Chapter 3 of Old Clinkers is here in full — 458 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Old Clinkers is here in full — 458 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The stream weakened, fell, and ceased. Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right. Now put her back where she was!” He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street. Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
Chapter 3 of Old Clinkers is here in full — 458 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane
From this reading “He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.”
past form of “cease” — put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading “The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.”
either side of the face below the eyes
From this reading “Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.”
talk socially without exchanging too much information
From this reading “Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.”
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading “He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.”
one of the contractile organs of the body
From this reading “Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.”
a light source with reflectors that projects a beam of light in a particular direction
From this reading “Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.”
impaired by diminution
From this reading “The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.”
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 “He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.”
fall or descend to a lower place or level
In this reading “He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.”
In this reading “He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.”
In this reading “Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.”
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 Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
anew
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
(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 Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
past form of “cease” — put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.
either side of the face below the eyes
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
talk socially without exchanging too much information
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
a particular point in time
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
one of the contractile organs of the body
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
a light source with reflectors that projects a beam of light in a particular direction
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
From this reading The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Keighley turned the searchlight on the street and called, “All right.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
impaired by diminution
From this reading The stream weakened, fell, and ceased.
an enclosed compartment from which a vessel can be navigated
From this reading He dropped down the wheelhouse ladder and ran aft as the boat drew up again at the foot of the street.
in or at the place that
From this reading Now put her back where she was!”
actively engaged in paid work
From this reading Moran stood a moment, the jaw muscle working in his cheek.
Chapter 3 of Old Clinkers by Harvey Jerrold O'Higgins holds 458 sentences, grouped into 92 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 3 holds 458 sentences of Old Clinkers, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Old Clinkers by Harvey Jerrold O'Higgins exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 458 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 3 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 Old Clinkers by Harvey Jerrold O'Higgins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2316 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56439 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56439, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 193 minutes of reading across 464 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Clinkers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Old Clinkers 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 Old Clinkers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
