used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.
behindprepositionUS /bɪˈhaɪnd/
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
climbingnounUS /ˈklaɪmɪŋ/
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.
creepingnounUS /ˈkriːpɪŋ/
a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
DouglasnounUS /ˈdʌɡləs/
United States politician who proposed that individual territories be allowed to decide whether they would have slavery; he engaged in a famous series of debates with Abraham Lincoln (1813-1861)
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
draggingadjectiveUS /ˈdræɡɪŋ/
marked by a painfully slow and effortful manner
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
conceived of or imagined or hoped for
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
shoot down, of birds
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
laddersnounUS /ˈlædərz/
plural of “ladder” — steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
the force of workers available
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
not one, and not any
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
plural of “object” — a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
in the near future
From this reading They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.
the upper part of anything
From this reading They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.
towardprepositionUS /təˈwɔːrd/
in the direction of
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading They were the Black Douglas and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.
wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading But the dark objects were not cattle.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.
