Chapter 20 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 91 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 91 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CONFESSION. "This is the finish!" Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor. It was hopelessly short-circuited. The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.
Chapter 20 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 91 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
group of guns or missile launchers operated together at one place
From this reading “The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.”
an admission of misdeeds or faults
From this reading “CONFESSION.”
exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion
From this reading “Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.”
abundantly covered or supplied with; often used in combination
From this reading “The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.”
a liquid (as water) that flows in drops (as from the eaves of house)
From this reading “The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.”
-ing form of “expire” — lose validity
From this reading “Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.”
in a hopeless manner
From this reading “It was hopelessly short-circuited.”
machine that converts other forms of energy into mechanical energy and so imparts motion
From this reading “Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.”
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.
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.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
group of guns or missile launchers operated together at one place
From this reading The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.
a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.
an admission of misdeeds or faults
From this reading CONFESSION.
exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
abundantly covered or supplied with; often used in combination
From this reading The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.
a liquid (as water) that flows in drops (as from the eaves of house)
From this reading The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.
-ing form of “expire” — lose validity
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading "This is the finish!"
past form of “gasp” — breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
in a hopeless manner
From this reading It was hopelessly short-circuited.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "This is the finish!"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was hopelessly short-circuited.
immediately past
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
machine that converts other forms of energy into mechanical energy and so imparts motion
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was hopelessly short-circuited.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The battery box was drenched, the spark-plugs dripping.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "This is the finish!"
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "This is the finish!"
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was hopelessly short-circuited.
the words that are spoken
From this reading Ned gasped out the words as he heard the last expiring cough of the motor.
Chapter 20 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap holds 91 sentences, grouped into 19 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 20 holds 91 sentences of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 91 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 20 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 Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3124 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54496 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54496, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 260 minutes of reading across 625 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters 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 Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
