All 3 Uses of
precipitate
in
Moby Dick
- For in his Natural History, the Baron himself affirms that at sight of the Sperm Whale, all fish (sharks included) are "struck with the most lively terrors," and "often in the precipitancy of their flight dash themselves against the rocks with such violence as to cause instantaneous death."†
Chpt 40-42 (definition 1)
- Towards noon whales were raised; but so soon as the ship sailed down to them, they turned and fled with swift precipitancy; a disordered flight, as of Cleopatra's barges from Actium.†
Chpt 82-84 (definition 1) *
- The precipitating manner in which Captain Ahab had quitted the Samuel Enderby of London, had not been unattended with some small violence to his own person.†
Chpt 106-108 (definition 2) *
Definitions:
-
(1) (precipitate as in: a precipitate decision) acting with great haste -- often without adequate thought
-
(2) (precipitate as in: it precipitated a revolution) make something happen or to fall or move -- typically suddenly and often of something undesired