Chapter 8 of The play that won is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The play that won is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming. “How much would it cost, sir? I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.” He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside. “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
Chapter 8 of The play that won is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
cheerful and bright
From this reading ““Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.”
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading ““Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.”
plural of “cent” — a fractional monetary unit of several countries
From this reading “I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.””
an udder or breast or teat
From this reading “He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.”
something of little value
From this reading ““Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.”
an idea that is suggested
From this reading “He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-one and one
From this reading “I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.””
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading “He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.”
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.
be restored
In this reading “I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.””
In this reading ““Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.”
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 He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
on or to one side
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
cheerful and bright
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
plural of “cent” — a fractional monetary unit of several countries
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
the total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor
From this reading “How much would it cost, sir?
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
an udder or breast or teat
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “How much would it cost, sir?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “How much would it cost, sir?
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading “How much would it cost, sir?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
and nothing more
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
a separate part of a whole
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
something of little value
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
term of address for a man
From this reading “How much would it cost, sir?
an idea that is suggested
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
carry out
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-one and one
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading He dug into a pocket, but the Captain waved the suggestion aside.
at the time that
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading “Shucks,” he said, “a little piece o’ wood ain’t goin’ to cost nothin’.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “How much would it cost, sir?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Oh, will you please?” cried Billy, beaming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ve only got twenty-two cents, but if you’d take that I’d pay you the rest when you came back.”
Chapter 8 of The play that won by Ralph Henry Barbour holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 8 holds 425 sentences of The play that won, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The play that won by Ralph Henry Barbour exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 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 8 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 play that won by Ralph Henry Barbour on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3431 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #68062 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #68062, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 285 minutes of reading across 687 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The play that won section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The play that won 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 play that won, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
