SKELLIG VOCABULARY WORDS by A.McDermott
Ten Words: List A
filthy = Very dirty (1)
To look dried out = Lose all water and moisture/wrinkled. (1)
An estate agent= Someone who sells houses (1)
Gloom = Partial darkness (there is still a little light) (3)
To rot = To go bad (3) / rotten (adjective)
mortar = Mixture of sand, water and cement (3)
To stink (stank = past) = To smell bad (3)
To collapse = To fall down (a building) (3)
A wilderness = A deserted, empty, wild place (4)
To scuttle across the floor = To run with short quick steps (an insect scuttles) (4)
Ten Words: List B
nettles = Wild plants which sting when you touch them (5)
thistles = Wild plants with sharp leaves (5)
weeds = Bad plants which grow in a garden (5)
To shrug your shoulders = Raise your shoulders to show you do not care about st (5)
To tiptoe = To walk somewhere very quietly on your toes (6)
woodlice = Small, grey creatures with 14 legs (7)
bluebottles = Large flies with blue bottles (7)
To peer at something = Look carefully at something (7)
To coo at someone = To speak in a soft, quiet voice (9) / cooing (adj)
To bawl = Cry loudly (9)
EXERCISE: using List A and B put the correct word in the sentences below. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
a) Jane spoke to her six-month old daughter in a soft .............................. voice.
b) I must tidy up my garden as it is full of ............................. and .................................
c) Don't eat that piece of fruit; it is ...................................
d) Jenny screamed when she saw the beetle ................................ across the floor.
e) The baby was sleeping in the room so Ahmed ............................. quietly past the door.
f) The house is so old and one of the walls is broken. It looks in danger of ......................................
g) The baby was ................................. all night long because it has a tooth growing.
h) I want to sell my house and move to the countryside so I need to speak to a ..............................
i) Houses are usually made of bricks and .........................................
j) When Dotty got zero for her assignment she did not care she just ........................................ her shoulders.
Ten Words: List C
Pitch black = Completely dark (9)
To be daft = To be silly or stupid (12)
Loads had happened (slang) = Lots of things (12)
auxiliaries = People who help teachers (13)
To make something out = To begin to see something in the dark (15)
soot = Black powder from a fire (15)
A tea chest = A large box used to store things in (17)
My heart pounded = To beat quickly when excited or scared (17)
To clog = To block/fill up (17)
To puke (slang) = To vomit/be sick (21)
Ten Words: List D
To be famished = To be very hungry (21)
To belt through/down =To eat very quickly when hungry (21)
To creep out of bed = To leave very quietly (25)
gluey = sticky (25)
To go round the bend (slang) = To become crazy or mad (26)
soggy = Very wet (26)
To be swollen = To become larger and sore (27)
creases = Lines made in cloth or paper when folded (27)
To slurp = To drink something noisily (27)
To shove = To put something quickly and carelessly somewhere (in your mouth for example) (27)
EXERCISES: these are based on word lists C and D
a) When I went to check my exam results I was so nervous and my heart was .................................
b) Although it was dark I could just ........................................ the object in front of me.
c) My foot is ............................. because I dropped a brick on it by accident.
d) If you are invited to the Queen's house you should NOT ........................ your tea.
e) I am .........................., I haven't eaten for two days!
f) I hate it when people borrow my books and give them back with the pages .................................
g) After eating five ice creams Lisa ................................................ all over the floor.
h) Bob is always doing .......................... things like dyeing his hair green or shaving all his hair off.
Ten Words: List E
spittle = saliva (28)
arthritis = An illness affecting your bones (29)
To retch = Stomach reacts and moves as if you are vomiting (29)
To lurch = To make a sudden movement when moving forward (32) / lurching (adj)
Tawny owl = Pale brown bird that comes out at night (41)
beetle = Insect with hard covering on its body (42)
To scurry = Move quickly, in a hurry (42)
muddled = Mixed up (49)
Brown ale = Type of beer (52)
hollow = Opposite of solid (58)
Ten Words: List F
hooting = Noise made by an owl (60)
To squirm = To move from side to side when feeling nervous / worried (61)
Knackered (slang) = Very tired (63)
To Stride (strode = past) = To walk with long, confident steps (64)
To show off = Behave in a way to impress people (65)
Jet black = Very dark (67)
cobweb = A net made by spiders for catching insects (71)
crumble = Fall to pieces, disintegrate (72)
scrawny = Very thin (74)
hoarse = Rough, unclear voice (80)
EXERCISES based on word lists E and F:
a) Paul does not look very healty. He has been in hospital for three weeks and he looks very ............
b) My Irish grandfather also drank ................................ when he went to the pub.
c) When I go on rollercoasters the .............................. movements of the rides always make me ................................ as if I am going to be sick.
d) Unfortunately, my grandmother can no longer hold things as she has ........................ in her hands.
e) At the Eminem concert I shouted so much that my voice became ........................................
e) It is very strange that Sylvia has blonde hair whilst her sister has ............................. hair.
Ten Words: List G
To whimper = To make unhappy, frightened sounds (82)
A will = A legal document describing who you will leave your money to when you die (87)
To unfurl = To unroll, unfold (89)
fluffy = soft (91)
Zimmer frame = Apparatus used to help old people walk (91)
To snigger = To laugh unpleasantly (94)
Play the wag (slang) = To miss school without permission, to play truant (100)
To glare at someone = To look at someone angrily (103)
To prowl = To move quietly, when hunting (105)
Chinks = Gaps (in the curtains) (107)
LIST H: Six Words
Cheeping = Noise made by birds (108)
Tousled (hair) = Untidy looking (117)
pellets = Small balls of paper, mud or other material (131)
fledglings = New-born birds (131)
To topple over = To fall over (134)
To totter = To walk in an unsteady way (135)
EXERCISES based on G and H:
a) When babies first start to walk they are not very steady on their feet and they often .....................
b) When Susan's father died he left his house to her in his ........................................
c) Mrs Smith is very nosy: she is always looking through the ........................ in her curtains to see what is happening outside in the street.
d) When Simon broke my toy I did not say anything to him but I ...................... at him to show him I was displeased.
e) Jack the Ripper used to .................................. the streets of Victorian England looking for his next victim.
f) When the RSPCA found the mistreated puupy dog it was .................................. in the corner of the dirty room.