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Old Ebenezer
Old Ebenezer

Chapter XXXI

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Context Illustration Reading 1/34 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
THERE CAME A CHECK.
Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.
It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.
It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.
They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.
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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.

Old Ebenezer

Chapter XXXI

Reading 1/34 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
THERE CAME A CHECK.
Line 2
Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.
Line 3
It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.
Line 4
It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.
Line 5
They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

Learner Dictionary

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

Against preposition US /əˈɡenst/

touching and pressing; in opposition to

From this reading “It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.”

Art auxiliary verb US /ɑːrt/

an old form of “are”, used with “thou”

From this reading “It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.”

Nothing pronoun US /ˈnʌθɪŋ/

not one thing; not anything

From this reading “They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.”

One pronoun US /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading “Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.”

Senses plural noun US /ˈsɛnsɪz/

powers of perception and awareness

From this reading “It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.”

Surprised noun US /surprised/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.”

All words in this reading · 52

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 THERE CAME A CHECK.

againstprepositionUS /əˈɡenst/

touching and pressing; in opposition to

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

andeterminerUS /æn/

the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

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

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

arise

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

artauxiliary verbUS /ɑːrt/

an old form of “are”, used with “thou”

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

book

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

CAME

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

From this reading THERE CAME A CHECK.

CHECK

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

From this reading THERE CAME A CHECK.

close

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/

the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

essence

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

expected

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

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

fad-nerve

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

favor

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

find

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

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

forecast

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

humor

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

ItpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

like

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

Lyman's

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

met

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

much

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

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

nodeterminerUS /noʊ/

not any; not one

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

nothingpronounUS /ˈnʌθɪŋ/

not one thing; not anything

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

onepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

public's

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

quietly

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

resentment

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

reviewers

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

sensesplural nounUS /ˈsɛnsɪz/

powers of perception and awareness

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

simple

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

sly

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

soil

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

stole

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

From this reading It was so simple, with an art so sly, with a humor that, like an essence, so quietly stole the senses, that the reviewers did not arise in resentment against it.

surprisednounUS /surprised/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

THERE

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

From this reading THERE CAME A CHECK.

TheypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

toparticleUS /tuː/

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

too

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

touch

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

ventured

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

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

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

From this reading It did not touch the public's fad-nerve; it was too close to the soil for that.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading They had expected nothing and were surprised to find much.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading Lyman's book met with a favor that no one had ventured to forecast.