Chapter 9 of The pit is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The pit is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy." There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked. In a word, she looked "Dutchy." All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair. "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
Chapter 9 of The pit is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
disposed or placed in a particular kind of order
From this reading “There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.”
a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune
From this reading “Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."”
inflected form of “fling” — throw with force or recklessness
From this reading “All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.”
somewhat ill or prone to illness
From this reading “There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.”
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading “All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.”
a kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore
From this reading “There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.”
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading “There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.”
furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme
From this reading “Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."”
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 In a word, she looked "Dutchy."
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
disposed or placed in a particular kind of order
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
made known or openly avowed
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
put on clothes
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
inflected form of “fling” — throw with force or recklessness
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In a word, she looked "Dutchy."
moving to the inside of something
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
not any; not one
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
on one occasion
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
somewhat ill or prone to illness
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading All at once she flung off her roses and dropped into a chair.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
a kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme
From this reading Then, as an ultimate disaster, she declared that she herself looked "Dutchy."
without decorousness
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was no style, no smartness to her dress; her hair was arranged unbecomingly; she was growing thin, peaked.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "I will not go down to-night," she cried.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading In a word, she looked "Dutchy."
Chapter 9 of The pit by Frank Norris holds 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 9 holds 421 sentences of The pit, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The pit by Frank Norris exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 9 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 pit by Frank Norris on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8642 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4382 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4382, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1729 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The pit section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The pit 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 pit, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
