Vocabulary

hoghouse: (noun) a building in which hogs are housed : pigpen, sty

“Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.” *

litter: (noun) the group of young animals born to an animal at one time

“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do.*

runt: (noun) an animal that is smaller than average, especially the smallest in a litter

“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak …”*

sopping: (adjective) saturated with liquid; wet through

Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with her father.*

damp: (adjective) slightly wet

… and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster …*

carton: (noun) a light box or container

When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an hour later, he carried a carton under his arm.*

plaster: (noun) a soft mixture of lime with sand or cement and water for spreading on walls, ceilings, or other structures to form a smooth hard surface when dried

The kitchen table was set for breakfast, and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood smoke from the stove.*

wobble / wobbled: (verb) move unsteadily from side to side

As she approached her chair, the carton wobbled, and there was a scratching noise.*

dagger: (noun) a short knife with a pointed and edged blade, used as a weapon

He was heavily armed—an air rifle in one hand, a wooden dagger in the other.*

bliss: (noun) perfect happiness; great joy 

blissful (adjective) : full of, marked by, or causing complete happiness

She just sat and stared out of the window, thinking what a blissful world it was and how lucky she was to have entire charge of a pig.*

bib: (noun) a piece of cloth or plastic fastened around a person’s neck to keep their clothes clean while eating

Every morning, as soon as she got up, she warmed his milk, tied his bib on, and held the bottle for him.*

snout: (noun) the projecting nose of a mammal, especially an animal

Wilbur was poking the straw with his snout.*

sythe: an implement used for mowing grass, grain, or other crops and composed of a long curving blade fastened at an angle to a long handle

trough: a long shallow often V-shaped receptacle for the drinking water or feed of domestic animals

He walked slowly to his food trough and sniffed to see if anything had been overlooked at lunch.*

orchard: a planting of fruit trees, nut trees, or sugar maples

“Go down through the orchard, root up the sod!”*

thought: something formed in the mind, such as an individual act or product of thinking, an idea

“There’s never anything to do around here,” he thought.*

slops: food waste (such as garbage) fed to animals

“I’ll go and get a bucket of slops.”*

gander: an adult male goose

“Run toward me!” yelled the gander.*

dazed: unable to think clearly or act normally due to injury, shock, bewilderment, fatigue, etc.

Poor Wilbur was dazed and frightened by this hullabaloo.*

toward: in the direction of

Everybody walked toward Wilbur and Wilbur didn’t know what to do.*