Vocabulary ladder
The Call of the Wild
Chapter I. Into the Primitive
3,784 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 59% of the text; the hard 8% is 207 entries — all of them below.
A 59.5% (490 types) B 7.9% (211 types) C 5.0% (148 entries) D 3.5% (113 entries) E 1.2% (39 entries) N 3.7% (55 entries)
Band B — common reading vocabulary
A sample of 24 of 211 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.
- crowed
- primitive ×2
- glimpses
- endured ×2
- surging
- twilight
- obey · obeyed ×2
- creeping
- goose
- outrage
- promptly
- steadily
- bark · barked ×3
- grandsons
- spat
- legion
- prompt
- bully
- vague
- candle
- whistling
- sensation
- shepherd
- wagon ×4
Band C — recognition checklist
All 148 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.
- grimly
- tidewater
- bloodshot
- gingerly
- outhouse
- coolly
- fearlessly
- despatch
- skyward
- wintry
- savagely
- kidnapper
- dimly
- hairless
- involuntarily
- damnation
- foaming
- growling
- recede
- whereupon
- sickly
- tireless
- excitedly
- poplar
- steamship
- pry
- paddock
- surcharge
- displeasure
- kindre
- pant
- furiously
- ragged
- curiously
- stagger
- takin
- calamity
- bulge
- terrier
- enthusiastically
- sag
- yelp
- assortment
- meditate
- whaling
- latent
- splinter
- generously
- perch
- treacherous
- fling
- propeller
- glaze
- arouse
- rattle
- senseless
- pasture
- steamer
- torment
- undesirable
- withhold
- wrench
- impartial
- lash
- plainly
- gloomy
- mop
- tonic
- culprit
- joyful
- scattering
- helper
- populous
- spacious
- broom
- saloon
- newcomer
- orderly
- purposely
- sniff
- cunning
- stout
- ain
- estimation
- stalk
- crate
- leash
- throttle
- arbor
- eagerly
- flap
- gardener
- plunge
- locomotive
- longing
- tighten
- finely
- harden
- impend
- recess
- administer
- colder
- stroll
- acquaintance
- dat
- rag
- calmly
- furry
- glitter
- oppress
- affirmative
- mastery
- orchard
- swollen
- undo
- fearful
- wrapping
- grin
- tease
- agony
- poke
- exquisite
- weary
- groom
- chunk
- driveway
- fetch
- dominion
- parcel
- reside
- footstep
- accumulate
- grape
- roar
- wrath
- backward
- downward
- mug
- choke
- inflammation
- solitary
- baggage
- brew
- crawl
- lick
- sweater
- destine
- imprison
Band D — advanced (113 entries)
- baggageman
- the man in charge of luggage
- black-faced
- dark-faced
- cagelike
- like a cage
- dog-doctor
- a dog's doctor
- evil-looking
- looking wicked
- fever-pitch
- the highest heat of feeling
- high-strung
- tense and nervous
- high-walled
- with high walls
- house-dog ×2
- a dog kept in the house
- lionlike
- like a lion
- red-eyed ×2
- with red eyes
- uncowed
- uncowed: not frightened down
- vine-clad
- covered with vines
- wide-spreading
- spreading wide
- outreached
- outreached: went beyond
- squarehead
- a blockhead — slang
- unwonted ×2
- unusual for the person
- saloon-keeper ×6
- the keeper of a drinking bar
- puppyhood
- the time of being a puppy
- snow-white
- white as snow
- half-breed ×2
- half-breed: of mixed race — the word of the book's time
- sun-kissed
- sun-kissed: warmed by the sun
- incurious
- without interest
- vilely
- shamefully
- gravelled
- surfaced with gravel
- futilely
- uselessly
- crushingly
- with crushing force
- limply
- loosely, without firmness
- obscurely
- in a dim, hidden way
- lolling
- to lounge at ease
- fiercer
- more fierce
- lacerated
- torn
- preserver
- one who saves
- slaver
- wet dribble from the mouth
- menacingly
- threateningly
- sated
- fully satisfied
- frothing
- foaming
- underhand
- sly and secret
- housemaids
- a maid of the house
- assailed
- to attack
- uncouth
- rough and awkward
- flecked
- a small spot
- chinked
- a narrow crack; the ring of coins
- snarl
- to growl through the teeth
- unkempt
- uncombed; neglected
- hoarse
- rough and husky of voice
- throbbed
- a strong beat of the heart
- slouch
- to move with a lazy bent body
- genial
- warm and kindly
- snarling
- growling with bared teeth
- boughs
- a branch of a tree
- quivering
- trembling finely
- bristled
- bristled: stood up stiff with anger
- egotistical
- full of oneself
- speedily
- quickly
- shriek · shrieking ×2
- a piercing scream
- conveyance
- a means of transport
- grumbled
- grumbled: complained
- wouldn ×2
- would — wouldn't: would not
- frightful
- causing fright
- sou
- explained by the text itself
- rambles
- a walk for pleasure
- trouser
- trousers
- unbridled
- without restraint
- deft
- quick and skillful with the hands
- parched
- dried out with heat
- veranda
- an open porch
- ferocity
- fierce cruelty
- onlookers
- one who watches
- mercilessly ×2
- without mercy
- crumpled
- crushed into wrinkles
- trifle
- a thing of no importance
- mangled
- to crush and tear
- mushy
- soft and pulpy
- eloquently
- with moving power
- pampered
- indulged and cared for softly
- taunted
- to mock with stinging words
- whirled
- to spin fast
- agonizing
- causing agony
- aristocrat
- a person of noble birth
- consignment
- goods sent
- mewed
- mewed: cried like cats
- progeny
- offspring
- groping
- to feel one's way with the hands
- snort
- to blow sharply through the nose
- fawned
- a young deer; its shy softness
- jolted
- to shake with sudden jerks
- boded
- to be a sign of what is coming
- insular
- narrow, like islanders
- toil
- dress; ladies' finery
- wagged
- to swing from side to side
- wot
- explained by the text itself
- ebbed
- the flowing back; fading away
- trembled
- to shake finely
- yawned ×2
- to open the mouth wide with tiredness
- hatchet ×4
- a small axe
- hurled ×2
- to fling with force
- exclamations
- a cry of surprise or feeling
- fiend
- a devil; a savage creature
- retaliated
- to strike back
- pug
- explained by the text itself
- shrewd
- sharply clever in practical things
- grappled
- to struggle gripping
- dazed ×2
- stunned; unable to think
- inseparable
- impossible to part
- nomadic
- wandering
- treachery
- betrayal
- growl · growled, growls ×4
- a low angry rumble
- instantaneous
- happening in an instant
- grunted
- a village on the Austrian campaign road
- kennels
- kennelled: housed like a dog
- intolerable
- unbearable
- handkerchief
- a cloth for the nose or eyes
Band E — rare & archaic (39 entries)
- brumal
- of winter
- cold-tubbing
- taking cold baths
- dog-breakin
- explained by the text itself
- druther
- explained by the text itself
- ferine
- wild; untamed
- good-natured
- kindly by nature
- hydrophoby
- hydrophobia, the madness from a dog's bite — in rough speech
- kennel-dog
- a dog kept in a kennel
- ousand
- explained by the text itself
- plentee
- explained by the text itself
- ruction
- a row
- sacredam
- explained by the text itself
- soliloquized
- soliloquized: spoke to himself
- tween-decks
- between the decks of a ship
- weazened ×2
- dried up and wrinkled
- wheedlingly
- with soft flattering talk
- docilely
- meekly
- stuffin
- explained by the text itself
- cayuses
- cayuses: wild ponies of the West
- gruffly
- roughly; in a harsh voice
- conciliate · conciliated ×2
- to win over; soothe
- sullenly
- in gloomy ill humor
- imperiously
- commandingly
- moch
- explained by the text itself
- uproariously
- with loud laughter
- besetting ×2
- constantly attacking
- lawgiver
- lawgivers: makers of laws
- interlacing
- interlacing: interwoven
- swarthy ×2
- dark-skinned
- pervaded
- spreading through everything
- metamorphosed
- metamorphosed: transformed
- tormentor · tormentors ×3
- one who torments
- demesne
- a lord's own land
- artesian
- artesian well: a deep bored well
- outa
- out of — slang
- tallow
- candle fat
- morose
- gloomy and sour
- bristling
- with hair standing stiff
- detestable
- hateful
False friends — common words wearing old senses (4)
- aspect
- look; appearance — the old sense here
- deliberately
- slowly and carefully — the old sense here
- interest
- the spectacle that draws a crowd — the old sense here
- passage
- a sea-journey — the old sense here
Names (14)
- ysabel ×3
- Ysabel, the Mexican hairless dog at the Judge's house
- perrault ×6
- Perrault, the French-Canadian government courier
- toots ×3
- Toots, the Japanese pug at the Judge's house
- mollie
- Mollie, the Judge's daughter
- shep
- Shep, Buck's shepherd-dog mother
- elmo
- Elmo, Buck's St Bernard father
- françois ×6
- François, the French-Canadian dog-driver
- curly ×6
- Curly, the good-natured Newfoundland
- manuel ×6
- Manuel, the gardener's helper who sells Buck
- buck ×43
- Buck, the great St Bernard and shepherd cross, hero of the tale
- Geological Survey
- the government mapping service
- Judge Miller
- Buck's first master in California
- Puget Sound
- the sea inlet of the Pacific north-west
- Santa Clara Valley
- the warm Californian valley of Buck's first home