Chapter 9 of The Syndic is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Syndic is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"What?" It stopped her cold. After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh. "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump. Yes--do what?"
Chapter 9 of The Syndic is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading “"The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.”
plural of “maniac” — an insane person
From this reading “"The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.”
a major North American river and the chief river of the United States; rises in northern Minnesota and flows southward into the Gulf of Mexico
From this reading “"The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.”
beyond or across the sea
From this reading “"The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.”
inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
From this reading “After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.”
lacking neatness or order
From this reading “"The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.”
communicated in words
From this reading “After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.”
plural of “wolf” — any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs
From this reading “"The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.”
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 “After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.”
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 minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
later than; following
From this reading After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
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 It stopped her cold.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Yes--do what?"
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading It stopped her cold.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It stopped her cold.
move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
the sound of laughing
From this reading After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
plural of “maniac” — an insane person
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
From this reading After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
a major North American river and the chief river of the United States; rises in northern Minnesota and flows southward into the Gulf of Mexico
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
beyond or across the sea
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
From this reading After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
lacking neatness or order
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading It stopped her cold.
one appointed to represent a city or university or corporation in business transactions
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
communicated in words
From this reading After a minute she uttered a shaky laugh.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What?"
during the time that
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
plural of “wolf” — any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs
From this reading "The fat, sloppy, happy Syndic," she said, "sitting around while the wolves overseas and the maniacs across the Mississippi are waiting to jump.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes--do what?"
Chapter 9 of The Syndic by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 420 sentences of The Syndic, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Syndic by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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.
Common questions about reading The Syndic by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4203 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41714 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41714, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 350 minutes of reading across 841 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Syndic section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Syndic 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 Syndic, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
