to ruminate on sth	to think about sth deeply/ to meditate
dismay	the feeling of shock or discouragement
barbed	with metal endings
to swish	to cause sth to swing in the air with hissing sound
to maim	to injure, to wound the body so that it cannot be used
to be on the alert	to be in readiness, on standby
sluggish	slow-moving, inactive
sludge	thick, greasy mould
sludgy	very dirty
medley	a mixture of sth
to overlap	to cover partially
clobber	equipment for specified activity
to deck sth out with sth	to decorate sth
to be in the buff	to be naked
to faze	to make sb nervous, confused
unfazed	not nervous
recalcitrance	disobedience
to coop up	to restrict sb's freedom by keeping him............
solitary	an instance of being on one's own
in solitary confinement	imprisoned
to allure	to tempt
to confer	to give or to grant
to traverse	to go over sth/ to lie, to extend across sth
en route	on the way
to zero in on sth	to focus on sth
derelict	destroyed, ruined
insightful	showing deep understanding
open-and-shut	completely straight forward and obvious
to fare on	to get on, to progress