Chapter 5 of The Wailing Octopus is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Wailing Octopus is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant. He spotted the boys immediately and waved. Rick breathed a sigh of relief. "There he is." "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
Chapter 5 of The Wailing Octopus is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
uttered without voice
From this reading “Rick breathed a sigh of relief.”
the act of eating dinner
From this reading “The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.”
a commissioned military officer
From this reading “The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.”
an organization of military vessels belonging to a country and available for sea warfare
From this reading “The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.”
a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (“rick” and “wrick” are British)
From this reading “Rick breathed a sigh of relief.”
having spots or patches (small areas of contrasting color or texture)
From this reading “He spotted the boys immediately and waved.”
a message informing of danger
From this reading “The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.”
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading “He spotted the boys immediately and waved.”
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.
a room used for dining
In this reading “The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.”
In this reading “"We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “"We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.”
In this reading “Rick breathed a sigh of relief.”
In this reading “Rick breathed a sigh of relief.”
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 The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
having companions or an escort
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He spotted the boys immediately and waved.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading He spotted the boys immediately and waved.
uttered without voice
From this reading Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
the act of eating dinner
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He spotted the boys immediately and waved.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading He spotted the boys immediately and waved.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "There he is."
a commissioned military officer
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
an organization of military vessels belonging to a country and available for sea warfare
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
above and across; more than
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
the feeling that comes when something burdensome is removed or reduced
From this reading Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (“rick” and “wrick” are British)
From this reading Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
having spots or patches (small areas of contrasting color or texture)
From this reading He spotted the boys immediately and waved.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There he is."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
a message informing of danger
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading He spotted the boys immediately and waved.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading "We can turn this whole business over to him and then get out of here," Scotty returned.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading The Warning Steve Ames walked into the hotel dining room accompanied by a young Navy lieutenant.
Chapter 5 of The Wailing Octopus by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin holds 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 170 sentences of The Wailing Octopus, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Wailing Octopus by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 Wailing Octopus by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4131 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31495 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31495, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 344 minutes of reading across 827 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Wailing Octopus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Wailing Octopus 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 Wailing Octopus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
