Chapter 14 of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece. Raise lights._ DICCON. My lord, the soldiers are coming! [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates! GILLIAN.
Chapter 14 of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
plural of “candle” — stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading “[_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.”
plural of “carry” — the act of carrying something
United States computer entrepreneur whose software company made him the youngest multi-billionaire in the history of the United States (born in 1955)
From this reading “[_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!”
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading “[_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.”
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading “Raise lights._ DICCON.”
raise the level or amount of something
From this reading “Raise lights._ DICCON.”
plural of “rush” — the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading “My lord, the soldiers are coming!”
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 “[_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.”
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 [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading My lord, the soldiers are coming!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
plural of “candle” — stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
plural of “carry” — the act of carrying something
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading My lord, the soldiers are coming!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
to come or go into
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
United States computer entrepreneur whose software company made him the youngest multi-billionaire in the history of the United States (born in 1955)
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
highest in quality
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading Raise lights._ DICCON.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading My lord, the soldiers are coming!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My lord, the soldiers are coming!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
plural of “place” — a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
raise the level or amount of something
From this reading Raise lights._ DICCON.
plural of “rush” — the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading My lord, the soldiers are coming!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
precisely as stated
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading [_Enter_ DICCON _and_ GILLIAN _in greatest excitement._ DICCON _carries a pair of candles, which he places hastily on the chimney-piece.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading [_Rushes to window._] They be at our very gates!
Chapter 14 of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls by Elsie Hobart Carter holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 14 holds 405 sentences of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls by Elsie Hobart Carter exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 14 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 Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls by Elsie Hobart Carter on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8248 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58546 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58546, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1650 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls 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 Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
