Chapter 8 of The cost of wings, and other stories is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The cost of wings, and other stories is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Come! Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter. He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier. “Run!” he shouted again. But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
Chapter 8 of The cost of wings, and other stories is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
make a strident sound
From this reading “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
Causing difficulty in breathing.
From this reading “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
especially spread in a fan shape
From this reading “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
comparative of “fierce” — marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading “He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.”
any of several usually small short-bodied breeds originally trained to hunt animals living underground
From this reading “He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.”
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading “He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.”
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
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 “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
In this reading “He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.”
In this reading “But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.”
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 caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
anew
From this reading “Run!” he shouted again.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
make a strident sound
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
Causing difficulty in breathing.
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Come!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter.
steadfast in affection or allegiance
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
especially spread in a fan shape
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
comparative of “fierce” — marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading “Run!” he shouted again.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter.
cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
any of several usually small short-bodied breeds originally trained to hunt animals living underground
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading He caught Miss Minota by the skirt and tugged at it like a faithful terrier.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading But a choking volume of smoke, a blast of fiercer heat fanned up from below.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Didn’t you hear?” shouted Mr. Lanter.
Chapter 8 of The cost of wings, and other stories by Richard Dehan holds 388 sentences, grouped into 78 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 8 holds 388 sentences of The cost of wings, and other stories, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The cost of wings, and other stories by Richard Dehan exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 388 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 8 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 cost of wings, and other stories by Richard Dehan on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The cost of wings, and other stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The cost of wings, and other stories 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 cost of wings, and other stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
