Chapter 23 of Witness for the Defence is here in full — 242 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Witness for the Defence is here in full — 242 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear. Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks. Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music. For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun. Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
Chapter 23 of Witness for the Defence is here in full — 242 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
past form of “babble” — utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way
From this reading “Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.”
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading “Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.”
come together
From this reading “For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.”
full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds
From this reading “Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.”
past form of “pour” — cause to run
From this reading “THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.”
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
From this reading “Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.”
the rays of the sun
From this reading “THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.”
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 Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
(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 For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
past form of “babble” — utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
rid of obstructions
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
move gently or carefully
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
come together
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
past form of “pour” — cause to run
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
From this reading Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
the rays of the sun
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Henry Thresk shut his ears against the music.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Pettifer he knew to be a shrewd man.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading For all his appearance of ease he dreaded the encounter which was now begun.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Outside the open windows the garden was noisy with birds and the river babbled between its banks.
someone who sees an event and reports what happened
From this reading THE WITNESS The afternoon sunlight poured into the room golden and clear.
Chapter 23 of Witness for the Defence by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason holds 242 sentences, grouped into 49 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 23 holds 242 sentences of Witness for the Defence, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Witness for the Defence by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 242 sentences, grouped into 49 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 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 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 23 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 Witness for the Defence by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5912 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12535 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12535, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 492 minutes of reading across 1183 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Witness for the Defence section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Witness for the Defence 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 Witness for the Defence, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
