Island of the Blue Dolphins Vocabulary Ch. 16 - 20

I must be ready to flee. What does flee mean?

• an insect that bites

• to fight

• to leave

I bound them back together with fresh pitch and sinews. What are sinews?

• a rope made of hair

• a rope made of seal tendons

• a rope made of bull kelp

I created a spear with a barbed point. What does barbed mean?

• spiky and hooked

• slender and sharp

• forked with two pointy ends

They sat on their haunches and barked. What are haunches?

• tails

• hindquarters or back end

• mounds of dirt

Karana used pitch to bind the planks of the canoe. What is pitch?

• to toss out

• a sticky, black substance that can wash up on the beach

• a long rope made of kelp

Karana kept watch from the sandspit. What is a sandspit?

• a long strip of beach jutting out into the ocean

• a tall cliff that has footholds to climb

• the mesa where Ghalas-At once stood

The abalone shell glittered on the beach. What does glittered mean?

• to get buried beneath dirt or sand

• to get tossed aside

• to shine in the light

Karana gestured to Ronto to return to the canoe. What does gestured mean?

• to shoo something away

• to use hand signals to communicate

• to yell loudly

All the women of our tribe singed our hair short as a sign of mourning. What does singed mean?

• to sing with a sad voice

• to burn off the ends with a small flame

• to color the hair black

The devilfish flailed its arms and struck Karana on the shoulder and left a bruise. What does flailed mean?

• the move around violently

• to push away slowly

• to get tangled