The Hidden Oracle: Chapters 1–6

by Rick Riordan
After Zeus banishes him to New York City, Apollo seeks the help of Percy Jackson and other demigods at Camp Half Blood.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–12, Chapters 13–20, Chapters 21–29, Chapters 30–39
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. clad
    wearing or provided with clothing
    I appeared to be a teenaged Caucasian male, clad in sneakers, blue jeans, and a green polo shirt.
  2. bearing
    characteristic way of holding one's body
    I stood up straight, hoping Cade and Mikey would be intimidated by my regal bearing and divine beauty.
  3. obstinate
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    She had the same obstinate scowl my old girlfriend Cyrene used to get whenever she wrestled lions.
  4. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    Her bossy nasal voice made her sound like she was chiding a playmate in a game of make-believe.
  5. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    Cade did a sort of scuttling crab walk to get away from the girl.
  6. disgorge
    cause or allow to flow or run out or over
    The girl swung her garbage bag. In mid arc the plastic exploded, disgorging an impossible number of rotten bananas.
  7. scrutinize
    look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail
    She walked a full circle around me, scrutinizing my appearance as if I were a prize cow.
  8. faze
    disturb the composure of
    She sounded less than awestruck. She also didn’t seem fazed by the idea of gods walking among mortals.
  9. scullery
    a small room next to the kitchen for household jobs
    Meg’s voice took on a singsong tone, as if she were about to announce the rules of the game: I’ll be the princess, and you'll be the scullery maid.
  10. inalienable
    incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another
    Immortal gods do not get acne. It is one of our inalienable rights.
  11. manifest
    reveal its presence or make an appearance
    Monsters usually began hunting down and killing young heroes around the time they turned thirteen, when their true powers began to manifest.
  12. glean
    collect or gather bit by bit, especially information
    Had I been my usual omniscient self, I could have gleaned Meg’s destiny. I could have looked into her soul and seen all I needed to know about her godly parentage, her powers, her motives and secrets.
  13. tamp
    press down tightly
    I tamped down that thought.
  14. amiss
    not functioning properly
    I saw nothing amiss, but I didn’t doubt Meg had seen shiny blobs.
  15. garbled
    lacking orderly continuity
    I rang the buzzer. A few moments later, the garbled voice of a woman answered, “Yes?”
  16. apprehension
    fearful expectation or anticipation
    My scalp tingled with apprehension.
  17. tousle
    disarrange or rumple; dishevel
    He had the same sea-green eyes, the same dark tousled hair, the same handsome features that could shift from humor to anger so easily.
  18. colonnade
    structure consisting of a row of evenly spaced columns
    The Jackson apartment had no grand throne room, no colonnades, no terraces or banquet halls or even a thermal bath.
  19. smitten
    marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
    I understood why Poseidon had been so smitten with her. Sally Jackson possessed just the right combination of compassion, strength, and beauty.
  20. consternation
    sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
    My mortal form was working its way upon my state of mind. I saw Sally Jackson as a mom—a fact that both consternated and embarrassed me.
  21. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    Perhaps teenage angst had permeated the clothes, because I felt more like a sulky high schooler than ever.
  22. empirical
    derived from experiment and observation rather than theory
    Of course, all that was empirically true.
  23. emblazon
    decorate, adorn, or inscribe with a design
    Emblazoned on the front was Led Zeppelin’s logo for their record label: winged Icarus falling from the sky.
  24. progeny
    the immediate descendants of a person
    He’d accused me of starting the whole thing, just because Gaea had duped one of my progeny, a boy named Octavian, into plunging the Roman and Greek demigod camps into a civil war that almost destroyed human civilization.
  25. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    Percy’s voice stirred me from my reverie.
  26. stasis
    inactivity resulting from a balance between opposing forces
    What had happened in the last six months? Had I been in some kind of stasis? Had Zeus taken that long to decide what to do with me?
  27. exploit
    a notable achievement
    During the war with Gaea, I had been focused mostly on my own fabulous exploits.
  28. frock
    a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice
    She had evidently insisted on keeping her old red sneakers, but she wore new black leggings and a knee-length frock of shifting green hues.
  29. complementary
    serving to fill out, enhance, or supply what is lacking
    Mrs. Jackson had figured out how to keep Meg’s old look but tweak it to be more complementary.
  30. stratum
    one of several parallel layers of material
    She set down a bowl of tortilla chips and a casserole dish filled with elaborate dip in multicolored strata, like sedimentary rock.
  31. innate
    inborn or existing naturally
    Her expression softened, her innate kindness perhaps overweighing her concern. “All right. Be careful. It was lovely meeting you both. Please try not to die.”
  32. arcane
    requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
    Perhaps that was an arcane ward against evil spirits.
  33. fodder
    soldiers regarded as expendable under artillery fire
    “I suppose Chiron just forgot. I’ll remind him when we get to camp, and he can dispatch some of you talented fodder—I mean heroes—”
  34. sojourn
    a temporary stay
    I was beginning to see what was in store for me during my mortal sojourn.
  35. billowing
    characterized by great swelling waves or surges
    Weaving through the traffic, closing in on us rapidly, were three glittery, vaguely humanoid apparitions—like billowing plumes from smoke grenades touched by King Midas.
  36. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    We swerved into an industrial area of dilapidated warehouses, the smoking apparitions still closing in behind us.
  37. fallow
    left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season
    The landscape opened into actual countryside—fallow fields, dormant vineyards, orchards of bare fruit trees.
  38. oblivion
    the state of being disregarded or forgotten
    I knew instinctively that I had dealt with these spirits before. I couldn’t remember what they were, but I had dispelled them many times, swatting them into oblivion with no more effort than I would a swarm of gnats.
  39. ward off
    repel or turn away
    I raised my hand in an ancient three-fingered gesture for warding off evil.
  40. dissipate
    go away, scatter, or disappear
    The smoky shapes trembled. My hopes lifted. I waited for them to dissipate or flee in terror.
Created on Mon Jul 05 14:27:46 EDT 2021 (updated Fri Jul 09 15:33:11 EDT 2021)

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