Chapter 9 of The Crofton Boys is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Crofton Boys is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CROFTON QUIET. The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late. Mr. Tooke was already there. Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son. He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
Chapter 9 of The Crofton Boys is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading “The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.”
demanding attention
From this reading “He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.”
death of a person
From this reading “Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.”
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.”
in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature
From this reading “He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.”
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading “CROFTON QUIET.”
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading “He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.”
in a wistful manner
From this reading “Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading Mr. Tooke was already there.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
a youthful male person
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CROFTON QUIET.
demanding attention
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
death of a person
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
an artist of consummate skill
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Tooke was already there.
in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
not any; not one
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading CROFTON QUIET.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
a male human offspring
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Mr. Tooke was already there.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr. Tooke was already there.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mr. Tooke was already there.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The boys were all in the school-room in the grey of the morning;--no one late.
in a wistful manner
From this reading Almost every boy looked wistfully in the grave face of the master;--almost every one but his own son.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He looked down; and it seemed natural: for his eyes were swollen with crying.
Chapter 9 of The Crofton Boys by Harriet Martineau holds 276 sentences, grouped into 56 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 9 holds 276 sentences of The Crofton Boys, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Crofton Boys by Harriet Martineau exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 276 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 9 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 Crofton Boys by Harriet Martineau 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 Crofton Boys section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Crofton Boys 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 Crofton Boys, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
