Chapter 7 of Backwater is here in full — 343 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Backwater is here in full — 343 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service. She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream. Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile. Miriam waited sitting at her side. It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
Chapter 7 of Backwater is here in full — 343 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/68 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
at or in the front
From this reading “She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.”
inflected form of “dip” — immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
From this reading “Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.”
-ing form of “dry” — remove the moisture from and make dry
From this reading “Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.”
the middle of the day
From this reading “It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.”
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading “Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.”
shaped like a ring
From this reading “Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.”
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading “She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.”
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading “Miriam waited sitting at her side.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.”
temporarily
In this reading “She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.”
become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
In this reading “It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.”
the sum of the values of a random variable divided by the number of values
In this reading “It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
at or in the front
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Miriam waited sitting at her side.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
inflected form of “dip” — immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
-ing form of “dry” — remove the moisture from and make dry
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
plural of “finger” — any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
the middle of the day
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miriam waited sitting at her side.
a particular point in time
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
shaped like a ring
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Miriam waited sitting at her side.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading She sat for a moment staring ahead down-stream.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading Miriam waited sitting at her side.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the first moment of silence since she had come home at midday.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
a Caucasian
From this reading Harriett’s ringed fingers had finished dipping and drying the blue and white tea-service.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Sitting opposite her, Gerald watched her face with a half smile.
Chapter 7 of Backwater by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson holds 343 sentences, grouped into 69 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 7 holds 343 sentences of Backwater, unabridged, divided into 69 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Backwater by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 343 sentences, grouped into 69 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 69 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 69 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 7 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Backwater by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4235 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56221 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56221, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 352 minutes of reading across 847 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Backwater section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Backwater to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Backwater, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
