The Catcher in the Rye Vocab

Gripe

1. Informal. to complain naggingly or constantly; grumble. 2. to suffer pain in the bowels. 3. Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to tend to come into the wind; to be ardent. 4. to seize and hold firmly; grip; grasp; clutch. 5.to produce pain in (the bowels) as if by constriction. 6.to distress or oppress. 7. to annoy or irritate. "He came in _____ about how cold it was out" (52)

Pedagogical

1. Of or relating to people who work with people who teach. "Holden. . . One short, faintly stuffy, ________ question" (239).

Convent

1. a community of persons devoted to religious life under a superior. 2. a society or association of monks, friars, or nuns: now usually used of a society of nuns. 3. the building or buildings occupied by such a society; a monastery or nunnery. 4. Obsolete. assembly; meeting. "While I was eating my eggs, these two nuns with suitcases and all--I guessed they were moving to another _______ or something and were waiting for a train--came in and sat down next to me at the counter" (140).

Moccasin

1. a heelless shoe made entirely of soft leather, as deerskin, with the sole brought up and attached to a piece of u -shaped leather on top of the foot, worn originally by the American Indians. 2. a hard-soled shoe or slipper resembling this, often decorated with beads. 3. any of several North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon (Ancistrodon), especially the cottonmouth. " We finally bought a pair of _______s and charged them" (256).

Monastery

1. a house or place of residence occupied by a community of persons, especially monks, living in seclusion under religious vows. 2. the community of persons living in such a place. "What's the routine on joining a ________?" (65).

Brook

1. a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river) "Then, when the dough runs out, I could get a job somewhere and we could live somewhere with a ____ and all and, later on, we could get married or something" (169).

Stenographer

1. a person who specializes in taking dictation in shorthand "Then again, you may pick up just enough education to hate people who say, 'It's a secret between he and I.' Or you may end up in some business office, throwing paper clips at the nearest __________" (245).

Spendthrift

1. a person who spends possessions or money extravagantly or wastefully; prodigal. 2. wastefully extravagant; prodigal. "I'm a goddam ________ at heart" (139).

Hemorrhage

1. a profuse discharge of blood, as from a ruptured blood vessel; bleeding. 2. the loss of assets, especially in large amounts. 3. any widespread or uncontrolled loss or diffusion. 4. to bleed profusely. 5. to lose assets, especially in large amounts. 6. to lose (assets) "In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two ________ apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them " (3).

Holster

1. a sheath (usually leather) for carrying a handgun "While the father kept giving him a lot of advice, old Ophelia was sort of horsing around with her brother, taking his dagger out of the ______ and teasing him and all while he was trying to look interested in the bull his father was shooting" (153).

Beret

1. a soft, visorless cap with a close-fitting headband and a wide, round top often with a tab at its center. "She had on this black coat and sort of a black ___" (161).

Furlough

1. a temporary leave of absence from military duty "I was practically a child at the time, but I remember when he used to come home on _______ and all, all he did was lie on his bed, practically"(181).

Burlesque

1. a theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor; consists of comic skits and short turns (and sometimes striptease) "She used to be a burlesque stripper or something" (83).

Matinee

1. a theatrical performance held during the daytime (especially in the afternoon) 2. an entertainment, especially a dramatic or musical performance, held in the daytime, usually in the afternoon. "Which was really a hot one, because my grandmother hardly ever even goes out of the house, except maybe to go to a goddam _____ or something" (76)

Brassiere

1. a woman's undergarment for supporting the breasts. "Real women's clothes--silk stockings, high-heeled shoes, _______, and one of those corsets with the straps hanging down and all" (80).

Qualm

1. an uneasy feeling or pang of conscience as to conduct; compunction. 2. a sudden feeling of apprehensive uneasiness; misgiving. 3. a sudden sensation or onset of faintness or illness, especially of nausea. "Do you have any particular ______ about leaving Pencey?" (19).

Rostrum

1. any platform, stage, or the like, for public speaking. 2. a pulpit. 3. a beaklike projection from the prow of a ship, especially one on an ancient warship for ramming an enemy ship; beak; ram. "Hardly anybody laughed out loud, and old Ossenburger made out like he didn't even hear it, but old Thurmer, the headmaster, was sitting right next to him on the ______ and all, and you could tell he heard it" (23).

Falsetto

1. artificially high; above the normal voice range 2. a person, especially a man, who sings with such a voice. 3. of, noting, or having the quality and compass of such a voice. "He started laughing in this very high ______ voice" (31).

latter

1. being the second mentioned of two (distinguished from former ) 2. more advanced in time. 3. near or comparatively near to the end. 4. Obsolete, last; final. "The ______ as we all know is the largest continent in the Eastern Hemisphere" (16).

Rile

1. cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations 2. to irritate or vex. 3.to roil (water or the like). "You couldn't ____ him too easily" (44).

Bourgeois

1. conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class 2. a person whose political, economic, and social opinions are believed to be determined mainly by concern for property values and conventional respectability. 3.a shopkeeper or merchant. "He kept saying they were too new and ________" (141).

Hoarse

1. deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion 2. having a vocal tone characterized by weakness of intensity and excessive breathiness; husky. 3. having a raucous voice. 4. making a harsh, low sound. "I think I'm going blind," I said in this very _____ voice" (29).

Mushy

1. effusively or insincerely emotional 2. Informal. overly emotional or sentimental. "She sings it very Dixieland and whorehouse, and it doesn't sound at all _______" (149).

Lavish

1. expended, bestowed, or occurring in profusion. 2. using or giving in great amounts; prodigal (often followed by of). 3. to expend or give in great amounts or without limit. "I have this grandmother that's quite ______ with her dough" (67).

Harrowing

1. extremely disturbing or distressing; grievous. "Apparently before he phoned me he'd just had a long, rather ________ letter from your latest headmaster, to the effect that you were making absolutely no effort at all" (242).

Conscientious

1. governed by the mind; controlled by or done according to one's inner sense of what is right; principled. 2. careful and painstaking; particular; meticulous; scrupulous. 3. characterized by extreme care and great effort "Some of the faculty are pretty __________" (71).

Suave

1. having a sophisticated charm 2. (of persons or their manner, speech, etc.) smoothly agreeable or polite; agreeably or blandly urbane. "I said it _____ as hell" (83).

Broad

1. having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other 2. measured from side to side 3. of great extent; large. 4. widely diffused; open; full. 5. not limited or narrow; of extensive range or scope. 6. liberal; tolerant. "He had these very _____shoulders" (34).

Crude

1. in a raw or unprepared state; unrefined or natural:. 2. lacking in intellectual subtlety, perceptivity, etc.; rudimentary; undeveloped. 3. lacking finish, polish, or completeness:. 4. lacking culture, refinement, tact, etc. 5.undisguised; blunt. "It was a very ______ thing to do, in chapel and all, but it was also quite amusing" (23).

Putrid

1. in a state of foul decay or decomposition, as animal or vegetable matter; rotten. 2. of, relating to, or attended by putrefaction. 3. having the odor of decaying flesh. 4. thoroughly corrupt, depraved, or evil. 5. of very low quality; rotten. "The band was putrid" (90).

Blase

1. indifferent to or bored with life; unimpressed, as or as if from an excess of worldly pleasures. "He was with some gorgeous blonde, and the two of them were trying to be very _______ and all, like as if he didn't even know people were looking at him" (164).

Monotonous

1. lacking in variety; tediously unvarying. 2. characterizing a sound continuing on one note. 3. having very little inflection; limited to a narrow pitch range. 1. "He started talking in this very monotonous voice, and picking at all his pimples" (49).

Inane

1. lacking sense, significance, or ideas; silly. 2. empty; void. "Must we go on with this ______ conversation?" (190).

Checkered

1. marked by numerous and various shifts or changes; variegated. 2. marked by dubious episodes; suspect in character or quality. 3. marked with squares. 4.diversified in color; alternately light and shadowed. " Some guy in one of those very dark gray flannel suits and one of those _________ vests" (164).

Foil

1. metal in the form of very thin sheets; fencing swords 2. the metallic backing applied to glass to form a mirror. 3. a thin layer of metal placed under a gem in a closed setting to improve its color or brilliancy. 4. a person or thing that makes another seem better by "I left the goddam ___s and stuff on the subway" (27).

Sterling

1. of, relating to, or noting British money. 2. (of silver) having the standard fineness of 0.925. 3. made of silver of this fineness. 4. thoroughly excellent. "She had a ______ sense of humor" (97).

Halitosis

1. offensive breath 2. a condition of having offensive-smelling breath; bad breath. "Sinus trouble, pimples, lousy teeth, halitosis, crumby fingernails."

Compulsory

1. required by rule; mandatory; obligatory. 2. using compulsion; compelling; constraining. 3.something, as an athletic feat, that must be performed or completed as part of a contest or competition. "He didn't say anything then, but the next night he made us have ________ study hall in the academic building and he came up and made a speech" (23).

Boisterous

1. rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained. 2. (of waves, weather, wind, etc.) rough and stormy. 3.Obsolete. rough and massive. "The one thing I did, though, I was careful as hell not to get _______ or anything" (194).

Provocative

1. tending or serving to anger; inciting, stimulating, irritating, or vexing. 2. something that makes someone angry. "Or, if his uncle's brace is such a _________ subject, shouldn't he have selected it in the first place as his subject--not the farm?" (240).

Undertaking

1. the act of a person who taking any task or responsibility. 2. a task, enterprise, etc., obligated. 3. a promise; pledge; guarantee. "He made a pot of dough in the _________ business after he got out of Pencey" (22).

Digression

1. the act of turning sides 2. a passage or section that deviates from the central theme in speech or writing. "That _______ business got on my nerves" (238).

ostracize

1. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc. 2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate. 3. (in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote. "The whole team ________ me the whole way back on the train" (6).

Flit

1. to move lightly and swiftly; fly, dart, or skim along. 2. to flutter, as a bird. 3. to pass quickly, as time. The other end of the bar was full of ____" (185).

Reside

1. to replace the siding on (a building). 2. to apply new siding, as to a house. 3. a piece or section of siding: "The Egyptians were an ancient race of Caucasians ________ in one of the northern sections of Africa" (16).

Snub

1. to treat with disdain or contempt, especially by ignoring. 2. to check or reject with a sharp rebuke or remark. 3. to check or stop suddenly (a rope or cable that is running out). 4. to check (a boat, an unbroken horse, etc.) by means of a rope or line made fast to a fixed object. 5.to pull up or stop abruptly in such a manner. "I mean my mother always thought Jane and her mother were sort of _________ her or something when they didn't say hello" (101).

Sheer

1. transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics. 2. unmixed with anything else:. 3. unqualified; utter. 4. extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical. 5. British Obsolete. bright; shining. 6. clear; completely; quite. 7. perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply. 8. a thin, diaphanous material, as chiffon or voile. "So when I told old Spencer I had to go to the gym and get my equipment and stuff, that was a _____ lie" (22).

Raspy

1. unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound 2. easily annoyed; irritable. "He had one of these very _____ voices, and he never stopped talking, practically" (160).

Innumerable

1. very numerous. 2. incapable of being counted; countless. "Modern science would still like to know what the secret ingredients were that the Egyptians used when they wrapped up dead people so that their faces would not rot for _________ centuries" (16).

Stark

1.sheer, utter, downright, or complete. 2.harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc. 3.extremely simple or severe. 4. bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized. 5. stiff or rigid in substance, muscles, etc. 6. rigid in death. "It just drove me ____ staring mad when I thought about her and Stradlater parked somewhere in that fat-assed Ed Banky's car" (63).