The Witch of Blackbird Pond

1. The Witch of Blackbird Pond Chapters 7-8 Vocabulary

2. Desperation • a condition of being without hope “Kit wondered in desperation.”

3. encouraged • to motivate somebody to take a course of action or continue doing something “William had not spoken so many words all the evening. Aunt Rachel encouraged him.” p. 66

4. scarcely • Hardly at all • only to the slightest degree “Kit could scarcely believe her ears.” p. 67

5. bachelor • a man who is not or has never been married “The most eligible bachelor in Wethersfield and handsome, actually, in his substantial way.” page 70

6. monotonous • uninteresting or boring as a result of being repetitive and unvaried “Perhaps she would not have thought about William so much had there been anything else to break the long monotonous stretch from Saturday to Saturday.” page 70

7. veritable • used to emphasize a figurative concept • Absolute ”A shearing had brought a veritable mountain of gray wool to be washed and bleached and dyed, …” page 70

8. meadow • an area of low-lying grassland, especially a marshy one near a river “The onion field in the south meadow needs weeding,” announced Matthew on morning in early June.

9. solitary • in a remote location, apart from others “As far as she could see they stretched on either side, a great level sea of green, broken here and there by a solitary green elm.” p. 72

10. pence • Plural of penny “Every child pays fourpence a week.” Page 76