Definitions
of Some Common A.A.-related Words

  • Cult (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1993.)
    n.
    • 1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
    • 2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
    • 3. the object of such devotion.
    • 4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
    • 5. Sociol. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
    • 6. a religion or sect considered considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
    • 7. the members of such a religion or sect.
    • 8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.
    —adj.
    • 9. of or pertaining to a cult.
    • 10. of, for, or attracting a small group of devotees: a cult movie.

  • Cult (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    n
    • 1: religious practice: WORSHIP
    • 2: a system of beliefs and ritual connected with the worship of a deity, a spirit, or a group of deities or spirits
      <the ~ of Apollo>
      <the earth ~>
    • 3:
      • a: the rites, ceremonies, and practices of a religion : the formal aspect of religious experience
        <dissent occurs in all three fields of expression of religious experience, in doctrine, in ~, and organization — Joachim Wach>
      • b: Roman Catholicism: reverence and ceremonial veneration paid to God or to the Virgin Mary or to saints or to objects that symbolize or otherwise represent them (as the crucifix or a statue) — called also cultus; compare DULIA, HYPERDULIA, LATRIA
    • 4: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious
      <an exuberant growth of fantastic ~s>;
      also: a minority religious group holding beliefs regarded as unorthodox or spurious : SECT
      <provided a haven for persecuted ~s>
    • 5: a system for the cure of disease based on the dogma, tenets, or principles set forth by its promulgator to the exclusion of scientific experience or demonstration
    • 6:
      • a: a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing
        <the ~ of success>; esp: such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad or fetish
        <the ~ of art-for-art's sake>
      • b: the object of such devotion
        <square dancing has developed into something of a ~ —R.L.Taylor>
      • c:
        • (1): a body of persons characterized by such devotion
          <America's growing ~ of home fixer uppers —Wall Street Jour.>
        • (2): a usu. small or narrow circle of persons united by devotion or allegiance to some artistic or intellectual program, tendency, or figure (as one of limited popular appeal)
          <the exclusive ~ of those that profess to admire his esoteric verse>

  • Ego (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1993.)
    n.
    • 1. the "I" or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought
    • 2. Psychoanal. the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediates between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social and physical environment.
    • 3. egotism; conceit; self-importance: Her ego becomes more unbearable each day.
    • 4. self-esteem or self-image; feelings: Your criticism wounded his ego.
    • 5. (often cap.) Philos.
      • a. the enduring and conscious element that knows experience.
      • b. Scholasticism. the complete person comprising both body and soul.
    • 6. Ethnol. a person who serves as the central reference point in the study of organizational and kinship relationships.

  • Ego (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    n.
    • 1: the self esp. as inside one as contrasted with something outside (as another self or the world): as
      • a metaphysical philos
        • (1) in Descartes: the soul or an underlying mental or spiritual substance
        • (2) in Kant: a transcendentally postulated unity either of apperception or of the morally free person — called also pure ego
        • (3) in Fichte: pure self-determining activity positing itself — called also pure ego
      • b empirical philos
        • (1) in Hume: a complex of ideas or a system of successive mental states
        • (2) in Kant: the conscious subject of experience
        • (3) : the consciousness of an individual's being in distinciton from other selves
      • c: SELF 3
    • 2
      • a: SELF-ESTEEM
        <few things are more soothing to a battered ~ than an afternoon's shopping —Ralph Linton>
        : EGOTISM
        <nice boy... not a speck of ~ in him —Clifford Odets>
      • b: WILL
        <Stalin chose Malenkov as the most faithful projection of his own political ~ —Reporter>
    • 3 [trans. of G ich] psychoanalysis: the largely conscious part of the personality that is derived from the id through contacts with reality and that mediates the demands of the id, of the superego, and of external everyday reality in the interest of preserving the organism
    • 4 ethnol: an individual person taken as a point of reference in a particular framework (as a kinship system)

  • Disease (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982)
    n.
    • 1. An abnormal condition of an organism or part, esp. as a consequence of infection, inherent weakness, or environmental stress, that impairs normal physiological functioning.
    • 2. A condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as abnormal and harmful.
    • 3. Obs. Lack of ease.

  • Disease [dih-zeez] (dictionary.com)
    noun
    1. a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.
    2. any abnormal condition in a plant that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc. any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society: His fascination with executions is a disease.
    3. decomposition of a material under special circumstances: tin disease.
    verb (used with object), diseased, diseasing.
    1. to affect with disease; make ill.

  • Humble (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982)
    — adj.
    • 1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit.
    • 2. Showing deferential or submissive respect.
    • 3. Of low rank or station; unpretentious: a humble cottage.
    — tr.v.
    • 1. To make lower in condition or station.

  • Instinct (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1993.)
    n.
    • 1. an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species.
    • 2. a natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency.
    • 3. a natural aptitude or gift: an instinct for making money.
    • 4. natural intuitive power.

  • Instinct (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    n.
    • 1 obs: INSTIGATION, IMPULSE
    • 2: a natural or inherent aptitude, tendency, impulse, or capacity
      <an ~ for the right word>
      <his ~ toward success>
    • 3
      • a: complex and specific response on the part of an organism to environmental stimuli that is largely hereditary and unalterable though the pattern of behavior through which it is expressed may be modified by learning, that does not involve reason, and that has as its goal the removal of a somatic tension or excitation
      • b: behavior that is mediated by reactions (as reflex arcs) below the conscious level — usu. not used technically

  • Recover (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982)
    v. -ered, -ering -ers.
    —tr.
    1. To get back; regain.
    2. To restore (oneself) to a normal state.
    3. To get compensate for.
    —intr.
    1. To regain a normal or usual condition, as of health.
    2. To receive a favorable judgement in a lawsuit.

  • Recovery (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982)
    n. pl. -ies.
    1. An act, instance, process, or duration of recovering.
    2. A return to a normal condition.
    3. Something gained or restored in recovering.
    4. The act of obtaining useful substances from unusable sources, as waste material.

  • Religion (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1993.)
    • 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
    • 2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
    • 3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
    • 4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
    • 5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
    • 6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.
    • 7. religions, Archaic. religious rites.
    • 8. Archaic. strict faithfulness; devotion: a religion to one's vow.
    • 9. get religion, Informal.
      • a. to acquire a deep conviction of the validity of religious beliefs and practices.
      • b. to resolve to mend one's errant ways: The company got religion and stopped making dangerous products.

  • Religion (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    • 1: the personal commitment to and serving of God or a god with worshipful devotion, conduct in accord with divine commands esp. as found in accepted sacred writings or declared by authoritative teachers, a way of life recognized as incumbent on true believers, and typically the relating of oneself to an organized body of believers
      <ministers of ~>
    • 2: the state of a religious
      <retire into ~>
      <the nun died in her thirtieth year of ~>
    • 3:
      • a: one of the systems of faith and worship : a religious faith
        <monotheistic ~s>
        <tolerant of all ~s>
        <forbidding discrimination because of race, color, or ~>
      • b: the body of institutionalized expressions of sacred beliefs, observances, and social practices found within a given cultural context
        <the ~ of this primitive people>
    • 4: the professional practice of religious beliefs : religious observances
      <the kernel of his practical ~ was that it was respectable, and beneficial to one's business, to be seen going to services — Sinclair Lewis>
    • 5: archaic: scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, FIDELITY
    • 6:
      • a: a personal awareness or conviction of the existence of a supreme being or of supernatural powers or influences controlling one's own, humanity's, or all of nature's destiny
        <only man appears to be capable of ~>
      • b: the access of such an awareness or conviction accompanied by or arousing reverence, gratitude, humility, the will to obey and serve : religious experience or insight
        <in middle life he suddenly got ~>
    • 7:
      • a: a cause, principle, system of tenets held with ardor, devotion, conscientiousness, and faith : a value held to be of supreme importance
        <by making democracy our ~ and by practicing its doctrines — W.O.Douglas>
        <he has made a ~ of pleasure, and it is a brave thing to do these days — Gerald Sykes>
      • b: a quality, condition, custom, or thing inspiring zealous devotion, conscientious maintenance, and cherishing
        <a ~ with him to preserve in good condition all that had lapsed from his mother's hands —Thomas Hardy>

  • Religious: (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982.)
    adj.
    1. Of, pertaining to, or teaching religion.
    2. Adhering to or manifesting religion, pious.
    3. Extremely faithful, conscientious: religious devotion to duty.

  • Sober (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982.)
    —adj.
    • 1. Habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic liquors; temperate.
    • 2. Not intoxicated.
    • 3. Straightforward in character; serious.
    • 4. Plain or subdued; not garrish: sober attire.
    • 5. Devoid of frivolity, excess, exaggeration, or speculative imagination: gave a sober assessment of the situation.
    • 6. Characterized by self-control or sanity; reasonable.
    —tr. & intr.v. -bered, -ering, -ers.
    • to make or become sober.

  • Sobriety (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982.)
    n.
    • 1. Seriousness or gravity in bearing, manner, or treatment; solemnity.
    • 2. Absence of alcoholic intoxication.

  • Spiritual (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982.)
    adj.
    1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material.
    2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.
    3. Of, from, or pertaining to God.
    4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred.
    5. Pertaining to or having the nature of spirits; supernatural.

  • Spiritual (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1993.)
    • 1. of, pertaining to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.
    • 2. of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the physical nature: a spiritual approach to life.
    • 3. closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc.: the professor's spiritual heir in linguistics.
    • 4. of or pertaining to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.
    • 5. characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit; ethereal or delicately refined: She is more of a spiritual type than her rowdy brother.
    • 6. of or pertaining to the spirit as the seat of the moral or religious nature.
    • 7. of or pertaining to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional; sacred.
    • 8. of or belonging to the church; ecclesiastical: lords spiritual and temporal.
    • 9. of or relating to the mind or intellect.
    • 10. a spiritual or religious song: authentic folk spirituals.
    • 11. spirituals, affairs of the church.
    • 12. a spiritual thing or matter.

  • Spiritual (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    • 1: of, relating to, or consisting of spirit : of the nature of spirit rather than material: INCORPOREAL — contrasted with earthy
    • 2:
      • a: of or relating to religious or sacred matters
        <~ leaders>
      • b: SACRED
        <~ songs>
      • c: ecclesiastical rather than lay or temporal
        <lords ~ and temporal>
    • 3: of or relating to the moral feelings or states of the soul as distinguished from the external actions : reaching and affecting the spirit
    • 4:
      • a: influenced or controlled by the divine Spirit : having a nature in which a concern for the Spirit of God predominates
        <~ man>
      • b: proceeding from or under the influence of the Holy Spirit : concerned with religious values : seeking earnestly to live in a right relation to God
        < a ~ Christian>
      • c: HOLY, DIVINE
        <to become ~ and perfected>
      • d: RELIGIOUS
        <Islam's ~ foundations>
    • 5: related or joined in spirit : spiritually akin : having a relationship one to another based on matters of the spirit
      <her ~ home>
      <regarded her pastor as her ~ father>
      <came to believe himself the ~ heir of the French poet — Allen Tate>
    • 6: archaic : consisting of spirit : ALCOHOLIC, SPIRITOUS
    • 7: of, relating to, or coming from the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind : INTELLECTUAL, MENTAL — contrasted with animal
    • 8: highly refined in thought or feeling
    • 9: SPIRITED, CLEVER, WITTY
    • 10: having to do with spirits, ghosts, or similar supernatural beings or with the world which they are help to people
    • 11: SPIRITUALISTIC

  • Surrender (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1982.)
    v. -dered, -dering -ders.
    —tr.
    1. To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion.
    2. To give up in favor of another.
    3. To give up or give back something that has been granted: surrender a contractual right.
    4. To give up or abandon: surrender all hope.
    5. To give over or resign (oneself) to something, as to an emotion: surrendered himself to grief.
    —intr.
    1. To give up, as to an enemy.
    —n.
    1. The act or an instance of surrendering.
    2. The delivery of a prisoner, fugitive from justice, or other principle in a legal suit into legal custody.

  • Will (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1993.)
    • 1. the faculty of conscious and especially of deliberate action; the power of control the mind has over its own actions: the freedom of the will.
    • 2. power of choosing one's own actions: to have a strong or a weak will.
    • 3. the act or process of using or asserting one's choice; volition: My hands are obedient to my will.
    • 4. wish or desire: to submit against one's will.
    • 5. purpose or determination, often hearty or stubborn determination; willfulness: to have the will to succeed.
    • 6. the wish or purpose as carried out, or to be carried out: to work one's will.
    • 7. disposition, whether good or ill, toward another.
    • 8. Law.
      • a. a legal declaration of a person's wishes as to the disposition of his or her property or estate after death, usually written and signed by the testator and attested by witnesses.
      • b. the document containing such a declaration.
    • 9. at will,
      • a: at one's discretion or pleasure; as one desires: to wander at will through the countryside.
      • b: at one's disposal or command.
    —v.t.
    • 10. to decide, bring about, or attempt to effect or bring about by an act of will: He can walk if he wills it.
    • 11. to purpose, determine on, or elect, by an act of will: If he wills success, he can find it.
    • 12. to give or disperse of (property) by a will or testament; bequeath or devise.
    • 13. to influence by exerting will power: she was willed to walk the tightrope by the hypnotist.
    —v.i.
    • 14: to exercise the will: To will is not enough, one must do.
    • 15: to decide or determine: Others debate, but the king wills.

  • Will (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    n
    • 1 : DESIRE, WISH; esp : a desire to act in a particular way:
      • a : DISPOSITION, INCLINATION, LIKING
        <my poverty, but not my ~, consents —Shak.>
        <not, sir, from want of ~, for she is docile and obedient —W.H.Hudson +1922>
        <primary determinant is the claims of the parties, their desires and ~s —Samuel Alexander>
        <responsible artist has no ~ to confuse emotion and thinking —René Wellek & Austin Warren>;
        often : desire or inclination to act in a particular way in contrast to means or ability
        <had a strong ~ to succeed but little capacity>
        <where there's a ~ there's a way>
        <perceived that granted the ~ they could link their abilities to the new world —Times Lit. Supp.>
        <with the best ~ in the world ... could not live forever —Max Peacock>
        <proof of their capacity and ~ to watch and warn and purge —B.N.Cardozo>
      • b : fleshly or carnal desire : APPETITE, PASSION
        <a fear of hunger and death, and a ~ for food and springtime and life —Emma Hawkridge>
        <his own ~ stirred to the woman —Dan Jacobson>
      • c : CHOICE, DETERMINATION, INTENTION
        <a universe as devoid of ~ and purpose as man, deterministically viewed, appears to be —F.B.Millett>
        <too much disposed to make the empire a thing of plan and ~ —H.G.Wells>
        <impels you to do things against your reasoned ~ and intentions —Rose Macaulay>
    • 2
      • a : something wished for or desired; esp : a choice or determination of one having authority, discretion, or power
        <thy will be done —MT 6:10 (AV)>
        <he holds him with his glittering eye ... the mariner hath his ~ —S.T.Coleridge>
        <failed to accomplish his ~>
        <determined to have his will of them>
        <will do it ... if it is God's ~ that it be done —Gilbert Parker>
        <the means at his disposal for making his ~ known by the written word —R.W.Southern>
        <let him be apprehended and learn our awful ~ —W.S.Gilbert>
        <man's attempt to impose his own ~ on things —Norman Goodall>
      • b
        • (1) archaic : an expression of a desire or a determination : REQUEST, COMMAND, DECREE
        • (2) [fr. the phrase our will is which introduces it]: the part of a summons or other signet letter than expresses its will or command
    • 3 : the act or process or the felt or known experience of willing:
      • a : the act of chosing or determining : settlement of mental uncertainty or indecision : choice or decision of a mental issue : VOLITION 2
      • b : the total conscious process involved in effecting a decision
      • c : action directed esp toward a goal clearly known in advance and requiring effor to overcome obstacles or contrary desires — compare CONATION
    • 4
      • a : a mental power or a disposition or the sum of mental powers or dispositions manifested in such operations and functions as wishing, choosing, desiring, intending
        <the precise relation between the activities of human ~s and other forms of activity in the natural world is a highly speculative problem —H.H.Williams>: as
        • (1) Scholasticism : the faculty of the soul coordinate with the intellect that determines rational choices in accordance with what the intellect has determined as good or bad;
          also : a choice determined by the will esp. as distinguished from instinctive or purely natural desires
        • (2) : a faculty of the mind that is usu. coordinate with thought and feeling and determines action and esp. moral action in accordance with ideals, principles, and facts <the moral ~, controlled by consciousness of duty that transcends sense and experience —John Dewey>
        • (3) : the combined rational and irrational, conscious and unconscious forces within a person that detrmine his choices and actions
          <the ~ ... is a collective term for all the impulses to motion or action —G.S.Morris>;
          also : the rational conscious forces or the irrrational, unconscious forces separately <what people want when they talk about freedom ... is the idea that the conscious ~ is the master of their destiny —John Hospers>
        • (4) : a disposition to act according to particular principles or to conform in dconduct and thought to general or ideal ends
          <the ~ to believe>
          <the ~ to agree>
          <pathetically preserve the ~ to conquer, even when life no longer presents them with anything worth winning —Lawrence Binyon>
          <like all the young ladies of fiction in her period, she had cultivated the ~ to faint —S.M.Crothers>
          — compare GOOD WILL, ILL WILL
      • b : the collective desire, intention, or determination of a group or of mankind either when all are agreed or as determined by an interplay and elimination of divergent and conflicting wishes
        <the ~ of the people>
        <give expression to a national ~ —W.J.Shepard>
        <the law cannot be more important than the local ~ to have this law —Spencer Parratt>
        <yielded to what was clearly the popular ~ —Lindsay Rogers>
      • c often cap : a transcendent reality of which individual wills are particular and partial manifestations
    • 5 : power coupled with desire or intention:
      • a : power to control, determine, or dispose : arbitrary disposal
        <deliver me not over unto the ~ of mine enemies — Ps 27:12 (AV)
        <victims of a despot's ~>
        <the nameless chief whose ~ raised this stupendous fortress —Jacquetta & Christopher Hawkes>
        <the serf did not know today what he would have to do tomorrow — he was at the ~ of another —R.W.Southern>
      • b : power of controlling one's own actions or emotions : SELF-CONTROL, SELF-DIRECTION
        <a man of iron ~>
        <faltering man ... advanced a step or two by his own ~ —Thomas Hardy>
        <wife who was just my shadow withougt any character or ~ of her own —Havelock Ellis>
        <his ~, so long lying fallow, was overborne by her determination — Joseph conrad>
        <the sudden collapse of her ~ when the strangers enter her house —Bernard De Voto>
      • c : the power of choosing and of acting in accordance with choice
        <an indomitable ~ that knew but one course — to break as much new land as possible each day —O.E.Rölvaag>
        <science, which gave us theis fread power ... does not show us how to prevent its baleful use. Only in the ~ of mankind likes the answer —B.M.Baruch>
    • 6 : a legal declaration of a person's mind as to the manner in which he would have his property or estate disposed of after his death; esp : a written instrument legally executed by which a man makes disposition of his estate to take effect after his death
      — see NUNCUPATIVE WILL; compare DEED, TESTAMENT
      — against one's will : in opposition to one's own inclination or to another's wish or intention
      <was practicing the violin, as usual against his will>
      <father disowned her for marrying against his will>
      — at will : adv : as one wishes : as or when it pleases or suits oneself
      <dreamer apparently moves about at will in the past, as well as in the present —Weston La Barre>
      <blues swim up from below, driving the school to the surface, there feeding upon them at will —L. K. Parritt>
      <mounted ... on bases that could be rotated at will —Military Rev.>
      : subject to one's discretion or pleasure : at one's disposal
      <where person enters land by permission of owner for an indefinite period, and without reservation of rent, he is tenant at will by implication —North Eastern Reporter>
      — of one's own will or of one's own free will : of ones own accord : VOLUNTARILY
      — one's own sweet will : one's own wish or intention
      <disposing of it in the fulness of time at his own sweet will — Edward Sapir>
      — with a will adv : with willingness and zeal : EARNESTLY, ENERGETICALLY, HEARTILY
      <went to work with a will to qualify himself —H.E.Scudder>

  • Will (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 1993.)
    vt
    • 1 archaic : to long for : DESIRE, WISH
    • 2
      • a: to order or direct by a will or testament
        <~ed that his property be divided equally among his children>
      • b:
        • (1): to dispose of or give by a will : BEQUEATH, DEVISE
          <~ed his entire estate to his wife>
          <~ed his property away from his own family>
        • (2): to hand down or transmit as if by a will or testament
          <these things are literally in our blood and in our bones... ~ed to us genetically — Weston La Barre>
    • 3: to determine by the will (as to do something or that something shall be done or shall come about): as
      • a:
        • (1): to decide or decide upon by an act of choice or volition
          <fully aware that he lives in an age of conformity, he is proud that his conformity is ~ed — Leo Marx>
          <the assumption ... that institutions are rational and ~ed — H.J.Muller>
          <American people ... have ~ed that all of their sons and daughters shall be educated to the limit of their capacity — English Language Arts>
          <efforts of the business man can never be successful unless the community ~s it so — Roy Lewis & Angus Maude>
        • (2): DECREE, ORDAIN
          <if Providence so ~s it>
        • (3): INTEND, PURPOSE
          <~ed more mischief than they durst — A.E.Housman>
          <can adjust a few screws, then go away entirely, knowing that his precise work will be finished for him exactly as he ~ed it — Roger Burlingame>
          <believe that whatever is ~ed can be achieved if only you invent the right machines — Norman Podhoretz>
      • b
        • (1): to attempt to cause or bring about by exercise of the will
          <haunted by the thought that he had ~ed her death>
          <all humans desire objects and ~ their attainment — Samual Alexander>
          <a positive nihilist, an intellectual force ~ing destruction — T.S.Eliot>
          <author ~s a meaning into a passage that cannot sustain it — Charles Jackson>
        • (2): to bring about by power of the will
          <the more accurate understanding of disease ... that some of it is psychological, even to the extent that it is ~ed by the patient — H.A.Overstreet>
          <a last despairing attempt to ~ the kind of life he wanted into existence — D.H.Lawrence>
          <entranced, he tried ... to ~ the vision to remain — Olive Johnson>
          <~ed his countenance back to composure — J.H.Wheelwright>
      • c: to influence or control (as another person) by exercise of one's will (as through hypnotism)
    • 4: archaic : COMMAND, ENJOIN, ORDER
    ~ vi
    • 1: to exercise the will
      <striving might be bearable were there a highest good, to which, by ~ing, I could attain — Josiah Royce>
      <would no longer have to go on ~ing against her — F.M.Ford>
    • 2: DESIRE, WISH: as
      • a: DECIDE, DETERMINE, DECREE
        <king nominated as he ~ed to bishopric and abbacy — Hilaire Belloc>
        <the right to dispose of his labor and capital as he ~ed — C.A.Cooke>
      • b: CHOOSE, ELECT, PREFER
        <watching the ... donkeys and mules which wandered as they ~ed — Nicholas Monsarrat>
        <trees that have grown where they ~ed out of the jumble — Martin Flavin>





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