Chapter 10 of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat is here in full — 62 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat is here in full — 62 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The mail. The Petticoats rarely received mail. It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center. So unaesthetic. On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
Chapter 10 of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat is here in full — 62 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
flutter like a butterfly
From this reading “It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.”
The middle point or core of an area.
From this reading “It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.”
a male servant (especially a footman)
From this reading “On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.”
past form of “lacquer” — coat with lacquer
From this reading “On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.”
the bags of letters and packages that are transported by the postal service
From this reading “The mail.”
plural of “petticoat” — undergarment worn under a skirt
From this reading “The Petticoats rarely received mail.”
an open receptacle for holding or displaying or serving articles or food
From this reading “On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.”
sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below
From this reading “On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.”
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 On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
flutter like a butterfly
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
The middle point or core of an area.
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
a male servant (especially a footman)
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
past form of “lacquer” — coat with lacquer
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
the bags of letters and packages that are transported by the postal service
From this reading The mail.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
plural of “petticoat” — undergarment worn under a skirt
From this reading The Petticoats rarely received mail.
not often
From this reading The Petticoats rarely received mail.
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading The Petticoats rarely received mail.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So unaesthetic.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The mail.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
an open receptacle for holding or displaying or serving articles or food
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
violating aesthetic canons or requirements; deficient in tastefulness or beauty
From this reading So unaesthetic.
sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below
From this reading On a tray, a lacquered lackey brought a letter to Warble.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It wasn't done much in Butterfly Center.
Chapter 10 of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat by Carolyn Wells holds 62 sentences, grouped into 13 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 10 holds 62 sentences of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat by Carolyn Wells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 62 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 10 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 Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat by Carolyn Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1812 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #8386 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #8386, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 151 minutes of reading across 363 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat 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 Ptomaine Street: The Tale of Warble Petticoat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
