Chapter 8 of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not. Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case. Have patience with me. I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to. The evenings are the hardest to put in.
Chapter 8 of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.”
the quality of conforming to standards of propriety and morality
From this reading “I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.”
plural of “evening” — the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading “The evenings are the hardest to put in.”
superlative of “hard” — with effort or force or vigor
From this reading “The evenings are the hardest to put in.”
at the same time but in another place
From this reading “Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.”
good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
From this reading “Have patience with me.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.”
showing curiosity
From this reading “Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.”
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 would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.”
In this reading “I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.”
as might be expected
In this reading “I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.”
In this reading “I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.”
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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
Having no one else present.
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
an occurrence of something
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
the quality of conforming to standards of propriety and morality
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
plural of “evening” — the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading The evenings are the hardest to put in.
a boy or man
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
start firing a weapon
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
superlative of “hard” — with effort or force or vigor
From this reading The evenings are the hardest to put in.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Have patience with me.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Have patience with me.
at the same time but in another place
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
From this reading Have patience with me.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The evenings are the hardest to put in.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
a person, without saying who
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
express a supposition
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The evenings are the hardest to put in.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading I am so absolutely alone in my new life, I must have somebody to air my thoughts to.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
at the time that
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
showing curiosity
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading I would like to fire that fellow when I get out of this--but, of course, in common decency I must not.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what all this has to do with our case.
Chapter 8 of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story by Hulbert Footner holds 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 8 holds 406 sentences of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story by Hulbert Footner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 8 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 Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story by Hulbert Footner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6984 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57236 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57236, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 582 minutes of reading across 1397 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story 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 Thieves' Wit: An Everyday Detective Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
