Chapter 5 of The First Man 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 V
Chapter 5 of The First Man is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in. JAYSON--Bigelow? DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door. SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there. JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
Chapter 5 of The First Man 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.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.”
someone who is a detective
From this reading “DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.”
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading “DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.”
(military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat
From this reading “SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.”
a steel manufacturing city in northern England famous for its cutlery industry
From this reading “SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.”
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading “SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.”
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.”
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading “SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.”
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 SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
(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 JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JAYSON--Bigelow?
the two together, not just one
From this reading DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
someone who is a detective
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JAYSON--Bigelow?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
(military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
express in words
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
a steel manufacturing city in northern England famous for its cutlery industry
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
in or at that place or location
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading SHEFFIELD--I suggest we beat a retreat to Curt's study and wait there.
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 DICK--[Looking out the window.] Say, I believe they're coming in.
an affirmative
From this reading DICK--Yes, they're both making for the front door.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading JAYSON--Yes, let's do that--come on, all of you.
Chapter 5 of The First Man by Eugene O'Neill holds 401 sentences, grouped into 81 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 5 holds 401 sentences of The First Man, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The First Man by Eugene O'Neill exactly as it stands in the public-domain 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 5 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 First Man by Eugene O'Neill on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2032 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4026 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4026, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 169 minutes of reading across 407 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The First Man section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The First Man 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 First Man, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
