The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, Vocabulary List Chapters 44-46

familiar with

His eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and he moved down the stairs more quickly, more surely, whispering to himself the tale of a devious rat and a fat serving girl and a beautiful princess and a brave mouse and some soup and a spool of red thread.

a great amount or source of something

Oh my, what a cornucopia of scents.

to discover or notice the presence of (something that is hidden or hard to see, hear, taste, etc.)

"And I also detect the smell"- he put his nose high into the air and took a big whiff- "of flour and oil."

willing to lie and trick people in order to get what is wanted

His eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and he moved down the stairs more quickly, more surely, whispering to himself the tale of a devious rat and a fat serving girl and a beautiful princess and a brave mouse and some soup and a spool of red thread.

being twisted, rugged, or full of knots

Lazily, it came to a stop right at the gnarled paw of a rat.

great enjoyment, energy, and enthusiasm

He pushed the spool of thread with a great deal of gusto.

a sign that shows or suggests the condition or existence of something

"And if that ain't an indicator of what strange days these are," she said to herself, "then I don't know what is."

to move (something or someone) in a careful and usually skillful way

And so he began, immediately and without despair, the hard work of maneuvering the spool of thread down the narrow dungeon steps.

rendered incapable of movement or action

He was paralyzed by fear.

to pick out from a group

"And it so happened that this mouse was the one who was selected by fate to serve the princess, to honor her, and to save her from the darkness of a terrible dungeon."

to drop or slide down suddenly : COLLAPSE

Despereaux slumped against the spool of thread.

to move lightly through the air

The smell of soup again wafted in Despereaux's direction.