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adeterminerUS /ə/
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
all
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
andconjunctionUS /ənd/
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
announced
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
appeared
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From this reading The gyros appeared quite motionless.
assembly
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
atprepositionUS /æt/
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
audible
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
beauxiliary verbUS /biː/
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
begannounUS /began/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
ceased
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
complex
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From this reading And the whole complex device looked very simple and useless.
deliberately
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
detect
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From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
device
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
dial
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
doing
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
gazed
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
gyro
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
gyros
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From this reading The gyros appeared quite motionless.
hairbreadth
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From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
hum
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
humming
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
impossible
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
incredible
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From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
itpronounUS /ɪt/
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
Joe
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
lookednounUS /looked/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading And the whole complex device looked very simple and useless.
motionless
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From this reading The gyros appeared quite motionless.
moved
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From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
notadverbUS /nɑːt/
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
nothingpronounUS /ˈnʌθɪŋ/
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
pilot
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
possible
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
precision
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From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
Presently
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From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
quietly
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
quitenounUS /quite/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The gyros appeared quite motionless.
reconstituted
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
rose
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
scale
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
seemednounUS /seemed/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
simple
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From this reading And the whole complex device looked very simple and useless.
spun
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From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
suchdeterminerUS /sʌtʃ/
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
switch
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
thedeterminerUS /ðə/
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
Then
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
theypronounUS /ðeɪ/
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
threw
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From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
toparticleUS /tuː/
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
untilprepositionUS /ənˈtɪl/
up to a particular time
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
up
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
useless
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From this reading And the whole complex device looked very simple and useless.
very
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the whole complex device looked very simple and useless.
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
wentnounUS /went/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
whateverdeterminerUS /ˌwʌˈtevər/
any or all of a kind, it does not matter which
From this reading Presently a dial announced the impossible, and they gazed at a device that seemed to be doing nothing whatever.
whine
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then Joe threw a switch and the reconstituted pilot gyro assembly began to hum quietly, and the humming rose to a whine, and the whine went deliberately up the scale until it ceased to be audible at all.
whole
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the whole complex device looked very simple and useless.
withprepositionUS /wɪð/
in the company of; together with
From this reading They spun with such incredible precision that it was not possible to detect that they moved a hairbreadth.
