- awesomely extensivephraseChapter 1 →
Stretching so far in every direction that it fills a person with a sense of wonder or even unease; used here to describe the vast, open flatness of the Kansas landscape.
- grain elevatorsnounChapter 1 →
Tall, tower-like storage buildings used to hold large quantities of harvested grain such as wheat before it is shipped out; a common landmark in farming communities.
“a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches th…”
- self-made manphraseChapter 1 →
A person who has achieved success and social standing entirely through their own hard work and talent, without help from family wealth or connections.
“He was, in the truest sense of the expression, a self-made man.”
- theretoforeadverbChapter 1 →
Up until that point in time; before that particular moment or event. An old-fashioned, formal word meaning 'until then.'
“the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and again”
- somberadjectiveChapter 1 →
Dark, gloomy, and deeply serious in tone or mood; used here to describe the disturbing, heavy quality of the violent sounds the townspeople kept imagining.
“those somber explosions that stimul…”
- reputenounChapter 2 →
The opinion that other people generally hold of someone; a person's public reputation or standing in the community.
“'A master farmer, a man of good repute'—that was how the county agent described Herb Clutter, and the description fit.”
- county agentnounChapter 2 →
A government-employed agricultural adviser who works at the county level, helping local farmers with crop management, soil care, and farming best practices.
“'A master farmer, a man of good repute'—that was how the county agent described Herb Clutter, and the description fit.”
- ex-convictnoun
A person who has been convicted of a crime and has already served their prison sentence; a former prisoner.
- cellmatenoun
A person who shares a prison cell with another inmate; someone confined in the same small room inside a jail or penitentiary.
- forged checksphrase
Checks that have been fraudulently written or signed using a false identity or someone else's name in order to illegally obtain money.
- stays of executionphraseChapter 4 →
Official legal orders that temporarily delay or postpone a scheduled execution, giving the condemned person more time while appeals or reviews are carried out.
- death rownounChapter 4 →
The section of a prison that houses inmates who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting their execution.
- penitentiarynounChapter 4 →
A large, secure prison, typically run by a state or federal government, where people convicted of serious crimes serve long sentences.
- soft-spokenadjectiveChapter 4 →
Speaking in a quiet, gentle voice; not loud or aggressive in the way one talks to others.
“I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.”
- plunged throughphraseChapter 4 →
Moved suddenly and forcefully through an opening; here it describes the abrupt, violent drop of a body through a trapdoor at the moment of hanging.
“the door opened, and Perry Smith plunged through it.”
- farmyard clatterphraseChapter 4 →
The loud, rattling noise of wooden or metal parts banging together, like the rough mechanical sounds of barn equipment; used here to describe the harsh noise of the gallows trapdoor.
“Then, with a certain farmyard clatter, the door opened, and Perry Smith plunged through it.”
- dramatic ironyphrase
A storytelling situation in which the reader knows something important — such as an approaching disaster — that the characters in the story do not yet know.
- appealsnounChapter 4 →
Formal legal requests made to a higher court to review and possibly overturn a lower court's decision, often used by convicted prisoners to delay or avoid their sentence.
- sex crimenounChapter 3 →
A criminal act involving sexual violence or assault; the text uses the phrase to rule out this motive and emphasize how inexplicable the murders were.
“It had not been a 'sex crime.' The motive was no more imaginable than the crime itself.”
- motivenounChapter 3 →
The reason or driving force behind why someone commits a crime; the goal or emotion that caused a person to act.
“The motive was no more imaginable than the crime itself.”
In Cold BloodNon-fiction by Truman Capote