Read the excerpt from Part 2 of “To Build a Fire.” The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet, and he, being on that unprotected tip, received the full force of the blow. The blood of his body recoiled before it. Which words from the excerpt provide context clues for the underlined word?
The words “force” and “blow” help explain “smote”: they suggest that the cold struck him powerfully. The phrase “received the full force of the blow” reinforces this meaning.
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