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The Killer
The Killer

Chapter XXX

Cover illustration for The Killer
Context Illustration Reading 1/43 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.
As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.
Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.
The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.
Maids were dusting and sweeping.
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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.

The Killer

Chapter XXX

Reading 1/43 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.
Line 2
As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.
Line 3
Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.
Line 4
The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.
Line 5
Maids were dusting and sweeping.

Learner Dictionary

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

Beneath preposition US /bɪˈniːθ/

Directly under; in or to a lower position than.

From this reading “As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.”

Descended noun US /ˈdescended/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading “Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.”

Done noun US /done/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.”

Little noun US /little/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.”

Yet conjunction US /jet/

but in spite of that

From this reading “The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.”

All words in this reading · 61

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 EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

andeterminerUS /æn/

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

arise

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

AsconjunctionUS /æz/

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

atmosphere

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

awakened

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

away

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

beneathprepositionUS /bɪˈniːθ/

Directly under; in or to a lower position than.

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

BIRD

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

blankets

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

butconjunctionUS /bʌt/

used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

byprepositionUS /baɪ/

showing who or what does the action

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

closed

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

cold

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

crackling

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

departed

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

descendednounUS /ˈdescended/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

donenounUS /done/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

duly

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

dusting

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

From this reading Maids were dusting and sweeping.

EARLY

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

eiderdown

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

entered

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

fireplaces

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

grateful

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

kerosene

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

lit

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

littlenounUS /little/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

Maids

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

From this reading Maids were dusting and sweeping.

merrily

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

Mistaking

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

mitigate

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

mydeterminerUS /maɪ/

belonging to the person speaking

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

nose

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

now

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

quilt

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

rather

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

Redmond

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

rite

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

room

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

shortly

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

signal

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

silently

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

stove

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

sweeping

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

From this reading Maids were dusting and sweeping.

THEdeterminerUS /ðə/

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

theypronounUS /ðeɪ/

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

three

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

toparticleUS /tuː/

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

From this reading Mistaking the rite for a signal to arise, I did so; and shortly descended.

two

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

From this reading As I was now beneath two blankets and an eiderdown quilt, and my nose was cold, I was duly grateful.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

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

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.

whopronounUS /huː/

which person or people

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

windows

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

From this reading THE EARLY BIRD I was awakened rather early by Redmond, who silently entered the room, lit a kerosene stove, closed the windows, and departed.

yetconjunctionUS /jet/

but in spite of that

From this reading The three fireplaces were crackling away merrily, but they had done little to mitigate the atmosphere as yet.