The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, Vocabulary List Chapters 38-43

something usual in a group, class, or series

Your average house mouse (or castle mouse, if you will) weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of four ounces.

showing complete happiness

She smiled a beatific smile.

to flow or fall rapidly and in large quantity

Tears were cascading from his eyes.

to hold firmly with the hands or arms

Despereaux looked at his father, at his gray-streaked fur and trembling whiskers and his front paws clasped together in front of his heart, and he felt suddenly as if his own heart would break in two.

to make happen by force

"You just have to feel compelled to do the thing."

to mark or become marked with rounded spots of color

Like most hearts, it was complicated, shaded with dark and dappled with light.

to become or to cause (something) to become less in size, importance, etc.

When the powerful are made weak, when they are revealed to be human, to have hearts, their diminishment is nothing short of terrifying.

the understanding and sharing of the emotions and experiences of another person

Do you know what it means to be empathetic?

spoken or done forcefully

And from the members of the Mouse Council, there came a tiny but emphatic chorus of "ayes."

serving as a temporary substitute

Then he looked up from the makeshift table and saw Despereaux.

nothing

Zip. Zero. Nada.

a very small bit or amount of something

He loved the Princess Pea with every particle of his being.

the ability to understand which things are truly important and which things are not

Reader, allow me to put this in perspective for you:

a usually adventurous journey made in search of something

"You friend, are on a quest."

something of little or no value that is thrown away

"Good riddance to bad rubbish."

indicating or giving evidence of something

The telltale red thread still around his neck like a thin trail of blood.

to feel repeated pangs of pain

His paws were shaking and his muscles were jumping and the place where his tail should be was throbbing.

to twist (hands) together as a sign of anguish

He stuck his head around the door of the pantry and saw Cook standing in the center of the kitchen, wringing her fat hands.