Class 7 NCERT An Alien Hand Book Chapter Wise difficult word meanings
Here, the difficult words and their meanings of all the Chapters of CBSE Class 7 English An Alien Hand have been compiled for the convenience of the students. This is an exhaustive list of the difficult words and meanings of all the Chapters from the An Alien Hand Book for NCERT Class 7 English. The difficult words’ meanings have been explained in an easy language so that every student can understand them easily.
- Chapter 1 The Tiny Teacher
- Chapter 2 Bringing up Kari
- Chapter 3 The Desert
- Chapter 4 The Cop and the Anthem
- Chapter 5 Golu Grows a Nose
- Chapter 6 I Want Something in a Cage
- Chapter 7 Chandni
- Chapter 8 The Bear Story
- Chapter 9 A Tiger in the House
- Chapter 10 An Alien Hand
Chapter 1 The Tiny Teacher
- Airing: to get air for refreshment
- Barracks: a large building or group of buildings used to house soldiers
- Beetles: type of insect
- Cocoons: a silky case spun by the larvae of many insects for protection as pupae
- Feelers: to feel, here it refers to the antennae of the ant which helps it detect other ants
- Firm: determined
- Grubs: the larvae or young ones of ants
- Loyalty: a feeling of strong support for someone or something
- Mosquito: a small flying insect that bites the skin of people and animals and sucks their blood
- Pets: a domestic or tamed animal kept for companionship or pleasure
- Wisest: most experienced, knowledgeable, and having good judgement
- Worm: a soft, elongated, soft-bodied parasitic animals
Related: The Tiny Teacher Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 2 Bringing up Kari
- Afloat: floating in water, not sinking
- Astonishment: surprise
- Bumped: hit
- Darted: rushed suddenly
- Delicate: here, soft
- Drowning: to die due to submerging in water
- Ebony: a heavy wood mainly black in colour
- Hatchet: small axe
- Hawk: a bird of prey
- Lasso: a rope with a noose at one end
- Luscious: tasty and sweet smelling
- Mutilated: torn, awkwardly mutilated
- Pavilion: a shelter in an outdoor structure
- Pay you back in your own coin: To seek revenge on someone by treating them in the same negative manner as they treated one
- Rested: here, the roof was laid on the tree stumps
- Rose: went upwards
- Saplings: young tree
- Squeal: cry, trumpet
- Strewn: thrown around
- Stumps: the bottom part of tree trunk, left after a tree has been cut
- Tender: here, soft and young
- Tiptoe: to stand with raised heels, the weight of the body on the balls of the feet
- Twigs: branches of trees
- Whipped: punished by beating with a whip
Related: Bringing up Kari Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 3 The Desert
- Absorb: take in completely
- Adapt: change
- Bloom: grow and open
- Burrow: move underground by digging
- Humid: containing moisture
- Moisture: wetness
- Mounds: big heaps
- Oasis: a fertile spot in the deserts where water is found
- Regions: areas
- Retain: continue to have something
- Shelter: a place giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger
- Sight: scene
- Surrounded: covered
- Survive: continue to live or exist
- Survive: continue to live or exist despite hardships
- Variations: changes
- Variety: different kinds
Related: The Desert Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 4 The Cop and the Anthem
- Blackwell’s Island: name of a prison (If Soapy went to prison, the government would look after his food and stay.)
- Cop: policeman (American English)
- Get busy: begin to do the work or tasks which need to be done urgently
- Hurried: did quickly
- Out of the mud: to come from the bottom and then rise to the top
- Ready: confident, prepared
- Restlessly: lacking or denying rest, uneasily
- Sick fear: very frightened
- Southern skies: (here) warmer places
Related: The Cop and the Anthem Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 5 Golu Grows a Nose
- Boot: a sturdy item of footwear covering the foot and ankle, and sometimes also the lower leg, field shoes
- Bulgy: swollen, protruding, or curving outwards.
- Dozen: something that is 12 in number
- Haunches: a buttock and thigh considered together, in a human or animal
- Mynah: an Asian and Australasian starling that typically has dark plumage, gregarious behaviour, and a loud call.
- Scoop: pick up something in a spherical shape
- Snout: the projecting nose and mouth of an animal, especially a mammal
- Spotty: something which has spots
- Uncoiled: straightened from a coiled or curled position.
- Wiggle: move or cause to move up and down or from side to side with small rapid movements.
Related: Golu grows a Nose Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 6 I Want Something in a Cage
- Abruptly: suddenly
- Ailing: ill, sick
- Balls of fluff: something which was soft and fluffy and had a ball-like shape
- Beam: smile radiantly.
- Bewildered: shocked, perplexed, confused
- Bill: note
- Blurted: said abruptly
- Briskly: lightly
- Canary: a small, bright yellow bird noted for its singing
- Clasp: grasp (something) tightly with one’s hand.
- Close-cropped: cut very short
- Cocked: tilted
- constant: continuous, never-ending, endless
- Crestfallen: disappointed
- Custom: habit
- Digest: read and understand fully
- Distinct: unique, different
- Emphatically: in an understanding way
- Filmed: become or appear to become covered with a thin layer of something.
- Flicker: small and sudden movements
- Frantic: distraught with fear, anxiety, or other emotion, hysterical
- Frost: deposit of small white ice crystals formed on the ground or other surfaces when the temperature falls below freezing.
- Fussy: showing excessive or anxious concern for details.
- Genial: friendly
- Get you: annoy you, divert your attention
- Gilded: covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint.
- Glared: stared angrily
- Grave: serious
- Gravely: seriously
- Halted: stopped
- Hastened: hurried
- Humour: entertain
- Hunched: raise (one’s shoulders) and bend the top of one’s body forward.
- Instinctively: automatically
- Linger: stay in a place longer than necessary because of a reluctance to leave.
- Lovelorn: unhappy because of unrequited love.
- Magnanimously: generously (He gave a broad smile.)
- Magnified: made to appear big
- Materialise: (of a ghost, spirit, or similar entity) appear in bodily form.
- Monotonous: dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.
- Mopped: wiped
- Mount: move on to a raised surface
- Musty: having a stale, mouldy or damp smell
- Muttered: said in a low voice
- Oddly: weirdly, strangely
- Ornate: elaborately or highly decorated.
- Perch: sit
- Perplexity: confusion
- Pervade: be present and apparent throughout.
- Prescribe: advise and authorise the use of a medicine for someone, in written form
- Prompt: quick
- Proprietor: the owner of a business, or a holder of property.
- Pucker: tightly gather or contract into wrinkles or small folds.
- Pulsed: throb rhythmically
- Purse: pucker or contract, typically to express disapproval or irritation.
- Reap: produce, result in
- Scamper: run with quick light steps, especially through fear or excitement.
- Shoved: put something hurriedly without much care
- Shuffled away: to walk away while dragging the feet
- Shuttling glance: constantly looking to and fro
- Slide off: to slip off of something and fall or stand
- Smirk: smile in an irritatingly smug, conceited, or silly way.
- Snapped: said angrily
- Snowy: white
- Suspended: something that was hanging
- Tottered: moved unsteadily
- Twitter: a series of short, high-pitched calls or sounds.
- Uncanny: unusual
- Vaguely: slightly
- Waddle: walk with short steps and a clumsy swaying motion.
- Wintry: characteristic of winter, especially in feeling or looking very cold and bleak.
Related: I want something in a Cage Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 7 Chandni
- Affection: a gentle feeling of love or fondness
- Alas: grief, pain and sorrow
- Amuse: entertain
- Anguish: grief, sorrow, sadness
- Appetite: hunger
- Assembly: group
- Bathed: immersed in something
- Beyond: at or to the further side of.
- Bloomed: matured or produced a flower
- Breed: a particular type, kind, or variety
- Compound: an open area enclosed by a fence
- Declain: say words in an effective or impressive way, as if to an audience.
- Devour: eat
- Earthen: made from earth
- Embrace: hug or join her physically
- Endless: something which never ends
- Enveloped: wrap up, cover, or surround completely
- Faint: light, weak
- Ferocious: savagely fierce, cruel, or violent.
- Firm: determined
- Frankly: honestly
- Gleaming: glittering, shining
- Grassy: covered with or full of grass
- Grazing: eating grass in a field.
- Grunt: a low, short guttural sound made by an animal or a person
- Herd: group
- Jaw: each of the upper and lower bony structures in vertebrates forming the framework of the mouth and containing the teeth.
- Jerk: a quick, sharp, sudden movement
- Jut: extend out, over, or beyond the main body or line of something.
- Moodily: in angry and unhappy way
- Moonlight: light coming from the moon
- Mystery: something that was weird and unknown
- Narrate: tell a story
- Obstinate: stubborn, rigid
- Pale: weak, inferior
- Passage: a narrow way providing access to move in or out of the place
- Perched: sitting on a surface
- Sized up: evaluated or calculated
- Soaked: covered
- Temperament: a person’s or animal’s nature, especially as it permanently affects their behaviour
- Terribly: badly or seriously
- Thundered: speak loudly and forcefully or angrily to denounce or criticise
- Treacherous: someone who betrays people, unfaithful, selfish
- Unfortunate: unlucky
Related: Chandni Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 8 The Bear Story
- Amiable: friendly
- Amicably: friendly and peacefully
- Apt: appropriate, suitable
- Clumsy: awkward in movement or in handling things.
- Cracking: break or cause to break without a complete separation of the parts.
- Cunning: clever, smart, intelligent
- Dense: thick
- Dog-fashion: a behaviour seen in dogs
- Fine: top-quality
- Fond: attached to something or someone
- Gust: blow
- Haunches: a buttock and thigh considered together, in a human or animal.
- Horrified: filled with horror; extremely shocked.
- Ill-tempered: angry or grumpy
- Kennel: a place where only pets are kept
- Manor: the main residential place of a feudal lord
- Meek: quiet and gentle
- Menacing: threatening
- Missus: used as a form of address to a woman whose name is not known, married woman
- Mistress: a woman in a position of authority or control.
- Orchard: an area covered with fruit trees
- Panting: gulping air due to tiredness
- Parasol: umbrella
- Resigned: having accepted something unpleasant that one cannot do anything about.
- Sailor: someone who goes sailing
- Severest: in a very strict and cold manner
- Shaggy: messy-looking
- Shuffle along: to move while a slow dragging movement
- Slain: past tense of slay, killed
- Sniffing: smelling
- Solitary: something or someone who is alone or empty
- Stable: place where horses are kept
- Stump: short and thick
- Temptation: desire
- Trotting: proceed or cause to proceed at a pace faster than a walk, lifting each diagonal pair of legs alternately.
- Wander: roam here and there
- Winding: full of twists and turns
- Wistfully: full of desire and sadness
Related: The Bear Story Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 9 – A Tiger in the House
- Strolling: walking in a relaxed and leisure way
- Intricate: detailed and tangled
- Distinction: excellence that sets someone or something apart from others
- Bagged: won
- Tempting: delicious, something that is attractive
- Companions: someone who gives you company
- Bold: daring, someone who can do dangerous things
- Mongrel: a dog of no definable type or breed
- Dart: move or run somewhere suddenly or rapidly
- Spring: move or jump suddenly or rapidly upwards or forwards
- Absurd: ridiculous, illogical
- Dash: run
- Retreat: go back
- Amusement: something that is entertaining or amusing
- Stalk: follow someone stealthily
- Crafty: clever
- Crouch: adopt a position where the knees are bent and the upper body is brought forward and down, typically in order to avoid detection or to defend oneself
- Creep: crawl
- Delight: happiness
- Pretending: acting
- Retriever: a breed of dog (trained to retrieve game in hunting)
- Give us a wide berth: keep a safe distance from us
- Fecline: lean or lie back in a relaxed position with the back supported
- Dignity: pride, being proud
- Snarl: growling while showing teeth
- Scrub: rub hard to clean something
- Quarters: a place where someone stays, a room
- Prophetic: accurately predicting the future
- Steadily: in a regular and even manner
- Steal away: to leave secretively
- Frenzied: loud and frantic
- Cackling: noise (made by hens)
- Poultry: domestic fowl, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese.
- Villainous intent: wicked and dangerous plan or idea
- Transfer: send somewhere else
- Reserve: book
- Civilise: polite and well-mannered
- Opportunity: chance
- Call at: to stop by for a short period of time
- Get on: make progress
- Made straight: went directly
- Interned: kept
- Crouched: to lowering the knees to prevent being seen
- Coat: here, the skin of the tiger
- Approached: came closer or nearer to someone or something
- Stroke: move one’s hand to put pressure gently on someone
- Smacked: hit lightly
- Sprang away: ran away
- Snarled: made an angry growling sound showing his teeth
- Shoo: a word said to frighten or drive away a person or animal
- Slink: move noiselessly
- Gathered: come together in one place
- Reunion: when someone meet after a long time
- Conversation: a synonym for a talk
- Bad-tempered: someone who is angry or in a bad temper
- Suggest: give an advice or recommend something to someone
- Superintendent: a person who manages or superintends an organisation or activity
- Wandering: roaming
- Beginning: starting
- Alarm: a mixture of fear and anxiety
- Recognise: identify someone by its looks
- Stammer: speak with sudden involuntary pauses and a tendency to repeat the initial letters of words mostly due to nervousness or an inability to express oneself feelings properly.
- Pneumonia: a bacterial or viral lung infection
- Trap: catch someone in a cage
- Relish: great enjoyment
- Withdraw: take away
- Mumbled: say in a low voice
- Scornful: feeling or expressing contempt or derision
- Briskly: in great hurry, impatient and active way
Related: A Tiger in the House Summary, Lesson notes
Chapter 10 – An Alien Hand
- Siesta: short rest or nap after lunch
- Evading: avoiding
- Forbidden: not allowed
- Barred: stopped
- Slip: here, put or slide through
- Beckon: invite
- March: walk
- Upward slope: a path going up
- Habitat: shelter or home
- Detected: found
- Intruder: one who enters a place without permission
- Paces: steps
- Firmly: with little possibility of movement
- Escorted: taken or led
- Quarter: source
- Briefed: told or informed
- Well-equipped: supplied with the necessary things
- Reservoir: large supply
- Trained: taught
- Forefather: ancestor, previous generations
- Sustenance: maintenance, nourishment
- Hostile: showing or feeling opposition or dislike; unfriendly
- Superior: something which is higher in rank, status or quality
- Trajectory: the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces
- Shift: work period
- Archive: a collection of historical documents or records providing information
- Manned: having a human crew
- Impotently: in a manner that is helpless or powerless
- Vantage: a place or position affording a good view of something
- Conference: a formal meeting of people with a shared interest
- Outsider: someone who is not a part of an organisation, someone who is just visiting
- Capacity: the maximum amount that something can contain
- Momentous: of great importance or significance, especially in having a bearing on future events
- Colleague: a person with whom one works in a profession or business
- Approaching: coming closer
- Orbiting: move around something in a circular path
- Render: cause to be, make
- Unoperational: something which does not operate or function
- Ineffective: something which has no effect
- Non-interference: an act of not interfering
- Passive: not giving any response or reaction
- Reveal: disclose
- Existence: state of living
- Impression: an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence
- Receiver: part of the telephone which receives the sound of the caller at the other end
- Red letter day: a day that is pleasantly noteworthy or memorable.
- Alien: something which is not from their planet
- Exercise: utilise, use
- Wistfully: with a feeling of longing
- Up to something: doing something which other person has no knowledge of
- Glued: paying close attention to something
- Emerging: coming out of something
- Telescopic: capable of viewing and magnifying distant objects
- Zoomed: magnified
- Irresistible: something one cannot resist, temptation
- Prominent: something which stands out from the rest
- Shrill: high-pitched
- Roughly: violently, harshly
- Restore: bring something back to normal
- Neutral: something which has no prominent characteristics
- Ceased: stopped
- Briefing: informing
- Hitch: a temporary difficulty or problem
- Malfunction: state of not function properly
- Shortly: soon
- Press release: an official statement issued to newspapers giving information on a particular matter
Related: An Alien Hand Summary, Lesson notes
Also see:
Poetic Devices in Poems of Class 7 Honeycomb book
Class 7 NCERT Readers Honeycomb & An Alien Hand Lesson notes, Summary
Class 7 Honeycomb book Prose Word meanings
Class 7 Honeycomb book Poems Word meanings