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adeterminerUS /ə/
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
aboveprepositionUS /əˈbʌv/
higher than, or over, something
From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
againnounUS /again/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
all
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
andconjunctionUS /ənd/
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
atprepositionUS /æt/
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
aware
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
away
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
certain
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
confront
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
contemptuous
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
Coral's
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
corner
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
count
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From this reading “You don’t count.”
covered
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
day
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
don't
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From this reading “You don’t count.”
engagement
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
fact
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
fallings
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
freeadjectiveUS /friː/
acting without enough restraint or discipline
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
happiness
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
haunted
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
heaped
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
herselfpronounUS /hərˈself/
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
huddled
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
inprepositionUS /ɪn/
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
inadequacies
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
itpronounUS /ɪt/
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
itsdeterminerUS /ɪts/
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
itselfpronounUS /ˌɪtˈself/
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
Justin
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From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
kindly
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
knew
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
laughter
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
Laura
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From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
living
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
looknounUS /look/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
mindnounUS /mind/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
naked
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
notion
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
ofprepositionUS /ʌv/
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
orconjunctionUS /ɔːr/
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
possible
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
Preposterous
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From this reading Preposterous!
ready
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
scorn
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
shake
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
shepronounUS /ʃiː/
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
shortadjectiveUS /ʃɔrt/
brief or direct in expression
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
SinceprepositionUS /sɪns/
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
thedeterminerUS /ðə/
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
there
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
tillprepositionUS /tɪl/
up to a particular time
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
toparticleUS /tuː/
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
trappings
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
underneathprepositionUS /ˌʌndərˈniːθ/
directly under, often hidden by what is above
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
up
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
uponprepositionUS /əˈpɑːn/
a formal word for “on”
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Since the day of her engagement she had been aware, underneath her happiness, of certain inadequacies, fallings short in herself or—was it possible?—in Justin.
word
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From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
words
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Coral’s words, her look, her laughter—above all, her kindly, contemptuous laughter—haunted Laura.
yetconjunctionUS /jet/
but in spite of that
From this reading She heaped scorn upon the notion till it was covered up again, and yet she knew it was there, huddled away in a corner of her mind, ready at a word to shake itself free of its trappings, to confront her, a naked living fact.
YoupronounUS /juː/
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You don’t count.”