Vocabulary in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Small toothed wheels that interlock with others inside a machine to transfer motion. Here used as part of the imagery suggesting the nurse operates like a cold, mechanical device rather than a human being.

A medical gripping tool shaped like a pair of tongs, used to handle objects or tissue during procedures. Its presence in the nurse's bag signals clinical, impersonal control over patients' bodies.

A communal toilet facility, especially in an institutional or military setting. In this ward it is a shared bathroom the patients and staff use.

Speaking in a wild, uncontrolled, and incoherent way, as someone who has lost their grip on reason. The narrator uses it to anticipate a reader's dismissal of his account as the ravings of a madman.

Unable to hear or speak, or pretending to be so. Chief Bromden performs this condition deliberately to avoid being noticed or questioned by staff.

Patients whose mental conditions are considered treatable or temporary, as opposed to the permanently disabled Chronics. They are able to attend group meetings and interact more actively on the ward.

Patients whose conditions are considered permanent and beyond recovery, many of them physically disabled or catatonic. They are kept on the ward indefinitely with little expectation of improvement.

In a state of unresponsive, rigid immobility caused by a mental condition, unable to react to the surrounding world. Chief Bromden appears this way to the staff because he stays silent and still.

Showing absolutely no emotion or reaction on the face, completely blank and expressionless. The nurse uses this controlled blankness as a tool of authority.

A scene of complete disorder and mess, as if something has been wrecked or torn apart. After the party the ward is left in a state of chaos and disarray.

Attacking repeatedly in the same spot, the way chickens peck at a wound on another bird until they destroy it. Used as a metaphor for the way the group turns on any member who shows weakness.

The top-ranking or most dominant crazy person on the ward, the one who holds the most influence among the patients. McMurphy uses the phrase to declare his intention to take charge.

Legally confined to a psychiatric institution by court order, with no set release date and no right to leave voluntarily. Being committed means the hospital can hold a patient indefinitely.

Completely or absolutely, used for emphasis in informal speech. It intensifies the idea of being driven entirely and thoroughly out of one's mind.

Official written records kept by ward staff documenting patient behavior, incidents, and observations. These records can be used against patients to justify punishment or continued confinement.

Natural and without pretense, not showing any sign of being disturbed or self-conscious. Billy's voice being described this way signals a rare moment of calm confidence unusual for him.

Walking heavily and loudly, stamping through a space with force. It conveys McMurphy's physical presence as still dominating the ward even after he is gone.

A speech difficulty in which a person involuntarily repeats or prolongs sounds and syllables, unable to speak smoothly. Billy's stammer disappears in moments of genuine confidence or shock.

Had a lobotomy performed — a surgical operation that severs connections in the brain's frontal lobe, leaving the person passive, emotionally flat, and permanently altered. It was used as a punishment or last resort in mid-twentieth-century psychiatry.

A large board fitted with switches, dials, or controls, here a heavy fixture bolted to the wall of the ward. Bromden tears it free to use as a massive weight to break through the window and escape.