Chapter 1 of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas is here in full — 64 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas is here in full — 64 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO. ..._Publishers_... Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise. Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
Chapter 1 of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas is here in full — 64 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
the action of accomplishing something
From this reading “U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.”
someone who bakes commercially
From this reading “THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.”
past form of “create” — make or cause to be or to become
From this reading “Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.”
dependent upon or characterized by chance
From this reading “Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.”
plural of “publisher” — a firm in the publishing business
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
From this reading “U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.”
the month following August and preceding October
From this reading “Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.”
United States composer and music critic (1885-1966)
From this reading “THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.”
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 “U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.”
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 Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
the action of accomplishing something
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
someone who bakes commercially
From this reading THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.
past form of “create” — make or cause to be or to become
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
dependent upon or characterized by chance
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
the force of workers available
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
used to form the superlative
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
exert pressure or force to or upon
From this reading Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
plural of “publisher” — a firm in the publishing business
From this reading ..._Publishers_...
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
the month following August and preceding October
From this reading Published, September, 1906 _The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
United States composer and music critic (1885-1966)
From this reading THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
in the company of; together with
From this reading U.S.A._ To begin with nothing and end with something as great as Pickwick is an achievement given to few men to realise.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet it seems that in this most haphazard way Pickwick was created.
Chapter 1 of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas by Charles Dickens holds 64 sentences, grouped into 13 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 64 sentences of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas by Charles Dickens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 64 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 Mr. Pickwick's Christmas by Charles Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 701 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61193 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61193, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 58 minutes of reading across 141 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mr. Pickwick's Christmas section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas 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 Mr. Pickwick's Christmas, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
