Chapter 20 of The house on the cliff is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The house on the cliff is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor. “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction. “Just in time! If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.” The Hardy boys were silent.
Chapter 20 of The house on the cliff is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
past form of “chuckle” — laugh quietly or with restraint
From this reading ““Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.”
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading “DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.”
fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
From this reading “DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.”
having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships
From this reading “The Hardy boys were silent.”
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading “DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.”
freed from illness or injury
From this reading “DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.”
the resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another
From this reading ““Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.”
plural of “threat” — something that is a source of danger
From this reading “DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.”
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 “If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.””
In this reading ““Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.”
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 If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
the past participle of “be”
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading The Hardy boys were silent.
past form of “chuckle” — laugh quietly or with restraint
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships
From this reading The Hardy boys were silent.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
and nothing more
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
on one occasion
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
freed from illness or injury
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
the resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
the contentment one feels when one has fulfilled a desire, need, or expectation
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading The Hardy boys were silent.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Hardy boys were silent.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
plural of “threat” — something that is a source of danger
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading DIRE THREATS Snackley, once he had recovered from his first consternation and surprise, was in high humor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If we’d been a few minutes later they’d have been away from us altogether.”
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The Hardy boys were silent.
in the company of; together with
From this reading “Just in time!” he chuckled, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
Chapter 20 of The house on the cliff by Franklin W. Dixon holds 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 118 sentences of The house on the cliff, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The house on the cliff by Franklin W. Dixon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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.
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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.
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How to work through The house on the cliff section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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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 house on the cliff, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
