Chapter 29 of North and South is here in full — 519 sentences across 104 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of North and South is here in full — 519 sentences across 104 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LOOKING SOUTH. “A spade! a rake! a hoe! A pickaxe or a bill! A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.” HOOD.
Chapter 29 of North and South is here in full — 519 sentences across 104 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/103 · 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.
give a thrashing to; beat hard
From this reading “A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.””
a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle
From this reading ““A spade! a rake! a hoe!”
cut with a blade or mower
From this reading “A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.””
give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
From this reading “A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.””
move through with or as if with a rake
From this reading ““A spade! a rake! a hoe!”
gather, as of natural products
From this reading “A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.””
an edge tool for cutting grass; has a long handle that must be held with both hands and a curved blade that moves parallel to the ground
From this reading “A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.””
a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading ““A spade! a rake! a hoe!”
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 spade! a rake! a hoe!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading A pickaxe or a bill!
showing who or what does the action
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
give a thrashing to; beat hard
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle
From this reading “A spade! a rake! a hoe!
an aggressive and violent young criminal
From this reading HOOD.
fasten with a hook
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
plural of “lesson” — a unit of instruction
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading LOOKING SOUTH.
cut with a blade or mower
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
necessary for relief or supply
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading A pickaxe or a bill!
a heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends
From this reading A pickaxe or a bill!
give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
move through with or as if with a rake
From this reading “A spade! a rake! a hoe!
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
gather, as of natural products
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
having or caused by an irregular surface
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
sturdy and strong in constitution or construction; enduring
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
an educational institution
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
an edge tool for cutting grass; has a long handle that must be held with both hands and a curved blade that moves parallel to the ground
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line
From this reading LOOKING SOUTH.
a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading “A spade! a rake! a hoe!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
an implement used in the practice of a vocation
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
used to ask for information about something
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow, A flail or what ye will— And here’s a ready hand To ply the needful tool, And skill’d enough, by lessons rough, In Labour’s rugged school.”
Chapter 29 of North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell holds 519 sentences, grouped into 104 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 29 holds 519 sentences of North and South, unabridged, divided into 104 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 519 sentences, grouped into 104 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 104 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 104 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 29 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 North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10039 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4276 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4276, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2008 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through North and South section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of North and South 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 North and South, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
