H. G. Wells: The War of the Worlds (Book One)August 6, 2011 By Christoph J.
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484 WordsActivitiesAssignments
show: definitions & notes only words  in list order from A to Z from Z to A from easy to hard from hard to easy 

1. absolute
   perfect or complete or pure
   Many think that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity.
2. abstract
   existing only in the mind
   But I found it difficult to get to work upon my abstract investigations.
3. accelerate
   move faster
   The fact that it is scarcely one seventh of the volume of the earth must have accelerated its cooling to the temperature at which life could begin.
4. accord
   concurrence of opinion
   I went in again, according to my promise, to get my servant's box, lugged it out, clapped it beside her on the tail of the dog cart, and then caught the reins and jumped up into the driver's seat beside my wife.
5. accost
   approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
   One man I approached--he was, I perceived, a neighbour of mine, though I did not know his name--and accosted.
6. accustom
   familiarize psychologically or physically
   Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station.
7. active
   characterized by energetic movement
   There were really, I should think, two or three hundred people elbowing and jostling one another, the one or two ladies there being by no means the least active.
8. address
   the place where a person or organization can be found
   The soldiers I addressed didn't know anything; the officers were mysterious as well as busy.
9. adjacent
   having a common boundary or edge
   He pointed out to me how unlikely it was that organic evolution had taken the same direction in the two adjacent planets.
10. advantage
    the quality of having a superior or more favorable position
    Then I shifted my position to a little knoll that gave me the advantage of a yard or more of elevation and when I looked for him presently he was walking towards Woking.
11. affect
    have an influence upon
    If on Friday night you had taken a pair of compasses and drawn a circle with a radius of five miles round the Woking sand pits, I doubt if you would have had one human being outside it, unless it were some relation of Stent or of the three or four cyclists or London people lying dead on the common, whose emotions or habits were at all affected by the new-comers.
12. affected
    influenced
    If on Friday night you had taken a pair of compasses and drawn a circle with a radius of five miles round the Woking sand pits, I doubt if you would have had one human being outside it, unless it were some relation of Stent or of the three or four cyclists or London people lying dead on the common, whose emotions or habits were at all affected by the new-comers.
13. afford
    have the financial means to do something or buy something
    He told me that a faint stirring was occasionally still audible within the case, but that the workmen had failed to unscrew the top, as it affordedno grip to them.
14. allay
    lessen the intensity of or calm
    "There is one thing," I said, to allay the fears I had aroused; "they are the most sluggish things I ever saw crawl.
15. alter
    cause to change; make different
    In the afternoon the appearance of the common had altered very much.
16. altered
    changed in form or character without becoming something else
    In the afternoon the appearance of the common had altered very much.
17. amaze
    affect with wonder
    The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazingsubtlety--their mathematical learning is evidently far in excess of ours--and to have carried out their preparations with a well-nigh perfect unanimity.
18. amazed
    filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise
    Anyone coming along the road from Chobham or Woking would have been amazed at the sight--a dwindling multitude of perhaps a hundred people or more standing in a great irregular circle, in ditches, behind bushes, behind gates and hedges, saying little to one another and that in short, excited shouts, and staring, staring hard at a few heaps of sand.
19. anguish
    extreme distress of body or mind
    A few minutes before, there had only been three real things before me--the immensity of the night and space and nature, my own feebleness andanguish, and the near approach of death.
20. animate
    make lively
    It has air and water and all that is necessary for the support of animatedexistence.
21. animated
    having life or vigor or spirit
    It has air and water and all that is necessary for the support of animatedexistence.
22. anticipate
    regard something as probable or likely
    Stent and Ogilvy, anticipating some possibilities of a collision, had telegraphed from Horsell to the barracks as soon as the Martians emerged, for the help of a company of soldiers to protect these strange creatures from violence.
23. anxious
    causing or fraught with or showing anxiety
    My dear wife's sweet anxious face peering at me from under the pink lamp shade, the white cloth with its silver and glass table furniture--for in those days even philosophical writers had many little luxuries--the crimson-purple wine in my glass, are photographically distinct.
24. aperture
    a natural opening in something
    I heard it give a peculiar thick cry, and forthwith another of these creatures appeared darkly in the deep shadow of the aperture.
25. apex
    the highest point of something
    Once a leash of thin black whips, like the arms of an octopus, flashed across the sunset and was immediately withdrawn, and afterwards a thin rod rose up, joint by joint, bearing at its apex a circular disk that spun with a wobbling motion.
26. approach
    move towards
    Its physical condition is still largely a mystery, but we know now that even in its equatorial region the midday temperature barely approaches that of our coldest winter.
27. appropriate
    suitable for a particular person, place, or situation
    A singularly appropriate phrase it proved.
28. arch
    a curved masonry construction for spanning an opening
    A head rose over the arch, and the figure of a workman carrying a basket appeared.
29. area
    the extent of a two-dimensional surface within a boundary
    Nor was it generally understood that since Mars is older than our earth, with scarcely a quarter of the superficial area and remoter from the sun, it necessarily follows that it is not only more distant from time's beginning but nearer its end.
30. arouse
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    "There is one thing," I said, to allay the fears I had aroused; "they are the most sluggish things I ever saw crawl.
31. arrest
    take into custody
    But luckily the dull radiation arrested him before he could burn his hands on the still-glowing metal.
32. articulate
    express or state clearly
    But it was scarcely a time for articulate conversation.
33. artificial
    contrived by art rather than nature
    The cylinder was artificial--hollow--with an end that screwed out!
34. ascribe
    attribute or credit to
    A stirring noise within its cylinder he ascribed to the unequal cooling of its surface; for at that time it had not occurred to him that it might be hollow.
35. assistant
    a person who contributes to the furtherance of an effort
    I saw a young man, a shop assistant in Woking I believe he was, standing on the cylinder and trying to scramble out of the hole again.
36. assurance
    a binding commitment to do or give or refrain from something
    With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.
37. astonish
    affect with wonder
    He remained standing at the edge of the pit that the Thing had made for itself, staring at its strange appearance, astonished chiefly at its unusual shape and colour, and dimly perceiving even then some evidence of design in its arrival.
38. astound
    affect with wonder
    I perceived it coming towards me by the flashing bushes it touched, and was too astounded and stupefied to stir.
39. astronomical
    relating to the branch of physics studying celestial bodies
    As Mars approached opposition, Lavelle of Java set the wires of theastronomical exchange palpitating with the amazing intelligence of a huge outbreak of incandescent gas upon the planet.
40. atmosphere
    the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body
    And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudyatmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
41. attempt
    make an effort
    Why the shots ceased after the tenth no one on earth has attempted to explain.
42. attenuate
    become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude
    Its air is much more attenuated than ours, its oceans have shrunk until they cover but a third of its surface, and as its slow seasons change huge snowcaps gather and melt about either pole and periodically inundate its temperate zones.
43. attitude
    a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings
    Around it was a patch of silent common, smouldering in places, and with a few dark, dimly seen objects lying in contorted attitudes here and there.
44. attract
    exert a force on
    In Woking the shops had closed when the tragedy happened, and a number of people, shop people and so forth, attracted by the stories they had heard, were walking over the Horsell Bridge and along the road between the hedges that runs out at last upon the common.
45. audible
    heard or perceptible by the ear
    Ogilvy moved about, invisible but audible.
46. authority
    the power or right to give orders or make decisions
    Denning, our greatest authority on meteorites, stated that the height of its first appearance was about ninety or one hundred miles.
47. automatic
    operating with minimal human intervention
    I thought the unscrewing might be automatic.
48. avert
    turn away or aside
    I turned and, running madly, made for the first group of trees, perhaps a hundred yards away; but I ran slantingly and stumbling, for I could notavert my face from these things.
49. belligerent
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
    My imagination became belligerent, and defeated the invaders in a dozen striking ways; something of my schoolboy dreams of battle and heroism came back.
50. besides
    in addition
    Besides that, there was quite a heap of bicycles.
51. bevy
    a flock of birds
    Down the hill I saw a bevy of hussars ride under the railway bridge; three galloped through the open gates of the Oriental College; two others dismounted, and began running from house to house.
52. billowing
    characterized by great swelling waves or surges
    Over the Maybury arch a train, a billowing tumult of white, firelit smoke, and a long caterpillar of lighted windows, went flying south--clatter, clatter, clap, rap, and it had gone.
53. blunder
    an embarrassing mistake
    Somebody blundered against me, and I narrowly missed being pitched onto the top of the screw.
54. bolt
    a screw that screws into a nut to form a fastener
    They must have bolted as blindly as a flock of sheep.
55. border
    the boundary of a surface
    There were half a dozen villas burning on the Woking border.
56. broad
    having great extent from one side to the other
    And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
57. brush
    an implement that has hairs or bristles set into a handle
    You may imagine the young people brushed up after the labours of the day, and making this novelty, as they would make any novelty, the excuse for walking together and enjoying a trivial flirtation.
58. bulk
    the property possessed by a large mass
    For a minute he scarcely realised what this meant, and, although the heat was excessive, he clambered down into the pit close to the bulk to see the Thing more clearly.
59. burst
    come open suddenly and violently
    The storm burst upon us six years ago now.
60. calamity
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    And invisible to me because it was so remote and small, flying swiftly and steadily towards me across that incredible distance, drawing nearer every minute by so many thousands of miles, came the Thing they were sending us, the Thing that was to bring so much struggle and calamity and death to the earth.
61. calculated
    carefully thought out in advance
    The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazing subtlety--their mathematical learning is evidently far in excess of ours--and to have carried out their preparations with a well-nigh perfect unanimity.
62. calf
    young of domestic cattle
    Under the railway bridge I found a group of soldiers--sappers, I think, men in small round caps, dirty red jackets unbuttoned, and showing their blue shirts, dark trousers, and boots coming to the calf.
63. canard
    a deliberately misleading fabrication
    In London that night poor Henderson's telegram describing the gradual unscrewing of the shot was judged to be a canard, and his evening paper, after wiring for authentication from him and receiving no reply--the man was killed--decided not to print a special edition.
64. capture
    seize as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping
    My neighbour was of opinion that the troops would be able to capture or to destroy the Martians during the day.
65. cease
    put an end to a state or an activity
    It must be, if the nebular hypothesis has any truth, older than our world; and long before this earth ceased to be molten, life upon its surface must have begun its course.
66. century
    a period of 100 years
    BOOK ONE 
    
    THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
    
    CHAPTER ONE 
    
    THE EVE OF THE WAR 
    
    No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth centurythat this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
67. ceremony
    a formal event performed on a special occasion
    At that I gripped my wife's arm, and without ceremony ran her out into the road.
68. chamber
    a natural or artificial enclosed space
    Many think that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity.
69. chapter
    a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
    BOOK ONE 
    
    THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
    
    CHAPTER ONE 
    
    THE EVE OF THE WAR 
    
    No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
70. chimney
    vertical flue carrying smoke through the wall of a building
    One of our chimneys cracked as if a shot had hit it, flew, and a piece of it came clattering down the tiles and made a heap of broken red fragments upon the flower bed by my study window.
71. chronicle
    a record or narrative description of past events
    I heard of it first from my newspaper boy about a quarter to nine when I went out to get my Daily Chronicle.
72. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    For a minute he scarcely realised what this meant, and, although the heat was excessive, he clambered down into the pit close to the bulk to see the Thing more clearly.
73. clasp
    hold firmly and tightly
    There were shrieks and shouts, and suddenly a mounted policeman came galloping through the confusion with his hands clasped over his head, screaming.
74. clear
    readily apparent to the mind
    The early morning was wonderfully still, and the sun, just clearing the pine trees towards Weybridge, was already warm.
75. coin
    a flat metal piece (usually a disc) used as money
    My mind ran fancifully on the possibilities of its containing manuscript, on the difficulties in translation that might arise, whether we should findcoins and models in it, and so forth.
76. collect
    gather
    I startled my wife at the doorway, so haggard was I. I went into the dining room, sat down, drank some wine, and so soon as I could collect myself sufficiently I told her the things I had seen.
77. college
    an institution of higher education
    Close on the heels of that came a violent rattling crash, quite close to us, that shook the ground; and, starting out upon the lawn, I saw the tops of the trees about the Oriental College burst into smoky red flame, and the tower of the little church beside it slide down into ruin.
78. colossal
    so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
    He compared it to a colossal puff of flame suddenly and violently squirted out of the planet, "as flaming gases rushed out of a gun."
79. combustible
    capable of igniting and burning
    Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and when it falls upon water, incontinently that explodes into steam.
80. comfort
    a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain
    We became silent, and stood watching for a time side by side, deriving, I fancy, a certain comfort in one another's company.
81. communication
    the activity of conveying information
    It was too far for me to recognise anyone there, but afterwards I learned that Ogilvy, Stent, and Henderson were with others in this attempt atcommunication.
82. compass
    navigational instrument for finding directions
    If on Friday night you had taken a pair of compasses and drawn a circle with a radius of five miles round the Woking sand pits, I doubt if you would have had one human being outside it, unless it were some relation of Stent or of the three or four cyclists or London people lying dead on the common, whose emotions or habits were at all affected by the new-comers.
83. complacency
    the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself
    With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.
84. complain
    express discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
    Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?
85. concern
    something that interests you because it is important
    BOOK ONE 
    
    THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
    
    CHAPTER ONE 
    
    THE EVE OF THE WAR 
    
    No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
86. conclude
    bring to a close
    They listened, rapped on the scaly burnt metal with a stick, and, meeting with no response, they both concluded the man or men inside must be insensible or dead.
87. confess
    admit to a wrongdoing
    I must confess the sight of all this armament, all this preparation, greatly excited me.
88. confine
    place limits on
    The thought of the confined creature was so dreadful to him that he forgot the heat and went forward to the cylinder to help turn.
89. confined
    being in captivity
    The thought of the confined creature was so dreadful to him that he forgot the heat and went forward to the cylinder to help turn.
90. confound
    be confusing or perplexing to
    We don't know what's in the confounded thing, you know!"
91. consider
    think about carefully; weigh
    But I did not consider these points at the time, and so my reasoning was dead against the chances of the invaders.
92. considerable
    large in number or amount or extent or degree
    In addition, a large number of people must have walked, in spite of the heat of the day, from Woking and Chertsey, so that there was altogether quite a considerable crowd--one or two gaily dressed ladies among the others.
93. consultation
    the act of referring to something to find information
    There had been a hasty consultation, and since the Martians were evidently, in spite of their repulsive forms, intelligent creatures, it had been resolved to show them, by approaching them with signals, that we too were intelligent.
94. contain
    hold or have within
    At that time it was quite clear in my own mind that the Thing had come from the planet Mars, but I judged it improbable that it contained any living creature.
95. contemplate
    think intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes
    I was very glad to do as he asked, and so become one of the privileged spectators within the contemplated enclosure.
96. cope
    come to terms with
    His own body would be a cope of lead to him.
97. cordon
    a series of sentinels or posts enclosing some place or thing
    About eleven a company of soldiers came through Horsell, and deployed along the edge of the common to form a cordon.
98. corner
    the point where three areas or surfaces meet or intersect
    In spite of all that has happened since, I still remember that vigil very distinctly: the black and silent observatory, the shadowed lantern throwing a feeble glow upon the floor in the corner, the steady ticking of the clockwork of the telescope, the little slit in the roof--an oblong profundity with the stardust streaked across it.
99. couple
    two items of the same kind
    Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station.
100. course
     a connected series of events or actions or developments
     It must be, if the nebular hypothesis has any truth, older than our world; and long before this earth ceased to be molten, life upon its surface must have begun its course.
101. crash
     break violently or noisily
     Something fell with a crash far away to the left where the road from Woking station opens out on the common.
102. credit
     an estimate of ability to fulfill financial commitments
     I could not credit it.
103. creep
     move slowly
     To carry warfare sunward is, indeed, their only escape from the destruction that, generation after generation, creeps upon them.
104. crowd
     a large number of things or people considered together
     And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy- crowdedseas.
105. curious
     eager to investigate and learn or learn more
     It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.
106. dawn
     the first light of day
     Find it he did, soon after dawn, and not far from the sand pits.
107. degree
     a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series
     With wine and food, the confidence of my own table, and the necessity of reassuring my wife, I grew by insensible degrees courageous and secure.
108. den
     the habitation of wild animals
     Denning, our greatest authority on meteorites, stated that the height of its first appearance was about ninety or one hundred miles.
109. denounce
     speak out against
     At the end of it I sat, tempering nuts with a cigarette, regretting Ogilvy's rashness, and denouncing the shortsighted timidity of the Martians.
110. dense
     having high compaction or concentration
     Dense clouds of smoke or dust, visible through a powerful telescope on earth as little grey, fluctuating patches, spread through the clearness of the planet's atmosphere and obscured its more familiar features.
111. depart
     go away or leave
     It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.
112. deploy
     place troops or weapons in battle formation
     About eleven a company of soldiers came through Horsell, and deployedalong the edge of the common to form a cordon.
113. derelict
     a person without a home, job, or property
     The barrow of ginger beer stood, a queer derelict, black against the burning sky, and in the sand pits was a row of deserted vehicles with their horses feeding out of nosebags or pawing the ground.
114. derive
     come from
     We became silent, and stood watching for a time side by side, deriving, I fancy, a certain comfort in one another's company.
115. deriving
     an explanation of the historical origins of a word or phrase
     We became silent, and stood watching for a time side by side, deriving, I fancy, a certain comfort in one another's company.
116. descend
     move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
     Many people in Berkshire, Surrey, and Middlesex must have seen the fall of it, and, at most, have thought that another meteorite had descended.
117. describe
     give a statement representing something
     Albin described it as leaving a greenish streak behind it that glowed for some seconds.
118. desert
     leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
     The barrow of ginger beer stood, a queer derelict, black against the burning sky, and in the sand pits was a row of deserted vehicles with their horses feeding out of nosebags or pawing the ground.
119. design
     the act of working out the form of something
     He remained standing at the edge of the pit that the Thing had made for itself, staring at its strange appearance, astonished chiefly at its unusual shape and colour, and dimly perceiving even then some evidence ofdesign in its arrival.
120. desolate
     providing no shelter or sustenance
     Save for such, that big area of common was silent and desolate, and the charred bodies lay about on it all night under the stars, and all the next day.
121. desperate
     a person who is frightened and in need of help
     Where the road grows narrow and black between the high banks the crowd jammed, and a desperate struggle occurred.
122. destroy
     do away with; cause the ruin or undoing of
     By half past eight, when the Deputation was destroyed, there may have been a crowd of three hundred people or more at this place, besides those who had left the road to approach the Martians nearer.
123. deter
     turn away from by persuasion
     There were three policemen too, one of whom was mounted, doing their best, under instructions from Stent, to keep the people back and deterthem from approaching the cylinder.
124. detonation
     the act of setting off an explosive
     About six in the evening, as I sat at tea with my wife in the summerhouse talking vigorously about the battle that was lowering upon us, I heard a muffled detonation from the common, and immediately after a gust of firing.
125. develop
     progress or evolve through a process of natural growth
     Yet so vain is man, and so blinded by his vanity, that no writer, up to the very end of the nineteenth century, expressed any idea that intelligent life might have developed there far, or indeed at all, beyond its earthly level.
126. dim
     lacking in light; not bright or harsh
     This little group had in its advance dragged inward, so to speak, the circumference of the now almost complete circle of people, and a number of dim black figures followed it at discreet distances.
127. direction
     a line leading to a place or point
     He pointed out to me how unlikely it was that organic evolution had taken the same direction in the two adjacent planets.
128. discreet
     marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
     This little group had in its advance dragged inward, so to speak, the circumference of the now almost complete circle of people, and a number of dim black figures followed it at discreet distances.
129. disk
     something with a round shape resembling a flat circular plate
     During the opposition of 1894 a great light was seen on the illuminated part of the disk, first at the Lick Observatory, then by Perrotin of Nice, and then by other observers.
130. dismiss
     stop associating with
     No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable.
131. disperse
     move away from each other
     The little knot of people towards Chobham dispersed.
132. dispute
     the act of coming into conflict
     They said that they did not know who had authorised the movements of the troops; their idea was that a dispute had arisen at the Horse Guards.
133. distant
     separated in space or coming from far away
     Nor was it generally understood that since Mars is older than our earth, with scarcely a quarter of the superficial area and remoter from the sun, it necessarily follows that it is not only more distant from time's beginning but nearer its end.
134. distinct
     constituting a separate entity or part
     Suddenly there was a flash of light, and a quantity of luminous greenish smoke came out of the pit in three distinct puffs, which drove up, one after the other, straight into the still air.
135. distort
     twist and press out of shape
     That night nearly forty people lay under the starlight about the pit, charred and distorted beyond recognition, and all night long the common from Horsell to Maybury was deserted and brightly ablaze.
136. distorted
     so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
     That night nearly forty people lay under the starlight about the pit, charred and distorted beyond recognition, and all night long the common from Horsell to Maybury was deserted and brightly ablaze.
137. dominant
     most frequent or common
     Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and dominanttopic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger, or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on as it had done for countless years--as though no planet Mars existed in the sky.
138. dozen
     the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
     There were half a dozen flies or more from the Woking station standing in the road by the sand pits, a basket-chaise from Chobham, and a rather lordly carriage.
139. drain
     emptying something by allowing liquid to run out of it
     My muscles and nerves seemed drained of their strength.
140. drift
     be in motion due to some air or water current
     And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
141. drone
     make a monotonous low dull sound
     Then slowly the hissing passed into a humming, into a long, loud, droningnoise.
142. dull
     so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
     But luckily the dull radiation arrested him before he could burn his hands on the still-glowing metal.
143. dumbfound
     be a mystery or bewildering to
     All this had happened with such swiftness that I had stood motionless,dumbfounded and dazzled by the flashes of light.
144. dusk
     the time of day immediately following sunset
     At any rate, as the dusk came on a slow, intermittent movement upon the sand pits began, a movement that seemed to gather force as the stillness of the evening about the cylinder remained unbroken.
145. edit
     prepare for publication or presentation by revising
     I remember how jubilant Markham was at securing a new photograph of the planet for the illustrated paper he edited in those days.
146. edited
     improved or corrected by critical revision
     I remember how jubilant Markham was at securing a new photograph of the planet for the illustrated paper he edited in those days.
147. edition
     the form in which a text is published
     The early editions of the evening papers had startled London with enormous headlines: 
     
     "A MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM MARS."
148. eloquent
     expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
     And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
149. embed
     fix or set securely or deeply
     I have already described the appearance of that colossal bulk, embeddedin the ground.
150. emerge
     come out into view, as from concealment
     I think everyone expected to see a man emerge--possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man.
151. emerging
     coming into existence
     CHAPTER FIVE 
     
     THE HEAT-RAY 
     
     After the glimpse I had had of the Martians emerging from the cylinder in which they had come to the earth from their planet, a kind of fascination paralysed my actions.
152. empire
     the domain ruled by a single authoritative sovereign
     With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.
153. employ
     put into service
     Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employedsometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station.
154. empty
     holding or containing nothing
     Near it in the field, I remember, were three faint points of light, three telescopic stars infinitely remote, and all around it was the unfathomable darkness of empty space.
155. encounter
     come together
     Even at this first encounter, this first glimpse, I was overcome with disgust and dread.
156. energy
     forceful exertion
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitationalenergy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and m...
157. enormous
     extraordinarily large in size or extent or degree
     It had occurred towards midnight of the twelfth; and the spectroscope, to which he had at once resorted, indicated a mass of flaming gas, chiefly hydrogen, moving with an enormous velocity towards this earth.
158. enormously
     extremely
     The case appeared to be enormously thick, and it was possible that the faint sounds we heard represented a noisy tumult in the interior.
159. enterprising
     marked by initiative and readiness to undertake new projects
     An enterprising sweet-stuff dealer in the Chobham Road had sent up his son with a barrow-load of green apples and ginger beer.
160. essential
     basic and fundamental
     I think everyone expected to see a man emerge--possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man.
161. establish
     set up or found
     I began to comfort her and myself by repeating all that Ogilvy had told me of the impossibility of the Martians establishing themselves on the earth.
162. evening
     the latter part of the day
     The early editions of the evening papers had startled London with enormous headlines: 
     
     "A MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM MARS."
163. event
     something that happens at a given place and time
     The intense excitement of the events had no doubt left my perceptive powers in a state of erethism.
164. evident
     clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
     It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this object was at all evident to me.
165. exceptional
     surpassing what is common or usual or expected
     Perhaps I am a man of exceptional moods.
166. excess
     the state of being more than full
     The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazing subtlety--their mathematical learning is evidently far in excess of ours--and to have carried out their preparations with a well-nigh perfect unanimity.
167. exclaim
     utter aloud, often with surprise, horror, or joy
     The night was warm and I was thirsty, and I went stretching my legs clumsily and feeling my way in the darkness, to the little table where the siphon stood, while Ogilvy exclaimed at the streamer of gas that came out towards us.
168. exertion
     use of physical or mental energy; hard work
     And, in the second place, we all overlooked the fact that such mechanical intelligence as the Martian possessed was quite able to dispense with muscular exertion at a pinch.
169. exhaust
     wear out completely
     At last I could go no further; I was exhausted with the violence of my emotion and of my flight, and I staggered and fell by the wayside.
170. exhausted
     depleted of energy, force, or strength
     At last I could go no further; I was exhausted with the violence of my emotion and of my flight, and I staggered and fell by the wayside.
171. exist
     have a presence
     Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and dominant topic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger, or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on as it had done for countless years--as though no planet Mars existed in the sky.
172. experience
     the content of observation or participation in an event
     I do not know how far my experience is common.
173. expert
     a person with special knowledge who performs skillfully
     I am not an expert driver, and I had immediately to turn my attention to the horse.
174. extend
     stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope
     He came up to the fence and extended a handful of strawberries, for his gardening was as generous as it was enthusiastic.
175. extinguish
     put out, as of fires, flames, or lights
     The burning heather had been extinguished, but the level ground towards Ottershaw was blackened as far as one could see, and still giving off vertical streamers of smoke.
176. extraordinary
     highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and m...
177. familiar
     a friend who is frequently in the company of another
     Dense clouds of smoke or dust, visible through a powerful telescope on earth as little grey, fluctuating patches, spread through the clearness of the planet's atmosphere and obscured its more familiar features.
178. fancied
     formed or conceived by the imagination
     At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise.
179. fancy
     not plain; decorative or ornamented
     At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise.
180. fantastic
     extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance
     It was frantic, fantastic!
181. fascinate
     attract; cause to be enamored
     The common round the sand pits was dotted with people, standing like myself in a half- fascinated terror, staring at these creatures, or rather at the heaped gravel at the edge of the pit in which they lay.
182. feature
     a prominent attribute or aspect of something
     Dense clouds of smoke or dust, visible through a powerful telescope on earth as little grey, fluctuating patches, spread through the clearness of the planet's atmosphere and obscured its more familiar features.
183. feeble
     pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
     In spite of all that has happened since, I still remember that vigil very distinctly: the black and silent observatory, the shadowed lantern throwing a feeble glow upon the floor in the corner, the steady ticking of the clockwork of the telescope, the little slit in the roof--an oblong profundity with the stardust streaked across it.
184. fell
     cause to go down by or as if by delivering a blow
     It seemed to him that it fell to earth about one hundred miles east of him.
185. figure
     the form or shape of a person's body
     Vertical black figures in twos and threes would advance, stop, watch, and advance again, spreading out as they did so in a thin irregular crescent that promised to enclose the pit in its attenuated horns.
186. flag
     a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
     And then, within thirty yards of the pit, advancing from the direction of Horsell, I noted a little black knot of men, the foremost of whom was waving a white flag.
187. float
     be on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom
     It looked like a rusty gas float.
188. flourish
     grow vigorously
     All about me gathered the invisible terrors of the Martians; that pitiless sword of heat seemed whirling to and fro, flourishing overhead before it descended and smote me out of life.
189. fluctuate
     move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
     Men like Schiaparelli watched the red planet--it is odd, by-the-bye, that for countless centuries Mars has been the star of war--but failed to interpret the fluctuating appearances of the markings they mapped so well.
190. fluctuating
     having unpredictable ups and downs
     Men like Schiaparelli watched the red planet--it is odd, by-the-bye, that for countless centuries Mars has been the star of war--but failed to interpret the fluctuating appearances of the markings they mapped so well.
191. flutter
     flap the wings rapidly or fly with flapping movements
     Flutter, flutter, went the flag, first to the right, then to the left.
192. forbid
     command against
     It was, however, still so hot from its flight through the air as to forbid his near approach.
193. foremost
     ranking above all others
     And then, within thirty yards of the pit, advancing from the direction of Horsell, I noted a little black knot of men, the foremost of whom was waving a white flag.
194. formula
     a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement
     "Fresh attempts have been made to signal, but without success," was the stereotyped formula of the papers.
195. found
     food and lodging provided in addition to money
     The two men hurried back at once to the common, and found the cylinder still lying in the same position.
196. framework
     the underlying structure
     My wife pointed out to me the brightness of the red, green, and yellow signal lights hanging in a framework against the sky.
197. frantic
     marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion
     It was frantic, fantastic!
198. fringe
     an ornamental border of short lengths of hanging threads
     Beyond was a fringe of excitement, and farther than that fringe the inflammation had not crept as yet.
199. garment
     an article of clothing
     My terror had fallen from me like a garment.
200. gather
     assemble or get together
     Its air is much more attenuated than ours, its oceans have shrunk until they cover but a third of its surface, and as its slow seasons change huge snowcaps gather and melt about either pole and periodically inundate its temperate zones.
201. generate
     bring into existence
     Many think that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity.
202. generation
     group of genetically related organisms in a line of descent
     To carry warfare sunward is, indeed, their only escape from the destruction that, generation after generation, creeps upon them.
203. glance
     take a brief look at
     At the first glance it was really no more exciting than an overturned carriage or a tree blown across the road.
204. glare
     be sharply reflected
     Forthwith flashes of actual flame, a bright glare leaping from one to another, sprang from the scattered group of men.
205. glimpse
     a brief or incomplete view
     And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
206. glisten
     be shiny, as if wet
     As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather.
207. globe
     an object with a spherical shape
     With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.
208. gradual
     proceeding in small stages
     It was such a gradual movement that he discovered it only through noticing that a black mark that had been near him five minutes ago was now at the other side of the circumference.
209. grate
     reduce to shreds by rubbing against a perforated surface
     Even then he scarcely understood what this indicated, until he heard a muffled grating sound and saw the black mark jerk forward an inch or so.
210. gravity
     the force of attraction between all masses in the universe
     On the surface of the earth the force of gravity is three times what it is on the surface of Mars.
211. gust
     a strong current of air
     About six in the evening, as I sat at tea with my wife in the summerhouse talking vigorously about the battle that was lowering upon us, I heard a muffled detonation from the common, and immediately after a gust of firing.
212. habit
     an established custom
     It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.
213. haggard
     showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
     I startled my wife at the doorway, so haggard was I. I went into the dining room, sat down, drank some wine, and so soon as I could collect myself sufficiently I told her the things I had seen.
214. hazy
     filled or abounding with fog or mist
     This smoke (or flame, perhaps, would be the better word for it) was so bright that the deep blue sky overhead and the hazy stretches of brown common towards Chertsey, set with black pine trees, seemed to darken abruptly as these puffs arose, and to remain the darker after their dispersal.
215. headlong
     with the upper or anterior part of the body foremost
     An almost noiseless and blinding flash of light, and a man fell headlongand lay still; and as the unseen shaft of heat passed over them, pine trees burst into fire, and every dry furze bush became with one dull thud a mass of flames.
216. hollow
     not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
     A stirring noise within its cylinder he ascribed to the unequal cooling of its surface; for at that time it had not occurred to him that it might behollow.
217. hoof
     the hard foot of some mammals
     Then I saw some cabmen and others had walked boldly into the sand pits, and heard the clatter of hoofs and the gride of wheels.
218. hue
     the quality of a color determined by its dominant wavelength
     It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue.
219. hummock
     a small natural hill
     Only the fact that a hummock of heathery sand intercepted the lower part of the Heat-Ray saved them.
220. hypothesis
     a tentative insight that is not yet verified or tested
     It must be, if the nebular hypothesis has any truth, older than our world; and long before this earth ceased to be molten, life upon its surface must have begun its course.
221. ignite
     cause to start burning
     In the sudden thud, hiss, and glare of the igniting trees, the panic-stricken crowd seems to have swayed hesitatingly for some moments.
222. illustrate
     depict with a visual representation
     I remember how jubilant Markham was at securing a new photograph of the planet for the illustrated paper he edited in those days.
223. immense
     unusually great in size or amount or extent or scope
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of theimmense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and m...
224. impact
     the striking of one body against another
     An enormous hole had been made by the impact of the projectile, and the sand and gravel had been flung violently in every direction over the heath, forming heaps visible a mile and a half away.
225. impediment
     something immaterial that interferes with action or progress
     The growing crowd, he said, was becoming a serious impediment to their excavations, especially the boys.
226. impinge
     infringe upon
     It was as if some invisible jet impinged upon them and flashed into white flame.
227. inaccurate
     not exact
     About half past four I went up to the railway station to get an evening paper, for the morning papers had contained only a very inaccuratedescription of the killing of Stent, Henderson, Ogilvy, and the others.
228. inanimate
     not endowed with life
     I fancy the popular expectation of a heap of charred corpses was disappointed at this inanimate bulk.
229. inarticulate
     without or deprived of the use of speech or words
     I heard inarticulate exclamations on all sides.
230. incandescent
     emitting light as a result of being heated
     As Mars approached opposition, Lavelle of Java set the wires of the astronomical exchange palpitating with the amazing intelligence of a huge outbreak of incandescent gas upon the planet.
231. incessant
     uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
     The intellectual side of man already admits that life is an incessantstruggle for existence, and it would seem that this too is the belief of the minds upon Mars.
232. incline
     lower or bend, as in a nod or bow
     I am inclined to think that this blaze may have been the casting of the huge gun, in the vast pit sunk into their planet, from which their shots were fired at us.
233. inclined
     at an angle to the horizontal or vertical position
     I am inclined to think that this blaze may have been the casting of the huge gun, in the vast pit sunk into their planet, from which their shots were fired at us.
234. inconceivably
     to an inconceivable degree
     At times I suffer from the strangest sense of detachment from myself and the world about me; I seem to watch it all from the outside, from somewhere inconceivably remote, out of time, out of space, out of the stress and tragedy of it all.
235. incongruity
     the quality of disagreeing
     But the trouble was the blank incongruity of this serenity and the swift death flying yonder, not two miles away.
236. incontinent
     not having control over urination and defecation
     Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and when it falls upon water,incontinently that explodes into steam.
237. increase
     a process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous
     The crowd about the pit had increased, and stood out black against the lemon yellow of the sky--a couple of hundred people, perhaps.
238. incredible
     beyond belief or understanding
     And invisible to me because it was so remote and small, flying swiftly and steadily towards me across that incredible distance, drawing nearer every minute by so many thousands of miles, came the Thing they were sending us, the Thing that was to bring so much struggle and calamity and death to the earth.
239. incrustation
     the formation of a crust
     The uncovered part had the appearance of a huge cylinder, caked over and its outline softened by a thick scaly dun-coloured incrustation.
240. indefatigable
     showing sustained enthusiasm with unflagging vitality
     All night long the Martians were hammering and stirring, sleepless,indefatigable, at work upon the machines they were making ready, and ever and again a puff of greenish-white smoke whirled up to the starlit sky.
241. indicate
     designate a place, direction, person, or thing
     It had occurred towards midnight of the twelfth; and the spectroscope, to which he had at once resorted, indicated a mass of flaming gas, chiefly hydrogen, moving with an enormous velocity towards this earth.
242. indisputable
     not open to question; obviously true
     The invigorating influences of this excess of oxygen upon the Martiansindisputably did much to counterbalance the increased weight of their bodies.
243. inert
     unable to move or resist motion
     Even within the five-mile circle the great majority of people were inert.
244. inevitable
     incapable of being avoided or prevented
     It was sweeping round swiftly and steadily, this flaming death, this invisible, inevitable sword of heat.
245. inevitably
     in such a manner as could not be otherwise
     Had that death swept through a full circle, it must inevitably have slain me in my surprise.
246. infinitely
     continuing forever without end
     Near it in the field, I remember, were three faint points of light, three telescopic stars infinitely remote, and all around it was the unfathomable darkness of empty space.
247. influence
     a power to affect persons or events
     Both The Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifyinginfluences.
248. inhabit
     live in; be a resident of
     And we men, the creatures who inhabit this earth, must be to them at least as alien and lowly as are the monkeys and lemurs to us.
249. insensible
     barely able to be perceived
     They listened, rapped on the scaly burnt metal with a stick, and, meeting with no response, they both concluded the man or men inside must beinsensible or dead.
250. insist
     be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
     Both The Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifying influences.
251. instance
     an item of information that is typical of a class or group
     Both The Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifying influences.
252. instruction
     activities that impart knowledge or skill
     There were three policemen too, one of whom was mounted, doing their best, under instructions from Stent, to keep the people back and deter them from approaching the cylinder.
253. instructions
     a manual explaining how to install or operate a device
     There were three policemen too, one of whom was mounted, doing their best, under instructions from Stent, to keep the people back and deter them from approaching the cylinder.
254. intellect
     knowledge and mental ability
     Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
255. intelligence
     the ability to comprehend
     BOOK ONE 
     
     THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
     
     CHAPTER ONE 
     
     THE EVE OF THE WAR 
     
     No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligencesgreater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
256. intelligent
     having the capacity for thought and reason to a high degree
     Yet so vain is man, and so blinded by his vanity, that no writer, up to the very end of the nineteenth century, expressed any idea that intelligentlife might have developed there far, or indeed at all, beyond its earthly level.
257. intense
     possessing a distinctive feature to a heightened degree
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and m...
258. intensely
     in an intense manner
     Then it was as if an invisible yet intensely heated finger were drawn through the heather between me and the Martians, and all along a curving line beyond the sand pits the dark ground smoked and crackled.
259. intensity
     high level or degree
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and m...
260. intercept
     seize, interrupt, or stop something on its way
     Only the fact that a hummock of heathery sand intercepted the lower part of the Heat-Ray saved them.
261. intermittent
     stopping and starting at irregular intervals
     At any rate, as the dusk came on a slow, intermittent movement upon the sand pits began, a movement that seemed to gather force as the stillness of the evening about the cylinder remained unbroken.
262. interpret
     make sense of; assign a meaning to
     Men like Schiaparelli watched the red planet--it is odd, by-the-bye, that for countless centuries Mars has been the star of war--but failed to interpretthe fluctuating appearances of the markings they mapped so well.
263. interval
     the distance between things
     About three o'clock there began the thud of a gun at measured intervalsfrom Chertsey or Addlestone.
264. inundate
     fill or cover completely, usually with water
     Its air is much more attenuated than ours, its oceans have shrunk until they cover but a third of its surface, and as its slow seasons change huge snowcaps gather and melt about either pole and periodically inundateits temperate zones.
265. investigation
     an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities
     But I found it difficult to get to work upon my abstract investigations.
266. irresolute
     uncertain how to act or proceed
     At that he stood irresolute for a moment, then turned, scrambled out of the pit, and set off running wildly into Woking.
267. isolate
     place or set apart
     Patches of bush and isolated trees here and there smoked and glowed still, and the houses towards Woking station were sending up spires of flame into the stillness of the evening air.
268. isolated
     remote and separate physically or socially
     Patches of bush and isolated trees here and there smoked and glowed still, and the houses towards Woking station were sending up spires of flame into the stillness of the evening air.
269. issue
     some situation or event that is thought about
     English readers heard of it first in the issue of Nature dated August 2.
270. jet
     a hard black form of lignite that takes a brilliant polish
     This jet of fire had become invisible about a quarter past twelve.
271. job
     a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty
     Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station.
272. joint
     junction by which parts or objects are linked together
     Once a leash of thin black whips, like the arms of an octopus, flashed across the sunset and was immediately withdrawn, and afterwards a thin rod rose up, joint by joint, bearing at its apex a circular disk that spun with a wobbling motion.
273. knit
     make by needlework with interlacing yarn
     "Don't, dear!" said my wife, knitting her brows and putting her hand on mine.
274. knoll
     a small natural hill
     Then I shifted my position to a little knoll that gave me the advantage of a yard or more of elevation and when I looked for him presently he was walking towards Woking.
275. labour
     productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
     You may imagine the young people brushed up after the labours of the day, and making this novelty, as they would make any novelty, the excuse for walking together and enjoying a trivial flirtation.
276. lank
     long and thin and often limp
     A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.
277. lassitude
     a feeling of lack of interest or energy
     It was a day of lassitude too, hot and close, with, I am told, a rapidly fluctuating barometer.
278. lead
     take somebody somewhere
     Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and when it falls upon water, incontinently that explodes into steam.
279. leap
     move forward by bounds
     At once, with a quick mental leap, he linked the Thing with the flash upon Mars.
280. leisure
     time available for ease and relaxation
     Many people had heard of the cylinder, of course, and talked about it in their leisure, but it certainly did not make the sensation that an ultimatum to Germany would have done.
281. level
     a relative position or degree of value in a graded group
     Yet so vain is man, and so blinded by his vanity, that no writer, up to the very end of the nineteenth century, expressed any idea that intelligent life might have developed there far, or indeed at all, beyond its earthly level.
282. likeness
     similarity in appearance or nature between persons or things
     The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years.
283. linger
     remain present although waning or gradually dying
     A curious crowd lingered restlessly, people coming and going but the crowd remaining, both on the Chobham and Horsell bridges.
284. link
     connect, fasten, or put together two or more pieces
     At once, with a quick mental leap, he linked the Thing with the flash upon Mars.
285. linked
     connected, as railway cars or trailer trucks
     At once, with a quick mental leap, he linked the Thing with the flash upon Mars.
286. links
     a golf course that is built on sandy ground near a shore
     At the same time he told me of the burning of the pine woods about the Byfleet Golf Links.
287. luminous
     softly bright or radiant
     But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks--like eyes.
288. lurid
     glaringly vivid and graphic; marked by sensationalism
     The sun, shining through the smoke that drove up from the tops of the trees, seemed blood red, and threw an unfamiliar lurid light upon everything.
289. luxury
     something that is an indulgence rather than a necessity
     My dear wife's sweet anxious face peering at me from under the pink lamp shade, the white cloth with its silver and glass table furniture--for in those days even philosophical writers had many little luxuries--the crimson-purple wine in my glass, are photographically distinct.
290. machine
     a mechanical or electrical device that transmits energy
     All night long the Martians were hammering and stirring, sleepless, indefatigable, at work upon the machines they were making ready, and ever and again a puff of greenish-white smoke whirled up to the starlit sky.
291. majority
     the main part
     Even within the five-mile circle the great majority of people were inert.
292. marked
     easily noticeable
     It seemed such a little thing, so bright and small and still, faintly markedwith transverse stripes, and slightly flattened from the perfect round.
293. measure
     determine the dimensions of something or somebody
     About three o'clock there began the thud of a gun at measured intervals from Chertsey or Addlestone.
294. melt
     reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state
     Its air is much more attenuated than ours, its oceans have shrunk until they cover but a third of its surface, and as its slow seasons change huge snowcaps gather and melt about either pole and periodically inundate its temperate zones.
295. memory
     the cognitive process whereby past experience is remembered
     CHAPTER NINE 
     
     THE FIGHTING BEGINS 
     
     Saturday lives in my memory as a day of suspense.
296. mental
     involving the mind or an intellectual process
     It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.
297. message
     a communication that is written or spoken or signaled
     The early editions of the evening papers had startled London with enormous headlines: 
     
     "A MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM MARS."
298. midday
     when the morning ends and the afternoon begins
     Its physical condition is still largely a mystery, but we know now that even in its equatorial region the midday temperature barely approaches that of our coldest winter.
299. minute
     a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
     And invisible to me because it was so remote and small, flying swiftly and steadily towards me across that incredible distance, drawing nearer everyminute by so many thousands of miles, came the Thing they were sending us, the Thing that was to bring so much struggle and calamity and death to the earth.
300. missile
     a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a target
     I never dreamed of it then as I watched; no one on earth dreamed of that unerring missile.
301. modify
     cause to change; make different
     Both The Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifyinginfluences.
302. molten
     reduced to liquid form by heating
     It must be, if the nebular hypothesis has any truth, older than our world; and long before this earth ceased to be molten, life upon its surface must have begun its course.
303. moment
     an indefinitely short time
     At that he stood irresolute for a moment, then turned, scrambled out of the pit, and set off running wildly into Woking.
304. monstrous
     distorted and unnatural in shape or size
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monst...
305. mood
     a characteristic state of feeling
     Perhaps I am a man of exceptional moods.
306. moral
     concerned with principles of right and wrong
     For my own part, I was much occupied in learning to ride the bicycle, and busy upon a series of papers discussing the probable developments ofmoral ideas as civilisation progressed.
307. mortal
     subject to death
     BOOK ONE 
     
     THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
     
     CHAPTER ONE 
     
     THE EVE OF THE WAR 
     
     No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
308. motion
     the act of changing location from one place to another
     Once a leash of thin black whips, like the arms of an octopus, flashed across the sunset and was immediately withdrawn, and afterwards a thin rod rose up, joint by joint, bearing at its apex a circular disk that spun with a wobbling motion.
309. multitude
     a large indefinite number
     Anyone coming along the road from Chobham or Woking would have been amazed at the sight--a dwindling multitude of perhaps a hundred people or more standing in a great irregular circle, in ditches, behind bushes, behind gates and hedges, saying little to one another and that in short, excited shouts, and staring, staring hard at a few heaps of sand.
310. muscle
     animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells
     My muscles and nerves seemed drained of their strength.
311. muster
     gather or bring together
     Overhead the stars were mustering, and in the west the sky was still a pale, bright, almost greenish blue.
312. narrow
     not wide
     And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
313. necessity
     the condition of being essential or indispensable
     The immediate pressure of necessity has brightened their intellects, enlarged their powers, and hardened their hearts.
314. newcomer
     a recent arrival
     As these folks came out by twos and threes upon the open, they found little knots of people talking excitedly and peering at the spinning mirror over the sand pits, and the newcomers were, no doubt, soon infected by the excitement of the occasion.
315. non
     negation of a word or group of words
     Many think that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute non-conductivity.
316. novelty
     originality by virtue of being refreshingly new
     You may imagine the young people brushed up after the labours of the day, and making this novelty, as they would make any novelty, the excuse for walking together and enjoying a trivial flirtation.
317. object
     a tangible and visible entity
     It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this objectwas at all evident to me.
318. obscure
     not clearly understood or expressed
     Dense clouds of smoke or dust, visible through a powerful telescope on earth as little grey, fluctuating patches, spread through the clearness of the planet's atmosphere and obscured its more familiar features.
319. obvious
     easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
     Both The Times and the Daily Telegraph, for instance, insisted on it the next morning, and both overlooked, just as I did, two obvious modifying influences.
320. occasion
     an event that occurs at a critical time
     As these folks came out by twos and threes upon the open, they found little knots of people talking excitedly and peering at the spinning mirror over the sand pits, and the newcomers were, no doubt, soon infected by the excitement of the occasion.
321. occupy
     live in (a certain place)
     For my own part, I was much occupied in learning to ride the bicycle, and busy upon a series of papers discussing the probable developments of moral ideas as civilisation progressed.
322. occur
     come to pass
     It had occurred towards midnight of the twelfth; and the spectroscope, to which he had at once resorted, indicated a mass of flaming gas, chiefly hydrogen, moving with an enormous velocity towards this earth.
323. occurrence
     an instance of something happening
     Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and dominant topic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger, or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on as it had done for countless years--as though no planet Mars existed in the sky.
324. odd
     not divisible by two
     Men like Schiaparelli watched the red planet--it is odd, by-the-bye, that for countless centuries Mars has been the star of war--but failed to interpret the fluctuating appearances of the markings they mapped so well.
325. opposite
     being directly across from each other
     In another moment we were clear of the smoke and noise, and spanking down the opposite slope of Maybury Hill towards Old Woking.
326. outline
     the line that appears to bound an object
     A reddish flash at the edge, the slightest projection of the outline just as the chronometer struck midnight; and at that I told Ogilvy and he took my place.
327. outskirts
     area relatively far from the center, as of a city or town
     The soldiers had made the people on the outskirts of Horsell lock up and leave their houses.
328. pallid
     deficient in color suggesting physical or emotional distress
     As the green smoke arose, their faces flashed out pallid green, and faded again as it vanished.
329. palpitate
     beat rapidly
     As Mars approached opposition, Lavelle of Java set the wires of the astronomical exchange palpitating with the amazing intelligence of a huge outbreak of incandescent gas upon the planet.
330. passage
     the act of moving from one state or place to the next
     I remember I felt an extraordinary persuasion that I was being played with, that presently, when I was upon the very verge of safety, this mysterious death--as swift as the passage of light--would leap after me from the pit about the cylinder and strike me down.
331. peculiar
     beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
     Peculiar markings, as yet unexplained, were seen near the site of that outbreak during the next two oppositions.
332. peer
     look searchingly
     I did not dare to go back towards the pit, but I felt a passionate longing topeer into it.
333. perceive
     become aware of through the senses
     He remained standing at the edge of the pit that the Thing had made for itself, staring at its strange appearance, astonished chiefly at its unusual shape and colour, and dimly perceiving even then some evidence of design in its arrival.
334. perceived
     detected by instinct or inference
     And then he perceived that, very slowly, the circular top of the cylinder was rotating on its body.
335. perceptive
     of or relating to awareness via the senses
     The intense excitement of the events had no doubt left my perceptivepowers in a state of erethism.
336. periodical
     happening or recurring at regular intervals
     The seriocomic periodical Punch, I remember, made a happy use of it in the political cartoon.
337. periodically
     in a sporadic manner
     Its air is much more attenuated than ours, its oceans have shrunk until they cover but a third of its surface, and as its slow seasons change huge snowcaps gather and melt about either pole and periodically inundate its temperate zones.
338. perish
     pass from physical life
     Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
339. permit
     allow the presence of or allow without opposing
     Had our instruments permitted it, we might have seen the gathering trouble far back in the nineteenth century.
340. persuade
     cause somebody to adopt a certain position or belief
     But very early in the morning poor Ogilvy, who had seen the shooting star and who was persuaded that a meteorite lay somewhere on the common between Horsell, Ottershaw, and Woking, rose early with the idea of finding it.
341. petrify
     change into stone
     I stood petrified and staring.
342. petty
     small and of little importance
     It seems to me now almost incredibly wonderful that, with that swift fate hanging over us, men could go about their petty concerns as they did.
343. phenomenon
     any state or process known through the senses
     Beyond the pit stood the little wedge of people with the white flag at its apex, arrested by these phenomena, a little knot of small vertical black shapes upon the black ground.
344. pine
     a coniferous tree
     The early morning was wonderfully still, and the sun, just clearing the pinetrees towards Weybridge, was already warm.
345. pinnacle
     a slender upright spire at the top of a buttress of tower
     The pinnacle of the mosque had vanished, and the roof line of the college itself looked as if a hundred-ton gun had been at work upon it.
346. portion
     something determined in relation to a thing that includes it
     A large portion of the cylinder had been uncovered, though its lower end was still embedded.
347. possess
     have ownership of
     And, in the second place, we all overlooked the fact that such mechanical intelligence as the Martian possessed was quite able to dispense with muscular exertion at a pinch.
348. prepare
     make ready or suitable or equip in advance
     The newspaper articles had prepared men's minds for the reception of the idea.
349. previous
     just preceding something else in time or order
     I talked with these soldiers for a time; I told them of my sight of the Martians on the previous evening.
350. privilege
     a special advantage or benefit not enjoyed by all
     I was very glad to do as he asked, and so become one of the privilegedspectators within the contemplated enclosure.
351. proceed
     move ahead; travel onward in time or space
     In Woking junction, until a late hour, trains were stopping and going on, others were shunting on the sidings, passengers were alighting and waiting, and everything was proceeding in the most ordinary way.
352. proceeding
     a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
     In Woking junction, until a late hour, trains were stopping and going on, others were shunting on the sidings, passengers were alighting and waiting, and everything was proceeding in the most ordinary way.
353. profound
     situated at or extending to great depth
     In a telescope it seems far profounder.
354. progress
     the act of moving forward, as toward a goal
     His idea was that meteorites might be falling in a heavy shower upon the planet, or that a huge volcanic explosion was in progress.
355. project
     a planned undertaking
     Nearly two feet of shining screw projected.
356. projected
     extending out above or beyond a surface or boundary
     Nearly two feet of shining screw projected.
357. projecting
     extending out above or beyond a surface or boundary
     I half turned, keeping my eyes fixed upon the cylinder still, from which other tentacles were now projecting, and began pushing my way back from the edge of the pit.
358. projection
     the act of expelling or ejecting
     A reddish flash at the edge, the slightest projection of the outline just as the chronometer struck midnight; and at that I told Ogilvy and he took my place.
359. protect
     shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage
     Stent and Ogilvy, anticipating some possibilities of a collision, had telegraphed from Horsell to the barracks as soon as the Martians emerged, for the help of a company of soldiers to protect these strange creatures from violence.
360. pulsate
     expand and contract rhythmically
     The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively.
361. quiver
     shake with fast, tremulous movements
     It was as if it quivered, but really this was the telescope vibrating with the activity of the clockwork that kept the planet in view.
362. raise
     move upwards
     There were raised voices, and some sort of struggle appeared to be going on about the pit.
363. range
     a variety of different things or activities
     Then I realised that the crest of Maybury Hill must be within range of the Martians' Heat-Ray now that the college was cleared out of the way.
364. rare
     especially good, remarkable, or superlative
     People rattling Londonwards peered into the darkness outside the carriage windows, and saw only a rare, flickering, vanishing spark dance up from the direction of Horsell, a red glow and a thin veil of smoke driving across the stars, and thought that nothing more serious than a heath fire was happening.
365. rational
     consistent with or based on or using reason
     The fear I felt was no rational fear, but a panic terror not only of the Martians, but of the dusk and stillness all about me.
366. reassure
     cause to feel confident
     I pressed her to take wine, and tried to reassure her.
367. recall
     bring to mind
     It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.
368. recede
     pull back or move away or backward
     As I watched, the planet seemed to grow larger and smaller and to advance and recede, but that was simply that my eye was tired.
369. receive
     get something; come into possession of
     The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles, and the light and heat itreceives from the sun is barely half of that received by this world.
370. regiment
     army unit smaller than a division
     The colonel of the regiment came to the Chobham bridge and was busy questioning the crowd at midnight.
371. region
     the extended spatial location of something
     Its physical condition is still largely a mystery, but we know now that even in its equatorial region the midday temperature barely approaches that of our coldest winter.
372. regret
     feel sorry for; be contrite about
     At the end of it I sat, tempering nuts with a cigarette, regretting Ogilvy's rashness, and denouncing the shortsighted timidity of the Martians.
373. remain
     continue in a place, position, or situation
     He remained standing at the edge of the pit that the Thing had made for itself, staring at its strange appearance, astonished chiefly at its unusual shape and colour, and dimly perceiving even then some evidence of design in its arrival.
374. remaining
     not used up
     A curious crowd lingered restlessly, people coming and going but the crowd remaining, both on the Chobham and Horsell bridges.
375. remind
     put in the mind of someone
     The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles, and the light and heat it receives from the sun is barely half of that received by this world.
376. remote
     located far away spatially
     Nor was it generally understood that since Mars is older than our earth, with scarcely a quarter of the superficial area and remoter from the sun, it necessarily follows that it is not only more distant from time's beginning but nearer its end.
377. repeat
     say or state again
     He repeated this over and over again.
378. repeated
     recurring again and again
     He repeated this over and over again.
379. represent
     be a delegate or spokesperson for
     The case appeared to be enormously thick, and it was possible that the faint sounds we heard represented a noisy tumult in the interior.
380. require
     have need of
     It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue.
381. required
     necessary by rule
     It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue.
382. resemble
     be similar or bear a likeness to
     Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me--and then another.
383. resolve
     find a solution or answer
     There had been a hasty consultation, and since the Martians were evidently, in spite of their repulsive forms, intelligent creatures, it had been resolved to show them, by approaching them with signals, that we too were intelligent.
384. response
     the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange
     They listened, rapped on the scaly burnt metal with a stick, and, meeting with no response, they both concluded the man or men inside must be insensible or dead.
385. restore
     bring back into original existence, function, or position
     It was this, as much as anything, that gave people courage, and I suppose the new arrivals from Woking also helped to restore confidence.
386. revolve
     turn on or around an axis or a center
     The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles, and the light and heat it receives from the sun is barely half of that received by this world.
387. rod
     a long thin implement made of metal or wood
     Once a leash of thin black whips, like the arms of an octopus, flashed across the sunset and was immediately withdrawn, and afterwards a thinrod rose up, joint by joint, bearing at its apex a circular disk that spun with a wobbling motion.
388. rouse
     cause to become awake or conscious
     In addition, Ogilvy's wire to the Astronomical Exchange had roused every observatory in the three kingdoms.
389. ruin
     an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
     Then, with a whistling note that rose above the droning of the pit, the beam swung close over their heads, lighting the tops of the beech trees that line the road, and splitting the bricks, smashing the windows, firing the window frames, and bringing down in crumbling ruin a portion of the gable of the house nearest the corner.
390. rusty
     covered with or consisting of an oxide coating
     It looked like a rusty gas float.
391. ruthless
     without mercy or pity
     And before we judge of them too harshly we must remember whatruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races.
392. scale
     an ordered reference standard
     It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue.
393. scatter
     cause to separate and go in different directions
     The Thing itself lay almost entirely buried in sand, amidst the scatteredsplinters of a fir tree it had shivered to fragments in its descent.
394. scoff
     laugh at with contempt and derision
     He was full of speculation that night about the condition of Mars, andscoffed at the vulgar idea of its having inhabitants who were signalling us.
395. secular
     someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
     The secular cooling that must someday overtake our planet has already gone far indeed with our neighbour.
396. seek
     try to locate, discover, or establish the existence of
     I began walking, therefore, in a big curve, seeking some point of vantage and continually looking at the sand heaps that hid these new-comers to our earth.
397. sensation
     an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation
     Many people had heard of the cylinder, of course, and talked about it in their leisure, but it certainly did not make the sensation that an ultimatum to Germany would have done.
398. sentinel
     a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
     They told me no one was allowed over the canal, and, looking along the road towards the bridge, I saw one of the Cardigan men standingsentinel there.
399. serene
     not agitated
     With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.
400. serenity
     the absence of mental stress or anxiety
     But the trouble was the blank incongruity of this serenity and the swift death flying yonder, not two miles away.
401. settle
     become resolved, fixed, established, or quiet
     This lot'll cost the insurance people a pretty penny before everything'ssettled."
402. settled
     established in a desired position or place; not moving about
     This lot'll cost the insurance people a pretty penny before everything'ssettled."
403. several
     of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many
     Going to the edge of the pit, I found it occupied by a group of about half a dozen men--Henderson, Ogilvy, and a tall, fair-haired man that I afterwards learned was Stent, the Astronomer Royal, with severalworkmen wielding spades and pickaxes.
404. shaft
     a long rod or pole, especially the body of a weapon
     An almost noiseless and blinding flash of light, and a man fell headlong and lay still; and as the unseen shaft of heat passed over them, pine trees burst into fire, and every dry furze bush became with one dull thud a mass of flames.
405. shape
     a perceptual structure
     He approached the mass, surprised at the size and more so at the shape, since most meteorites are rounded more or less completely.
406. shift
     move very slightly
     Then I shifted my position to a little knoll that gave me the advantage of a yard or more of elevation and when I looked for him presently he was walking towards Woking.
407. shunt
     a conductor diverting a fraction of current from a device
     From the railway station in the distance came the sound of shuntingtrains, ringing and rumbling, softened almost into melody by the distance.
408. sight
     the ability to see; the visual faculty
     Anyone coming along the road from Chobham or Woking would have been amazed at the sight--a dwindling multitude of perhaps a hundred people or more standing in a great irregular circle, in ditches, behind bushes, behind gates and hedges, saying little to one another and that in short, excited shouts, and staring, staring hard at a few heaps of sand.
409. signal
     any action or gesture that encodes a message
     He was full of speculation that night about the condition of Mars, and scoffed at the vulgar idea of its having inhabitants who were signallingus.
410. sink
     fall or descend to a lower place or level
     Forth-with the hissing and humming ceased, and the black, dome-like object sank slowly out of sight into the pit.
411. site
     the piece of land on which something is located
     Peculiar markings, as yet unexplained, were seen near the site of that outbreak during the next two oppositions.
412. slay
     kill intentionally and with premeditation
     CHAPTER SIX 
     
     THE HEAT-RAY IN THE CHOBHAM ROAD 
     
     It is still a matter of wonder how the Martians are able to slay men so swiftly and so silently.
413. slight
     small in quantity or degree
     A reddish flash at the edge, the slightest projection of the outline just as the chronometer struck midnight; and at that I told Ogilvy and he took my place.
414. sluggish
     moving slowly
     "There is one thing," I said, to allay the fears I had aroused; "they are the most sluggish things I ever saw crawl.
415. soil
     material in the top layer of the surface of the earth
     "They will be hot under foot for days, on account of the thick soil of pine needles and turf," he said, and then grew serious over "poor Ogilvy."
416. source
     the place where something begins
     No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable.
417. spade
     hand shovel that can be pushed into the earth with the foot
     Henderson stood up with his spade in his hand.
418. spectator
     a close observer; someone who looks at something
     I was very glad to do as he asked, and so become one of the privilegedspectators within the contemplated enclosure.
419. split
     separate into parts or portions
     Then, with a whistling note that rose above the droning of the pit, the beam swung close over their heads, lighting the tops of the beech trees that line the road, and splitting the bricks, smashing the windows, firing the window frames, and bringing down in crumbling ruin a portion of the gable of the house nearest the corner.
420. stare
     look at with fixed eyes
     He remained standing at the edge of the pit that the Thing had made for itself, staring at its strange appearance, astonished chiefly at its unusual shape and colour, and dimly perceiving even then some evidence of design in its arrival.
421. steady
     securely in position; not shaky
     In spite of all that has happened since, I still remember that vigil very distinctly: the black and silent observatory, the shadowed lantern throwing a feeble glow upon the floor in the corner, the steady ticking of the clockwork of the telescope, the little slit in the roof--an oblong profundity with the stardust streaked across it.
422. steep
     having a sharp inclination
     I rose and walked unsteadily up the steep incline of the bridge.
423. stereotype
     a conventional or formulaic conception or image
     "Fresh attempts have been made to signal, but without success," was thestereotyped formula of the papers.
424. story
     a record or narrative description of past events
     That was the form the story took.
425. stress
     special emphasis attached to something
     CHAPTER SEVEN 
     
     HOW I REACHED HOME 
     
     For my own part, I remember nothing of my flight except the stress of blundering against trees and stumbling through the heather.
426. stretch
     extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body
     And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.
427. stroll
     a leisurely walk, usually in some public place
     I saw my neighbour gardening, chatted with him for a time, and thenstrolled in to breakfast.
428. struggle
     strenuous effort
     The intellectual side of man already admits that life is an incessantstruggle for existence, and it would seem that this too is the belief of the minds upon Mars.
429. studied
     produced or marked by conscious design or premeditation
     BOOK ONE 
     
     THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
     
     CHAPTER ONE 
     
     THE EVE OF THE WAR 
     
     No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised andstudied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
430. stumble
     miss a step and fall or nearly fall
     I turned and, running madly, made for the first group of trees, perhaps a hundred yards away; but I ran slantingly and stumbling, for I could not avert my face from these things.
431. stupefy
     make dull or muddle, as with intoxication
     I perceived it coming towards me by the flashing bushes it touched, and was too astounded and stupefied to stir.
432. subtlety
     the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze
     The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazingsubtlety--their mathematical learning is evidently far in excess of ours--and to have carried out their preparations with a well-nigh perfect unanimity.
433. superficial
     of, affecting, or being on or near the surface
     Nor was it generally understood that since Mars is older than our earth, with scarcely a quarter of the superficial area and remoter from the sun, it necessarily follows that it is not only more distant from time's beginning but nearer its end.
434. surprise
     come upon or take unawares
     He approached the mass, surprised at the size and more so at the shape, since most meteorites are rounded more or less completely.
435. surround
     extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
     CHAPTER THREE 
     
     ON HORSELL COMMON 
     
     I found a little crowd of perhaps twenty people surrounding the huge hole in which the cylinder lay.
436. surrounded
     confined on all sides
     He told me that during the night the Martians had been surrounded by troops, and that guns were expected.
437. suspect
     regard as untrustworthy
     I wished I had a light to smoke by, little suspecting the meaning of the minute gleam I had seen and all that it would presently bring me.
438. swarm
     a group of many things in the air or on the ground
     BOOK ONE 
     
     THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
     
     CHAPTER ONE 
     
     THE EVE OF THE WAR 
     
     No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
439. sway
     move back and forth
     The crowd swayed a little, and I elbowed my way through.
440. swift
     moving very fast
     It seems to me now almost incredibly wonderful that, with that swift fate hanging over us, men could go about their petty concerns as they did.
441. tedious
     so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
     There was something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy deliberation of the tedious movements unspeakably nasty.
442. telescope
     a magnifier of images of distant objects
     In spite of all that has happened since, I still remember that vigil very distinctly: the black and silent observatory, the shadowed lantern throwing a feeble glow upon the floor in the corner, the steady ticking of the clockwork of the telescope, the little slit in the roof--an oblong profundity with the stardust streaked across it.
443. temper
     a characteristic state of feeling
     At the end of it I sat, tempering nuts with a cigarette, regretting Ogilvy's rashness, and denouncing the shortsighted timidity of the Martians.
444. temperate
     not extreme
     Its air is much more attenuated than ours, its oceans have shrunk until they cover but a third of its surface, and as its slow seasons change huge snowcaps gather and melt about either pole and periodically inundate itstemperate zones.
445. thick
     not thin
     The uncovered part had the appearance of a huge cylinder, caked over and its outline softened by a thick scaly dun-coloured incrustation.
446. tide
     the periodic rise and fall of the sea level
     Excited men came into the station about nine o'clock with incredibletidings, and caused no more disturbance than drunkards might have done.
447. timidity
     fear of the unknown or fear of making decisions
     At the end of it I sat, tempering nuts with a cigarette, regretting Ogilvy's rashness, and denouncing the shortsighted timidity of the Martians.
448. topple
     fall down, as if collapsing
     It had toppled over the brim of the cylinder and fallen into the pit, with a thud like the fall of a great mass of leather.
449. touch
     make physical contact with, come in contact with
     After I had spoken to them about it, they began playing at " touch" in and out of the group of bystanders.
450. tower
     a structure taller than its diameter
     I did not succeed in getting a glimpse of the common, for even Horsell and Chobham church towers were in the hands of the military authorities.
451. train
     educate for a future role or function
     From the railway station in the distance came the sound of shuntingtrains, ringing and rumbling, softened almost into melody by the distance.
452. tranquil
     free from disturbance by heavy waves
     It seemed so safe and tranquil.
453. transient
     lasting a very short time
     BOOK ONE 
     
     THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS 
     
     CHAPTER ONE 
     
     THE EVE OF THE WAR 
     
     No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
454. transition
     the act of passing from one state or place to the next
     There was no sensible transition from one state of mind to the other.
455. treasure
     any possession that is highly valued by its owner
     He was going on as I came out of my front door, lugging my treasures, done up in a tablecloth.
456. tumult
     a state of commotion and noise and confusion
     The case appeared to be enormously thick, and it was possible that the faint sounds we heard represented a noisy tumult in the interior.
457. unanimity
     everyone being of one mind
     The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazing subtlety--their mathematical learning is evidently far in excess of ours--and to have carried out their preparations with a well-nigh perfectunanimity.
458. unapproachable
     reserved and discouraging intimacies
     "It's a pity they make themselves so unapproachable," he said.
459. unaware
     not having or showing knowledge or understanding
     I found him in his bar, quite unaware of what was going on behind his house.
460. undulate
     move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
     The undulating common seemed now dark almost to blackness, except where its roadways lay grey and pale under the deep blue sky of the early night.
461. urgent
     compelling immediate action
     At the time it did not seem to me nearly so urgent that the landlord should leave his.
462. utter
     without qualification
     And before we judge of them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races.
463. vain
     having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
     Yet so vain is man, and so blinded by his vanity, that no writer, up to the very end of the nineteenth century, expressed any idea that intelligent life might have developed there far, or indeed at all, beyond its earthly level.
464. vanish
     become invisible or unnoticeable
     And before we judge of them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races.
465. vantage
     place or situation affording some benefit
     I began walking, therefore, in a big curve, seeking some point of vantageand continually looking at the sand heaps that hid these new-comers to our earth.
466. vast
     unusually great in size or amount or extent or scope
     Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
467. vehicle
     a conveyance that transports people or objects
     The barrow of ginger beer stood, a queer derelict, black against the burning sky, and in the sand pits was a row of deserted vehicles with their horses feeding out of nosebags or pawing the ground.
468. velocity
     distance travelled per unit time
     It had occurred towards midnight of the twelfth; and the spectroscope, to which he had at once resorted, indicated a mass of flaming gas, chiefly hydrogen, moving with an enormous velocity towards this earth.
469. verge
     the limit beyond which something happens or changes
     I remember I felt an extraordinary persuasion that I was being played with, that presently, when I was upon the very verge of safety, this mysterious death--as swift as the passage of light--would leap after me from the pit about the cylinder and strike me down.
470. view
     the visual percept of a region
     It was as if it quivered, but really this was the telescope vibrating with the activity of the clockwork that kept the planet in view.
471. vital
     performing an essential function in the living body
     The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and m...
472. volcano
     a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt
     Even the daily papers woke up to the disturbances at last, and popular notes appeared here, there, and everywhere concerning the volcanoesupon Mars.
473. volume
     the property of something that is great in magnitude
     The fact that it is scarcely one seventh of the volume of the earth must have accelerated its cooling to the temperature at which life could begin.
474. wake
     stop sleeping
     Even the daily papers woke up to the disturbances at last, and popular notes appeared here, there, and everywhere concerning the volcanoes upon Mars.
475. wander
     move or cause to move in a sinuous or circular course
     All over the district people were dining and supping; working men were gardening after the labours of the day, children were being put to bed, young people were wandering through the lanes love-making, students sat over their books.
476. warn
     notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
     He was going from house to house, warning people to leave.
477. wave
     (physics) a movement up and down or back and forth
     And then, within thirty yards of the pit, advancing from the direction of Horsell, I noted a little black knot of men, the foremost of whom waswaving a white flag.
478. waylay
     wait in hiding to attack
     I failed to find Lord Hilton at his house, but I was told he was expected from London by the six o'clock train from Waterloo; and as it was then about a quarter past five, I went home, had some tea, and walked up to the station to waylay him.
479. weigh
     have a certain heft
     A Martian, therefore, would weigh three times more than on Mars, albeit his muscular strength would be the same.
480. whirl
     the shape of something rotating rapidly
     Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and dominant topic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger, or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on as it had done for countless years--as though no planet Mars existed in the sky.
481. whistle
     the sound made by something moving rapidly
     The ringing impact of trucks, the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction, mingled with their shouts of "Men from Mars!"
482. withdrawn
     tending to reserve or introspection
     Once a leash of thin black whips, like the arms of an octopus, flashed across the sunset and was immediately withdrawn, and afterwards a thin rod rose up, joint by joint, bearing at its apex a circular disk that spun with a wobbling motion.
483. writhe
     move in a twisting or contorted motion
     Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me--and then another.
484. yard
     enclosed land around a house or other building
     It had a diameter of about thirty yards.