Chapter 4 of The Custom of the Country is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Custom of the Country is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders. "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to. I wanted to hear all about it." Undine shrugged away from her. "Mercy!
Chapter 4 of The Custom of the Country is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading “Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.”
possessive form of “daughter” — a female human offspring
From this reading “Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.”
at or to or toward the front
From this reading “Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.”
raise from a lower to a higher position
From this reading “Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.”
leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
From this reading “"Mercy!”
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading “Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.”
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading “Undine shrugged away from her.”
any of various female water spirits
From this reading “Undine shrugged away from her.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading I wanted to hear all about it."
(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 I wanted to hear all about it."
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Undine shrugged away from her.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
possessive form of “daughter” — a female human offspring
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading I wanted to hear all about it."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I wanted to hear all about it."
and nothing more
From this reading "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to.
raise from a lower to a higher position
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
From this reading "Mercy!
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading Undine shrugged away from her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Mrs. Spragg came forward deprecatingly to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I just HAD to, Undie--I told father I HAD to.
any of various female water spirits
From this reading Undine shrugged away from her.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading I wanted to hear all about it."
Chapter 4 of The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton holds 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 4 holds 401 sentences of The Custom of the Country, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 4 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 Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7166 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11052 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11052, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 597 minutes of reading across 1434 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Custom of the Country section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Custom of the Country 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 Custom of the Country, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
