Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
adeterminerUS /ə/
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
againnounUS /again/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
all-spreading
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
andeterminerUS /æn/
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
ancientadjectiveUS /ˈeɪn.ʃənt/
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
andconjunctionUS /ənd/
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
apart
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
asconjunctionUS /æz/
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
away
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
backed
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
bank
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From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
bending
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
berries
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
birds
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
blue
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
bounded
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
bushes
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
butconjunctionUS /bʌt/
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
byprepositionUS /baɪ/
showing who or what does the action
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
children
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
closed
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
creek
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
crooked
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
cypresses
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From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
Darden
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
dark
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
decorously
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
deeply
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
dense
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
dogs
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
dogwood
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
down
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
earth
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
east
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
everywhere
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
FairnounUS /fair/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
fairyland
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
fallen
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
fantastic
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
farther
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
fell
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
fertile
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
fields
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
filled
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
find
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
flash
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
forprepositionUS /fɔːr/
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
forest
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
fragrant
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
fromprepositionUS /frʌm/
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
Gideon
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
given
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
glebe
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
grew
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
grounds
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
growth
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
heavy
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
height
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
herenounUS /here/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
honeysuckles
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
house
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
HUGON
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
immemorial
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
impenetrable
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
inprepositionUS /ɪn/
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
ItpronounUS /ɪt/
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
itsdeterminerUS /ɪts/
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
JEAN
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
Later
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
logs
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
looknounUS /look/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
low
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
marshy
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
maze
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
men
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
mightmodal verbUS /maɪt/
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
MONSIEUR
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
monster
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
most
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
myriads
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From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
myrtle
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From this reading To the east the thicket fell away to low and marshy grounds, where tall cypresses grew, and myriads of myrtle bushes.
north
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
odors
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
OFprepositionUS /ʌv/
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
once
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
onepronounUS /wʌn/
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
outlying
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
overprepositionUS /ˈoʊvər/
above and across; more than
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
overrun
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
partnounUS /part/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
pine
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
pines
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
place
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
pressing
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
primeval
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
rank
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
recesses
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
RETURN
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
Rev
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
river
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
rotting
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
sake
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
saplings
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
sassafras
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
second
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
shadowed
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
silencenounUS /ˈsaɪ.ləns/
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
sky
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
slave
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
slender
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
slow-moving
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
songs
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
south
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
springing
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
stoodnounUS /stood/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
stumps
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
suchdeterminerUS /sʌtʃ/
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
sunken
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
taking
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
tall
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
ten
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
THEdeterminerUS /ðə/
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
theirdeterminerUS /ðer/
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
there
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
thick
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
thicketnounUS /ˈθɪkɪt/
a dense group of bushes or small trees
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
thorny
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
ToparticleUS /tuː/
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
tobacconounUS /ˈtobacco/
a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
tops
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
tracked
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
trees
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
uncontrollable
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
underbrush
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
unstable
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
uponprepositionUS /əˈpɑːn/
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
venture
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
View
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
vine
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
wax
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
west
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
whereconjunctionUS /wer/
in or at the place that
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
whosedeterminerUS /huːz/
belonging to which person
From this reading To the south and the west the tobacco fields of Fair View closed in upon the glebe, taking the fertile river bank, and pressing down to the crooked, slow-moving, deeply shadowed creek, upon whose farther bank stood the house of the Rev. Gideon Darden.
wild
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
wings
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
withprepositionUS /wɪð/
in the company of; together with
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
women
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
wood
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
wouldmodal verbUS /wʊd/
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
year
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
years
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was such a fantastic thicket as one might look to find in fairyland, thorny and impenetrable: here as tall as a ten years’ pine, there sunken away to the height of the wild honeysuckles; everywhere backed by blue sky, heavy with odors, filled, with the flash of wings and the songs of birds.
yield
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Later in the year women and children would venture in upon the unstable earth for the sake of the myrtle berries and their yield of fragrant wax, and once and again an outlying slave had been tracked by men and dogs to the dark recesses of the place; but for the most part it was given over to its immemorial silence.
young
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN OF MONSIEUR JEAN HUGON To the north the glebe was bounded by a thick wood, a rank and dense “second growth” springing from earth where had once stood, decorously apart, the monster trees of the primeval forest; a wild maze of young trees, saplings and underbrush, overrun from the tops of the slender, bending pines to the bushes of dogwood and sassafras, and the rotting, ancient stumps and fallen logs, by the uncontrollable, all-spreading vine.
