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discretion
in a sentence
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  • She serves at the President's discretion.
    discretion = right to make a decision (The President can decide if she holds an office or not.)
  • She serves at the discretion of the President.
  • It was an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
    discretion = the right to make decisions
  • It's just not practical to write a disorderly conduct law that does not depend upon police discretion.
    discretion = the right to make decisions (and perhaps accompanying good judgment)
  • Airlines have broad discretion to refuse to transport any passenger thought to be a safety risk.
    discretion = the right to make a decision
  • "You could request a humanitarian visa." That's at the discretion of the attorney general and it's not easily given.   (source)
    discretion = authority to use judgment to do something
  • This is a strong argument for leaving the matter to the discretion of the legislature.   (source)
    discretion = the authority to make a decision
  • Counsel reserves the right to terminate at her discretion.   (source)
  • Tom saw that he could sell or trade at his discretion, and so for the time was well pleased.   (source)
    discretion = authority to use his judgment to make a decision
  • This seems left to the discretion of the legislature.   (source)
    discretion = the authority to make a decision
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show 21 more with this conextual meaning
  • They didn't want to restrain the legislature's discretion.   (source)
  • Therefore, legislative discretion to raise and keep armies should not be controlled.   (source)
  • In common cases, the discretion of courts is limited in favor of personal security.   (source)
  • This is a reason for not limiting the discretion of the national councils.   (source)
  • Nothing is left to the discretion of Congress.   (source)
  • The States' only discretion is how to furnish the money demanded.   (source)
  • Therefore the establishment of a fixed rule, compatible with its purpose, might be a better idea than leaving the discretion unbound.   (source)
  • The States may charge a reasonable inspection fee but the federal government can block any abuse of this discretion.   (source)
  • And other colonies, which probably means other British colonies, could be admitted at the discretion of nine States.   (source)
  • All this seems to be left to the discretion of the legislature.   (source)
  • The extent, modifications, and objects of the federal authority are mere matters of discretion.   (source)
  • The patriots, who effected that memorable revolution, were too temperate, too wellinformed, to think of any restraint on the legislative discretion.   (source)
  • These have no right to question the propriety of the demand; no discretion beyond that of devising the ways and means of furnishing the sums demanded.   (source)
  • Congress have an unlimited discretion to make requisitions of men and money; to govern the army and navy; to direct their operations.   (source)
  • This exercise of judicial discretion, in determining between two contradictory laws, is exemplified in a familiar instance.   (source)
  • He is the absolute master of his own conduct in the exercise of his office, and may observe or disregard the counsel given to him at his sole discretion.   (source)
  • From a close examination it will appear that restraints upon the discretion of the legislature in respect to military establishments in time of peace, would be improper to be imposed, and if imposed, from the necessities of society, would be unlikely to be observed.   (source)
  • Except as to the rule of appointment, the United States has an indefinite discretion to make requisitions for men and money; but they have no authority to raise either, by regulations extending to the individual citizens of America.   (source)
  • In a branch of taxation where no limits to the discretion of the government are to be found in the nature of things, the establishment of a fixed rule, not incompatible with the end, may be attended with fewer inconveniences than to leave that discretion altogether at large.   (source)
  • A stranger to our politics, who was to read our newspapers at the present juncture, without having previously inspected the plan reported by the convention, would be naturally led to one of two conclusions: either that it contained a positive injunction, that standing armies should be kept up in time of peace; or that it vested in the EXECUTIVE the whole power of levying troops, without subjecting his discretion, in any shape, to the control of the legislature.   (source)
  • …of the representatives of the people periodically elected; and that instead of the provision he had supposed in favor of standing armies, there was to be found, in respect to this object, an important qualification even of the legislative discretion, in that clause which forbids the appropriation of money for the support of an army for any longer period than two years a precaution which, upon a nearer view of it, will appear to be a great and real security against the keeping up of…   (source)
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show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • I thought I could trust his discretion, but it turns out that he likes to gossip.
    discretion = behavior that does not attract undesired attention or reveal private information
  • I mistakenly thought I could trust her discretion, so I gave her my cell phone number. Now I need a new number.
    discretion = behavior that does not reveal private information
  • You must know, of course, our client data is strictly confidential. Paradise has a reputation for discretion as well as excellence.   (source)
    discretion = behavior that does not attract attention or reveal private information
  • However much I paid Jamaican servants I would never buy discretion.   (source)
    discretion = trustworthiness with secrets
  • She had told Morris Townsend that she would not mention him to her father, and she saw no reason to retract this vow of discretion.   (source)
    discretion = keeping a secret (so that discomfort is not caused for another)
  • She said nothing, however, but, "Sad, sad girl! I do not know when I shall have done scolding you," and had discretion enough to reserve the rest till they might be secure of having four walls to themselves.   (source)
    discretion = behavior that does not attract undesired attention
  • I'd be willing to compensate you for your time and your discretion.   (source)
    discretion = behavior that does not attract attention or reveal private information
  • In the meantime, I have to ask you for your discretion. The meetings are confidential.   (source)
  • Mr. Harding feared there had been at least very flagrant indiscretion.   (source)
    indiscretion = embarrassing behavior
    standard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscretion means not and reverses the meaning of discretion. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
  • Catherine and Isabella were sitting in the library, on hostile terms, but silent: the latter alarmed at her recent indiscretion, and the disclosure she had made of her secret feelings in a transient fit of passion; the former, on mature consideration, really offended with her companion; and, if she laughed again at her pertness, inclined to make it no laughing matter to her.   (source)
    indiscretion = behavior that attracts undesirable attention or reveals private information
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show 3 more with this conextual meaning
  • She sat motionless, with her eyes bent down, staring at her open fan, deeply flushed, shrinking together as if to minimise the indiscretion of which she confessed herself guilty.   (source)
  • Excuse my indiscretion.   (source)
  • Yet there must have been some marked display of attentions to her cousin, there must have been some strong indiscretion, since her correspondent was not of a sort to regard a slight one.   (source)
    indiscretion = embarrassing behavior
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show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • I count on her good discretion to recommend sound investments.
    discretion = behavior that displays good judgment
  • Feeling discretion would gain her more than aggression, Eve contacted the clients by 'link and explained herself.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment or good taste
  • And when I learned who she was, being delighted with her beauty and discretion, I became inflamed with love and it appeared to me that the sun would be dark to me if I did not marry her at once.   (source)
  • Their appointments should be made with discretion and discernment.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment
  • He would not ask. It was a species of agreement. It was a matter of discretion that was also a matter of survival, a matter of being unable to live the life they would otherwise have to lead. They settled on this complicity: they would not heal their rift — their mysterious rift — but bridge it, with manners.   (source)
    discretion = good manners or good judgment
  • There was something that he lacked: discretion, aloofness, a sort of saving stupidity.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment
  • He came on with me to Hillingham, and found that, by Lucy's discretion, her mother was lunching out, so that we were alone with her.   (source)
  • I have not interfered, I have left you your liberty, I have remembered that you are no longer a little girl-that you have arrived at years of discretion.   (source)
  • Catherine usually sat by me, but to-day she stole nearer to Hareton; and I presently saw she would have no more discretion in her friendship than she had in her hostility.   (source)
  • Yes, the profession is well enough under two circumstances: if it make the fortune, and there be discretion in spending it;   (source)
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show 48 more with this conextual meaning
  • For the gods have withheld from the barbarians the light of discretion, as that their poetry is not, like ours, full of choice apophthegms and useful maxims, but is all of love and war.   (source)
    discretion = good taste
  • A court of impeachments has the awful discretion to doom to honor or infamy the most trusted and distinguished people of the community.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment or good taste
  • Helen was eating melon seeds, Chinese style. This involved shelling the seeds in her mouth with skillful discretion. She raised her hand to her lips, delicately emitted the empty hulls.   (source)
  • The Tisroc was apparently sunk in thought, but when, after a long pause, he noticed what was happening, he said tranquilly: "My son, by all means desist from kicking the venerable and enlightened Vizier: for as a costly jewel retains its value even if hidden in a dung-hill, so old age and discretion are to be respected even in the vile persons of our subjects."   (source)
    discretion = good judgment
  • Such a victory over Edmund's discretion had been beyond their hopes, and was most delightful.   (source)
    discretion = good manners or good judgment
  • "Ah, yes, with discretion," Morris Townsend repeated sympathetically.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment or good taste
  • Only, I should add, he should choose his line with discretion.   (source)
  • I was very much pleased with what I collected to have been your behaviour on the occasion; it shewed a discretion highly to be commended.   (source)
    discretion = good manners or good judgment
  • Sir Thomas gave her more credit for discretion on the occasion than she deserved; and Fanny could have blessed her for allowing her only to see her displeasure, and not to hear it.   (source)
  • The want of common discretion, of caution: his going down to Richmond for the whole time of her being at Twickenham; her putting herself in the power of a servant; it was the detection, in short—oh, Fanny! it was the detection, not the offence, which she reprobated.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment (or perhaps acting in a way that does not attract undesired attention)
  • Mrs. Rushworth had gone, for the Easter holidays, to Twickenham, with a family whom she had just grown intimate with: a family of lively, agreeable manners, and probably of morals and discretion to suit, for to their house Mr. Crawford had constant access at all times.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment
  • Miss Crawford saw much of Sir Thomas's thoughts as he stood, and having, in spite of all his wrongs towards her, a general prevailing desire of recommending herself to him, took an opportunity of stepping aside to say something agreeable of Fanny. Her praise was warm, and he received it as she could wish, joining in it as far as discretion, and politeness, and slowness of speech would allow,   (source)
    discretion = good manners
  • And then he would have changed the subject, and sipped his coffee in peace over domestic matters of a calmer hue; but Mr. Yates, without discernment to catch Sir Thomas's meaning, or diffidence, or delicacy, or discretion enough to allow him to lead the discourse while he mingled among the others with the least obtrusiveness himself, would keep him on the topic of the theatre, would torment him with questions and remarks relative to it, and finally would make him hear the whole history…   (source)
    discretion = good manners or good judgment
  • In this spirit he began the attack, and by animated perseverance had soon re-established the sort of familiar intercourse, of gallantry, of flirtation, which bounded his views; but in triumphing over the discretion which, though beginning in anger, might have saved them both, he had put himself in the power of feelings on her side more strong than he had supposed.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment
  • Tell me, Lieutenant Dallas, are you thinking I decided to blackmail Cicely over her future son-in-law's youthful indiscretion, had some henchman in my employ lure her to the West End, and when she didn't cooperate, slit her throat?   (source)
    indiscretion = behavior that displayed a lack of good judgment
  • The citizens of foreign nations might also suffer, discrediting and embroiling the Union by the indiscretion of a single State could discredit the entire Union.   (source)
    indiscretion = behavior that displays a lack of good judgment
  • It was an indiscretion, undoubtedly.   (source)
  • I daresay you know, like everybody else, that once, many years ago, I was guilty of an indiscretion.   (source)
    indiscretion = behavior that displayed poor judgment
  • Has she never in her life done some folly—some indiscretion—that she should not forgive your sin?   (source)
    indiscretion = behavior that displays a lack of good judgment
  • She had said, in effect, that she found such a thing impossible to believe, that if it were true he had merely committed a childish indiscretion-- and probably to show off.   (source)
  • The subjects of foreign powers might suffer from the same cause, and hence the Union be discredited and embroiled by the indiscretion of a single member.   (source)
  • One nation is to another what one individual is to another; with this melancholy distinction perhaps, that the former, with fewer of the benevolent emotions than the latter, are under fewer restraints also from taking undue advantage from the indiscretions of each other.   (source)
    indiscretions = instances of poor judgment
    standard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscretions means not and reverses the meaning of discretions. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
  • The lord hath of his high discretion
    Considered that it were destruction   (source)
    discretion = good judgment
  • The same process must be repeated in every member of which the body is constituted; and the execution of the plans, framed by the councils of the whole, will always fluctuate on the discretion of the ill-informed and prejudiced opinion of every part.   (source)
    discretion = good judgment or good taste
  • There is nothing absurd or impracticable in the idea of a league or alliance between independent nations for certain defined purposes precisely stated in a treaty regulating all the details of time, place, circumstance, and quantity; leaving nothing to future discretion; and depending for its execution on the good faith of the parties.   (source)
  • And you can rest assured that he will receive a full report of your indiscretions.†   (source)
  • A boy from an upper grade accused him of indiscretions.†   (source)
  • All the indiscretions and controversies of the past are forgotten.†   (source)
  • JFK's indiscretions go far beyond those of Profumo.†   (source)
  • The headline is about benefit cuts, the second story about yet another 1970s television star accused of sexual indiscretions.†   (source)
  • Occasionally drinking too much, getting into a fight, or even having an extramarital affair—these weren't indiscretions significant enough to destroy the reputation and standing of an honest and industrious black man who could be trusted to do good work.†   (source)
  • It was the holiday season that taught me about tax refunds, which I gathered were free bits of money sent to the poor in the new year to save them from the financial indiscretions of the old one.†   (source)
  • —FOR THEIR ALLEGED 'OVERT INDISCRETIONS'; I BELIEVE THE TWO INCIDENTS FALL UNDER THE PUNISHABLE OFFENSE OF 'MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE CONDUCT WITH GIRLS.'†   (source)
  • Prof added thoughtfully that he suspected that the old gentleman had been failing for some time, in view of his indiscretions this past year…. especially his many invasions of rights of free citizens, including ones who were not and never had been consignees.†   (source)
  • Women live off gossip, and what's gossip but a swap of headaches, sour spit, arthritic bones, ruptured and mended flesh, indiscretions, storms of madness, calms after the storms?†   (source)
  • Her feelings are deeply hurt, but she sets the president's indiscretions aside for the sake of appearances, for the prestige of being First Lady, and most of all because she loves her husband—and believes that he loves her.†   (source)
  • When pressed by friends, he does not deny the indiscretions, explaining that he needs sex to curb his anxiety during intense times when he is often very lonely.†   (source)
  • Well after JFK's death, Hoover continued his practice of providing presidents with lurid classified files containing the personal indiscretions of high-ranking and influential individuals.†   (source)
  • So he will continue with the political game he's played since he joined the Justice Department during World War I. He will endure Bobby Kennedy's overeager style, just as he will continue to chronicle, yet keep silent on, the president's indiscretions.†   (source)
  • Karellen, he was sure, never made accidental slips: even his indiscretions were calculated to many decimal places.†   (source)
  • I continue to be astonished that your indiscretions have not long since led to your being ordered to retire to your farm.†   (source)
  • He provoked one by his contradictory indiscretions.†   (source)
  • There were a thousand chances to one against her meeting anybody, but one could never tell, and she always paid for her rare indiscretions by a violent reaction of prudence.†   (source)
  • And he recalled the calm, generous reply of "Oh, please, go ahead and look," that he had once received out of the dark night of the X-ray laboratory, when he had thought it necessary to ask permission to commit certain optical indiscretions.†   (source)
  • "You must at least do justice," she said, "to the felicity with which Mr. Tristram repairs the indiscretions of a too zealous wife."†   (source)
  • But her ups and downs, capped by her indiscretions with Henchard had made her uncritical as to station.†   (source)
  • For if a country beauty in clumsy shoes be only shallow-hearted enough, it is astonishing how closely her mental processes may resemble those of a lady in society and crinoline, who applies her refined intellect to the problem of committing indiscretions without compromising herself.†   (source)
  • How could he forget that in his Island days, Queequeg, for one, must certainly have been guilty of some murderous, convivial indiscretions.†   (source)
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show 10 more examples with any meaning
  • Your case has a lot of prosecutorial discretion.†   (source)
  • A man of discretion and civility, Andrey did not for one second consider saying: I told you so.†   (source)
  • It must be guarded with great discretion and good-nature, otherwise it will create you many enemies.†   (source)
  • Discretion was apparently not part of the vocabulary of a 15euro-per-hour watchman.†   (source)
  • Some states also initiated mandatory transfer rules, which took away any discretion from prosecutors and judges over whether a child should be kept in the juvenile system.†   (source)
  • And discretion.†   (source)
  • We weren't aware of the details, naturally, because Jim exercised discretion, which was the right thing to do.†   (source)
  • "But show discretion, for Duff's sake.†   (source)
  • "For being the good son, my brother has his own discretions," he says, and his air is surprisingly playful.†   (source)
  • Use your discretion, Dorothy.†   (source)
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show 190 more examples with any meaning
  • Rosaura was infinitely grateful for her sister's help and quickly went out to the garden to pick some mint leaves, asking for Tita's absolute discretion in this delicate matter.†   (source)
  • But she was waiting and using some discretion.†   (source)
  • Demosthenes can trust our discretion.†   (source)
  • It takes discretion, something you obviously lack.†   (source)
  • I knew that right now discretion was, by a long way, the better part of valor, because my objective was simply to try and stay alive, not to get into a brawl with knife-wielding tribesmen or, worse, get myself shot.†   (source)
  • As a noncommissioned officer, Corbett exercised his own discretion and shot Booth.†   (source)
  • With equal discretion, the committee assured Burnham and Root that ultimately they would direct the design and construction of the fair.†   (source)
  • Get thee to a nunnery Who steals my purse steals trash [Life's] a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing The better part of valor is discretion (Exit, pursued by a bear) A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!†   (source)
  • I'll use it with discretion."†   (source)
  • The order had come from higher, true, but still he should've exercised some field discretion.†   (source)
  • "I'd prefer a little more discretion in this case…"†   (source)
  • According to Susan Kezios, president of the American Franchise Association, the contracts offered by fast food chains often require a franchisee to waive his or her legal right to file complaints under state law; to buy only from approved suppliers, regardless of the price; to sell the restaurant only to a buyer approved by the chain; and to accept termination of the contract, for any cause, at the discretion of the chain.†   (source)
  • And despite my show of righteousness, for all my talk of propriety and discretion, I stayed within earshot.†   (source)
  • I'll send Hugo immediately, but the Brothers come at their own discretion.†   (source)
  • At his dad's, he has some discretion.†   (source)
  • They felt so good that their lips were sealed as if they were tombs, because they knew that their lives depended on their discretion.†   (source)
  • I shall use discretion, my Lord.†   (source)
  • The only living thing in the Breedloves' house was the coal stove, which lived independently of everything and everyone, its fire being "out," "banked," or "up" at its own discretion, in spite of the fact that the family fed it and knew all the details of its regimen: sprinkle, do not dump, not too much….†   (source)
  • Blomkvist carried on his affair with Headmistress Cecilia Vanger with the greatest discretion.†   (source)
  • I knew I could trust her support, but I worried about her discretion.†   (source)
  • The right to assemble and demonstrate in support of our just demands was not a favor to be granted by the government at its discretion.†   (source)
  • Mrs. Bibbit's always been so proud of your discretion.†   (source)
  • Diva though she was,Vanessa had the intelligence and maturity to handle her new situation with some discretion.†   (source)
  • So much for discretion.†   (source)
  • We appreciate your cooperation and, of course, your discretion," Margot adds.†   (source)
  • Esteban watched Clara with all the discretion he could muster, feeling himself gradually coming under the young girl's spell.†   (source)
  • Olivia practiced no such discretion.†   (source)
  • And no, she didn't think there was a separate dog heaven, and frankly she did not know God's opinion on what was the right number of dogs for Missing, but He had given her some discretion on this matter and that was not something she wanted to debate with me.†   (source)
  • The president has given me discretion on this, so I'm running with it.†   (source)
  • Either it can become a sideshow …. or it can be done with discretion.†   (source)
  • The judge has a lot of discretion.†   (source)
  • The beginning of a plan had this moment suggested itself to me, but it was horribly impractical, relying as it did on Seivarden's discretion and support.†   (source)
  • For the "present at least," discretion was truly the better part of valor.†   (source)
  • Discretion, always discretion.†   (source)
  • Any and all editing has been done at my discretion.†   (source)
  • My life depends on your discretion.†   (source)
  • Your Grace may trust in my discretion.†   (source)
  • Until that time, we would appreciate your absolute silence and utmost discretion in this matter.†   (source)
  • This discretion carries over into politics.†   (source)
  • …competition"; that in regions declared to be restricted, no more than one railroad would be permitted to operate; that in such regions, seniority belonged to the oldest railroad now operating there, and that the newcomers, who had encroached unfairly upon its territory, would suspend operations within nine months after being so ordered; that the Executive Board of the National Alliance of Railroads was empowered to decide, at its sole discretion, which regions were to be restricted.†   (source)
  • Maybe Grandpa wasn't in a fighting mood that day, or maybe he took one look at Mr. McAllister and figured discretion was the better part of valor, as the saying goes.†   (source)
  • Discretion.†   (source)
  • And the doctor, an old friend of the family, Charleston for his discretion, turned and walked well ed back through the known in green doors.†   (source)
  • But I shall leave that to your discretion.†   (source)
  • The arrangement would be dubious in the eyes of the law but all involved felt comfortable enough as long as a certain level of discretion was maintained.†   (source)
  • Even the waiters, with their good-grooming hair and air of harried discretion, look the same, and probably are.†   (source)
  • Of her own discretion, Catti-brie hadn't intended to discuss the issue any further anyway.†   (source)
  • At your discretion.†   (source)
  • Computers eliminate the need for human discretion; the person is there only to place the parts and push a button.†   (source)
  • You think he has sole discretion to make the decisions on IT here?†   (source)
  • Rousseau slid it across the table beneath a napkin, with all the discretion of a gunshot in an empty chapel.†   (source)
  • Discretion seemed the better part of valor, so I stretched my weary muscles and sprinted hard to bypass the Eskimos.†   (source)
  • He promised perfect discretion and enthusiastically began coaching me; but in a guarded voice, glancing always about to make sure no one could overhear.†   (source)
  • LEAVE MATTERS ENTIRELY TO YOUR DISCRETION.†   (source)
  • Discretion.†   (source)
  • I am aware of these matters and my discretion has always been a byword among the First.†   (source)
  • Would you move, if it was at your own discretion?†   (source)
  • DUDARD: [to DAISY] Oh you know me, Miss Daisy, I'm discretion itself.†   (source)
  • WOLSEY Oh, spare me your discretion.†   (source)
  • I choose my arrows without discretion, sending arrowheads, fire, explosives into the mutts' bodies.†   (source)
  • But our sleeping arrangement told us that he expected discretion—or we assumed it did.†   (source)
  • An informational warfare agent for him to use at his discretion.†   (source)
  • She said this in a hushed voice, as if quoting the events of Pushkin's poem required discretion.†   (source)
  • Leto spoke impatiently: "Then use your own discretion in particular cases.†   (source)
  • I feel I owe her at least that modicum of discretion.†   (source)
  • I want to thank you for your dedication and discretion.†   (source)
  • We sweep for electronic bugs, Miss Vetra-a matter of discretion.†   (source)
  • Summarizing them would require both creativity and discretion.†   (source)
  • We'll be discretion itself;" Nix promised.†   (source)
  • I assure you that I will exercise the utmost discretion.†   (source)
  • You will let them risk their lives at their own discretion but won't give Simon the same choice?†   (source)
  • I'd overrule her, but I'd say she's earned a bit of discretion, wouldn't you?†   (source)
  • Unfortunately, discretion has always gotten the better of me.†   (source)
  • He recommended discretion and prudence to him.†   (source)
  • I think he would be esteemed a bad politician in Europe in everything but discretion.†   (source)
  • It's safer to make the spell aprocess that you can terminate at your discretion.†   (source)
  • Rose Tucker's note said that her life depended on his discretion.†   (source)
  • He also worked for a man who valued discretion and secrecy, and this suited Amburgh fine.†   (source)
  • You have discovered in your childhood a remarkable modesty, discretion, and reserve [he told Nabby].†   (source)
  • A man, it seemed, should exercise discretion when bullying Prophet.†   (source)
  • There was nothing in the contract I signed that said I couldn't bring him with me at my own discretion.†   (source)
  • I decided discretion was paramount.†   (source)
  • "I have never before, in all the numerous works for which I have been broadly responsible, trusted as much to the discretion of an assistant or co-operator," Olmsted wrote.†   (source)
  • In the silence, Gettum sensed her guests' desire for discretion was quickly being outweighed by their eagerness for a fast result.†   (source)
  • I had found in Kabul, and on occasion visited, establishments where a young man's needs could be addressed with both discretion and convenience.†   (source)
  • For Salander it was a display of strength by an enemy force—an indication that aside from their carefully defined legal relationship, she was at the mercy of his discretion and defenceless.†   (source)
  • But there's a sloppiness that comes with speed: the poorly placed boot that results in a splash, the accidental clang of a gun against a pipe, even my own commands, issued too loudly for discretion.†   (source)
  • Every day will be scheduled at my discretion, and you will be tutored in everything and anything possible to make you"—she searches for the word, chewing on her lip—"suitable."†   (source)
  • Rather than permitting him to come on, I'll tell him I'm traveling with a French celebrity who prefers that nobody knows she is in England—press considerations, you know—and I'll offer the official this generous tip as gratitude for his discretion.†   (source)
  • Before I closed the door, I heard Maxon whisper, "The lady would appreciate your discretion, officer."†   (source)
  • He ordered him to circumvent all the legal procedures so that the burial could take place that same afternoon and with the greatest discretion.†   (source)
  • The couple selling the Ford seemed as interested in discretion as I. The woman remained in the car the whole time, a pacifiered toddler in her arms, watching her husband and me trade cash for keys.†   (source)
  • Vigilance and discretion are my duty …. such that spiritual matters can take place here with clarity of mind.†   (source)
  • So that he continued to go there more than to any other spot, while his friend the lighthouse keeper was delighted to receive him with a simpleminded expression on his face that was the best guarantee of discretion for the frightened little birds.†   (source)
  • I'm hoping to be able to reveal this to my father soon enough, but, for tonight, discretion is imperative."†   (source)
  • Vetra, Although it is my profound desire to request your discretion in the matters of the past 24 hours, I cannot possibly presume to ask more of you than you have already given.†   (source)
  • He did everything this way, with so much discretion and such efficiency that it did not even occur to anyone that it might be an intrusion in other people's affairs; on the contrary, it seemed a priceless service when evil times had fallen on the house.†   (source)
  • In addition to the cash income from the notions store and the hemostatic rags, which sufficed for her modest life, she had multiplied her savings by lending them to a clientele made up of the embarrassed new poor, who accepted her excessive interest rates for the sake of her discretion.†   (source)
  • He made it very clear that this was a matter that required the greatest possible discretion and that we should get as few people involved as possible.†   (source)
  • Discretion must be absolute.†   (source)
  • For someone who prided herself on being so close to the royal family, she really should have learned a lesson or two in discretion by now.†   (source)
  • At some point Corinthians began to suspect that Porter's discretion was not only in deference to who she was (her position and all), but also because he too didn't want to be discovered.†   (source)
  • Too many times, on too many battlefields, soldiers who failed to observe such discretion have been shot through like Swiss cheese.†   (source)
  • He understood that the death of Bodin/Zalachenko was a case that had to be handled with the utmost discretion.†   (source)
  • Part of him wants to make a bold statement by charging into the Union works in a last grand suicidal hurrah, but Lee's army has followed him so loyally because of not only his brilliance but also his discretion.†   (source)
  • The flash drive made the journey to East London on foot and at noon changed hands with admirable discretion on the pavements of Brick Lane.†   (source)
  • Perhaps, sir, it is time for you to join the papist Catholics and fulfill your life's true aspiration of dispensing forgiveness and penance at your own leisure and discretion.†   (source)
  • This was the downfall of a nation and the triumph of systems designed to thwart all human contact, human reason, personal discretion and decision making.†   (source)
  • Discretion prevented me from saying that I thought she was a fiend from the underworld and that mountain lions couldn't force me to enter her service.†   (source)
  • Further, it is why I have sent you funds-to be used totally at your discretion-for the money you've received is the approximate value of the privileges your superiors enjoy.†   (source)
  • Despite her reserve and discretion, she had a dry but lively sense of humor and treated me to her sharp, sidelong observations on our daily life in B Dorm: "You in the Ghetto novv, bunkie!"†   (source)
  • With great discretion she divided up her clothing among the servants and the followers she always had, keeping only what she absolutely needed.†   (source)
  • I worried about Miss Alavi's motives but not her discretion, The sincerity of her words built immediate trust.†   (source)
  • The master has many fine qualities, but I think we'd agree that discretion is— how shall we put it?†   (source)
  • The time for discretion had long since passed, and Eragon no longer cared if Murtagh or some other magician sensed his presence.†   (source)
  • She behaved as naturally, with such discretion, that she did not lose her composure, not even when Aureliano dropped the ring as he tried to put it on her finger.†   (source)
  • Guidelines established by Congress in the 1980s required federal judges to impose set sentences for drug crimes, regardless of the specific circumstances of a case, and without discretion to evaluate the person being sentenced.†   (source)
  • Ever since the Holy Thursday on which Father Restrepo had accused her of being possessed, there had been a shadow over her head that the love of her parents and her siblings' discretion kept under control; still, word of her unlikely talents circulated by whispers in gatherings of local ladies.†   (source)
  • My life depends on your discretion.†   (source)
  • … Transportation, entertainment, lodgings-I was told I had complete discretion, but, of course, I keep a record of all expenditures, as I do as the second highest officer of immigration.†   (source)
  • I'm sure he will want to keep this transaction as quiet as we do, however, you may want to remind him of our desires toward maintaining complete discretion.†   (source)
  • The nun lunched at the house while she waited for the train back, and in accordance with the discretion they asked of her, she did not mention the child again, but Fernanda viewed her as an undesirable witness of her shame and lamented the fact that they had abandoned the medieval custom of hanging a messenger who bore bad news.†   (source)
  • Captain Charles Stedman, one of Cornwallis's own officers and the earliest British historian of the war, would speculate that had Cornwallis been allowed "to act at his own discretion …. he would have pursued the weakened and alarmed enemy to the Delaware, over which, without falling into his hands, they never could have passed."†   (source)
  • When Congress chose to leave some matters to the "discretion" of the President, the Aurora attacked Adams for his excessive vanity.†   (source)
  • Out of discretion, he had spent several periods in the hotel in town and made a few brief journeys to the capital, from which he would return weighed down with brochures about chinchillas, their hutches, their feeding, their sicknesses, their reproductive habits, the method for tanning their skins, and everything else that had to do with those tiny beasts who were destined to be converted into stoles.†   (source)
  • The three guards on the other side of the observation window have similar buttons available for use at their discretion.†   (source)
  • My life depends on your discretion.†   (source)
  • The lady in question had "goodness of heart and gentleness of disposition, as well as spirit and discretion," and would "prove such a daughter as you would wish for your son.†   (source)
  • Rose is hesitant to allow this—but she knows that 21-21 is intelligent far beyond her years and is aware of the need for discretion, so she relents.†   (source)
  • To the Federalists, the bill wasa flagrant attempt to diminish the power of the President to the benefit of the senate, and they adamantly objected, arguing that the removal of ranking officials in the executive branch must be at the sole discretion of the President.†   (source)
  • "There is, I imagine, no minister who would not think it safer to act by orders than from his own discretion," wrote Franklin in a letter explaining why he and the other Americans in Paris had to decide matters on their own most all of the time.†   (source)
  • She has stateliness in her manners which some misconstrue into pride and a haughtiness, but which rather results from too great reserve; she wants more affability, but she has prudence and discretion beyond her years.†   (source)
  • You will use your own discretion whether you expose yourself on deck, whether you expose your ship upon the surface, guided by your scientific officer.†   (source)
  • You will use your discretion as to the disposition of these forces, and you will terminate or continue their employment under Australian command as you think fit.†   (source)
  • Your masterly deductions-and may I add, your discretion?†   (source)
  • But didn't you know that glass must be handled with discretion?†   (source)
  • When they hunted, it was with the same discretion; an Indian hunt was never a slaughter.†   (source)
  • Give me what I asked for and I leave all the rest according to discretion.†   (source)
  • I have thought of calling you home immediately but will leave that to your father's discretion.†   (source)
  • Do I gather then, milor', that this is another case for-discretion?†   (source)
  • Tact was a quality unknown to her, discretion too, and because gossip was the breath of life to her this stranger must be served for her dissection.†   (source)
  • His discretion was so profound that the French party used him even when they knew that the Austrian party used him also.†   (source)
  • And older still, he might have divined the true reason: that the element of fire spoke to some deep mainspring of his father's being, as the element of steel or of powder spoke to other men, as the one weapon for the preservation of integrity, else breath were not worth the breathing, and hence to be regarded with respect and used with discretion.†   (source)
  • And this that morality again, Grandfather said: that morality which would not permit him to malign or traduce the memory of his first wife, or at least the memory of the marriage even though he felt that he had been tricked by it, not even to an acquaintance in whose confidence and discretion he trusted enough to wish to justify himself, not even to his son by another marriage in order to preserve the status of his life's attainment and desire, except as a last resort.†   (source)
  • …in modest luxury—but no, she threw money away—always more—I loaned her a great deal at the bank—some of it I shamed her into paying—two or three notes I paid myself—for the memory of Le Moyne—and sent them canceled to her to shame her to discretion—but no—but she would come back to me without shame and stare at me out of her big eyes—they were dark and sullen and hot-looking like a fever—and would say, I want money—and at last I brought a note to judgment—to shame her—to frighten…†   (source)
  • I wish,' I said savagely, still mindful of his laugh and throwing discretion to the wind, 'I wish I was a woman of about thirty-six dressed in black satin with a string of pearls.†   (source)
  • If you use any discretion a ghost can never get you in a bedroom.†   (source)
  • Nastasia, however, was behaving with great discretion on the whole.†   (source)
  • "Sir," said I, "if I tell you my story, I must commit a friend's life to your discretion.†   (source)
  • I promised a complete discretion with great gravity.†   (source)
  • Later, however, his old discretion asserted itself.†   (source)
  • As for himself, he had fled with discretion and dignity.†   (source)
  • The Government trusted his discretion, and it was understood that he took all the risks.†   (source)
  • Discretion probably plays a role as well.†   (source)
  • It only makes people want to nose 'em out," he always objected when enjoined to discretion.†   (source)
  • The first concerns Mr. Wilcox, and you are to use your discretion.†   (source)
  • "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a realistic effect," remarked Holmes.†   (source)
  • He waited upstanding, without a sound, stiffened in the idea of some sort of heroic discretion.†   (source)
  • And when it comes to discretion, I can hold my own, I think I can assure you of that.†   (source)
  • Where does discretion end, and avarice begin?†   (source)
  • I will answer for the discretion of Asinus, who seldom speaks without a reason.†   (source)
  • This discretion of conduct had inured to his credit.†   (source)
  • Discretion, the keeping of the secrets of the Order.†   (source)
  • Or have you already reached the stage of discretion?'†   (source)
  • With a little discretion on both sides, everything, I think, will be easy.†   (source)
  • What arises from discretion must be honoured.†   (source)
  • We must never look for discretion in first love.†   (source)
  • So you had better use your own discretion.†   (source)
  • Lucetta's tongue had for a moment outrun her discretion.†   (source)
  • But here is the girl herself, and discretion is the word.†   (source)
  • 'Really,' interrupted Mrs. Markleham, 'if I have any discretion at all —'†   (source)
  • It seems her father doesn't misgive her discretion, though he does that of his eldest darter."†   (source)
  • Jehan, allow yourself to be punished at the discretion of the master.†   (source)
  • He only replied, "Silence, maiden; thy tongue outruns thy discretion.†   (source)
  • "Well, you are a very intelligent woman; you have shown great discretion," said Newman.†   (source)
  • "I hope, guardian," said I, "that you may not trust too much to my discretion.†   (source)
  • "Brother," said he to the Knight, "thou shouldst have used thy strength with more discretion.†   (source)
  • Lydia laughed, and said: "Aye, that is just like your formality and discretion.†   (source)
  • The old man trembled a little for the discretion of Paul, when he saw this demonstration.†   (source)
  • Oh, monsieur, if I could believe I might trust in your discretion.†   (source)
  • Truly, I fear they will lose in valour what they may gain in discretion.†   (source)
  • Now, however, I see nothing in it but a very natural and consistent degree of discretion.†   (source)
  • This class of women is consigned by our laws entirely to the discretion of the police.†   (source)
  • Quite right, Sergeant, and I leave all this to your own discretion.†   (source)
  • "Kitty has no discretion in her coughs," said her father; "she times them ill."†   (source)
  • How the delicacy, the discretion of his favourite could have been so lain asleep!†   (source)
  • There is pity and discretion in all things, even though a man be riding for his life.†   (source)
  • Of course, of course she would give him everything! she cried (she had no sense of discretion) everything he wanted! she cried, running to meet him, whoever might be looking.†   (source)
  • As for M. d'Orsan, Swann had never met anyone who, even in the most depressing circumstances, would come to him with a more heartfelt utterance, would act more properly or with more discretion.†   (source)
  • " But this was too much, and the judge here cautioned him to use more discretion in framing his future questions.†   (source)
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