Chapter 10 of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It would be rather fun to see his odd ways. It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children. They'd have more sense than he. He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding. You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
Chapter 10 of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion
From this reading “It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.”
activities that are enjoyable or amusing
From this reading “It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.”
a social unit living together
From this reading “He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.”
emit long loud cries
From this reading “You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.”
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading “He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.”
not divisible by two
From this reading “It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.”
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading “You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.”
the cognitive condition of someone who understands
From this reading “He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.”
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'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
an artistic form of nonverbal communication
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
a social unit living together
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
activities that are enjoyable or amusing
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading They'd have more sense than he.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They'd have more sense than he.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
a social unit living together
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
emit long loud cries
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
(especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
roused to anger
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading They'd have more sense than he.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
not divisible by two
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
a multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
on the contrary
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
a general conscious awareness
From this reading They'd have more sense than he.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading They'd have more sense than he.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It might amuse Mrs. P. and the children.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They'd have more sense than he.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
the cognitive condition of someone who understands
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He'd be like a fool kept in a family, to keep the household in good humor with their own understanding.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would be rather fun to see his odd ways.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You might teach him the mad dance, set to the mad howl.
Chapter 10 of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb by Charles Lamb holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 426 sentences of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb by Charles Lamb exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 The Best Letters of Charles Lamb by Charles Lamb on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4312 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10125 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10125, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 359 minutes of reading across 863 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Best Letters of Charles Lamb section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Best Letters of Charles Lamb 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 The Best Letters of Charles Lamb, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
