The Red Pyramid: Chapters 16–23

by Rick Riordan
In the first volume of The Kane Chronicles, siblings Carter and Sadie must use their newly discovered magical powers to defeat an ancient Egyptian god.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–15, Chapters 16–23, Chapters 24–31, Chapters 32–41

Here are links to our lists for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian

Here are links to our lists for The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, The Blood of Olympus
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    “Carter will be allowed to keep your father’s magic implements, plus a new staff and wand. Generally speaking, the wand is for defense, the staff is for offense, although, Carter, you may prefer to use your khopesh.”
  2. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    I screamed, sure I’d done something horrible, but when the fire died Zia was still there, looking astonished, her eyebrows singed and her bangs smoldering.
  3. preposterous
    inviting ridicule
    I found the idea preposterous.
  4. aptitude
    inherent ability
    The only thing Carter had shown aptitude for was summoning butter knives and pooping birds.
  5. deplete
    use up, as resources or materials
    “You drew from your own reserves, not from the staff. You can quickly deplete your magic.”
  6. daft
    foolish or mentally irregular
    “You think we’re hosting gods,” I said, absolutely stunned. “That’s what you’re worried about—just because of something our great-times-a-thousand grandparents did? That’s completely daft.”
  7. defiantly
    in a rebellious manner
    I turned defiantly to Zia.
  8. ail
    be unwell
    “He—he had been ailing for years, of course. But still...”
  9. incentive
    a positive motivational influence
    “You have four minutes now. If you can’t operate the obelisk, you’ll die.”
    That was enough incentive for me.
  10. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    His body was emaciated, slimy, and black, and his head was that of a feral beast.
  11. feral
    wild and menacing
    His body was emaciated, slimy, and black, and his head was that of a feral beast.
  12. full-fledged
    having gained complete status
    I was crazy to think I could hold off a full-fledged magician. I was no warrior.
  13. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    Each one cracked down the middle, and ghostly apparitions appeared from the stone like locusts breaking out of their shells.
  14. lope
    run easily
    Two more sphinx ghosts loped toward me.
  15. eaves
    the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
    We huddled under the eaves of a big white government building and watched the rain pour down on the Place de la Concorde.
  16. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    Sadie looked at me tentatively, almost daring me to make fun of her.
  17. stricken
    affected by something overwhelming
    When I gave her the details, she looked stricken. “God, no.”
  18. testy
    easily irritated or annoyed
    What? he said testily.
  19. default
    an option that is selected automatically
    “So you got the default portal for the U.S.—the largest single source of Egyptian power in North America.”
  20. vertigo
    a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall
    I had another moment of vertigo and moved away from the window.
  21. node
    a connecting point at which several lines come together
    “I wasn’t actually trapped in the obelisk. My prison was a magically created abyss deep in the Duat, and the obelisk was the door your parents used to release me. But, yes. All symbols of Egypt are concentrated nodes of magic power. So an obelisk can definitely be used to imprison gods.”
  22. construe
    make sense of; assign a meaning to
    Carter looked at me strangely, and I realized what I’d said might have been construed as a compliment.
  23. unnerve
    disturb the composure of
    His dark brown eyes had the most unnerving effect on me, and I was very glad I’d changed out of my glowing chicken outfit.
  24. gallant
    being attentive and courteous like an ideal knight
    I tried again, and managed three entire words. “What are you...”
    “Doing here?” he said, gallantly finishing my sentence.
  25. nebula
    an immense cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space
    She had the entire cosmos living on her skin: gleaming constellations, galaxies too bright to look at, glowing nebulae of pink and blue dust.
  26. manifestation
    an appearance in bodily form
    “Um...are you inside a human host?”
    “No, dear. The sky itself is my body. This is merely a manifestation.”
  27. embodiment
    a new personification of a familiar idea
    Apophis was the embodiment of chaos.
  28. stanchion
    any vertical post or rod used as a support
    Sure enough, more passengers started yelling “Moose!” and running around as the Set animal plowed through the lines and got tangled up in the stanchions.
  29. dispatch
    dispose of rapidly and without delay and efficiently
    Now dispatch the beast to the netherworld!
  30. rift
    a narrow fissure in rock
    He flew toward the ceiling, his eyes widening with surprise as he passed through an unseen rift and disappeared.
  31. stark
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    Stark mountains rose up here and there like chunks of the moon.
  32. burly
    muscular and heavily built
    One was a tall demon in leather armor. The other was a burly man in red combat fatigues.
  33. fatigues
    military uniform worn by personnel when doing menial labor
    His short bristly hair and trimmed goatee were as red as his combat fatigues.
  34. charismatic
    possessing an extraordinary ability to attract
    Dad was, I had to admit, quite a presence. You’d be hard-pressed not to want his approval. (No doubt that’s where I get my own stunningly charismatic personality.)
  35. augment
    enlarge or increase
    “...If he’s able to generate one great explosion of storm energy at sunrise on that day—using not only his own magic, but augmenting it with the power of other gods he’s managed to enslave...the amount of chaos he could unleash is almost unimaginable.”
  36. cache
    a secret store of valuables or money
    “We’re getting close. If I know Thoth, he’ll find a center of learning. A library, perhaps, or a cache of books in a magician’s tomb.”
  37. lapel
    a fold of fabric below the collar of a coat or jacket
    He brushed a stain off his lapel and seven letters fluttered to the floor, forming a word: crawdad.
  38. mediate
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    “And do you remember that without my help, Isis and you both would’ve died? Oh, I tried to mediate a solution to prevent the battle. That is one of my jobs, you know: to keep balance between order and chaos. But no-o-o, Isis convinced me to help your side because Set was getting too powerful. And the battle almost destroyed the world.”
  39. chafe
    feel extreme irritation or anger
    Isis chafed against my willpower, insisting that we blast some sense into Thoth.
  40. coy
    showing marked and often playful evasiveness or reluctance
    “And what is coming?” Thoth asked. “The rise of Set?” His tone was coy, like a teacher trying a trick question.
Created on Thu Aug 01 10:07:17 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Aug 07 10:04:38 EDT 2019)

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