All 9 Uses of
warrant
in
Moby Dick
- But by dint of much and earnest contemplation, and oft repeated ponderings, and especially by throwing open the little window towards the back of the entry, you at last come to the conclusion that such an idea, however wild, might not be altogether unwarranted.†
Chpt 1-3 (definition 1)
- Still, looking round me again, and seeing no possible chance of spending a sufferable night unless in some other person's bed, I began to think that after all I might be cherishing unwarrantable prejudices against this unknown harpooneer.†
Chpt 1-3 (definition 2)
- His pure tight skin was an excellent fit; and closely wrapped up in it, and embalmed with inner health and strength, like a revivified Egyptian, this Starbuck seemed prepared to endure for long ages to come, and to endure always, as now; for be it Polar snow or torrid sun, like a patent chronometer, his interior vitality was warranted to do well in all climates.†
Chpt 25-27 (definition 1)
- It may seem unwarrantable to couple in any respect the mast-head standers of the land with those of the sea; but that in truth it is not so, is plainly evinced by an item for which Obed Macy, the sole historian of Nantucket, stands accountable.†
Chpt 34-36 (definition 2)
- * *The following are extracts from Chace's narrative: "Every fact seemed to warrant me in concluding that it was anything but chance which directed his operations; he made two several attacks upon the ship, at a short interval between them, both of which, according to their direction, were calculated to do us the most injury, by being made ahead, and thereby combining the speed of the two objects for the shock; to effect which, the exact manoeuvres which he made were necessary.†
Chpt 43-45
- Meantime, the hoisted sperm whale's head jogged about very violently, and Gabriel was seen eyeing it with rather more apprehensiveness than his archangel nature seemed to warrant.†
Chpt 70-72 *
- Nor did it remain unwarranted by the event.†
Chpt 82-84 (definition 1) *
- Should any unwarrantably pert young Leviathan coming that way, presume to draw confidentially close to one of the ladies, with what prodigious fury the Bashaw assails him, and chases him away!†
Chpt 88-90 (definition 2)
- Applied to any other creature than the Leviathan—to an ant or a flea—such portly terms might justly be deemed unwarrantably grandiloquent.†
Chpt 103-105 (definition 2) *
Definitions:
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(1) (warrant as in: serious enough to warrant surgery) to justify (make an action reasonable or necessary)
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(2) (warrant as in: I warrant it) to promise, guarantee, or indicate certainty of something
(seldom used today, but common in classic literature)
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(warrant as in: has a warrant to...) a document (granting the right to do something)for example:
- a document signed by a judge giving police the right to search a home
- a document signed by a judge giving police the right to arrest someone
- a document giving someone the right to buy stock shares at a given price by a given date
- a voucher documenting the right to receive payment