Chapter 14 of The Hospital Murders is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of The Hospital Murders is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain. Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet. And hope sprang suddenly high in Sally’s heart. His shoulders squared and were flat! Cub stooped....
Chapter 14 of The Hospital Murders is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 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.
a relatively large open container that you fill with water and use to wash the body
From this reading “Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.”
a piece of furniture resembling a cupboard with doors and shelves and drawers; for storage or display
From this reading “Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.”
click repeatedly or uncontrollably
From this reading “Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.”
an awkward and inexperienced youth
From this reading “Cub stooped....”
record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions
From this reading “Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.”
possessive form of “sally” — witty remark
(of a fluid) having been propelled about in flying drops or masses
From this reading “Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.”
having been made square
From this reading “His shoulders squared and were flat!”
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 “Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.”
In this reading “Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.”
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 Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
a relatively large open container that you fill with water and use to wash the body
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
a piece of furniture resembling a cupboard with doors and shelves and drawers; for storage or display
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
past form of “cease” — put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
click repeatedly or uncontrollably
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
an awkward and inexperienced youth
From this reading Cub stooped....
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
a boxlike container in a piece of furniture; made so as to slide in and out
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
all through a period, or at some point within it
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading His shoulders squared and were flat!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading And hope sprang suddenly high in Sally’s heart.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading And hope sprang suddenly high in Sally’s heart.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His shoulders squared and were flat!
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading And hope sprang suddenly high in Sally’s heart.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
an open or empty space in or between things
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
(of e.g. celestial bodies) above the horizon
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
possessive form of “sally” — witty remark
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading His shoulders squared and were flat!
(of a fluid) having been propelled about in flying drops or masses
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
inflected form of “spring” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading And hope sprang suddenly high in Sally’s heart.
having been made square
From this reading His shoulders squared and were flat!
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading Cub stooped....
happening unexpectedly
From this reading And hope sprang suddenly high in Sally’s heart.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Then it ceased to register, for the man at the table had risen and was opening a drawer in the medicine cabinet.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading Her chatter, like water in a distant bathtub during a bad dream, splashed past Sally’s brain.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading His shoulders squared and were flat!
Chapter 14 of The Hospital Murders by Means Davis holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 14 holds 400 sentences of The Hospital Murders, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of The Hospital Murders by Means Davis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 14 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 Hospital Murders by Means Davis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5654 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54445 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54445, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 471 minutes of reading across 1131 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Hospital Murders section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Hospital Murders 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 Hospital Murders, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
