used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
ailingadjectiveUS /ˈeɪlɪŋ/
somewhat ill or prone to illness
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
AlasexclamationUS /əˈlæs/
used to show sadness, pity, or regret
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
(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 O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
declared publicly; made widely known
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
attackedverbUS /əˈtækt/
past form of “attack” — launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/
the past participle of “be”
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
dearly loved
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
drearyadjectiveUS /ˈdrɪri/
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
the boundary of a surface
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
goutnounUS /ɡaʊt/
a painful inflammation of the big toe and foot caused by defects in uric acid metabolism resulting in deposits of the acid and its salts in the blood and joints
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
indescribableadjectiveUS /ˌɪndɪˈskraɪbəbəl/
defying expression or description
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
keenlyadverbUS /ˈkiːnli/
in a keen or penetrating way
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading He tore it open.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
cut with a saw
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
stomachnounUS /ˈstʌmək/
an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
sympathizeverbUS /ˈsɪmpəθaɪz/
share the feelings of; understand the sentiments of
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Alas, it announced the sudden death of his dear father!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
commonly the lowest molding at the base of a column
From this reading He tore it open.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
wakingadjectiveUS /ˈweɪ.kɪŋ/
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
plural of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
at the time that
From this reading When Charles got to his room he saw a letter from home lying on his table; and, to his alarm, it had a deep black edge.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He had been ailing some weeks with the gout, which at length had attacked his stomach, and carried him off in a few hours.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading O my poor dear Charles, I sympathize with you keenly all that long night, and in that indescribable waking in the morning, and that dreary day of travel which followed it!
