All 5 Uses of
intervene
in
Far from the Madding Crowd
- His weary face now began to be painted over with a rich orange glow, and the whole front of his smock-frock and gaiters was covered with a dancing shadow pattern of thorn-twigs—the light reaching him through a leafless intervening hedge—and the metallic curve of his sheep-crook shone silver-bright in the same abounding rays.†
Chpt 4-6
- The vast arch of cloud above was strangely low, and formed as it were the roof of a large dark cavern, gradually sinking in upon its floor; for the instinctive thought was that the snow lining the heavens and that encrusting the earth would soon unite into one mass without any intervening stratum of air at all.†
Chpt 10-12
- It was an anxious quarter of an hour that intervened between the messenger's departure and the sound of the horse's tramp again outside.†
Chpt 19-21 *
- They came in yet greater volumes, and indolently crept across the intervening valleys, and around the withered papery flags of the moor and river brinks.†
Chpt 40-42
- When the weeks intervening between the night of this conversation and Christmas day began perceptibly to diminish, her anxiety and perplexity increased.†
Chpt 49-51
Definition:
-
(intervene as in: intervened in the war) the process of getting involved to influence an outcomeThe exact meaning of intervention can depend upon its context. For example:
- "intervention program for at-risk youth" -- a process of trying to influence the direction of someone's life
- "medical intervention" -- action taken to improve a medical outcome
- "military intervention" -- interference by a government in affairs of another government (in this case to interfere militarily)
- "had a family intervention" -- an organized meeting of family members to encourage someone (who is often surprised) to recognize and work at solving a problem such as substance abuse