Chapter 1 of In the Onyx Lobby is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of In the Onyx Lobby is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran! I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of! A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women! Women! conducting a feud! They might as well conduct a bakery!”
Chapter 1 of In the Onyx Lobby is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
a workplace where baked goods (breads and cakes and pastries) are produced or sold
From this reading “They might as well conduct a bakery!””
a boat with two parallel hulls held together by single deck
From this reading “_Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!”
the way of administering a business
From this reading “Women! conducting a feud!”
possessive form of “faulkner” — United States novelist (originally Falkner) who wrote about people in the southern United States (1897-1962)
a bitter quarrel between two parties
From this reading “A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!”
the trait of acting stupidly or rashly
From this reading “_Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!”
an authoritative rule
From this reading “A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!”
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 “I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!”
direct the course of; manage or control
In this reading “A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!”
In this reading “A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!”
In this reading “A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!”
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 A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading They might as well conduct a bakery!”
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
a workplace where baked goods (breads and cakes and pastries) are produced or sold
From this reading They might as well conduct a bakery!”
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
showing who or what does the action
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
a boat with two parallel hulls held together by single deck
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
having overlapping hull planks
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
direct the course of; manage or control
From this reading They might as well conduct a bakery!”
the way of administering a business
From this reading Women! conducting a feud!
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
at any time
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
a social unit living together
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
possessive form of “faulkner” — United States novelist (originally Falkner) who wrote about people in the southern United States (1897-1962)
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
a bitter quarrel between two parties
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
the trait of acting stupidly or rashly
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
be about
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading They might as well conduct a bakery!”
used to form the superlative
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
an authoritative rule
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They might as well conduct a bakery!”
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading I think it’s the most footle business I ever heard of!
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
which person or people
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
in the company of; together with
From this reading _Author of “The Man Who Fell Through the Earth,” “The Room With the Tassels,” “Faulkner’s Folly,” etc._ “Well, by the Great Catamaran!
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading A regulation, clinker-built, angle-iron, sunk-hinge family feud, carried on by two women!
Chapter 1 of In the Onyx Lobby by Carolyn Wells holds 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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 1 holds 210 sentences of In the Onyx Lobby, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of In the Onyx Lobby by Carolyn Wells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 1 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 In the Onyx Lobby by Carolyn Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4661 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35254 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35254, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 388 minutes of reading across 933 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through In the Onyx Lobby section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of In the Onyx Lobby 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 In the Onyx Lobby, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
