Chapter 18 of Black Is White is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Black Is White is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony. “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?” “What do you mean?” He had started to put on his light overcoat. “I think you know,” she said briefly.
Chapter 18 of Black Is White is here in full — 395 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
for a short time
From this reading ““I think you know,” she said briefly.”
witty language used to convey insults or scorn
From this reading “To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.”
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading ““Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?””
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading “To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.”
a heavy coat worn over clothes in winter
From this reading “He had started to put on his light overcoat.”
a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
From this reading “To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.”
catch sight of
From this reading ““Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?””
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.”
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 “To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.”
In this reading “He had started to put on his light overcoat.”
adequately good for the circumstances
In this reading ““Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?””
put clothing on one's body
In this reading “He had started to put on his light overcoat.”
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 To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
anew
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
for a short time
From this reading “I think you know,” she said briefly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “What do you mean?”
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I think you know,” she said briefly.
witty language used to convey insults or scorn
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “I think you know,” she said briefly.
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “What do you mean?”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
above and across; more than
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
a heavy coat worn over clothes in winter
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “I think you know,” she said briefly.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
catch sight of
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
past form of “start” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading He had started to put on his light overcoat.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading “I think you know,” she said briefly.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What do you mean?”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
in the company of; together with
From this reading To Brood's surprise she came half-way down the steps again, and, leaning over the railing, spoke to him with a voice full of irony.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Will you be good enough to call off your spy, James?”
Chapter 18 of Black Is White by George Barr McCutcheon holds 395 sentences, grouped into 79 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 18 holds 395 sentences of Black Is White, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Black Is White by George Barr McCutcheon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 395 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 18 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 Black Is White by George Barr McCutcheon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7795 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54097 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54097, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1559 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Black Is White section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of Black Is White 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 Black Is White, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
