Based on the excerpt, what is the contextual meaning of the word jostle?
Although, as we walked to the Cova through the tough part of town, walking in the dark, with light and singing coming out of the wine-shops, and sometimes having to walk into the street when the men and women would crowd together on the sidewalk so that we would have had to jostle them to get by, we felt held together by there being something that had happened that they, the people who disliked us, did not understand.
a. to struggle or compete forcefully for
b. to dodge or go around
c. to quarrel or argue with
d. to push, elbow, or bump against
I think the answer is B
This is a very ambiguous question. From the context, your answer would be correct. However, jostle actually means something different.
http://www.google.com/#q=jostle+&*
Based on the given excerpt, the contextual meaning of the word "jostle" is option d. To push, elbow, or bump against. In the excerpt, it mentions having to walk into the street to avoid the crowd of people on the sidewalk, which implies having to physically push or bump against them to get through.
To determine the contextual meaning of the word "jostle" in this excerpt, let's analyze the surrounding sentence: "sometimes having to walk into the street when the men and women would crowd together on the sidewalk so that we would have had to jostle them to get by."
In this sentence, it mentions that the men and women crowded together on the sidewalk, forcing the speaker to walk into the street. The phrase "so that we would have had to jostle them to get by" indicates that the speaker would need to push, elbow, or bump against the crowded people to pass through.
Therefore, based on the contextual clues provided, the correct answer is option d. to push, elbow, or bump against.