Chapter 20 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Hard upon; i.e., soon after. Funeral baked meats. This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts. My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe. A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
Chapter 20 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight
From this reading “Funeral baked meats.”
a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
From this reading “My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe.”
plural of “feast” — a ceremonial dinner party for many people
From this reading “This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.”
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading “My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe.”
a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated
From this reading “Funeral baked meats.”
plural of “meat” — the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food
From this reading “Funeral baked meats.”
a remark that calls attention to something or someone
From this reading “This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.”
possessive form of “shakespeare” — English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading “A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.”
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 common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
later than; following
From this reading Hard upon; i.e., soon after.
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight
From this reading Funeral baked meats.
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
From this reading My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe.
a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for normal reproduction; an important antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals in the body
From this reading Hard upon; i.e., soon after.
plural of “feast” — a ceremonial dinner party for many people
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe.
a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated
From this reading Funeral baked meats.
highest in quality
From this reading My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Hard upon; i.e., soon after.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Hard upon; i.e., soon after.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
plural of “meat” — the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food
From this reading Funeral baked meats.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My dearest foe; i.e., my greatest foe.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
a remark that calls attention to something or someone
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
possessive form of “shakespeare” — English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
in the near future
From this reading Hard upon; i.e., soon after.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading This has reference to the ancient custom of funeral feasts.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Hard upon; i.e., soon after.
the act of using
From this reading A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading A common use of the word "dearest" in Shakespeare's time.
Chapter 20 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey holds 392 sentences, grouped into 79 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 20 holds 392 sentences of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 392 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 20 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 McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15040 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15040, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1560 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader 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 McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
