Vocabulary for Understanding Action and Adventure Stories
Essential Vocabulary for Action and Adventure Stories
Aboard: on a plane or a ship.
Advise: to tell someone what they should do.
Aisle: a place between lines of seats (e.g., on a plane, in a theatre) where you can walk.
Ambassador: a person sent to a foreign country to speak for his own country’s government.
Attack (v): to try to hurt someone or something.
Bend: to turn the top half of the body downwards.
Binoculars: very strong glasses used to see things far away.
Cabin: a room on a plane or a ship.
Chest: the front part of the body between the neck and stomach.
Colonel: an important officer in the army.
Commando Section: a group of soldiers specially trained for making quick attacks.
Control Room: the building in an airport where people control air traffic by radio.
Crew: the pilot and all the people who work on a plane.
Deal with: to do something that needs doing.
Decision: what you have decided.
Departure Lounge: a room in an airport where passengers wait.
Embassy: the building where an ambassador lives and works.
Fire (v): to shoot a gun.
Fist: a closed hand with fingers turned inwards.
Flash (n): a sudden, very bright light for a very short time.
Flight: a journey on a plane.
Forehead: the part of the face above the eyes.
Freedom: being free; able to do what you want to do.
Fuel Tanker: a large vehicle for carrying petrol.
Gentleman: a polite word for a man.
Goddam: a word used to show you feel strongly about something.
Government: the group of people who control a country.
Groan (v): to make a deep, sad sound.
Handcuff (v): to lock someone’s hands together with handcuffs (metal rings around the wrists).
Hell: A word used with question-words (e.g., Where the hell…) to show anger or surprise.
Hijacker: a person who takes control of a plane and makes the pilot fly to a different place.
Homework: schoolwork which you do at home.
Honey: a word for someone you love very much.
Hostess: a woman who takes care of passengers on a plane.
Innocent: an ‘innocent’ person has done nothing bad or wrong.
Inspector: an important police officer.
Instruments: in a plane, instruments tell the pilot how high the plane is, how much fuel there is, etc.
Interrupt: to stop somebody talking by speaking yourself.
Journalist: a person who writes for newspapers, television, etc.
Kneel: To go down or stay with your knees on the ground.
Liberation: freedom.
List (n): a piece of paper with names written on it.
Local Time: the time in the place you are talking about.
Ma’am: madam; a polite way of speaking to a woman.
Machine Gun: a gun that fires a lot of bullets on land or sea.
Military Base: a place where soldiers live and work.
Military Men: men from an army; soldiers.
Nervous: afraid.
On Time: neither late nor early; at the agreed or correct time.
Open-necked: with the top buttons of a shirt undone.
Pause (v): to stop for a moment.
Pause (n): a short stop.
Pig: a farm animal; in this story, a word for a very bad person.
Point (v): to show with your hand or finger where something is.
Pool: some liquid (water, blood, etc.) on the ground.
Pour: to put liquids (water, tea, coffee, etc.) into something.
Power: people like prime minister, president, etc., have power; they can tell other people what to do.
Pray: to talk to God.
Press (v): to push hard.
Prime Minister: the most important person in a government.
Refuel: to bring more fuel to a plane, ship, etc.
SAS: Special Air Service; specially trained British soldiers who are used for difficult kinds of fighting, e.g., against terrorists.
Set Free: to make someone free, e.g., from a prison, from a hijack.
Skyjack: a hijack in the air.
Sweat: water that comes out of the skin when you are hot or afraid.
Take Apart: to destroy; to win a battle in a very violent way.
Tarmac: a hard material used for roads, airports, etc.
Tear (n): water that comes from your eyes when you cry.
Tear: to pull something to pieces.
Terrorists: very violent people who kill, or promise to kill, other people if they don’t get what they want.
Throw: to make something move through the air.
Tough: strong, hard, brave.
Transmitter: a radio that sends message.
Tray: a piece of wood (or plastic, etc.) for carrying food and drink.