Chapter 10 of Mad Barbara is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of Mad Barbara is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mr. Pepys felt frost-bitten. Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with. Mr. Pepys had studied the sex. “Barn” she had said, and “barn” it would be. The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
Chapter 10 of Mad Barbara is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
past form of “argue” — present reasons and arguments
From this reading “Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.”
an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
From this reading ““Barn” she had said, and “barn” it would be.”
plural of “hinge” — a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
From this reading “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
light in a transparent protective case
From this reading “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
attach something somewhere by means of nails
From this reading “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
inflected form of “sag” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
past form of “scrape” — scratch repeatedly
From this reading “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
activities associated with sexual intercourse
From this reading “Mr. Pepys had studied the sex.”
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 “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
In this reading “The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.”
In this reading “Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.”
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 Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
past form of “argue” — present reasons and arguments
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
From this reading “Barn” she had said, and “barn” it would be.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Mr. Pepys felt frost-bitten.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr. Pepys felt frost-bitten.
the act of departing
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Mr. Pepys had studied the sex.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
plural of “hinge” — a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Barn” she had said, and “barn” it would be.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
light in a transparent protective case
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
move something or somebody to a lower position
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Pepys felt frost-bitten.
attach something somewhere by means of nails
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
English diarist whose diary contained detailed descriptions of 17th century disasters in England (1633-1703)
From this reading Mr. Pepys felt frost-bitten.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
inflected form of “sag” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
past form of “scrape” — scratch repeatedly
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
activities associated with sexual intercourse
From this reading Mr. Pepys had studied the sex.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
produced or marked by conscious design or premeditation
From this reading Mr. Pepys had studied the sex.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mr. Pepys had studied the sex.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
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 The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
which person or people
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Here was a lady who meant what she said, and was not to be argued with.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading The woman pulled open a door that sagged on its hinges and scraped the stones with its lower edge, and going in she hung the lantern to a nail in the wall.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “Barn” she had said, and “barn” it would be.
Chapter 10 of Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 10 holds 412 sentences of Mad Barbara, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 10 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 Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6545 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50995 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50995, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 545 minutes of reading across 1309 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mad Barbara section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Mad Barbara 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 Mad Barbara, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
