Cathy Kelly - What she wants

Some vocabulary from the second chapter of the book, I would try to post some of them from the first chapter and write anything about the book. Anyway, I have enjoyed reading it.

• incumbent noun [C]

the person who has or had a particular official position:
the first/last/previous incumbent
The present incumbent (of the post) is due to retire next month.

• kudos noun [U]

the fame and public admiration that a person receives as a result of a particular achievement or position in society:
Being an actor has a certain amount of kudos attached to it.

• muster sth up phrasal verb

If you muster up a feeling of bravery or energy, you try hard to find that quality in yourself because you need it in order to do something:
[+ to infinitive] She finally mustered up the courage to ask him for more money.

• teeter on the brink/edge of sth

If something is teetering on the brink/edge of a bad situation, it is likely that the situation will happen soon:
What we are seeing now is a country teetering on the brink of civil war.
teetering on the abyss of the forty

• bleached an adjective
  

- having lost freshness or brilliance of color; "sun-bleached deck chairs"; "faded jeans"; "a very pale washed-out blue"; "washy colors"
faded, washed-out, washy
colorless, colourless - weak in color; not colorful

• slog (WORK HARD) verb -gg-

1 [I usually + adverb or preposition] MAINLY UK INFORMAL to work hard over a long period, especially doing work that is difficult or boring:
I've been slogging away for days on this essay and I'm still not finished.
2 [I + adverb or preposition] to travel or move with difficulty, for example through wet, sticky soil or snow, or when you are very tired:
Despite the rain, they slogged on for another six miles.

• dork noun [C] SLANG

a stupid awkward person

• mainline (DRUGS) verb [I or T] INFORMAL

to inject drugs directly into the blood:
Several of her friends were mainlining heroin.
By now she was mainlining.

• tawny adjective

of a light yellowish brown colour, like that of a lion

• sleek adjective

(especially of hair, clothes or shapes) smooth, shiny and lying close to the body, and therefore looking well cared for; not untidy and with no parts sticking out:
The cat had sleek fur.
Who owns that sleek black car parked outside your house?
DISAPPROVING He's one of those sleek (= seeming rich and dishonest) businessman types.

• willowy adjective APPROVING

(especially of a woman) graceful and thin:
a willowy blonde

• with a vengeance

with great force or extreme energy:
He's been working with a vengeance over the past few weeks to make up for lost time.
Flared trousers are back with a vengeance (= very popular again) this summer.

• fall by the wayside

If someone falls by the wayside, they fail to finish an activity, and if something falls by the wayside, people stop doing it, making it, or using it :
So why does one company survive a recession while its competitors fall by the wayside?

• reedy adjective

2 DISAPPROVING describes a sound, especially a voice, that is thin and high and not pleasant to listen to