Chapter 18 of The Desert of Wheat is here in full — 638 sentences across 128 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Desert of Wheat is here in full — 638 sentences across 128 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Lenore awakened early. The morning seemed golden. Birds were singing at her window. What did that day hold in store for her? She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
Chapter 18 of The Desert of Wheat is here in full — 638 sentences across 128 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/127 · 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.
aroused or activated
From this reading “Lenore awakened early.”
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “Birds were singing at her window.”
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading “Lenore awakened early.”
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading “The morning seemed golden.”
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading “What did that day hold in store for her?”
compacted by ironing
From this reading “She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.”
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading “Birds were singing at her window.”
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading “What did that day hold in store for 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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Birds were singing at her window.
aroused or activated
From this reading Lenore awakened early.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Birds were singing at her window.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading Lenore awakened early.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading The morning seemed golden.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Birds were singing at her window.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lenore awakened early.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The morning seemed golden.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
compacted by ironing
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The morning seemed golden.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading Birds were singing at her window.
not in physical motion
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The morning seemed golden.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She pressed a hand hard on her heart as if to hold it still.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Birds were singing at her window.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What did that day hold in store for her?
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading Birds were singing at her window.
Chapter 18 of The Desert of Wheat by Zane Grey holds 638 sentences, grouped into 128 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 18 holds 638 sentences of The Desert of Wheat, unabridged, divided into 128 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Desert of Wheat by Zane Grey exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 638 sentences, grouped into 128 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 128 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 128 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 18 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 Desert of Wheat by Zane Grey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9875 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10201 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10201, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1975 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Desert of Wheat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of The Desert of Wheat 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 Desert of Wheat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
