Animal Farm - Vocab - Chapter 5

Liable

Definition: likely to do or to be something Sentence: "It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into "Four legs good, two legs bad" at crucial moments in Snowball's speeches." (Orwell)

Blithely

Definition: not caring or worrying about the effects of what you do; casual indifference Sentence: "One day, as Mollie strolled blithely into the yard, flirting her long tail and chewing at a stalk of hay, Clover took her aside." (Orwell)

Restive

Definition: restless; unable to keep still or quiet due to impatience Sentence: "They had all the more reason for doing so because the news of their defeat had spread across the countryside and made the animals on the neighbouring farms more restive than ever." (Orwell)

Canvassing

Definition: trying to persuade people to support a political party, politician, or idea by going around and talking to people Sentence: "At the Meetings Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches, but Napoleon was better at canvassing support for himself in between times." (Orwell)

Articulate

Definition: expressing oneself clearly, easy to hear or understand Sentence: "Some of the pigs themselves, however, were more articulate." (Orwell)

Ratified

Definition: made a written agreement official by signing it Sentence: "It had come to be accepted that the pigs, who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals, should decide all questions of farm policy, though their decisions had to be ratified by a majority vote. " (Orwell)

Tactics

Definition: skillfully planned actions used for achieving something Sentence: "This, said Squealer, was something called tactics. He repeated a number of times, "Tactics, comrades, tactics!" skipping round and whisking his tail with a merry laugh." (Orwell)

Factions

Definition: small groups of people within a larger group who have different ideas from the other members Sentence: "The animals formed themselves into two factions under the slogan, "Vote for Snowball and the three-day week" and "Vote for Napoleon and the full manger."' (Orwell)

Disinterred

Definition: something taken out of a tomb or grave Sentence: "The skull of old Major, now clean of flesh, had been disinterred from the orchard and set up on a stump at the foot of the flagstaff, beside the gun." (Orwell)

Eloquence

Definition: the ability to express ideas, opinions, or feelings clearly in a way that influences other people Sentence: "Until now the animals had been about equally divided in their sympathies, but in a moment Snowball's eloquence had carried them away." (Orwell)

Innovate

Definition: to create, to make changes to Sentence: "Snowball had made a close study of some back numbers of the 'Farmer and Stockbreeder' which he had found in the farmhouse, and was full of plans for innovations and improvements." (Orwell)

Procure

Definition: to get something, especially something that is difficult to get Sentence: "Stone would have to be carried and built up into walls, then the sails would have to be made and after that there would be need for dynamos and cables. (How these were to be procured, Snowball did not say.)" (Orwell)