Throughout Maniac Magee there are some very unusual words or  words that aren't used often that students in your class may not know. Below are some of the words found throughout the book along with their definitions. The words are in order of which they appear in the book.

~ trolley- pulley at the end of a pole which moves against a wire to carry electricity to a streetcar or an electric engine: basket, carriage, etc. suspended from a pulley which runs on an overhead track

~ trestle- framework similar to a sawhorse, used as a support for a table top, platform, etc. ; a braced framework of timber, steel, etc., used as a bridge to support a road, railroad tracks, etc.

~ kaboodle- an assortment of odds and ends

~ smatter- a small amount

~ suspicious- causing someone to suspect; feeling suspicion; suspecting; showing suspicion

~ grungy- dirty; grimy

~ commotion- violent movement; confusion; disturbance; tumult

~ mirage- an optical illusion, usually in the desert, at sea, or on a paved road, in which some distant scene appears to be much closer then it actually is

~ hallucination- seeing or hearing things that exist only in a person's imagination

~ emanation- a coming forth; spreading out

~ carcass- body of a dead animal

~ pandemonium- wild uproar or confusion; place of wild disorder or lawless confusion

~ maniac- an insane person who is violent or destructive

~ befuddled-confuse; bewilder

~ solitude- a being alone; a lonely place; loneliness

~ converged- tend to meet in a point; turn toward each other; come together; center

~ unbeknownst- unbeknown; not known

~ gawked- stare idly or rudely

~ coot- a wading and swimming bird with short wings and webbed feet 

~ yellow jackets- wasp marked with bright yellow; yellow fever; a yellow flag used as a signal of quarantine

~ testimony- statement used for evidence or proof; an open declaration or profession of ones faith

~ rookie- an inexperienced recruit; beginner; a new player for an athletic team , especially baseball players

~ immortality- life without death; living forever; fame that lasts forever

~ grappled- seize and hold fast by closing fingers around; struggle; fight

~ repertoire- the list of plays, operas, parts, pieces, etc. that a company, an actor, a musician, or a singer is prepared to perform

~ blarney- flattering, coaxing talk

~ groused- grumbled; complained

~ preposterous- contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd; senseless; foolish

~ languished- grow weak; lose energy; droop; become weak and wasted through pain, hunger, etc.; pine with love or grief

~ bittersweet- a climbing plant with purple flowers and poisonous, scarlet berries; a climbing vine with greenish flowers and orange seedcases that open and show red seeds; pleasant and painful at once

~ sumac- any of a group of shrubs or small trees which have divided leaves that turn scarlet in the autumn and clusters of red or white fruit ; the dried leaves of certain kinds of sumac; used in tanning

~ filigreed- very delicate, lacelike, ornamental work of gold or silver wire; anything very lacey, delicate, or fanciful

~ satchel- a small bag for carrying clothes, books, etc. ; handbag

~ desolation- a making desolate; a ruined, lonely, or deserted condition; lonely sorrow; sadness

~ phantoms- images in the mind which seems to be real; a vague, dim, or shadowy appearance; ghost; unreal; appearance with no substance

~ lambasting- scold roughly; strike again and again; beat severely; thrash  

~ jackals- a wild dog of Asia, Africa, and eastern Europe, about as big as a fox

~ carrion- dead or decaying flesh

~ nonchalant- without enthusiasm; coolly unconcerned; indifferent

~ pandemonium- wild uproar or confusion; place of wild disorder or lawless confusion

~ ludicrous- amusingly absurd; ridiculous

~ grapped- grabbed or snatched

~ footfalls- sound of steps coming or going

~ diverged- move or lie in different directions from the same point; branch off; differ; vary; deviate

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