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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 The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
aboutprepositionUS /əˈbaʊt/
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
all
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
andconjunctionUS /ənd/
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
Angel
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From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
beauxiliary verbUS /biː/
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
bellowed
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From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
cheer
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From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
choruses
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From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
close
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
comenounUS /come/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
coming
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
couldn't
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
creepy
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
dark
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
doauxiliary verbUS /duː/
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
drawing-room
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
everydeterminerUS /ˈevəri/
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
few
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
firing
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
frightened
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
funny
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
garden
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
gates
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From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
get
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
give
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
go
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
hates
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
hepronounUS /hiː/
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
head
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From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
heard
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
horrid
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
IpronounUS /aɪ/
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
inprepositionUS /ɪn/
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
intoprepositionUS /ˈɪntuː/
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
itpronounUS /ɪt/
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
job
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
join
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
jolly
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
jumped
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
ladies
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
lamps
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
lighted
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
locked
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
looking
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
made
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
more
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
Mr
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
much
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
ofprepositionUS /ʌv/
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
off
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
old
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
ourdeterminerUS /ˈaʊər/
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
ourselvespronounUS /aʊərˈselvz/
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
out
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
Perkins
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
piano
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
played
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
rifle
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
round
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
scratched
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
sea-songs
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
seemednounUS /seemed/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
sent
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
servants
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
shutters
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
singing
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
soconjunctionUS /soʊ/
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
some
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
somethingpronounUS /ˈsʌmθɪŋ/
a thing, without saying which
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
sometimes
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
standingnounUS /ˈstanding/
a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
street
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
success
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
surenounUS /sure/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
ThedeterminerUS /ðə/
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
thempronounUS /ðem/
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
Then
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
there
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
thoughconjunctionUS /ðoʊ/
in spite of the fact that
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
three
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
timenounUS /time/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
toparticleUS /tuː/
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
tricks
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
tried
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
up
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then we made the three ladies come into the drawing-room, lighted all the lamps, and tried to cheer them up.
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
wasn't
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much of a success, so he scratched his funny old head and did a few tricks.
way
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
wepronounUS /wiː/
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
wentnounUS /went/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The firing sometimes seemed to be coming our way, so we three went round the garden and made sure that all the gates were locked—a jolly creepy job it was out there in the dark, and I jumped every time I heard a rifle go off.
whichpronounUS /wɪtʃ/
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
whispering
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The servants were all standing about, whispering and looking frightened, which made it all the more horrid; so, to give them something to do, we sent them to close all the shutters, though we couldn’t get them to go into the street to close some there, and had to do that ourselves.
whopronounUS /huː/
which person or people
From this reading The Angel played the piano, and Mr. Perkins, who hates singing, bellowed out some sea-songs and made them join in the choruses.
