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The Secret of the Night
The Secret of the Night

Chapter XXV

Cover illustration for The Secret of the Night
Context Illustration Reading 1/45 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.
Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.
Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.
Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.
He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Secret of the Night

Chapter XXV

Reading 1/45 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.
Line 2
Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.
Line 3
Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.
Line 4
Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.
Line 5
He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Hands plural noun US /hændz/

members of a ship’s crew

From this reading “Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.”

Long noun US /long/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.”

Over preposition US /ˈoʊvər/

above and across; more than

From this reading “He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.”

Since preposition US /sɪns/

from a time in the past until now

From this reading “They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.”

Terrible noun US /ˈterrible/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading “Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.”

Under preposition US /ˈʌndər/

below or beneath something; less than

From this reading “Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.”

All words in this reading · 54

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

bald

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

besprinkled

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

black

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

bowing

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

butconjunctionUS /bʌt/

used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

came

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

dinner

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

draughts

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

drawing-room

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

entered

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

fat

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

fattish

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

finished

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

game

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

Gounsovski

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

gown

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

handsplural nounUS /hændz/

members of a ship’s crew

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

head

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

held

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/

belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

himpronounUS /hɪm/

the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

jewels

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

lamp

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

longnounUS /long/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

Madame

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

man

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

Monsieur

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

obsequious

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

out

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

overprepositionUS /ˈoʊvər/

above and across; more than

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

playing

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

presented

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

received

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

recognized

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

Rouletabille

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

shining

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

silk

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

sinceprepositionUS /sɪns/

from a time in the past until now

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

terriblenounUS /ˈterrible/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

TheypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading They received him, but they had long since finished dinner.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out.

underprepositionUS /ˈʌndər/

below or beneath something; less than

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts under the lamp.

whopronounUS /huː/

which person or people

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with jewels over her black silk gown.