Wondrous Words Wednesday

First of all, happy birthday to me! :)

Second of all, I've been inspired by Mo to try to do this meme every now and then. Who can't use a few vocabulary words?!

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Bermudaonion, and the idea is that you write down unfamiliar words that you run across when you're reading and look them up and share the meaning.

These words are from Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper.

Tarsier - a small, arboreal, nocturnal primate of the genus Tarsius, of Indonesia and the Philippines, having a long thin tail, very large immobile eyes, and prominent pads on the fingers and toes: all populations are dwindling.

"I think of saying something like tarsier just to show off, but then he'll ask what the hell that is and I can't remember if it is a rodent or a lizard." (page 281)

Neutropenic - ?? I'm unsure of this. I can't find a clear definition of this one and I'm not sure which definition of the root word applies. I know it's the adjective form of Neutropenia.

Neutropenia is defined as an abnormal decrease in the number of neutrophils in the blood.

Neutrophil is defined as –adjective 1. (of a cell or cell part) having an affinity for neutral dyes.

–noun 2. a phagocytic white blood cell having a lobulate nucleus and neutrophil granules in the cytoplasm.

The context of the word is below (she was describing the punch at a dance for cancer patients).


"Like every other food item provided for the celebrants, it's neutropenic." (page 318)

So does she mean that the punch was neutrally colored or that there was something about the punch that made it boost the white blood cells of a group of people who would have a low blood cell count due to all the chemo? Can punch do that??