- minedverbChapter 1 →
Planted with hidden explosive devices designed to blow up when stepped on or driven over, used here to describe beaches and river mouths made deadly by buried bombs.
“The Germans have mined the beaches, the approaches, the mouths of the rivers.”
- in the year of our LordphraseChapter 1 →
A formal, old-fashioned way of stating a year in the Christian calendar, meaning 'in the year numbered from the birth of Christ.' Used here to give the date a solemn, almost ceremonial weight.
“A girl sits alone in a tall house in the city of Saint-Malo, in the country of France, in the year of our Lord nineteen forty-four.”
- scale replicaphraseChapter 2 →
An exact copy of something built to a fixed proportion smaller than the real thing, so every distance and size is reduced by the same ratio.
“until it is a perfect scale replica of their neighbourhood, every building, every alley, every park bench rendered in wood.”
- renderedverbChapter 2 →
Reproduced or represented in a particular material or medium — here, carefully carved and shaped out of wood to stand in for real structures.
“every building, every alley, every park bench rendered in wood.”
- proximitynounChapter 3 →
Physical closeness or nearness to something or someone. Here it suggests the father hopes keeping the stone close to his heart will somehow protect it.
“He carries the stone in a velvet pouch inside his coat, next to his heart, as though proximity to that organ might keep it safe.”
- velvet pouchphraseChapter 3 →
A small soft bag made of velvet, a smooth and slightly furry fabric, used here to carry and protect a precious stone.
“He carries the stone in a velvet pouch inside his coat, next to his heart.”
- entropynounChapter 5 →
A scientific principle stating that any isolated system naturally moves toward greater disorder and randomness over time, rather than staying organized.
“Hasn't he already learned that the entropy of a closed system always increases? That the universe tends toward disorder?”
- closed systemphraseChapter 5 →
In physics, a system that does not exchange energy or matter with its surroundings, used here as a metaphor for a self-contained situation that can only decay.
“Hasn't he already learned that the entropy of a closed system always increases?”
- tends towardphraseChapter 5 →
Naturally moves in the direction of, or has a general inclination to become, something — here meaning the universe naturally drifts into chaos.
“That the universe tends toward disorder?”
- funnelledverbChapter 8 →
Narrowed and concentrated from something wide and sprawling into something tight and focused, the way liquid is directed through a funnel.
“The war has funnelled itself down to a single street, a single house, a single frequency.”
- frequencynounChapter 8 →
A specific radio wavelength or channel on which a signal is broadcast or received, used here to mean a single radio transmission that connects two people amid the chaos of war.
“The war has funnelled itself down to a single street, a single house, a single frequency.”
- anti-aircraftadjectiveChapter 9 →
Designed to shoot at and destroy enemy planes flying overhead; anti-aircraft guns fire explosive shells upward into the sky.
“The bombers fly in from the sea and the anti-aircraft guns send up their flowers of light and the city shudders.”
- shuddersverbChapter 9 →
Shakes or trembles violently, as a building or city does when struck by explosions or heavy bombardment.
“the anti-aircraft guns send up their flowers of light and the city shudders.”
- trajectorynounChapter 12 →
The overall path or course something is following — here used medically to mean the expected progression of a disease toward its inevitable end.
“The doctors disagree on the details but not on the trajectory.”
- transmitternounChapter 11 →
A piece of electronic equipment that sends out radio signals over the air, allowing a person to broadcast voice or music to anyone with a receiver tuned to the right frequency.
“He sets the transmitter on the floor and does not turn it on.”
- on the verge ofphraseChapter 13 →
At the very edge of happening; about to occur at any moment. Here it means something is just about to be destroyed or lost forever.
“All of this is on the verge of being lost.”
- besiegedadjectiveChapter 12 →
Surrounded and attacked by enemy forces, cut off from outside help, as a city is when an army encircles it during wartime.
- locksmithnounChapter 3 →
A craftsman who makes, repairs, and opens locks and keys; here Daniel LeBlanc holds this role at the Natural History Museum, where he also maintains the museum's security.
- atticnounChapter 5 →
The space directly under the roof of a house, often used for storage; in this novel it is the hidden room from which a secret radio broadcast is made.
“Werner tells himself he is not here. He is at the workbench in Children's House, he is in the attic with Jutta, he is nowhere near this courtyard.”
- ribcagenounChapter 10 →
The curved frame of bones enclosing and protecting the chest; used here as a vivid comparison to describe the creaking wooden structure of the house as if it were a living, breathing body.
“The house creaks and groans around her like a living thing, like a huge ribcage breathing.”
All the Light We Cannot SeeNovel by Anthony Doerr