Chapter 7 of Old-Dad is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Old-Dad is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them. "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness? The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers." "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat. "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
Chapter 7 of Old-Dad is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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 member of the aristocracy
From this reading “"But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.”
a courteous or respectful or considerate act
From this reading “With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.”
possessive form of “dean” — an administrator in charge of a division of a university or college
From this reading “With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.”
precisely determined or limited or defined; especially fixed by rule or by a specific and constant cause
From this reading “"But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.”
physically weak
From this reading “"But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.”
past form of “protest” — utter words of protest
From this reading “"But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.”
marked by precise accordance with details
From this reading “With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.”
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading “With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.”
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.
a youthful female person
In this reading “"But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.”
temporarily
In this reading “"For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?”
In this reading “With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.”
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.
later than; following
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
a member of the aristocracy
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
inflected form of “beg” — call upon in supplication; entreat
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
a courteous or respectful or considerate act
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
possessive form of “dean” — an administrator in charge of a division of a university or college
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
precisely determined or limited or defined; especially fixed by rule or by a specific and constant cause
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
physically weak
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
a young female
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
a particular point in time
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
the fourth book of the Old Testament; contains a record of the number of Israelites who followed Moses out of Egypt
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
accept an excuse for
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
past form of “protest” — utter words of protest
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
marked by precise accordance with details
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
any object that is left unused or still extant
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "So do I!" smiled Bretton, but nodded her out.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
a special situation
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The thing that remains to be said is said best to the least numbers."
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
in the company of; together with
From this reading With punctilious courtesy he waved the Dean's lovely old mother after them.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "For the moment," he begged her, "you will pardon my peremptoriness?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "But I--I like--your little girl!" protested the frail but determinate aristocrat.
Chapter 7 of Old-Dad by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 7 holds 412 sentences of Old-Dad, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Old-Dad by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 7 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-Dad by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3295 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48990 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48990, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 274 minutes of reading across 659 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old-Dad section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of Old-Dad 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-Dad, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
