Chapter 87 - The Grand Armada — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from Chapter 87 - The Grand Armada

corsairs (noun)

Pirates, especially those operating along the coast of North Africa or the Mediterranean.

obsequious (adjective)

Showing excessive willingness to serve or please; obedient to an excessive degree.

consternation (noun)

Feelings of anxiety, dismay, or dread that result in confusion.

gallied (adjective)

In whaling, a state of irrational panic and paralysis affecting herding whales.

proleptic (adjective)

Anticipatory; relating to the representation of something as existing before it actually does.

crescentic (adjective)

Having the shape of a crescent; curved like the moon in its first or last quarter.

defile (noun)

A narrow passage or gorge, especially one through which troops must march in single file.

vicissitudes (noun)

Changes of circumstances or fortune, typically those that are unwelcome or unpleasant.

irresolution (noun)

Hesitancy; the inability to make a decision or take action.

embayed (adjective)

Enclosed within a bay; trapped in a recess or inlet.

proas (noun)

Swift, flat-bottomed sailing boats with outriggers, used in the Malay Archipelago.

reticule (noun)

Here used figuratively to mean an enclosure or container; literally, a woman's small handbag.

inscrutable (adjective)

Impossible to understand or interpret; mysterious.

kentledge (noun)

Pig iron used as permanent ballast in a ship.

sally-ports (noun)

Openings in a wall or fortification through which troops can make a sortie; here, passages through island chains.

deploy (verb)

To spread out or arrange strategically over a wider area.

rout (noun)

A disorderly retreat or flight of a defeated force; a state of complete disorder.

gestation (noun)

The process of carrying young in the womb from conception to birth.