Vocabulary ladder

Moby-Dick

CHAPTER 2. The Carpet-Bag.

1,443 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 57% of the text; the hard 9% is 98 entries — all of them below.

A 56.7% (303 types) B 6.3% (76 types) C 5.4% (71 entries) D 3.0% (40 entries) E 1.5% (19 entries) N 5.0% (39 entries)

Band B — common reading vocabulary

A sample of 24 of 76 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.

Band C — recognition checklist

All 71 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.

Band D — advanced (40 entries)

ash-box
a box for ashes
copestone
the finishing stone
dubious-looking
looking not to be trusted
lookest
look, in old speech used with "thou"
poverty-stricken
very poor
waterward
toward the water
whalemen
a man who hunts whales
observest
observest: watch, in old speech used with "thou"
carpet-bag ×2
carpet-bag politician: a Northern adventurer in the South after the war
black-letter
black-letter: old heavy Gothic type
curbstone ×2
the stone edge of a path
bitingly
in a sharp cutting way
cheerless
gloomy; without cheer
invitingly
temptingly
flinty
hard as flint
remorseless
without pity
creak
to make a dry rubbing sound
chinks
a narrow crack; the ring of coins
silken
made of silk
emigrant
one who leaves his country
cobblestones
rounded paving stones
tepid
lukewarm
hob
the shelf at the side of a fireplace for keeping pots warm
creaking
making a dry rubbing sound
sloop
a small ship with one mast
forlorn
hopeless and sad
harpoon
a spear on a rope, thrown to catch a whale
muttered
to speak low in the throat
zephyr
a soft gentle wind
boisterous
loud and wild with fun
lint
soft scraped cloth for wounds
cheeriest
bright and cheerful
fervent
burning with feeling
dilapidated
falling into ruin
thence
from there
dreary ×2
gloomy and dull
wailing
to cry long and loud
ere
before — an old word
shiverings
trembling with cold
temperance
the going without strong drink

Band E — rare & archaic (19 entries)

a-whaling
out hunting whales
gable-ended
with a pointed end wall
sashless
having no frame in the window
teeth-gnashing
grinding the teeth in rage
concernment
a matter that touches one closely
asphaltic
like black tar
grapnels
a small anchor with several hooks
monopolising
to keep all for oneself
corn-cob
the hard middle part of an ear of maize
bowsprit
the spar sticking out from a ship's bow
blubbering
crying with a loud wet noise
congealed
to set solid; clot
glazier
a man who fits glass into windows
maketh
makes
crannies
crannies: small cracks
connexion
connection
tinkling
to ring lightly
climes
lands; regions
tempestuous ×3
stormy

False friends — common words wearing old senses (1)

passage
a sea-journey — the old sense here

Names (18)

euroclydon ×5
a fierce northeast wind named in the Bible
manhatto
an old name for Manhattan in New York
tophet
a place of burning outside Jerusalem, taken to mean hell
moluccas
the spice islands of southeast Asia
sword-fish ×2
a large fish with a long sharp snout; also an inn name
ishmael ×4
the narrator of this book
nantucket ×7
the small Massachusetts island that was the heart of American whaling
czar
the emperor of Russia
sumatra
a large island of southeast Asia
leviathan
the great sea beast of the Bible, taken to mean the whale
lazarus ×4
in the Bible, the beggar full of sores who lay at a rich man's gate
orion
the Hunter, a bright group of stars
tyre
an old trading city of the near east
bedford ×4
New Bedford, the great whaling port of Massachusetts
coffin ×2
the box a dead body is laid in; also a common family name on Nantucket
Cape Horn
the stormy southern tip of South America
New Bedford
the Massachusetts port that was the centre of American whaling
Peter Coffin
the landlord of the Spouter Inn at New Bedford