Chapter 18 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool. The inspector was clearly very excited. “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly. “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone. Takes dope, too.
Chapter 18 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
-ing form of “blackmail” — exert pressure on someone through threats
From this reading ““We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.”
without doubt or question
From this reading “The inspector was clearly very excited.”
someone who pays for goods or services
From this reading ““He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.”
street names for marijuana
From this reading “Takes dope, too.”
a high ranking police officer
From this reading “CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.”
a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
From this reading “CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.”
a large city in northwestern England; its port is the country's major outlet for industrial exports
From this reading “CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.”
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading ““He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.”
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
-ing form of “blackmail” — exert pressure on someone through threats
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
without doubt or question
From this reading The inspector was clearly very excited.
someone who pays for goods or services
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
made known or openly avowed
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
street names for marijuana
From this reading Takes dope, too.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
(of persons) excessively affected by emotion
From this reading The inspector was clearly very excited.
a boy or man
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
a high ranking police officer
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
in a joyous manner
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
a large city in northwestern England; its port is the country's major outlet for industrial exports
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
above and across; more than
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
a garment (coat or sweater) that has raglan sleeves
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
having or caused by an irregular surface
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
cut with a saw
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading Takes dope, too.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Takes dope, too.
create by training and teaching
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
precisely as stated
From this reading The inspector was clearly very excited.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The inspector was clearly very excited.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading CHARLES KENT Half an hour later saw Poirot, myself, and Inspector Raglan in the train on the way to Liverpool.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “We may get a line on the blackmailing part of the business, if on nothing else,” he declared jubilantly.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “He’s a rough customer, this fellow, by what I heard over the phone.
Chapter 18 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie holds 178 sentences, grouped into 36 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 18 holds 178 sentences of The murder of Roger Ackroyd, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 178 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 18 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 murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6902 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #69087 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #69087, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 575 minutes of reading across 1381 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Choose one of the 27 chapters of The murder of Roger Ackroyd to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The murder of Roger Ackroyd, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
