Chapter 14 of Deerbrook is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Deerbrook is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney." "Pooh! It is thick enough between you and the water. You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned." "But it is so slippery!"
Chapter 14 of Deerbrook is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 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.
rid of obstructions
From this reading “"It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."”
absence of light or illumination
From this reading “"It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."”
past form of “drown” — cover completely or make imperceptible
From this reading “You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."”
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “"It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."”
plural of “look” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading “"It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."”
causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide
From this reading “"But it is so slippery!"”
the largest Australian city located in southeastern Australia on the Tasman Sea; state capital of New South Wales; Australia's chief port
From this reading “"It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."”
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading “It is thick enough between you and the water.”
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 You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
earlier than; in front of
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "But it is so slippery!"
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
rid of obstructions
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
absence of light or illumination
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
past form of “drown” — cover completely or make imperceptible
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
plural of “look” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Pooh!
causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide
From this reading "But it is so slippery!"
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
the largest Australian city located in southeastern Australia on the Tasman Sea; state capital of New South Wales; Australia's chief port
From this reading "It looks so grey, and clear, and dark, Sydney."
express in words
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading You would have to get down a good way, I can tell you, before you could get drowned."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is thick enough between you and the water.
Chapter 14 of Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau holds 397 sentences, grouped into 80 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 397 sentences of Deerbrook, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 397 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11674 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #24210 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #24210, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2335 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Deerbrook section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of Deerbrook 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 Deerbrook, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
