Chapter 1 of Nuts and Nutcrackers is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Nuts and Nutcrackers is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NUTS AND NUTCRACKERS. “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.” SHAKSPEARE. “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.” BEGGAR’S OPERA.
Chapter 1 of Nuts and Nutcrackers is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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.
deprive somebody of something by deceit
From this reading ““The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.””
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
From this reading ““The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.””
small nut-bearing tree much grown in Europe
From this reading ““The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.””
plural of “nutcracker” — a compound lever used to crack nuts open
From this reading “NUTS AND NUTCRACKERS.”
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
From this reading “NUTS AND NUTCRACKERS.”
a man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs
From this reading ““The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.””
possessive form of “trade” — the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
possessive form of “world” — everything that exists anywhere
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.
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 “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading NUTS AND NUTCRACKERS.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
for the reason that
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BEGGAR’S OPERA.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
plural of “call” — a telephone connection
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
deprive somebody of something by deceit
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
emanating from God
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
small nut-bearing tree much grown in Europe
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
plural of “nutcracker” — a compound lever used to crack nuts open
From this reading NUTS AND NUTCRACKERS.
informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
From this reading NUTS AND NUTCRACKERS.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
a drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes
From this reading BEGGAR’S OPERA.
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SHAKSPEARE.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
a man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
plural of “think” — an instance of deliberate thinking
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
possessive form of “trade” — the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
From this reading “The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, And the lawyer beknaves the divine; And the statesman, because he’s so great, Thinks his trade’s as honest as mine.”
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
possessive form of “world” — everything that exists anywhere
From this reading “The world’s my filbert which with my crackers I will open.”
Chapter 1 of Nuts and Nutcrackers by Charles Lever holds 444 sentences, grouped into 89 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 444 sentences of Nuts and Nutcrackers, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Nuts and Nutcrackers by Charles Lever exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 444 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 Nuts and Nutcrackers by Charles Lever on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1781 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31685 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31685, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 148 minutes of reading across 357 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Nuts and Nutcrackers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Nuts and Nutcrackers 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 Nuts and Nutcrackers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
