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Annihilation
Annihilation

Chapter XXI

Cover illustration for Annihilation
Context Illustration Reading 1/35 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”
Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.
“You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!
That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!
Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Annihilation

Chapter XXI

Reading 1/35 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”
Line 2
Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.
Line 3
“You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!
Line 4
That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!
Line 5
Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Beneath preposition US /bɪˈniːθ/

Directly under; in or to a lower position than.

From this reading “That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!”

Good noun US /good/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!””

Last noun US /last/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!”

Little noun US /little/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading ““You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!”

All words in this reading · 42

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

accents

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.

beneathprepositionUS /bɪˈniːθ/

Directly under; in or to a lower position than.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

BLACK

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”

buried

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

canmodal verbUS /kæn/

to be able to, or to be allowed to

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

chute

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

coal

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

don't

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

down

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

exclaimed

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.

fellow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

friend

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

God

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”

Goddard

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

GoodnounUS /good/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

horrified

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.

isauxiliary verbUS /ɪz/

the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

lastnounUS /last/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

littlenounUS /little/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

mean

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

mydeterminerUS /maɪ/

belonging to the person speaking

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

old

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

only

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

Orbit

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Orbit exclaimed in horrified accents.

PYRE

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”

resort

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

say

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

supposition

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

Surely

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

THEdeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading THE BLACK PYRE “Good God!”

thisdeterminerUS /ðɪs/

used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

tumbled

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!

vague

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Surely this is only a vague supposition, a last resort!

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

whatpronounUS /wʌt/

used to ask for information about something

From this reading That he was buried beneath the coal!—Goddard, my old friend, what can I say to you!

YoupronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading “You don’t mean that the little fellow tumbled down the chute!