching Crouched in her corner, her bewildered gaze scouring the emptiness, she could no longer see us. 4. encumbrance n. hindrance; burden He had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near and had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival. 5. semblance n. appearance; resemblance Our march had lost all semblance of discipline. We went as we wanted, as we could. 6. conscientiously adv. diligently; thoroughly But death scarcely needed any help from them. The cold was conscientiously doing its work. At every step someone fell and suffered no more. 7. rendezvous adj. meeting Hiroshima had been getting such warnings almost every night for weeks, for at that time the B-29s were using Lake Biwa, northeast of Hiroshima, as a rendezvous point… 8. abstinence n. staying away The frequency of the warnings and the continued abstinence of Mr. B with respect to Hiroshima ad made its citizens jittery; 9. obsessed v. used as adj. preoccupied; haunted …among a people obsessed with a fear of being spied upon—perhaps almost obsessed himself—he found himself growing increasingly uneasy. 10. philanthropies n. charitable gifts …Mr. Tanaka, a retired officer of the Toyo Kisen Kaisha steamship line, an anti- Christian, a man famous in Hiroshima for his showy philanthropies and notorious for his personal tyrannies… 11. incendiary adj. designed to cause fires The prefectural government…had begun to press with threats and warnings for the completion of wide fire lanes, which, it was hoped, might act in conjunction with the rivers to localize any fires started by an incendiary raid… 12. debris n. rubble; broken pieces …everything became dark, for she was buried. The debris did not cover her deeply. She rose and freed herself. 13. hedonistic adj. pleasure-loving; self-indulgent …Dr. Masakazu Fujii, being prosperous, hedonistic, and at the time not too busy, had been allowing himself the luxury of sleeping until nine or nine-thirty… 14. sustained v. used as adj.: prolonged He was back home by seven, just as the siren sounded its sustained warning. 15. convivial adj. jovial; sociable At fifty, he was healthy, convivial, and calm, and he was pleased to pass the evenings drinking whiskey with friends, always sensibly and for the sake of conversation. 16. idealist n. one who believes in noble, though often impractical, goals; dreamer He was something of an idealist and was much distressed by the inadequacy of medical facilities in the country town where his mother lived. 17. ruse n. trick; deception Sometimes instead of watching the console I pointedly watch Shotwell’s .45, but this is simply a ruse, simply a maneuver, in reality I am watching his hand when it dangles in the vicinity of his right calf. 18. precedence n. order Considerations of rank and precedence were temporarily put aside, a handsome concession on the part of Shotwell, who is a captain, whereas I am only a first lieutenant. 19. simultaneously adv. at the same time One of us watches the console at all times and if the bird flies then that one wakes the other and we turn our keys in the locks simultaneously and the bird flies. 20.acrimoniously adv. bitterly; harshly We sleep uneasily and acrimoniously. I hear Shotwell shouting in his sleep, objecting, denouncing, cursing sometimes, weeping sometimes, in his sleep.