I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Vocabulary List Chapters 17-23

enough for some need or requirement

"Will there be adequate adult supervision?"

a social event or activity

Dinner with the four of us that night was a festive affair.

to go or move up

Because later on today we got word that the Eagle ascended just fine.

help toward reaching a goal : USE

I searched all over for Campbell again, but to no avail.

to keep from sinking : keep afloat

It had wire sewn into it to keep it stiff, because otherwise it would just hang straight down, limp, with no wind to buoy it.

to fasten (as a belt or strap) tightly

When I found a belt to hold the folds in place and cinched it together, you could barely see any lumpy bunching.

a phrase or expression that has been used so often that it is no longer original or interesting

I suppose you could say that calling kittens cute is a cliché, but what else are you going to call them?

to make happen by force

Already this was sounding more like a list of who wasn't coming than who was, but still I felt compelled to add, "And Eleanor just came and went, too."

to open up and spread out the parts of (something, such as a parachute)

"But if those parachutes don't deploy at exactly the right time and in exactly the right way?"

to throw (something) away because it is useless or unwanted

Whenever I've tried to make an outfit for one of my dolls from discarded fabric, it has never come out quite as planned.

to have (something) as a part, step, or result

Just thinking about all that Sunday dinner could entail.

a failure to be correct or accurate : MISTAKE

Immediately, I saw the error of my ways and I flew into her arms and then my dad's because of course I was glad, so glad, to have them both back.

to change or handle in a useless way

Bess was fiddling with her stuff, so I'm not even sure she heard me.

to lift something up

"What about the cake, then?" I tried, but she was already hefting that Samsonite again.

occurring at or marking the beginning

Today, eight days, three hours and eighteen minutes after initial liftoff, Apollo 11 reentered our sky.

to push roughly

I didn't think anything short of a shout in the face or a physical jostling ever worked to wake up Bess, but she came down for that.

isolation of people, animals, or things (as plants) out of a certain area to prevent the spread of disease or pests

Buster says you'll have to go right into quarantine, in case you picked up germs on the moon.

a feeling of sadness or sympathy for the suffering or unhappiness of others

When she said those two words, there was so much pity in them that, somehow it was like the worst thing that had happened to me yet.

something that remains or is left over

Her black hair for once out of shape and only the remnants of her Cleopatra eyes still there.

clever in dealing with problems

Buster is nothing if not resourceful.

to make angry

But I suppose we all have our things that rile us up most.

without another person : ALONE

He is the first person ever to row across an ocean solo.

the rate of speed at which a musical composition is played or sung

I found myself constantly struggling not to fall too far off the tempo.

quickness of motion : SPEED

"The Columbia would hit the water with such velocity, the astronauts would be killed on impact."