The Battle of the Labyrinth: Chapters 1–4

by Rick Riordan
In this fourth book of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, the fourteen-year-old demigod must contend with entering high school and preventing a monstrous army from invading Camp Half-Blood.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–11, Chapters 12–15, Chapters 17–20

Here are links to our lists for the Percy Jackson & the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. intoxicating
    extremely exciting
    She smelled like roses and clean animal fur—a weird but somehow intoxicating smell.
  2. lope
    run easily
    She loped toward us, her brass foot and hoof clopping unevenly on the band-room floor.
  3. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    I backed into the band room as flames engulfed the doorway.
  4. billow
    rise up as if in waves
    Behind us, smoke billowed up from Goode High School.
  5. touchy
    difficult to handle; requiring great tact
    I knew this was a touchy subject for her. Annabeth had always admired Luke, the former head counselor for Hermes who had betrayed us and joined the evil Titan Lord Kronos.
  6. flare
    a burst of light used to communicate or illuminate
    Half-bloods try not to use cell phones if we can avoid it, because broadcasting our voices is like sending up a flare to the monsters: Here I am! Please eat me now!
  7. primordial
    having existed from the beginning
    I knew monsters never truly died. Eventually—maybe weeks, months, or years from now—Kelli would re-form out of the primordial nastiness seething in the Underworld.
  8. crest
    the top line of a hill, mountain, or wave
    Annabeth and I hiked to the crest of the hill.
  9. contented
    satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
    It looked right at home, lying on its belly, growling contentedly as it chewed the head off a combat dummy.
  10. parry
    blocking a lunge with a circular motion of the sword
    I jumped back and instinctively struck at the swordsman—a gray-haired man in Greek armor. He parried my attack with no problem.
  11. bound
    move forward by leaping
    Mrs. O’Leary cocked her head and bounded toward them.
  12. maim
    injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration
    Along the bottom, in smaller letters: OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.
  13. lumber
    move heavily or clumsily
    Quintus threw the bronze shield, and Mrs. O’Leary lumbered after it.
  14. ironic
    displaying incongruity between what is expected and what is
    Ironic to be saved by a mortal, yet we owe her a debt.
  15. wispy
    thin and weak
    She was small—petite, I guess you'd call it—with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face.
  16. canter
    go at a smooth three-beat gait, of horses
    Chiron cantered up to the front and stood next to them.
  17. impudence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    “Master Underwood, for six months—six months—we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak.”
    “But I did!”
    “Impudence!” said the elder on the left.
  18. preposterous
    inviting ridicule
    We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim.
  19. adjourn
    close at the end of a session
    “This meeting of the council is adjourned,” Silenus said.
  20. delicacy
    something considered choice to eat
    The old satyr clapped his hands, and a bunch of nymphs melted out of the trees with platters of vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and other goat delicacies.
  21. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    Grover walked dejectedly toward us.
  22. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    His face was ashen. “I—I’ll have to think about it. But we don’t even know where to look.”
  23. anemone
    a marine polyp that resembles a flower
    On the windowsills, Tyson had set out water-filled vases with sea anemones and strange glowing plants from the bottom of the ocean, more beautiful than any flower bouquets the Demeter kids could whip up.
  24. quail
    a small game bird
    It had a definite shape—a bird with folded wings, like a quail or something.
  25. fissure
    a long narrow opening
    Most of them ignored the sealed fissure in the marble floor at the entrance—a ten-foot-long jagged scar that hadn’t been there last summer—but I was careful to step over it.
  26. tranquilize
    cause to be calm or quiet as by administering a sedative to
    I looked over at Tyson, but he was still snoring. He sleeps about as heavily as a tranquilized elephant.
  27. strew
    spread by scattering
    The beach was strewn with jagged volcanic rock.
  28. grimy
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt
    His face was grimy, his eyes a little wild. He looked like a kid who’d been living on the streets.
  29. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    On the far shore was black beach shrouded in haze.
  30. institutionalize
    cause to be admitted, as a person to a hospital
    He’d been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom’s house so the mortals wouldn’t institutionalize him.
  31. expedition
    a journey organized for a particular purpose
    That’s why Clarisse went on a scouting expedition.
  32. gravely
    in a serious or solemn manner
    He nodded gravely, like we were sharing some dark secret.
  33. buffet
    strike against forcefully
    He capered around in his stall, his black wings buffeting the air.
  34. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    Mrs. O’Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.
  35. stealthy
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
    We crouched behind a boulder, but it was only the Stoll brothers tripping through the woods and cursing. Their dad was the god of thieves, but they were about as stealthy as water buffaloes.
  36. forge
    move ahead steadily
    Once the Stolls had passed, we forged deeper into the west woods where the monsters were wilder.
  37. rendezvous
    meet at an appointed place
    It was a natural landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions, but now there was nobody around.
  38. distraught
    deeply agitated especially from emotion
    He seems so distraught. All year he’s been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, it’s worse.
  39. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    We clambered sideways along the boulders, but the scorpions followed us.
  40. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    “We're fine,” I said. “We fell in a hole.”
    The others looked at me skeptically, then at Annabeth.
Created on Tue Jul 05 17:27:43 EDT 2016 (updated Sat Aug 26 08:28:51 EDT 2023)

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