8th Grade Spelling Words With Definition
Grade 8: With Definition - 1
This is 8th Grade spelling vocabulary (1) and definitions. Some words has example sentences selected from classic literature. To help study and review these words, the vocabulary integrates training tools. E.g., online spelling practice and word meaning single choice quiz are available for each word in Grade 8.
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This is 8th Grade spelling vocabulary (1) and definitions. Some words has example sentences selected from classic literature. To help study and review these words, the vocabulary integrates training tools. E.g., online spelling practice and word meaning single choice quiz are available for each word in Grade 8.
Get Vocabulary/Definition by list: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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| Grade 8: With Definition - 1 |
| abandon |     |
v. leave a place, thing, or person, usually for ever
When his ship struck, the captain abandoned his post; and the crew, instead of trying to save her, rushed into riot and confusion, leaving no hope for their luckless vessel.
Wuthering Heights - Chapter 17
By Emily Bronte Context
He was obliged to tie a bandage over his brow while dressing; and during the day it could not be abandoned.
Return of the Native - Chapter 29
By Thomas Hardy Context
If he could make as much money out of government contracts, he would say, picking out with his eyes those who had government contracts, then he would certainly abandon the hazards of blockading and take to selling shoddy cloth, sanded sugar, spoiled flour and rotten leather to the Confederacy.
Gone With The Wind - Chapter 12
By Margaret Mitche Context
| abbreviation | |
n. shortening something by omitting parts of it
| abduction | |
n. criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force
Williamson and Woodley were both tried for abduction and assault, the former getting seven years the latter ten.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 4
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| academic | |
a. related to school; not practical or directly useful; relating to scholarly organization
Having obtained from this clerk a direction to the academic grove in question, I set out, the same afternoon, to visit my old schoolfellow.
David Copperfield - Chapter 27
By Charles Dickens Context
| academy | |
n. an organization intended to protect and develop an art, science, language, etc.
n. a school that teaches a particular subject or trains people for a particular job
n. a school that teaches a particular subject or trains people for a particular job
Stuart and Brent considered their latest expulsion a fine joke, and Scarlett, who had not willingly opened a book since leaving the Fayetteville Female Academy the year before, thought it just as amusing as they did.
Gone With The Wind - Chapter 1
By Margaret Mitche Context
He said he meant to look to it that Tom should be admitted to the National Military Academy and afterward trained in the best law school in the country, in order that he might be ready for either career or both.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Chapter 35
By Mark Twain Context
| acceptable | |
a. satisfactory and able to be agreed to or approved of
a. just good enough, but not very good
a. just good enough, but not very good
You may guess, after all these expenses, how very far we must be from being rich, and how acceptable Mrs.
Sense and Sensibility - Chapter 33
By Jane Austen Context
Her ladyship seemed pleased with the idea; and you may imagine that I am happy on every occasion to offer those little delicate compliments which are always acceptable to ladies.
Pride and Prejudice - Chapter 14
By Jane Austen Context
In London, perhaps, in your present quiet style of living, it might be as you say: but in Bath; Sir Walter Elliot and his family will always be worth knowing: always acceptable as acquaintance.
Persuasion - Chapter 16
By Jane Austen Context
| accessible | |
a. easily approached or entered; obtainable; easy to talk to or get along with
James Harthouse, with a discreet use of his blue coaching, came off triumphantly, though with a considerable accession of boredom.
Hard Times - Chapter 16
By Charles Dickens Context
My father had left a small collection of books in a little room upstairs, to which I had access (for it adjoined my own) and which nobody else in our house ever troubled.
David Copperfield - Chapter 4
By Charles Dickens Context
By means of this I had access to at least one spot in this great city where I could rely upon being free from interruption.
A Study In Scarlet - Chapter 13
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| acclaim | |
v. applaud; give public approval and praise
| accommodate | |
v. do a favor or service for; provide for; supply with; make suitable
They preferred taking it out of doors, under the trees, and I set a little table to accommodate them.
Wuthering Heights - Chapter 34
By Emily Bronte Context
Dashwood as remaining there till she could accommodate herself with a house in the neighbourhood, his invitation was accepted.
Sense and Sensibility - Chapter 2
By Jane Austen Context
After securing accommodations, and ordering a dinner at one of the inns, the next thing to be done was unquestionably to walk directly down to the sea.
Persuasion - Chapter 11
By Jane Austen Context
| accompanist | |
n. a person who provides musical accompaniment, usually on a piano
| accomplice | |
n. partner in crime; associate in wrongdoing
Then he implored me to keep his secret for three days longer, so as to give his wretched accomplice a chance of saving his guilty life.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 5
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
He would try by a few attentions to make his peace with the girl Howells, and then would engage her as his accomplice.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 6
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
I have carried it about with me, and have followed him and his accomplice over two continents until I caught them.
A Study In Scarlet - Chapter 13
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| accomplishment | |
n. achievement or fulfillment; something that is successful after a lot of work or effort
It was not that I wished to live for my own sake, but it was that I desired to accomplish my purpose.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 10
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
Even the knowledge that he had succeeded where the police of three countries had failed, and that he had outmanœuvred at every point the most accomplished swindler in Europe, was insufficient to rouse him from his nervous prostration.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 7
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
I felt, however, that when Whitney was once confined in the cab my mission was practically accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular adventures which were the normal condition of his existence.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 6
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| accountant | |
n. one who maintains and audits business accounts
Perhaps it would be better if I gave you an account of the whole situation when that work is finished.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 1
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
Straker was excited at hearing the account, although he does not seem to have quite realized its true significance.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 1
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 4
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| acquittal | |
n. state of being found or proved not guilty; judgment of not guilty
His acquittal was complete, his friendship warmly honoured, a lively interest excited for his friend, and his description of the fine country about Lyme so feelingly attended to by the party, that an earnest desire to see Lyme themselves, and a project for going thither was the consequence.
Persuasion - Chapter 11
By Jane Austen Context
| adherent | |
n. one who strongly supports something; one who follows or upholds a leader, party, cause
I no longer adhere to my intention of giving with my own mouth rudimentary education to the lowest class.
Return of the Native - Chapter 22
By Thomas Hardy Context
I was to lay whatever of station or fortune I might possess at your feet, and if you still adhered to your former determination, I pledged myself, by no word or act, to seek to change it.
Oliver Twist - Chapter 51
By Charles Dickens Context
He gathered quite a following of lads interested in the exhibition; and one that had cut his finger and had been a centre of fascination and homage up to this time, now found himself suddenly without an adherent, and shorn of his glory.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Chapter 6
By Mark Twain Context
| adolescence | |
n. state of growing up from childhood to adult; transitional period between youth and maturity
She had been supposed to have rather a good figure, but now she was out of fashion: a little too female, not enough like an adolescent boy.
Lady Chatterley's Lover - Chapter 7
By D H Lawrence Context
| adventurous | |
a. willing to try new or difficult things; willing to engage in adventures
The crime was of interest in itself, but that interest was as nothing to me compared to the inconceivable sequel, which afforded me the greatest shock and surprise of any event in my adventurous life.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 1
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
And yet somehow on that particular night, whether it may have been the slight excitement produced by my little adventure or not I know not, but I slept much more lightly than usual.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 3
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 2
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| advertise | |
v. give notice to; make something known in public, especially to sell it
When father died, we were left very poor, but one day we were told that there was an advertisement in the TIMES, inquiring for our whereabouts.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 4
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the envelopes to stick them to.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 4
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
As he glanced down the advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 2
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| algebra | |
n. the mathematics of generalized arithmetical operations
Grant, who are always quarrelling, and that poking old woman, who knows no more of whist than of algebra.
Mansfield Park - Chapter 12
By Jane Austen Context
| alternate | |
a. happening or following in turns; succeeding each other continuously; substitute
The alternative was that someone passing had observed the key in the door, had known that I was out, and had entered to look at the papers.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 9
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
He took out the two ears as he spoke, and laying a board across his knee he examined them minutely, while Lestrade and I, bending forward on each side of him, glanced alternately at these dreadful relics and at the thoughtful, eager face of our companion.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 2
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
In his singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally predominated in him.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 2
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| amphibian | |
a. able to live both on land and in water
| ancestor | |
n. a person related to you who lived a long time ago; forefather, forerunner, or predecessor
And then her rage broke, the same rage that drove Gerald to murder and other Irish ancestors to misdeeds that cost them their necks.
Gone With The Wind - Chapter 6
By Margaret Mitche Context
The themes were the same that had been illuminated upon similar occasions by their mothers before them, their grandmothers, and doubtless all their ancestors in the female line clear back to the Crusades.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Chapter 21
By Mark Twain Context
I have a theory that the individual represents in his development the whole procession of his ancestors, and that such a sudden turn to good or evil stands for some strong influence which came into the line of his pedigree.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 1
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| ancient | |
a. of or from a long time ago, having lasted for a very long time
On the morning of a fine June day my first bonny little nursling, and the last of the ancient Earnshaw stock, was born.
Wuthering Heights - Chapter 8
By Emily Bronte Context
Their path was not over Rainbarrow now, but down a valley which left that ancient elevation a little to the east.
Return of the Native - Chapter 16
By Thomas Hardy Context
Dashwood, who could not think a man five years younger than herself, so exceedingly ancient as he appeared to the youthful fancy of her daughter, ventured to clear Mrs.
Sense and Sensibility - Chapter 8
By Jane Austen Context
| antecedent | |
n. someone from whom you are descended, but usually more remote than a grandparent
n. a word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to
n. a word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to
The expression of the place, the tone of the hour, were precisely those of many such occasions in days gone by; and these antecedent similarities fostered the illusion that she, who was there no longer, would come out to welcome him.
Return of the Native - Chapter 37
By Thomas Hardy Context
Mothers found strange men calling on their daughters, men who came without letters of introduction and whose antecedents were unknown.
Gone With The Wind - Chapter 12
By Margaret Mitche Context
The book itself had the appearance of having been stolen from some court of justice, and perhaps his knowledge of its antecedents, combined with his own experience in that wise, gave him a reliance on its powers as a sort of legal spell or charm.
Great Expectations - Chapter 40
By Charles Dickens Context
| anthropology | |
n. social science that studies origins and social relationships of human beings
| appreciate | |
v. be thankful for; increase in worth; be thoroughly conscious of
By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of deliberate heartlessness; how undeserved, I alone can appreciate.
Wuthering Heights - Chapter 1
By Emily Bronte Context
Hence it may be that the face of an old man, who had like others been called to the heights by the rising flames, was not really the mere nose and chin that it appeared to be, but an appreciable quantity of human countenance.
Return of the Native - Chapter 3
By Thomas Hardy Context
Excepting one short period of her life, she had never, since the age of fourteen, never since the loss of her dear mother, known the happiness of being listened to, or encouraged by any just appreciation or real taste.
Persuasion - Chapter 6
By Jane Austen Context
| apprentice | |
n. works for an expert to learn a trade; beginner or learner
In other words, five pounds and Oliver Twist were offered to any man or woman who wanted an apprentice to any trade, business, or calling.
Oliver Twist - Chapter 2
By Charles Dickens Context
The Justices were sitting in the Town Hall near at hand, and we at once went over to have me bound apprentice to Joe in the Magisterial presence.
Great Expectations - Chapter 13
By Charles Dickens Context
| aqueduct | |
n. a structure for carrying water across land, especially one like bridge that carries pipes or a canal across a valley
| asterisk | |
n. a symbol (*) shaped like a star
| asteroid | |
n. small planet; one of many large rocks that circle the sun
| astrology | |
n. study of the positions of stars, in the belief that stars affect the character and lives of people
| astronomer | |
n. a physicist who studies astronomy
In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an instalment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky.
Return of the Native - Chapter 1
By Thomas Hardy Context
As if an astronomical observatory should be made without any windows, and the astronomer within should arrange the starry universe solely by pen, ink, and paper, so Mr.
Hard Times - Chapter 13
By Charles Dickens Context
| astronomical | |
a. enormously large or extensive; relating to astronomy
In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an instalment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky.
Return of the Native - Chapter 1
By Thomas Hardy Context
As if an astronomical observatory should be made without any windows, and the astronomer within should arrange the starry universe solely by pen, ink, and paper, so Mr.
Hard Times - Chapter 13
By Charles Dickens Context
| astronomy | |
n. branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and universe as a whole
| attendant | |
n. aide or servant; someone whose job is to help others in a particular situation
The attendant did as she was told: shaking her head meanwhile, to intimate that the woman would not die so easily; having done so, she resumed her seat by the side of the other nurse, who had by this time returned.
Oliver Twist - Chapter 24
By Charles Dickens Context
In the measure that he would not allow his own youth to have been attended by a single favourable circumstance, he brightened Mrs.
Hard Times - Chapter 5
By Charles Dickens Context
We were at a loss to find a suitable attendant for her, until a circumstance happened conveniently to relieve us.
Great Expectations - Chapter 16
By Charles Dickens Context
| audible | |
a. heard or perceptible by the ear
He paused on the step as the door was locked and chained behind him; and having listened while the boys made all secure, and until their retreating footsteps were no longer audible, slunk down the street as quickly as he could.
Oliver Twist - Chapter 19
By Charles Dickens Context
Not a sound was audible in the building, but the slight rustle of men moving a little apart, all along the centre of the room, to open a means of passing out, to the man with whom they had all bound themselves to renounce companionship.
Hard Times - Chapter 17
By Charles Dickens Context
When I had lain awake a little while, those extraordinary voices with which silence teems began to make themselves audible.
Great Expectations - Chapter 45
By Charles Dickens Context
| audience | |
n. group of people together in one place to watch or listen to a play, film, or speaking
The audience cleared their throats and tossed a few stalks into the fire, not because these deeds were urgent, but to give themselves time to weigh the moral of the story.
Return of the Native - Chapter 3
By Thomas Hardy Context
Maria, she also thought, acted well, too well; and after the first rehearsal or two, Fanny began to be their only audience; and sometimes as prompter, sometimes as spectator, was often very useful.
Mansfield Park - Chapter 18
By Jane Austen Context
The supper things cleared away, Gerald resumed his oration, but with little satisfaction to himself and none at all to his audience.
Gone With The Wind - Chapter 4
By Margaret Mitche Context
| audit | |
v. make an official examination of the accounts of a business and produce a report
He has an extraordinary faculty for figures, and audits the books in some of the government departments.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 10
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| audition | |
v. take part in a trial performance; evaluate in a trial performance
He has an extraordinary faculty for figures, and audits the books in some of the government departments.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 10
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| auditorium | |
n. area of theater or concert hall where audience sits
n. a large public building where meetings and concerts are held
n. a large public building where meetings and concerts are held
| aural | |
a. relating to hearing or the ear
| auxiliary | |
a. giving help or support, especially to a more important person or thing
First as a comfort to Fanny, then as an auxiliary, and last as her substitute, she was established at Mansfield, with every appearance of equal permanency.
Mansfield Park - Chapter 48
By Jane Austen Context
| bachelor | |
n. the first or lowest academic degree from colleges
n. unmarried man
n. unmarried man
His appearance however was not unpleasing, in spite of his being in the opinion of Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor, for he was on the wrong side of five and thirty; but though his face was not handsome, his countenance was sensible, and his address was particularly gentlemanlike.
Sense and Sensibility - Chapter 7
By Jane Austen Context
It was a handsome old stucco hall, very elegantly appointed, for Winter was a bachelor and prided himself on his style; but the place was beset by collieries.
Lady Chatterley's Lover - Chapter 10
By D H Lawrence Context
Jonas was a Yankee and a bachelor, and the fact that he was an overseer forever barred him from any contact with the County social life.
Gone With The Wind - Chapter 4
By Margaret Mitche Context
| bacteria | |
n. very small organisms that are found everywhere and are the cause of many diseases
| badminton | |
n. a sport in which two or four people hit a light object with feathers over a high net
| bagel | |
n. a type of bread that is small, hard, and in the shape of a ring
| bayou | |
n. an area of slowly moving water at the side of the main river
| beige | |
n. a light greyish brown color
It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 12
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
| bicentennial | |
n. the 200th anniversary, or the celebration of it
| bicycle | |
n. a wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot pedals
Whymper, his face deadly pale, came racing up the path on his bicycle, flung it down in the yard and rushed straight into the farmhouse.
Animal Farm - Chapter 8
By George Orwell Context
You must know that every Saturday forenoon I ride on my bicycle to Farnham Station, in order to get the 12:22 to town.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 4
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
My father had a small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Chapter 5
By Arthur Conan Doyle Context
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