Chapter 2 - Vocabulary
catawba worms (n.): catawba worms are actually caterpillars that are highly prized by fishermen in the Southern United States.
condescended (vb.): To condescend is to agree to do something that you believe to be beneath your dignity. Jem condescends to take Scout to school, even though, as a fifth-grader, he feels superior to his first-grade sister.
cunning (adj.): In this case, cunning means attractive or cute -- almost too cute
entailment (n.): a legal situation regarding the use of inherited property.
hookworms (n.): a type of parasite. Hookworms usually enter the body through bare feet and move through the body to the small intestines where they attach themselves with a series of hooks around their mouths. See a picture of a hookworm.
immune (adj.): In this case, to be immune to something means that it has no effect on you. The story Miss Caroline reads to the class has no effect on them; they don't get it.
indigenous (adj.): belonging to a particular region or country
scrip stamps (n.): paper money of small denominations (less than $1.00) issued for temporary emergency use. During the Great Depression, many local and state government gave out scrip stamps, or sometimes tokens, to needy people.
seceded (vb.): To secede is to break away. During the Civil War, Alabama was one of the states that broke away, or seceded from the Union.
smilax (n.): a bright green twinning vine, often used for holiday decorations. See a picture of smilax.
subsequent mortification (adj. + n.): Something that is subsequent will follow closely after something else. Mortification is a feeling of shame or the loss of self respect. If Scout had been able to explain things to Miss Caroline, she could have prevented her teacher from losing self respect of feeling shameful later on.
vexations (n.): To vex is to annoy, so a vexation is something that causes annoyance or problems.
wallowing illicitly (vb. + adv.): In this case, to wallow is to indulge in something (usually an activity) with great enjoyment. Illicit, used like this, means unauthorized or improper. After listening to Miss Caroline, Scout feels that, by reading, she has been happily indulging in something which she should not have been doing.
