All 50 Uses of
precise
in
The Count of Monte Cristo
- Well, by means of these lines, which are in accordance with the double motion of the earth, and the ellipse it describes round the sun, I am enabled to ascertain the precise hour with more minuteness than if I possessed a watch; for that might be broken or deranged in its movements, while the sun and earth never vary in their appointed paths.†
Chpt 17-18
- Yet I had read, I had even written a precise history of the Borgia family, for the sole purpose of assuring myself whether any increase of fortune had occurred to them on the death of the Cardinal Caesar Spada; but could only trace the acquisition of the property of the Cardinal Rospigliosi, his companion in misfortune.†
Chpt 17-18
- This solitary place was precisely suited to the requirements of a man desirous of burying treasure.†
Chpt 23-24
- And then, it must be confessed, Fernand had never been hated—he was only not precisely loved.†
Chpt 27-28
- Precisely.†
Chpt 27-28 *
- But, contrary to all expectation, when the 31st of August came, the house opened as usual, and Cocles appeared behind the grating of the counter, examined all bills presented with the usual scrutiny, and, from first to last, paid all with the usual precision.†
Chpt 29-30
- An hour had passed since the sun had set, when Franz fancied he saw, at a quarter of a mile to the left, a dark mass, but he could not precisely make out what it was, and fearing to excite the mirth of the sailors by mistaking a floating cloud for land, he remained silent; suddenly a great light appeared on the strand; land might resemble a cloud, but the fire was not a meteor.†
Chpt 31-32
- " "And I," replied Franz, "will tell you, as I only require his wonderful lamp to make me precisely like Aladdin, that I see no reason why at this moment I should not be called Aladdin.†
Chpt 31-32
- "That is it precisely, Signor Aladdin; it is hashish—the purest and most unadulterated hashish of Alexandria,—the hashish of Abou-Gor, the celebrated maker, the only man, the man to whom there should be built a palace, inscribed with these words, 'A grateful world to the dealer in happiness.'†
Chpt 31-32
- "Precisely so," replied Gaetano.†
Chpt 31-32
- "Ah, yes; you have ordered your carriage at eight o'clock precisely?"†
Chpt 33-34
- This gun had an excellent barrel, made at Breschia, and carrying a ball with the precision of an English rifle; but one day the count broke the stock, and had then cast the gun aside.†
Chpt 33-34
- Carmela was precisely the age and figure of Teresa, and Teresa was as handsome as Carmela.†
Chpt 33-34
- "My good friend," said the man in the cloak, "excuse me for saying that you seem to me precisely in the mood to commit some wild or extravagant act."†
Chpt 33-34
- This was precisely what Franz had heard the evening before in the ruins of the Colosseum.†
Chpt 33-34
- No, not precisely; however, I think it was something very like a rendezvous.†
Chpt 37-38
- "Monsieur de Morcerf," replied the count, "your offer, far from surprising me, is precisely what I expected from you, and I accept it in the same spirit of hearty sincerity with which it is made;—nay, I will go still further, and say that I had previously made up my mind to ask a great favor at your hands."†
Chpt 37-38
- "Precisely?" asked Debray, taking out his watch.†
Chpt 39-40
- "Precisely!" cried Albert.†
Chpt 39-40
- "Precisely, monsieur," replied Monte Cristo with one of those smiles that a painter could never represent or a physiologist analyze.†
Chpt 41-42
- "Precisely," answered Bertuccio; "but he had, seven or eight years before this period, sold his establishment to a tailor at Marseilles, who, having almost ruined himself in his old trade, wished to make his fortune in another.†
Chpt 43-44
- My trial was to come on at the approaching assizes; when, on the 8th of September—that is to say, precisely three months and five days after the events which had perilled my life—the Abbe Busoni, whom I never ventured to believe I should see, presented himself at the prison doors, saying he understood one of the prisoners wished to speak to him; he added, that having learned at Marseilles the particulars of my imprisonment, he hastened to comply with my desire.†
Chpt 45-46
- My commands are ordinarily short, clear, and precise; and I would rather be obliged to repeat my words twice, or even three times, than they should be misunderstood.†
Chpt 45-46
- "Precisely what I was about to say," cried Danglars.†
Chpt 45-46
- "Why, truly," replied Monte Cristo, determined not to lose an inch of the ground he had gained, "my reason for desiring an 'unlimited' credit was precisely because I did not know how much money I might need."†
Chpt 45-46
- The whole of the second story was set apart for Maximilian; it was precisely similar to his sister's apartments, except that for the breakfast-parlor he had a billiard-room, where he received his friends.†
Chpt 49-50
- " 'Ah,' continued my father, still frowning, 'their idolized emperor treated these madmen as they deserved; he called them 'food for powder,' which was precisely all they were good for; and I am delighted to see that the present government have adopted this salutary principle with all its pristine vigor; if Algiers were good for nothing but to furnish the means of carrying so admirable an idea into practice, it would be an acquisition well worthy of struggling to obtain.†
Chpt 51-52
- Precisely so, madame; this man was myself; for a fortnight I had been at that hotel, during which period I had cured my valet de chambre of a fever, and my landlord of the jaundice, so that I really acquired a reputation as a skilful physician.†
Chpt 51-52
- Moliere or Beaumarchais would reply to you, madame, that it was precisely because I was not, that I had cured my patients; for myself, I am content to say to you that I have studied chemistry and the natural sciences somewhat deeply, but still only as an amateur, you understand.†
Chpt 51-52
- "Precisely, madame," replied Monte Cristo; "but I perceive I have not much to teach you.†
Chpt 51-52
- There are as many elixirs of every kind as there are caprices and peculiarities in the physical and moral nature of humanity; and I will say further—the art of these chemists is capable with the utmost precision to accommodate and proportion the remedy and the bane to yearnings for love or desires for vengeance.†
Chpt 51-52
- "Precisely so," cried Monte Cristo—"precisely so; and this is what I said to my worthy Adelmonte.†
Chpt 51-52
- "Precisely so," cried Monte Cristo—"precisely so; and this is what I said to my worthy Adelmonte.†
Chpt 51-52
- …decided a character to please a fastidious taste; her hair was raven black, but its natural waves seemed somewhat rebellious; her eyes, of the same color as her hair, were surmounted by well-arched brows, whose great defect, however, consisted in an almost habitual frown, while her whole physiognomy wore that expression of firmness and decision so little in accordance with the gentler attributes of her sex—her nose was precisely what a sculptor would have chosen for a chiselled Juno.†
Chpt 53-54
- " "Precisely; I was sure of it," said Morcerf.†
Chpt 53-54
- Precisely.†
Chpt 53-54
- "How can I, if her husband fails in controlling her?" asked Lucien; "you know the character of the baroness—no one has any influence with her, and she does precisely what she pleases."†
Chpt 53-54
- Precisely.†
Chpt 55-56
- That is just the case—precisely so.†
Chpt 55-56
- Precisely so; and it conveyed me from Nice to Genoa, from Genoa to Turin, from Turin to Chambery, from Chambery to Pont-de-Beauvoisin, and from Pont-de-Beauvoisin to Paris.†
Chpt 55-56
- Ah," said the count, watching Andrea's countenance, "I do not demand any confession from you; it is precisely to avoid that necessity that your father was sent for from Lucca.†
Chpt 55-56
- Well, that is precisely the feeling which I experienced when I first saw that extraordinary man.†
Chpt 57-58
- "No, sir, the facts were precisely what you have stated," said Madame de Villefort; "and it was to prevent the renewal of old feuds that M. de Villefort formed the idea of uniting in the bonds of affection the two children of these inveterate enemies."†
Chpt 59-60
- "No," said Monte Cristo, "which is precisely the reason which renders your kindness more meritorious,—it is in the country."†
Chpt 59-60
- …always reminded me of the claws of an immense beetle, and I assure you it was never without emotion that I gazed on it, for I could not help thinking how wonderful it was that these various signs should be made to cleave the air with such precision as to convey to the distance of three hundred leagues the ideas and wishes of a man sitting at a table at one end of the line to another man similarly placed at the opposite extremity, and all this effected by a simple act of volition on the…†
Chpt 59-60
- At five o'clock precisely, the count arrived before the house at Auteuil, followed by Ali.†
Chpt 61-62
- At precisely six o'clock the clatter of horses' hoofs was heard at the entrance door; it was our captain of Spahis, who had arrived on Medeah.†
Chpt 61-62
- From twelve to two o'clock Danglars had remained in his study, unsealing his dispatches, and becoming more and more sad every minute, heaping figure upon figure, and receiving, among other visits, one from Major Cavalcanti, who, as stiff and exact as ever, presented himself precisely at the hour named the night before, to terminate his business with the banker.†
Chpt 65-66
- I tied my lantern to a forked branch I had noticed a year before at the precise spot where I stopped to dig the hole.†
Chpt 67-68
- As the envoy of the prefect of police arrived ten minutes before ten, he was told that Lord Wilmore, who was precision and punctuality personified, was not yet come in, but that he would be sure to return as the clock struck.†
Chpt 69-70
Definition:
-
(precise as in: about noon; 12:03 to be precise) exact (accurate)editor's notes: In the fields of science, engineering, and statistics, precise and accurate are not properly used as synonyms the way they are in general usage.
If you throw darts at a dartboard and keep missing the bullseye, but hit in the same place on the dartboard each time, you would be described as precise, but not accurate.
If you seldom hit the bullseye, but tended to get close each time, you would be described as accurate, but not precise.
Finally, if you hit the bullseye each time, you would be considered both accurate and precise.