1. SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON CHAPTER TWO

2. ex·cur·sion ( k-skûr z h n ) n. 1.A usually short journey made for pleasure; an outing. 2.A roundtrip on a passenger vehicle at a special low fare. 3.A group taking a short pleasure trip together. 4.A diversion or deviation from a main topic; a digression. 5.Physics. a.A movement from and back to a mean position or axis in an oscillating or alternating motion. b.The distance traversed in such a movement.

4. ex·pe·di·tion ( k s p -d sh n ) n. a.A journey undertaken by a group of people with a definite objective: an expedition against the enemy stronghold; a scientific expedition to the South Pole. b.The group undertaking such a journey. 1.Speed in performance; promptness. See Synonyms at haste.haste

6. ca·per 1 (k p r ) n. 1.A playful leap or hop. 2.A frivolous escapade or prank. 3.Slang. An illegal plot or enterprise, especially one involving theft.

8. pre·cip·i·tous (pr -s p -t s ) adj. 1.Resembling a precipice; extremely steep. See Synonyms at steep 1.steep 2.Having several precipices: a precipitous bluff. 3.Usage Problem. Extremely rapid, hasty, or abrupt; precipitate: “The change has included a precipitous collapse of Communist authority” (New York Times). See Usage Note at precipitate.precipitate

10. co·co·nut also co·coa·nut (k k - n t, -n t ) n. 1.The fruit of the coconut palm, consisting of a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed. 2.The large, brown, hard-shelled seed of the coconut, containing white flesh surrounding a partially fluid-filled central cavity. 3.The edible white flesh of the coconut, often shredded and used in food and confections or for the extraction of coconut oil. 4.A coconut palm.

12. gourd (gôrd, g r d, g rd) n. 1.Any of several trailing or climbing plants related to the pumpkin, squash, and cucumber and bearing fruits with a hard rind. a.The fruit of such a plant, often of irregular and unusual shape. b.The dried and hollowed-out shell of one of these fruits, often used as a drinking utensil.

14. prom·on·to·ry (pr m n -tôr, -t r ) n. pl. prom·on·to·ries 1.A high ridge of land or rock jutting out into a body of water; a headland. 2.Anatomy. A projecting part.

16. palm 2 (päm) n. 1.Any of various chiefly tropical evergreen trees, shrubs, or woody vines of the family Palmae (or Arecaceae), characteristically having unbranched trunks with a crown of large pinnate or palmate leaves having conspicuous parallel venation. 2.A leaf of a palm tree, carried as an emblem of victory, success, or joy.

18. sugar cane or sug·ar·cane (sh g r -k n ) n. A tall tropical southeast Asian grass (Saccharum officinarum) having thick, solid, tough stems that are a chief commercial source of sugar.

20. mon·key (m ng k ) n. pl. mon·keys 1.Any of various long-tailed, medium-sized members of the order Primates, including the macaques, baboons, guenons, capuchins, marmosets, and tamarins and excluding the anthropoid apes and the prosimians.

22. jack·al (j k l, -ôl ) n. 1.Any of several doglike mammals of the genus Canis of Africa and southern Asia that are mainly foragers feeding on plants, small animals, and occasionally carrion.

24. mast 1 (m st) n. 1.Nautical. A tall vertical spar, sometimes sectioned, that rises from the keel or deck of a sailing vessel to support the sails and the standing and running rigging.

26. cel·lar·ette also cel·lar·et (s l - r t ) n. A cabinet for storing bottles of wine or liquor.

28. pen·guin (p ng g w n, p n - ) n. 1.Any of various stout flightless marine birds of the family Spheniscidae, of cool regions of the Southern Hemisphere, having flipperlike wings and webbed feet adapted for swimming and diving, and short scalelike feathers that are white in front and black on the back.