Chapter 8 of You can't win is here in full — 258 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of You can't win is here in full — 258 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night. My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three. He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired. He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail. Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
Chapter 8 of You can't win is here in full — 258 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
having fair knowledge of
From this reading “He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.”
uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle
From this reading “I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.”
A small stone room in a prison where an inmate is locked behind iron bars.
From this reading “I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.”
on a floor below
From this reading “I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.”
a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
From this reading “He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.”
sturdy and strong in constitution or construction; enduring
From this reading “He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-two and one
From this reading “My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-one and one
From this reading “My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.”
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 “He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.”
In this reading “My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.”
soldiers who are regarded as expendable in the face of artillery fire
In this reading “Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?””
In this reading “My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.”
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 I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
having fair knowledge of
From this reading He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.
favorite
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
a youthful male person
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
A small stone room in a prison where an inmate is locked behind iron bars.
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
on a floor below
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
a boy or man
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
recently made, produced, or harvested
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
From this reading He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
past form of “lock” — fasten with a lock
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
not any; not one
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
a writing implement with a point from which ink flows
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
sturdy and strong in constitution or construction; enduring
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He looked like a country boy, rugged, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, sandy-haired.
North American woodland herb similar to and used as substitute for the Chinese ginseng
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
cut with a saw
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.
a person who smiles
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
depleted of energy, force, or strength
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-two and one
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty-one and one
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading He seemed to be well acquainted in the jail.
in or at the place that
From this reading I was taken downstairs and locked in a cell; I saw no more of the “bull pen” where I spent the night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Some one sang out, “Who’s the fresh fish, ‘Smiler’?”
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading My cellmate was a handsome, smiling young fellow about twenty-two or twenty-three.
Chapter 8 of You can't win by Jack Black holds 258 sentences, grouped into 52 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 258 sentences of You can't win, unabridged, divided into 52 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of You can't win by Jack Black exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 258 sentences, grouped into 52 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 52 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 52 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in You can't win, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
