Chapter 15 of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 is here in full — 341 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 is here in full — 341 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day! Stay! stop! stand you still! There's a fly on your frill! Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away. And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
Chapter 15 of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 is here in full — 341 sentences across 69 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.
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “There's a fly on your frill!”
(paleontology) a bony plate that curves upward behind the skull of many ceratopsian dinosaurs
From this reading “There's a fly on your frill!”
become quiet or still; fall silent
From this reading “And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"”
the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
From this reading “"Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!”
a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
From this reading “And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"”
reflecting optimism
From this reading “"Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!”
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading “Stay! stop! stand you still!”
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “"Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!”
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 "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
dearly loved
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading There's a fly on your frill!
(paleontology) a bony plate that curves upward behind the skull of many ceratopsian dinosaurs
From this reading There's a fly on your frill!
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
become quiet or still; fall silent
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
not any; not one
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading There's a fly on your frill!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
reflecting optimism
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
be standing; be upright
From this reading Stay! stop! stand you still!
stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Stay! stop! stand you still!
not in physical motion
From this reading Stay! stop! stand you still!
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading Stay! stop! stand you still!
carry out
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
in or at that place or location
From this reading Psh! there, now I've brush'd it away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There's a fly on your frill!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
the words that are spoken
From this reading And here, look, dear nunks, is a beautiful purse: There, take it—no words—hush—don't thank!"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Stay! stop! stand you still!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Dear uncle," says Miss, With a smile and a kiss, "How rosy you're looking to-day!
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading There's a fly on your frill!
Chapter 15 of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 by William Makepeace Thackeray holds 341 sentences, grouped into 69 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 15 holds 341 sentences of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1, unabridged, divided into 69 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 by William Makepeace Thackeray exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 341 sentences, grouped into 69 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 69 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 69 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 15 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 Comic Almanack, Volume 1 by William Makepeace Thackeray on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6631 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52203 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52203, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 552 minutes of reading across 1327 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Comic Almanack, Volume 1 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 Comic Almanack, Volume 1, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
