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Black Pawl
Black Pawl

Chapter XVI

Cover illustration for Black Pawl
Context Illustration Reading 1/42 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.
He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.
Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.
He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.
Black Pawl looked at Spiess, and then he looked at his son.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Black Pawl

Chapter XVI

Reading 1/42 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.
Line 2
He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.
Line 3
Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.
Line 4
He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.
Line 5
Black Pawl looked at Spiess, and then he looked at his son.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Hand noun US /hand/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.”

Life noun US /life/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.”

Little noun US /little/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.”

Looked noun US /looked/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Black Pawl looked at Spiess, and then he looked at his son.”

One pronoun US /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading “He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.”

Though conjunction US /ðoʊ/

in spite of the fact that

From this reading “It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.”

Within preposition US /wɪˈðɪn/

inside; before a period of time has passed

From this reading “It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.”

All words in this reading · 54

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 It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

back

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

bent

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.

Black

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

blade

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

came

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

crouched

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.

down

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

feet

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

fierce

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

flung

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.

got

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

hand

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

HepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

himpronounUS /hɪm/

the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

ItpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

knees

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.

knife

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

lifenounUS /life/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

littlenounUS /little/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.

lookednounUS /looked/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Black Pawl looked at Spiess, and then he looked at his son.

man

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

movement

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

off

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

onepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

Pawl

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

red

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

sent

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

side

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

son

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Black Pawl looked at Spiess, and then he looked at his son.

Spiess

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

sprawling

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

spring

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

stared

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

swift

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

Then

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

thoughconjunctionUS /ðoʊ/

in spite of the fact that

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

touched

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

turned

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

up

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Then Black Pawl turned, and stared down at him, and Spiess got up, the red knife in his hand.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.

watched

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He watched Black Pawl; and he crouched a little, his knees bent for a spring.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading He came to his feet with a swift, fierce movement that flung Spiess off his back and sent the man sprawling to one side.

withinprepositionUS /wɪˈðɪn/

inside; before a period of time has passed

From this reading It was as though the blade of the knife touched a spring of life within Black Pawl.