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Definition
to make a machine work or cause someone to act- What motive actuated Bigger Thomas?Richard Wright -- Native Son
- A farmer, a hunter, a soldier, a reporter, even a philosopher, may be daunted; but nothing can deter a poet, for he is actuated by pure love.Henry David Thoreau -- Walden
- Perhaps his sense of fairness actuated him once more, for he ordered Shady and Moze out to do their share.Zane Grey -- The Man of the Forest
- In this he was actuated by a sense of duty; he had to look after Stein's business, he said.Joseph Conrad -- Lord Jim
- It was self, self, all self that had actuated her.Zane Grey -- The Call of the Canyon
- And though his questions were unpleasantly blunt, they seemed actuated by a friendly interest.Margaret Mitchell -- Gone with the Wind
- There were duty here and pity and unselfish love, but these alone did not actuate Shefford.Zane Grey -- The Rainbow Trail
- I assure your ladyship I am not actuated by any motives of that sort," says Mr. Guppy, "and I couldn't accept anything of the kind.Charles Dickens -- Bleak House
- The value of the gold appeared to be fifteen dollars to the ounce, but the real value of money did not actuate the gamblers.Zane Grey -- The Border Legion
- The pilots input the flight plan and the load sheet through the MCDU keyboards, and all en route flight-plan changes are also actuated with the McDoos.Dean Koontz -- Sole Survivor
- Nothing in the realm of life was self-actuated or even poorly actuated from that point on.Thomas Mann -- The Magic Mountain
- Whether she was really an agent of the Thought Police, or simply an amateur spy actuated by officiousness, hardly mattered.George Orwell -- 1984
- "Majesty, whatever actuated you, it was a stroke of diplomacy," replied her brother.Zane Grey -- The Light of Western Stars
- Nevertheless I cannot believe that all those who practise virtue from religious motives are only actuated by the hope of a recompense.Alexis de Toqueville -- Democracy In America, Volume 2
- No, it be an actuated magic word.James A. Owen -- Here, There be Dragons
- Human groups are actuated by their group ideals, and these are always based on the infantile situation.Joseph Campbell -- The Hero With a Thousand Faces
- She did not believe that Tull had been actuated solely by his minister's zeal to save her soul.Zane Grey -- Riders of the Purple Sage
- Can he, when nearest to honesty (no human is ever very near), feel fully convinced that he actuated wholly by the desire to obey the Enemy?C.S. Lewis -- The Screwtape Letters
- The militia of Pennsylvania seem to be actuated with a spirit more than Roman.David McCullough -- John Adams
- Mrs. Penniman, who was shocked at her sister's coarseness, replied that he had been actuated by the noblest of motives—the desire not to impoverish Catherine.Henry James -- Washington Square