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What is the word for reading something continuously without a pause?

He read the whole paragraph ...

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By the way...it's not clear from question whether you mean "read aloud" or "ready to himself". It may not matter ... but then it might! – Mark Beadles Apr 24 '12 at 1:03
Good point, @MarkBeadles! I assumed the former, because he happened to ask about reading a paragraph. Had he asked about something longer, though (like a chapter, or a book), I might have assumed otherwise, and suggested in one sitting, instead of in one breath. – J.R. Apr 24 '12 at 1:49

3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Idiomatically, you could say:

He read the whole paragraph without taking a breath.

Or maybe:

He read the whole paragraph like an auctioneer.

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Instead of "read", I'd use "rattled off". – Marthaª Apr 24 '12 at 0:55
@Marthaª: I agree; that would further improve the prose. – J.R. Apr 24 '12 at 0:57
Can we also He read the whole paragraph in one breath? – Noah Apr 24 '12 at 7:49
@Noah: Sure, that's another variation – I even mentioned that one in my comment above. – J.R. Apr 24 '12 at 8:40
up vote 3 down vote

"...through."

"...straight."

"...straight through." also works..

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and you can "pile through" if you're trying to emphasize the intensity of effort – JeffSahol Apr 24 '12 at 1:21
up vote 2 down vote

You could well say "He devoured the book", which implies that it was compelling to such an extent, that the person read it without taking breaks. That being said, "devour" would sound odd used with a "paragraph", especially one read aloud. Since you didn't provide much context, I consider it to be one of the possibilities.

On reflection, "He read the whole paragraph in a single breath" might be the expression you've been looking for.

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