Chapter 1 of Biltmore Oswald is here in full — 380 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Biltmore Oswald is here in full — 380 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear. She seemed to have it on her brain. There were several young girls standing right next to her. I really felt I was no longer a bachelor. Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
Chapter 1 of Biltmore Oswald is here in full — 380 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 39/76 · 5 reading units · Lines 191–195
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.
a man who has never been married
From this reading “I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.”
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading “She seemed to have it on her brain.”
plural of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?”
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading “Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.”
the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
From this reading “Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?”
extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree
From this reading “Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?”
undergarment worn next to the skin and under the outer garments
From this reading “Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.”
ligament made of metal and used to fasten things or make cages or fences etc
From this reading “Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.”
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.
a girl or young woman who is unmarried
In this reading “There were several young girls standing right next to her.”
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 I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
a man who has never been married
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
(especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
for more time
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
plural of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
not any; not one
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
precisely, exactly
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
so extremely intense as to evoke screams
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
(used with count nouns) of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
having a supporting base
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She seemed to have it on her brain.
extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
undergarment worn next to the skin and under the outer garments
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I really felt I was no longer a bachelor.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why do mothers lay such tremendous stress on underwear?
ligament made of metal and used to fasten things or make cages or fences etc
From this reading Mother kept screaming through the wire about my underwear.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading There were several young girls standing right next to her.
Chapter 1 of Biltmore Oswald by Thorne Smith holds 380 sentences, grouped into 76 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 1 holds 380 sentences of Biltmore Oswald, unabridged, divided into 76 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Biltmore Oswald by Thorne Smith exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 380 sentences, grouped into 76 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 76 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 76 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 1 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 Biltmore Oswald by Thorne Smith on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2007 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16634 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16634, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 167 minutes of reading across 402 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Biltmore Oswald section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Biltmore Oswald 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 Biltmore Oswald, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
