Chapter 17 of Middlemarch is here in full — 312 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Middlemarch is here in full — 312 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“1_st Gent_. Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force. 2_d Gent_. But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight. For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
Chapter 17 of Middlemarch is here in full — 312 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/62 · 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.
stuck in a place where a ship can no longer float
From this reading “For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.””
involving or constituting a cause; causing
From this reading “But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.”
strips of potato fried in deep fat
From this reading “Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.”
informal abbreviation of “gentleman”
past form of “lack” — be without
From this reading “For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.””
feeling an inappropriate lack of seriousness
From this reading “But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.”
plural of “opposite” — a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other
From this reading “For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.””
plural of “straw” — plant fiber used e.g. for making baskets and hats or as fodder
From this reading “Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “1_st Gent_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 2_d Gent_.
move forward, also in the metaphorical sense
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
stuck in a place where a ship can no longer float
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
bring into balance or equilibrium
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
for the reason that
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
involving or constituting a cause; causing
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
strips of potato fried in deep fat
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
a fat-soluble vitamin that prevents rickets
From this reading 2_d Gent_.
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
plural of “feather” — the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
plural of “find” — a productive insight
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
a powerful effect or influence
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
informal abbreviation of “gentleman”
From this reading “1_st Gent_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
past form of “lack” — be without
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
feeling an inappropriate lack of seriousness
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
the force of workers available
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
not any; not one
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
plural of “opposite” — a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
possession of controlling influence
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
transport commercially
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “1_st Gent_.
plural of “straw” — plant fiber used e.g. for making baskets and hats or as fodder
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
a quantity of money
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading For power finds its place in lack of power; Advance is cession, and the driven ship May run aground because the helmsman’s thought Lacked force to balance opposites.”
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading But levity Is causal too, and makes the sum of weight.
the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity
From this reading Such men as this are feathers, chips, and straws, Carry no weight, no force.
Chapter 17 of Middlemarch by George Eliot holds 312 sentences, grouped into 63 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 17 holds 312 sentences of Middlemarch, unabridged, divided into 63 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Middlemarch by George Eliot exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 312 sentences, grouped into 63 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 63 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 63 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 17 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 Middlemarch by George Eliot on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14163 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #145 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #145, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2833 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Middlemarch section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Middlemarch 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 Middlemarch, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
