All 30 Uses of
assume
in
The House of Mirth
- Mrs. Peniston was Mr. Bart's widowed sister, and if she was by no means the richest of the family group, its other members nevertheless abounded in reasons why she was clearly destined by Providence to assume the charge of Lily.
Chpt 1.3 (definition 1)assume = take (power or responsibility)
- But dinginess is a quality which assumes all manner of disguises;
Chpt 1.3 (definition 2) *assumes = takes on
- Lily had no mind for the vagabond life of the poor relation, and to adapt herself to Mrs. Peniston she had, to some degree, to assume that lady's passive attitude.
Chpt 1.3 (definition 2)assume = take on or adopt
- The sight restored Lily's good humour, and knowing the peculiar disguise which Mr. Dorset's marital fears assumed, she asked gaily: "Aren't you horribly jealous of her?"
Chpt 1.5 (definition 2)assumed = took on or adopted
- These, for the moment, took the shape of assuming a dress somewhat more rustic and summerlike in style than the garment she had first selected, and rustling downstairs, sunshade in hand, with the disengaged air of a lady in quest of exercise.
Chpt 1.5 (definition 2)assuming = taking on or adopting
- All her plans for the day had been built on the assumption that it was to see her that Selden had come to Bellomont.
Chpt 1.5 (definition 3)assumption = something accepted as true (without proof)
- The latter had acted on the assumption to the extent of appearing at an hour when she never showed herself to ordinary mortals, and Lily, for the moment, saw no way of putting her in the wrong.†
Chpt 1.5 (definition 3)
- Mrs. Trenor evidently assumed that Lily's growing intimacy with her husband was simply an indirect way of returning her own kindness.
Chpt 1.8 (definition 3)assumed = accepted as true (without proof)
- She knew the pleasantries made at the expense of young girls who have been too long before the public, and she was resolved to avoid such assumptions of youthfulness as might lead people to think her older than she really was.†
Chpt 1.8 (definition 3)
- It was the kind of scene in which Lily had often pictured herself as taking the principal part, and on this occasion the fact that she was once more merely a casual spectator, instead of the mystically veiled figure occupying the centre of attention, strengthened her resolve to assume the latter part before the year was over.
Chpt 1.8 (definition 2)assume = take on or adopt
- Of course, being fatally poor and dingy, it was wise of Gerty to have taken up philanthropy and symphony concerts; but there was something irritating in her assumption that existence yielded no higher pleasures, and that one might get as much interest and excitement out of life in a cramped flat as in the splendours of the Van Osburgh establishment.†
Chpt 1.8 (definition 3)
- ...and assume that a little flattery, and the occasional acceptance of his hospitality, would suffice to render him innocuous.
Chpt 1.10 (definition 3)assume = accept as true (without proof)
- She was quite aware that she was of interest to dingy people, but she assumed that there is only one form of dinginess, and that admiration for brilliancy is the natural expression of its inferior state.
Chpt 1.11 (definition 3)assumed = accepted as true (without proof)
- It is less mortifying to believe one's self unpopular than insignificant, and vanity prefers to assume that indifference is a latent form of unfriendliness.
Chpt 1.11 (definition 3) *assume = accept as true
- They were generally assumed to be taken up with the legitimate business of courtship and marriage, and interference in such affairs on the part of their natural guardians was considered as unwarrantable as a spectator's suddenly joining in a game.
Chpt 1.11 (definition 3)assumed = accepted as true (without proof)
- In her set such gossip was not unusual, and a handsome girl who flirted with a married man was merely assumed to be pressing to the limit of her opportunities.
Chpt 1.12 (definition 3)
- In such emergencies, Judy would usually have turned to Lily to fuse the discordant elements; and Miss Bart, assuming that such a service was expected of her, threw herself into it with her accustomed zeal.
Chpt 1.12 (definition 3)assuming = accepting as true (without proof)
- ...showed Lily that she was in disfavour with that portion of society which, while contributing least to its amusement, has assumed the right to decide what forms that amusement shall take.
Chpt 1.12 (definition 1)assumed = took (power or responsibility)
- She drew back from him with a desperate assumption of scorn.
Chpt 1.13 (definition 2)assumption = something taken on or adopted
- In our imperfectly organized society there is no provision as yet for the young woman who claims the privileges of marriage without assuming its obligations.
Chpt 1.14 (definition 2)assuming = taking on or adopting
- "Well, I understand Lily is about to assume them in the shape of Mr. Rosedale," Mrs. Fisher said with a laugh.†
Chpt 1.14 (definition 3)
- If you really owe your dress-maker, I will settle with her--beyond that I recognize no obligation to assume your debts.
Chpt 1.15 (definition 1)assume = take (power or responsibility)
- Her assumptions and elisions, her short-cuts and long DETOURS, the skill with which she contrived to meet him at a point from which no inconvenient glimpses of the past were visible, suggested what opportunities she had had for practising such arts since their last meeting.†
Chpt 2.1 (definition 3)
- Assume that everything is as usual.
Chpt 2.3 (definition 3)assume = accept as true (without proof)
- On this assumption, in fact, the early part of the following day was lived through.†
Chpt 2.3 (definition 3)
- She could not, at the moment, separate herself definitely from her party, who had hospitably assumed that she would remain with them till they took their departure; but she found time for a momentary pause of enquiry, to which he promptly returned: "I've seen him again--he's just left me."
Chpt 2.3 (definition 3)assumed = accepted as true (without proof)
- Light comes in devious ways to the groping consciousness, and it came to her now through the disgusted perception that her would-be accomplice assumed, as a matter of course, the likelihood of her distrusting him and perhaps trying to cheat him of his share of the spoils.
Chpt 2.7 (definition 3)
- Selden had listened in silence, with the concentrated look which his thin dark face could assume when he wished to guard it against any involuntary change of expression.
Chpt 2.8 (definition 2)assume = take on or adopt
- To neglect her, perhaps even to avoid her, at a time when she had most need of her friends, and then suddenly and unwarrantably to break into her life with this strange assumption of authority, was to rouse in her every instinct of pride and self-defence.
Chpt 2.9 (definition 1) *assumption = taking
- "...as you have always told me that the sole object of a bringing-up like mine was to teach a girl to get what she wants, why not assume that that is precisely what I am doing?"
Chpt 2.9 (definition 3)assume = accept as true (without proof)
Definitions:
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(1) (assume as in: She assumed power) beginning to take power or responsibility
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(2) (assume as in: She assumed a false identity) to take on (adopt, wear, strike a pose or appearance of) -- often while pretending or disguising
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(3) (assume as in: I assume it's true) to accept something as true without proof