Chapter 5 of The Spider Web is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Spider Web is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6. I. I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep. Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir." The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
Chapter 5 of The Spider Web 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.
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading “Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."”
plural of “fathom” — a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
From this reading “I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.”
a structure from which an artificially produced jet of water arises
From this reading “THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.”
a person who carries a message
From this reading “The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.”
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
From this reading “The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.”
a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
From this reading “Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."”
use a knife on
From this reading “Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."”
doomed to extinction
From this reading “I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.”
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 “I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.”
In this reading “Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."”
In this reading “Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
placed crosswise
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
bringing death
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
plural of “fathom” — a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
a structure from which an artificially produced jet of water arises
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
a person who carries a message
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
perception by means of the eyes
From this reading The messenger, seeing I was more or less awake, crossed the cabin and passed me a signal pad.
any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
term of address for a man
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
use a knife on
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
doomed to extinction
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE FATAL FOUNTAIN AND END OF U-C 6.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Came a loud rap at my cabin door, the stab of electric light in my eyes, and a voice saying, "Signal, sir."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was sunk a thousand fathoms deep in sleep.
Chapter 5 of The Spider Web by T. D. Hallam 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 5 holds 425 sentences of The Spider Web, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Spider Web by T. D. Hallam 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 5 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 Spider Web by T. D. Hallam on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2880 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50339 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50339, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 240 minutes of reading across 576 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Spider Web section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Spider Web 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 Spider Web, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
