Chapter 14 of Nicky-Nan, Reservist is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Nicky-Nan, Reservist is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE 'TATY-PATCH. Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering. He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado. It had been incautious, with all those women listening. Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
Chapter 14 of Nicky-Nan, Reservist is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
a swaggering show of courage
From this reading “He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.”
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading “It had been incautious, with all those women listening.”
assembled for use; especially by being attached to a support
From this reading “Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.”
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading “Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.”
the application of plaster
From this reading “Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.”
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading “Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.”
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading “Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.”
troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances
From this reading “He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.”
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.
anew
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
(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 It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
a swaggering show of courage
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
taking care or paying attention
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
not open or affording passage or access
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
with ease (“easy” is sometimes used informally for “easily”)
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
past form of “explain” — make plain and comprehensible
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
lacking in caution
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
assembled for use; especially by being attached to a support
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
above and across; more than
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
the application of plaster
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
not in physical motion
From this reading Still it might be explained away, and easily enough.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE 'TATY-PATCH.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE 'TATY-PATCH.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Nicky-Nan went back to his parlour, closed the door carefully, mounted the platform again, and resumed his plastering.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He felt vexed with himself over that little speech of bravado.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading It had been incautious, with all those women listening.
Chapter 14 of Nicky-Nan, Reservist by Arthur Quiller-Couch holds 247 sentences, grouped into 50 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 14 holds 247 sentences of Nicky-Nan, Reservist, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Nicky-Nan, Reservist by Arthur Quiller-Couch exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 247 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 14 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 Nicky-Nan, Reservist by Arthur Quiller-Couch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5119 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15710 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15710, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 426 minutes of reading across 1024 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Nicky-Nan, Reservist section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of Nicky-Nan, Reservist 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 Nicky-Nan, Reservist, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
