Chapter 17 of The day's play is here in full — 22 sentences across 5 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The day's play is here in full — 22 sentences across 5 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going. He went very slowly but very surely. I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment. After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away. "Shall we sit down?"
Chapter 17 of The day's play is here in full — 22 sentences across 5 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/4 · 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.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.”
someone who has won first place in a competition
From this reading “They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.”
-ing form of “expect” — regard something as probable or likely
From this reading “I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.”
-ing form of “jockey” — defeat someone through trickery or deceit
From this reading “They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.”
past form of “kick” — drive or propel with the foot
From this reading “They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.”
one of four equal parts
From this reading “After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.”
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading “They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.”
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading “He went very slowly but very surely.”
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 “I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.”
take a seat
In this reading “"Shall we sit down?"”
In this reading “I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.”
commence officially
In this reading “They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.”
In this reading “I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.”
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 They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
later than; following
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He went very slowly but very surely.
someone who has won first place in a competition
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "Shall we sit down?"
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
-ing form of “expect” — regard something as probable or likely
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
the act of departing
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He went very slowly but very surely.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
-ing form of “jockey” — defeat someone through trickery or deceit
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
past form of “kick” — drive or propel with the foot
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
a particular point in time
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
a common nonmetallic element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless inert diatomic gas; constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
one of four equal parts
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
a unit of radiation exposure; the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce 1 electrostatic unit of electricity in 1 cc of dry air
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
located or moved above the surround or above the normal position
From this reading After a quarter of an hour I raised my hat and moved away.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading "Shall we sit down?"
be seated
From this reading "Shall we sit down?"
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading He went very slowly but very surely.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading He went very slowly but very surely.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They kicked off from the summer-house end, and, after jockeying for the start a bit, the N.R. champion got going.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
precisely as stated
From this reading He went very slowly but very surely.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading I watched anxiously for ten minutes, expecting my turn every moment.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Shall we sit down?"
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He went very slowly but very surely.
Chapter 17 of The day's play by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne holds 22 sentences, grouped into 5 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 17 holds 22 sentences of The day's play, unabridged, divided into 5 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The day's play by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 22 sentences, grouped into 5 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 5 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 5 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 17 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 day's play by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne 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 day's play section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The day's play 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 day's play, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
