Chapter 1 of Plays : First Series is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Plays : First Series is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag. [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right. [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything! [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away. He looks for it.] Beastly shilling!
Chapter 1 of Plays : First Series is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 7/79 · 5 reading units · Lines 31–35
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.
(informal) very unpleasant
From this reading “He looks for it.] Beastly shilling!”
plural of “hunt” — Englishman and Pre-Raphaelite painter (1827-1910)
From this reading “[He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.”
plural of “pull” — the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
From this reading “[He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.”
plural of “roll” — rotary motion of an object around its own axis
From this reading “[He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.”
past form of “score” — gain points in a game
From this reading “I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.”
plural of “serve” — (sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play
From this reading “[He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.”
the basic unit of money in Uganda; equal to 100 cents
From this reading “[He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.”
plural of “swing” — a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
From this reading “[He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.”
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 [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
(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 [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
any thing at all
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
a flexible container with a single opening
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
(informal) very unpleasant
From this reading He looks for it.] Beastly shilling!
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
plural of “drop” — a shape that is spherical and small
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
a boy or man
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He looks for it.] Beastly shilling!
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
plural of “hunt” — Englishman and Pre-Raphaelite painter (1827-1910)
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
plural of “look” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading He looks for it.] Beastly shilling!
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
plural of “pocket” — a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
plural of “pull” — the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
plural of “put” — the option to sell a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
a woman's drawstring handbag; usually made of net or beading or brocade; used in 18th and 19th centuries
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
precisely, exactly
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
plural of “roll” — rotary motion of an object around its own axis
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
past form of “score” — gain points in a game
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
plural of “serve” — (sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
the basic unit of money in Uganda; equal to 100 cents
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
plural of “swing” — a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [He takes a cigarette out of the silver box and puts it in his mouth.] Never gave tha' fellow anything!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading [He hunts through all his pockets and pulls a shilling out; it drops and rolls away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I 've scored her off--I 've got her bag.
(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 [He swings the reticule.] Serves her joly' well right.
Chapter 1 of Plays : First Series by John Galsworthy holds 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 399 sentences of Plays : First Series, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Plays : First Series by John Galsworthy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Plays : First Series, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
