Chapter 4 of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader is here in full — 167 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader is here in full — 167 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder. The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife. The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons. The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances. The eagle flies with most graceful ease.
Chapter 4 of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader is here in full — 167 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)
From this reading “The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.”
plural of “edge” — the boundary of a surface
From this reading “The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.”
plural of “nail” — horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits
From this reading “The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.”
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading “The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.”
Goods or treasure taken by force or theft, especially in war or banditry.
From this reading “The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.”
superlative of “proud” — feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride
From this reading “The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.”
plural of “talon” — a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey
From this reading “The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.”
plural of “toe” — one of the digits of the foot
From this reading “The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.”
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 The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
(used of persons or the military) characterized by having or bearing arms
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
any of various large keen-sighted diurnal birds of prey noted for their broad wings and strong soaring flight
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
move gently or carefully
From this reading The eagle flies with most graceful ease.
plural of “edge” — the boundary of a surface
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
opinion or judgment
From this reading The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.
(theater) the space over the stage (out of view of the audience) used to store scenery (drop curtains)
From this reading The eagle flies with most graceful ease.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
provided with whatever is necessary for a purpose (as furniture or equipment or authority)
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
plural of “glance” — a quick look
From this reading The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.
characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution
From this reading The eagle flies with most graceful ease.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
fasten with a hook
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
used to form the superlative
From this reading The eagle flies with most graceful ease.
plural of “nail” — horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.
Goods or treasure taken by force or theft, especially in war or banditry.
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
having great power or force or potency or effect
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
superlative of “proud” — feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride
From this reading The eyes are piercing, and flash forth the proudest glances.
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
plural of “talon” — a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
plural of “toe” — one of the digits of the foot
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading The eagle is well armed for battle and plunder.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The feet are furnished with four terrible toes, which have long and sharp nails, called talons.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The beak is powerful, and bent like a hook, with edges as sharp as a knife.
Chapter 4 of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader by William Holmes [Compiler] McGuffey holds 167 sentences, grouped into 34 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 4 holds 167 sentences of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader by William Holmes [Compiler] McGuffey exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 167 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 4 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 New McGuffey Fourth Reader by William Holmes [Compiler] McGuffey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2855 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1490 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1490, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 237 minutes of reading across 571 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The New McGuffey Fourth Reader section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The New McGuffey Fourth Reader 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 New McGuffey Fourth Reader, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
