Chapter 19 of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her. A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand. "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone. "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?" Penny could make no retort.
Chapter 19 of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
inflected form of “clap” — put quickly or forcibly
From this reading “A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.”
thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
From this reading “A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.”
past form of “jerk” — pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading “A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.”
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading “"Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.”
set that receives radio or tv signals
From this reading “A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.”
a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
From this reading “Penny could make no retort.”
-ing form of “shove” — come into rough contact with while moving
From this reading “"Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.”
forced to turn and face attackers
From this reading “Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.”
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.
earphone that converts electrical signals into sounds
In this reading “A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.”
In this reading “A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.”
In this reading “Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.”
In this reading “Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.”
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 Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
inflected form of “clap” — put quickly or forcibly
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
a young female
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
past form of “jerk” — pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
engage in
From this reading Penny could make no retort.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
not any; not one
From this reading Penny could make no retort.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
the force of policemen and officers
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
set that receives radio or tv signals
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
From this reading Penny could make no retort.
(of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
-ing form of “shove” — come into rough contact with while moving
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
inflected form of “spring” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
in the direction of
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
forced to turn and face attackers
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
hard to endure
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise
From this reading Trapped Before Penny could utter a sound, the man sprang toward her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A grimy hand was clapped roughly against her mouth and the telephone receiver jerked from her hand.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, if it isn't the little Nichols girl!" the man leered, shoving her away from the 'phone.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Trying to bring the police down on us, were you?"
Chapter 19 of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue by Joan Clark holds 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 19 holds 170 sentences of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue by Joan Clark exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 19 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 Penny Nichols Finds a Clue by Joan Clark on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3480 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33381 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33381, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 290 minutes of reading across 696 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Penny Nichols Finds a Clue section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Penny Nichols Finds a Clue 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 Penny Nichols Finds a Clue, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
