Chapter 9 of The prey of the strongest is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The prey of the strongest is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it. And once, as he knew, he had been a man. He cried as he rode back to his ranche. He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it. Even the corrals were empty.
Chapter 9 of The prey of the strongest is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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.
plural of “acquaintance” — personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading “He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.”
chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth
From this reading “Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.”
make void or empty of contents
From this reading “Even the corrals were empty.”
past form of “fear” — be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading “He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.”
the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses
From this reading “He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.”
one of five children born at the same time from the same pregnancy
From this reading “Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.”
inflected form of “ride” — sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading “He cried as he rode back to his ranche.”
the least favorable outcome
From this reading “He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.”
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.
In this reading “He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.”
In this reading “He cried as he rode back to his ranche.”
recover something or somebody that appeared to be lost
In this reading “He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.”
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 And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
plural of “acquaintance” — personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He cried as he rode back to his ranche.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Even the corrals were empty.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading He cried as he rode back to his ranche.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading Even the corrals were empty.
divisible by two
From this reading Even the corrals were empty.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
past form of “fear” — be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He cried as he rode back to his ranche.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
on one occasion
From this reading And once, as he knew, he had been a man.
one of five children born at the same time from the same pregnancy
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He cried as he rode back to his ranche.
inflected form of “ride” — sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading He cried as he rode back to his ranche.
carry out
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Even the corrals were empty.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Ned Quin had to take that and chew on it.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Even the corrals were empty.
at the time that
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
which person or people
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
the least favorable outcome
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He met old acquaintances who would not know him, and when he got back home to find it lonelier than his worst imagination, he feared to face it.
Chapter 9 of The prey of the strongest by Morley Roberts holds 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 9 holds 430 sentences of The prey of the strongest, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The prey of the strongest by Morley Roberts exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The prey of the strongest, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
