The Burning Maze: Chapters 8–15

by Rick Riordan
In this third book of the series The Trials of Apollo, Lester, guided by the satyr Grover, must trace a deadly course to find the master of the swift white horse and reach the Tiber river.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–15, Chapters 16–24, Chapters 25–33, Chapters 34–47
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. barrage
    the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area
    I grabbed the satyr’s collar and dragged him backward as the employees’ first shots went wild, a barrage of bright orange discount stickers flying over our heads.
  2. strew
    be dispersed over
    From the aisle we’d just left, I heard bangs and screams as if Macro were running across a hot skillet strewn with popcorn kernels.
  3. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “Apollo,” Macro chided, “there’s no point in fighting my automatons. This is a military-surplus store. I have fifty more just like these in storage.”
  4. apprehend
    take into police custody
    Military Madness team members, kill the satyr and apprehend the former god!
  5. trill
    sing or play alternating with the half note above or below
    Hedge began to trill a tune on his coach’s whistle—“The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin.
  6. maestro
    an artist of consummate skill
    As any maestro can tell you, a conductor should never simultaneously order the violins to speed up, the timpani to soften, and the brass to crescendo.
  7. stymie
    hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of
    Alas, I found myself stymied by my own accursed love handles. In short, I got stuck.
  8. exhortation
    a communication intended to urge or persuade to take action
    The coach’s exhortations gave me the extra burst of motivation I needed to squeeze my flabby mortal body through the gap.
  9. colic
    acute abdominal pain, especially in infants
    “Kid’s gonna give me colic,” the speaker grumbled aloud to himself.
  10. ebb
    fall away or decline
    Now that we were out of immediate danger, now that my adrenaline was ebbing, I found myself gripped by a cold, heavy despair.
  11. stupor
    a state of being half-awake
    I was in such a stupor, I barely remember going through the drive-through lane of Enchiladas del Rey and picking up enough combo plates to feed several dozen nature spirits.
  12. brood
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    Meg sat at the edge of the pool, trailing her bare feet in the water and stealing glances at Joshua Tree, who stood nearby, brooding handsomely in his khakis.
  13. lilting
    characterized by a buoyant rhythm
    “You sure we’re safe?” asked a short plump girl with a lilting accent and red flowers in her hair (or perhaps sprouting from her hair).
  14. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
    I explained how Zeus had me traveling around the country, freeing ancient Oracles as part of my penance, because that’s just the sort of horrible father he was.
  15. consul
    one of the two magistrates elected annually in ancient Rome
    He’s a magical horse. The emperor trusts him, probably more than he trusts anyone. Back when the emperor ruled ancient Rome, he dressed Incitatus in senatorial purple, even tried to make him a consul.
  16. depraved
    deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper
    Even for those who knew little about him, the name Caligula conjured the darkest, most depraved images. His reign was bloodier and more infamous than Nero’s, who had grown up in awe of his wicked great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus.
  17. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    One of the dryads huffed indignantly.
  18. nebulous
    lacking definite form or limits
    Mellie spent a few more microseconds pondering the night sky, and possibly her former life as a nebulous bachelorette.
  19. quash
    declare invalid
    I didn’t want to quash the dryads’ newfound hopes, but I felt compelled to say, “There’s more. Your sanctuary might not be safe much longer.”
  20. traipse
    walk or tramp about
    She trudged up the ramp, still barefoot despite traipsing past twenty different species of cactus, and slipped into the dark.
  21. conscientious
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    The nature spirits began cleaning up their dinner trash (dryads are very conscientious about that sort of thing), while I went in search of Meg McCaffrey.
  22. solemnity
    a somber and dignified feeling
    “I promise,” she said, with all the solemnity of her five-year-old heart.
  23. phalanx
    a body of troops in close array
    A good fighter, but no fun at all. Never any interest in music or poetry or even archery. With Philip it was all phalanxes, all the time.
  24. undulate
    occur in soft rounded shapes
    A crescent of windswept golden hills, studded with conifers, undulated down to the cold blue waters of the Aegean.
  25. manacle
    shackle that can be locked around the wrist
    Whether it was a trap or not, I couldn’t leave her in a chamber of lava, shackled with molten manacles.
  26. frisson
    an almost pleasurable sensation of fright
    A frisson of pleasure went up my back.
  27. megalomaniac
    a pathological egotist
    With all my running around as a mortal, freeing ancient Oracles and fighting Roman megalomaniacs, I’d had zero time to keep up with juicy Hollywood gossip.
  28. collate
    assemble in proper sequence
    All of the papers—envelopes, collated reports, business letters—were dandelion yellow.
  29. vista
    the visual percept of a region
    Oh, the scenic ocean vista!
  30. portent
    a sign of something about to happen
    We all knew that demigods couldn’t take a catnap without being plagued by omens and portents.
  31. tactless
    lacking what is considerate in dealing with others
    “You guys break up or what?”
    Leave it to McCaffrey to be tactless about love with a child of Aphrodite, while simultaneously starting a fire in front of a satyr.
  32. filch
    make off with belongings of others
    “Like this one,” Meg said, pulling from her gardening belt a folded letter she must have filched from the great room.
  33. foreclose
    take away the right of mortgagors to redeem their mortgage
    “They repo-ed ten cars. And the helicopter. They’re foreclosing on this place at the end of the week and taking the airplane.”
  34. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    Grover removed his cap and stared at it mournfully. Perhaps he was thinking reverent thoughts, or perhaps he was just hungry.
  35. allotment
    a share set aside for a specific purpose
    “Our family still has property,” Piper said, “outside Tahlequah, Oklahoma—the original Cherokee allotment. End of the week, we’re using our last flight on the airplane to go back home. This is one battle I guess your evil emperors won.”
  36. triumvirate
    a group of three people responsible for civil authority
    “He and the other two emperors did not go back through the Doors of Death. They never really left the world of the living. They are basically minor gods. They’ve had millennia to build their secret empire, Triumvirate Holdings.”
  37. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    She led us to the driveway, where Mr. McLean had resumed his duties as a dazed wanderer. He meandered around the drive, head bowed as if he were looking for a dropped coin.
  38. accoutrement
    accessory or supplementary item of clothing
    The guard looked down at the strange new accoutrement protruding from his thigh. The shaft’s fletching matched his white fur perfectly.
  39. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
    Kneeling next to her friend, Agave didn’t look too bad until she turned, revealing her burns. The left side of her face was a mass of charred tissue and glistening sap. Her left arm was nothing but a desiccated brown curl.
  40. rapacious
    excessively greedy and grasping
    She turned her dark rapacious gaze on me. “This is Apollo, I take it? Oh, you’ve saved me so much time and trouble. And after we’re done, Piper, you’ll make a lovely snack for my dragons!”
Created on Fri Sep 02 11:59:58 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Feb 03 10:36:55 EST 2023)

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