Chapter 14 of The Colossus: A Novel is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of The Colossus: A Novel is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING. Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room. A fire was burning in the grate. At the window there was a rattle of sleet. He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
Chapter 14 of The Colossus: A Novel is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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 Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria
From this reading “Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.”
a frame of iron bars to hold a fire
From this reading “A fire was burning in the grate.”
something written by hand
From this reading “A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING.”
set afire or burning
From this reading “He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.”
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading “He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.”
make short successive sounds
From this reading “At the window there was a rattle of sleet.”
partially melted snow (or a mixture of rain and snow)
From this reading “At the window there was a rattle of sleet.”
American Revolutionary leader and educator (born in Scotland) who signed of the Declaration of Independence and was president of the college that became Princeton University (1723-1794)
From this reading “Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.”
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 A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the window there was a rattle of sleet.
a Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
the act of burning something
From this reading A fire was burning in the grate.
unlike in nature or quality or form or degree
From this reading A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
start firing a weapon
From this reading A fire was burning in the grate.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
a frame of iron bars to hold a fire
From this reading A fire was burning in the grate.
something written by hand
From this reading A DIFFERENT HANDWRITING.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A fire was burning in the grate.
set afire or burning
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At the window there was a rattle of sleet.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
make short successive sounds
From this reading At the window there was a rattle of sleet.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He lighted his old briar-root pipe and sat down.
partially melted snow (or a mixture of rain and snow)
From this reading At the window there was a rattle of sleet.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A fire was burning in the grate.
in or at that place or location
From this reading At the window there was a rattle of sleet.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A fire was burning in the grate.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading At the window there was a rattle of sleet.
American Revolutionary leader and educator (born in Scotland) who signed of the Declaration of Independence and was president of the college that became Princeton University (1723-1794)
From this reading Henry bade Witherspoon good night and went to his room.
Chapter 14 of The Colossus: A Novel by Opie Percival Read holds 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 14 holds 118 sentences of The Colossus: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of The Colossus: A Novel by Opie Percival Read exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 14 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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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
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How to work through The Colossus: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Colossus: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
