The Lightning Thief

1. suspension (noun):

removal, usually temporary, of a student from their school

“The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.” (Chapter 1, Page 3)

2. gallery (noun):

a place in which art is displayed

“He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old back-and-orange pottery.” (Chapter 1, Page 4)

3. disgorge (verb):

to eject through the throat and mouth

“Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach.” (Chapter 1, Page 6).

4. dyslexia (noun):

a condition affecting a student’s ability to read and interpret words, letters, and other written symbols

“But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life.” (Chapter 1, Page 7)

5. obnoxious (adjective):

offensive or meriting objection

“I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties…” (Chapter 2, Page 17)

6. solstice (noun):

twice annual date on which the sun reaches its highest or lowest point, causing the longest and shortest days

“‘But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—” (Chapter 2, Page 19)

7. rebellious (adjective):

resisting authority

“This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof she wasn’t totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.” (Chapter 3, Page 38)

8. hallucination (noun):

a figment of one’s imagination

“I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.” (Chapter 3, Page 40)

9. satyr (noun):

a creature from Greek mythology that is half-human, half-goat

“There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!” (Chapter 4, Page 45)

10. pinochle (noun):

a card game for two or more in which players score points for a variety of card combinations

“I Play Pinochle with a Horse.” (Chapter 5, Page 57)

11. immortal (adjective):

never-ending, unable to die

“‘Percy,’ Chiron said, ‘you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?” (Chapter 5, Page 68)

12. naiad (noun):

a mythological creature that lives in water

“‘Don’t encourage them,’ Annabeth warned. ‘Naiads are terrible flirts.’” (Chapter 7, Page 94)

13. mischievous (adjective):

likely to cause trouble

“For the first time, I noticed that a lot of campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles.” (Chapter 7, Page 100)

14. offering (noun):

something given up as a gift, usually as a sign of respect

“Luke murmured n my ear, ‘Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell.” (Chapter 7, Page 104)

15. pulverize (verb):

to beat down to the point of destruction

“And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.” (Chapter 8, Page 107)

16. drachma (noun):

currency of ancient Greece

“The camp store loaned me one hundred in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas.” (Chapter 10, Page 149)

17. ambrosia (noun):

the food of Greek gods

“He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt.” (Chapter 10, Page 149)

18. misnomer (noun): 

a name that is an inaccurate representation

“Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer.” (Chapter 10, Page 155).

19. impertinent (adjective):

disrespectful or rude

“‘They’re not going to like that,’ Grover warned. ‘They’ll think you’re impertinent.’” (Chapter 11, Page 186)

20. environmentalist (noun):

someone who is concerned about the environment

“‘No. This makes me sad.’ He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. ‘And the sky. You can’t even see the stars. They’ve polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr.’

‘Oh, yeah. I guess you’d be an environmentalist.’” (Chapter 11, Page 189)

21. accomplice (noun):

one who aids in a crime

“Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe that the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices.” (Chapter 13, Page 197)

22. Parthenon (noun):

temple in Athens, Greece, that was built to honor the Greek go

“‘I want to do that,’ she sighed.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?’” (Chapter 11, Page 202)

23. architect (noun):

someone who designs buildings

“‘Someday, I’m going to see it in person. I’m going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that’ll last a thousand years.’

I laughed. ‘You? An architect?’” (Chapter 11, Page 202)

24. revelation (noun):

realization or epiphany

“I’d love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.” (Chapter 14, Page 212)

25. trireme (noun):

an ancient Greek boat with three sets of oars

“‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year’s beads. I’ve got Thalia’s pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress—now that was a weird summer…’” (Chapter 16, Page 250)

26. speedometer (noun):

instrument in a car that measures speed

“The cab’s speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.” (Chapter 17, Page 267)

27. shoal (noun):

a sandbar that makes the water shallow

“I walked down into the shoals. I shouldn’t have been able to see through the murk, but somehow I could tell where everything was.” (Chapter 17, Page 270)

28. transparent (adjective):

see through; clear

“The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through to his skull.” (Chapter 18, Page 289)

29. obsidian (noun):

a dark rock formed when lava becomes solid

“Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian.” (Chapter 19, Page 302)

30. gilded (adjective):

coated in gold

“I glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades’s. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold.” (Chapter 19, 310)