Chapter 7 of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Things could not go on so forever, of course. One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold. He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly. After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering. His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
Chapter 7 of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
study of the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome
From this reading “His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.”
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading “He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.”
the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics)
From this reading “His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.”
of or relating to the ancient Latins or the Latin language
From this reading “His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.”
worried and uneasy
From this reading “After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.”
in an unfortunate way
From this reading “He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.”
having a sunken area
From this reading “One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.”
migratory
From this reading “After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.”
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 After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
later than; following
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.
study of the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
for a limitless time
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics)
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
of or relating to the ancient Latins or the Latin language
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
worried and uneasy
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
in an unfortunate way
From this reading He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
having a sunken area
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading His mind ran on his classics, and fell back on the Latin grammar.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Things could not go on so forever, of course.
precisely as stated
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
migratory
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading One morning his face was sunken and his hands were very, very cold.
during the time that
From this reading After a while he grew restless and seemed a little wandering.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading He was “better,” he whispered, but sadly and faintly.
Chapter 7 of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes holds 125 sentences, grouped into 25 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 7 holds 125 sentences of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 125 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 7 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 Professor at the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3744 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2665 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2665, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 312 minutes of reading across 749 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Professor at the Breakfast-Table section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Professor at the Breakfast-Table 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 Professor at the Breakfast-Table, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
