The City of Ember vocabulary

raucous

(adj.) disagreeably harsh-sounding; disorderly

illegible

difficult to read

catastrophe

disaster or misfortune

deciphering

figuring out the meaning of

pungent

having a sharply strong taste or smell

wryly

humorously; slightly sarcastic

wistfully

longingly; in a wishful manner

curtly

rudely brief

rickety

shaky or likely to fall apart

ambled

walk or move at a slow, relaxed pace

dawdled

waste time; be slow

feeble

weak

relentlessly

without stopping

kiosk

A small structure used as a newsstand, bandstand, etc.

resonant

Having an effect; powerful

billowed

To swell out; to surge

predicament

a difficult situation

mechanism

a gadget or lock

generation

a group of individuals born and living at the same time

outcroppings

a large rock that sticks up out of the ground

ledger

a record book of accounts

tether

a rope or chain used to fasten something to a fixed object

endeavor

a serious task or effort

rivulets

a small brook or stream

luxury

a way of life that offers much more than what is necessary

stricken

affected by something overwhelming

misfortunes

bad luck

ponderously

moving with great difficulty

hogwash

nonsense

surefooted

not likely to stumble or fall

defiant

openly or boldly resisting authority

methodically

orderly and systematically

refugees

people who flee their homeland to seek safety elsewhere

slicker

raincoat

defying

resisting boldly or openly

welling

rising up, filling

weary

very tired

enmeshed

tangled in

pondered

thought about

strewn

thrown about carelessly

stirred

to affect or move somene's feelings

whittled

to cut, trim, or shape by carving off bits with a knife

discontinue

to end something; to not use anymore; cease

proceed

to go forward

hasten

to hurry

hoisted

to raise or lift

beckoned

to signal or summon, as by nodding or waving

presume

to take for granted, assume, or suppose

plunder

to take goods by force or steal

reluctantly

unwillingly