All 4 Uses of
discern
in
In Cold Blood
- It was true that the tightening action of a smile contracted his face into its correct proportions, and made it possible to discern a less unnerving personality-an American-style "good kid" with an outgrown crew cut, sane enough but not too bright.†
Chpt 1
- If he had, it could not have amazed him more than what he did in fact discern-a hand holding back a curtain, and eyes.†
Chpt 2
- It was Rohleder who took the pictures that, when developed, revealed Hickock's dusty footprints in the Clutter cellar, prints the camera could discern, though not the human eye.
Chpt 4 *discern = reveal, see, or notice (something that is not obvious)
- The cell windows are very narrow, and not only barred but covered with a wire mesh black as a widow's veil; thus the faces of those sentenced to hang can be but hazily discerned by passers-by.†
Chpt 4
Definition:
-
(discern) to notice or understand something -- often something that is not obvious