Chapter 12 of The Odd Women is here in full — 373 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Odd Women is here in full — 373 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him. Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one. Had she been suffering long? he inquired. No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room. Miss Nunn could not receive him.
Chapter 12 of The Odd Women is here in full — 373 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
expected hopefully
From this reading “DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.”
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading “No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.”
a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized
From this reading “DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.”
lack of agreement or harmony
From this reading “DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.”
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “Had she been suffering long? he inquired.”
the body of people who lead a group
From this reading “DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.”
get something; come into possession of
From this reading “Miss Nunn could not receive him.”
a state of acute pain
From this reading “Had she been suffering long? he inquired.”
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 DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
expected hopefully
From this reading DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Miss Nunn could not receive him.
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized
From this reading DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
lack of agreement or harmony
From this reading DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
destroyed or killed
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
the body of people who lead a group
From this reading DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
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 Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
not any; not one
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miss Nunn could not receive him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading DISCORD OF LEADERS A disappointment awaited him.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
and nothing more
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
get something; come into possession of
From this reading Miss Nunn could not receive him.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
a state of acute pain
From this reading Had she been suffering long? he inquired.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading No; it was only this evening; she had not dined, and was gone to her room.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
(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 Miss Barfoot was not well enough to see any one.
Chapter 12 of The Odd Women by George Gissing holds 373 sentences, grouped into 75 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 12 holds 373 sentences of The Odd Women, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Odd Women by George Gissing exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 373 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 12 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 Odd Women by George Gissing on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10148 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4313 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4313, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2030 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Odd Women section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of The Odd Women 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 Odd Women, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
