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The Joss: A Reversion
The Joss: A Reversion

Chapter III · The Doll

Cover illustration for The Joss: A Reversion
Context Illustration Reading 1/40 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.
She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.
I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.
And there was a chance!
But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Joss: A Reversion

Chapter III · The Doll

Reading 1/40 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.
Line 2
She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.
Line 3
I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.
Line 4
And there was a chance!
Line 5
But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Before preposition US /bɪˈfɔːr/

earlier than; in front of

From this reading “I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.”

Even noun US /even/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.”

Know noun US /know/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.”

Never noun US /never/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.”

Something pronoun US /ˈsʌmθɪŋ/

a thing, without saying which

From this reading “I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.”

Stood noun US /stood/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.”

Tongue noun US /tongue/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.”

Would modal verb US /wʊd/

used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past

From this reading “She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.”

All words in this reading · 55

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

AndconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading And there was a chance!

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

beforeprepositionUS /bɪˈfɔːr/

earlier than; in front of

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

butconjunctionUS /bʌt/

used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

care

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

chance

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

doauxiliary verbUS /duː/

used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

Emily

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

evennounUS /even/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

expected

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

fromprepositionUS /frʌm/

showing where something starts, or who sent it

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

Galloway

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

giving

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/

belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

instead

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

isauxiliary verbUS /ɪz/

the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

knownounUS /know/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

known

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

lose

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

meet

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

Mrs

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

much

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

mumchance

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

nasty

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

nevernounUS /never/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

off

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

prevented

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

said

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

ShepronounUS /ʃiː/

a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

somethingpronounUS /ˈsʌmθɪŋ/

a thing, without saying which

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

sort

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

stoodnounUS /stood/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

talking

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

there

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading And there was a chance!

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

tonguenounUS /tongue/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

upstairs

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

uspronounUS /ʌs/

the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

using

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I had never before known her lose a chance of using it.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

whatpronounUS /wʌt/

used to ask for information about something

From this reading I do not know what it was, but something prevented Mrs. Galloway from giving us the sort of talking to I had expected.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

woman

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

word

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But, instead, there she stood mumchance, and before she had even so much as said a word, Emily and I were off upstairs.

wouldmodal verbUS /wʊd/

used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.

youpronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading She is a woman with as nasty a tongue as you would care to meet.