One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.

1. deaf and dumb (adjective phrase):

(dated; offensive) an out-of-use expression that in earlier times was used to describe a person unable to hear or speak

“They don’t bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I’m nearby because they think I’m deaf and dumb. Everybody thinks so. I’m cagey enough to fool them that much” (3).

2. ward (noun):

in medicine, a room or floor set aside for a particular group of patients; in law, a person under the control of a legal guardian

“I hear noise at the ward door, off up the hall out of my sight. That ward door starts opening at eight and opens and closes a thousand times a day, kashash, click” (9).

3. acute (adjective):

in medicine, characterizing a brief, serious bout of illness (in the novel, a person with such symptoms)

“One side of the room younger patients, known as Acutes because the doctors figure them still sick enough to be fixed, practice arm wrestling and card tricks where you add and subtract and count down so many and it’s a certain card” (13).