Chapter 23 of Ruth is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Ruth is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me! He will take the child from me!" These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head. It seemed to her that her doom was certain. Leonard would be taken from her!
Chapter 23 of Ruth is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/68 · 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 hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading “These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.”
decree or designate beforehand
From this reading “It seemed to her that her doom was certain.”
United States writer of thrillers (born in 1925)
From this reading “Leonard would be taken from her!”
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading “The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!”
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.”
possessive form of “ruth” — United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
From this reading “These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.”
the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
From this reading “The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!”
-ing form of “toll” — ring slowly
From this reading “These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.”
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 These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Leonard would be taken from her!
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
a young person of either sex
From this reading He will take the child from me!"
decree or designate beforehand
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
United States writer of thrillers (born in 1925)
From this reading Leonard would be taken from her!
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
possessive form of “ruth” — United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
carry out
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Leonard would be taken from her!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
-ing form of “toll” — ring slowly
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It seemed to her that her doom was certain.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading The Meeting on the Sands "He will take him away from me!
the words that are spoken
From this reading These words rang like a tolling bell through Ruth's head.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Leonard would be taken from her!
Chapter 23 of Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell holds 340 sentences, grouped into 68 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 23 holds 340 sentences of Ruth, unabridged, divided into 68 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 340 sentences, grouped into 68 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 68 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 68 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 23 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 Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7422 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4275 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4275, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1485 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ruth section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of Ruth 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 Ruth, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
