Chapter 4 of Icebound: A Play is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Icebound: A Play is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JANE Of course he did. BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right. JANE You don’t mean that! You _can’t_! BEN I do.
Chapter 4 of Icebound: A Play is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading “BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.”
a mountain or tall hill
From this reading “BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.”
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading “BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.”
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading “JANE Of course he did.”
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading “BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.”
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “JANE You don’t mean that!”
precisely, exactly
From this reading “BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.”
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.
as might be expected
In this reading “JANE Of course he did.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
a mountain or tall hill
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You _can’t_!
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading JANE Of course he did.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading JANE Of course he did.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading BEN I do.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JANE You don’t mean that!
a quad with a square body
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading JANE Of course he did.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading BEN I do.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JANE Of course he did.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading JANE You don’t mean that!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading JANE Of course he did.
precisely, exactly
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading JANE You don’t mean that!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BEN Anyhow, he gave ’em the best of it, all right.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading JANE You don’t mean that!
Chapter 4 of Icebound: A Play by Owen Davis holds 452 sentences, grouped into 91 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 4 holds 452 sentences of Icebound: A Play, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Icebound: A Play by Owen Davis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 452 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 4 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 Icebound: A Play by Owen Davis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1813 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59777 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59777, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 151 minutes of reading across 363 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Icebound: A Play section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Icebound: A Play 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 Icebound: A Play, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
