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discern
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  • he was also a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, though intervening generations and racial mixing had so juggled his genes that he had no discernible Mongoloid characteristics,   (source)
    discernible = noticeable (when looking closely)
  • He cut their hair without any discernible skill, often pulling great clumps out with the blunt scissors.   (source)
    discernible = noticeable
  • On examining the contents of the other packs, I find the only discernible difference is that they contain both gray and white outfits.   (source)
    discernible = possible to notice or understand
  • And how confident are you in your ability to discern what indeed is good for you, or what is evil?   (source)
    discern = notice or understand (something that is not obvious)
  • Sophie began to discern a pattern in the deliveries:   (source)
    discern = to notice something that is not obvious
  • If Luma felt any sense of satisfaction, it was difficult to discern.   (source)
    discern = see (notice)
  • It was impossible to discern clear facial features, but he was certain it was a woman;   (source)
    discern = see (with difficulty)
  • Would Evelyn discern that Gladys knew Roger in her past?   (source)
    discern = to notice or understand something that is not obvious
  • She would rather that others discern for themselves what an incredible job she did in spinning gold out of dross.   (source)
    discern = notice and understand
  • There was still no trace of emotion discernible in his expression, and his hands on the back of the chair appeared perfectly relaxed.   (source)
    discernible = noticeable
  • At first glance, we can discern no sign of breathing, but staring hard we can make out a slight--a very slight--movement at the base of her throat.   (source)
    discern = to see something that is not easy to see
  • 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.   (source)
    discern = reveal, see, or notice (something that is not obvious)
  • Cedric turns it down a barely discernible notch.   (source)
    discernible = noticeable
  • She found herself staring into a whirling golden maelstrom that slowly began to coalesce into discernible shapes—she thought she could see the outline of mountains, a piece of sky—   (source)
    discernible = possible to see
  • ...after a while, Kate discerned a pattern in their arrivals and departures.   (source)
    discerned = to notice something that is not obvious
  • Max swore he could discern faint faces from among the stars—hooded, sinister figures whose contours and features could be gleaned from the patterns of lights and swirling nebulae.   (source)
    discern = noticed something that is not obvious
  • Sukeena and I stopped many times, trying to discern the sounds and to separate man from animal.   (source)
    discern = distinguish (understand)
  • He had to concentrate on the space around them, at whatever movement-however slight-he might discern in the shadows of the large parking lot.   (source)
    discern = notice
  • Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear. ... It is a man's part to discern them,   (source)
    discern = to notice or understand something that is not obvious
  • In most instances, however, the thought units are clearly discernible, and the decision on how to break up a passage into such units is a matter of common sense and a feel for the rhythm of the argument.   (source)
    discernible = possible to notice or understand
  • He sniffed again but could not make it out; there was a cat odor in the rug, he realized, past which it was impossible to discern anything.   (source)
    discern = to notice
  • Vainly he tried to discern the figure that must be standing in the doorway, but there was no light   (source)
    discern = see (something that is hard to see)
  • One totem pole was so old he could discern only the top figure, a bear wearing...   (source)
    discern = to notice or understand something that is not obvious
  • The world outside still slept, but he discerned movement in the room.   (source)
    discerned = noticed something that is not obvious
  • There was, discernible in the letter, a slight anti-foreign bias   (source)
    discernible = possible to notice or understand
  • The first thing Rainsford's eyes discerned was the largest man Rainsford had ever seen — a gigantic creature, solidly made and black-bearded to the waist.   (source)
    discerned = noticed
  • I seemed to discern some signs of emotion upon the butler's white face.   (source)
    discern = to see something that is not obvious
  • In another moment she would step forth into the night, and his eyes, accustomed to the obscurity, would discern her as clearly as though she stood in daylight.   (source)
    discern = see
  • He and his wife spoke English with an accent which was only discernible through its un-English emphasis and a certain carefulness and deliberation.   (source)
    discernible = noticeable
  • No doubt they regarded aesthetic values as material objects which an unclouded vision could not fail to discern, without needing to have their equivalent in experience of life stored up and slowly ripening in one's heart.   (source)
    discern = see (notice)
  • He looked stealthily at his companions, feeling sure that they must discern in his face evidences of this pursuit.   (source)
    discern = notice
  • Alas! if he discern such sinfulness in his own white soul, what horrid spectacle would he behold in thine or mine!   (source)
    discern = can see
  • ...and no torch, or other artificial source of light was discernible;   (source)
    discernible = noticeable
  • Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors.   (source)
    discern = understand (something that is not obvious)
  • If ... shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?   (source)
    discern = to notice or understand something that is not obvious
  • When I mingled with other families I distinctly discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and gratitude assisted the development of filial love.   (source)
    discerned = perceived (noticed)
  • But the scanty wisdom of man, on entering into an affair which looks well at first, cannot discern the poison that is hidden in it,   (source)
    discern = distinguish (to notice something that is not obvious)
  • Sometimes, when I glanced at the mirror and saw the tangle of our twirling forms, I couldn't immediately discern myself in the crowd.†   (source)
  • One seaman's journal read, "rang'd along the Shoar ...but could discern no Entrance ...A violent Storm overtook us ...we were forced to get off to Sea, to secure Ourselves and Ship, and were driven by the Rapidity of a strong Current ... "The Land ...being marshy and Swamps, we return'd towards our Ship ...Discouragement of all such as should hereafter come into those Parts to settle."†   (source)
  • The Olfatrix smell tower in the corner was capable of generating over two thousand discernible odors.†   (source)
  • Lacking a discernible center, the town exists as a haphazard sprawl of subdivisions and strip malls stretching for eight or nine miles along the banks of the Colorado, directly across the river from the high-rise hotels and casinos of Laughlin, Nevada.†   (source)
  • Blank paper, on which — just discernible — there's the colourless imprint of a signature, not hers.†   (source)
  • The rain had grown so fine his form was barely discernible.†   (source)
  • His face appeared, gray in the ghostlight of his phone, and I held a finger up to my mouth and whispered, "Shh," and we watched each other in silence, our barely discernible faces and bodies exposed through our screens' dim light, more intimate than I could ever be in real life.†   (source)
  • You must know that a person's ability to discern the truth is directly proportional to his knowledge.†   (source)
  • Now we call it Shiva, Krishna, Shakti, Ganesha; we can approach it with some understanding; we can discern certain attributes—loving, merciful, frightening—and we feel the gentle pull of relationship.†   (source)
  • People were definitely chanting...intoning words Sophie could not discern.†   (source)
  • Soon enough, the navigators can discern the low moonlit lumps of islands ranged along the horizon.†   (source)
  • No discernible wind, no storms.†   (source)
  • There was no discernible black activism in Savannah.†   (source)
  • There was no discernible microphone, but when he began speaking, his voice was amplified and clear.†   (source)
  • I was so upset that I blurted it all out to Dan, who was hanging around the altar area with Mr. Fish, who, in turn, was staring at the scattered hay in the manger and at the few gifts abandoned by the Christ Child there, as if some meaning could be discerned from the arrangement of the debris.†   (source)
  • Downstairs the doorbell rang, and moments later, just discernible, the rapid tick of high heels on the tiled floor of the hallway.†   (source)
  • What William thought, it was impossible to discern.†   (source)
  • The loud humming in the android's torso died down until it was barely discernible, even in the quiet room.†   (source)
  • There was no place from her neck to her knees where she had any discernible infrastructure.†   (source)
  • He could discern furtive movements in the shadows.†   (source)
  • "Suit yourself, yo," he said, in his "gangsta" voice (discernible from his regular voice only by the hand gesture and the "yo") as he got up and roll-walked out.†   (source)
  • It's held shut with a padlock with no discernible slot for a key.†   (source)
  • He strained his eyes, trying to discern its source, but it was still too far away to make out any details.†   (source)
  • Shutting off the flashlight, I waited several minutes before my eyes could discern the cross in the dim, smoky light.†   (source)
  • The forest encroached on both sides, leaving the road ahead only discernible for a few meters as it twisted, serpentlike, around the ancient trees.†   (source)
  • People sickened and died, often with no discernible preamble.†   (source)
  • The vampire studied him as if trying to discern the meaning of his expression.†   (source)
  • Our enemy was brutal, implacable, with no discernible concern about time or life.†   (source)
  • I felt as if I'd been standing on the deck of a ship when an enormous, dark, and dangerous shape passed beneath the hull—a shape almost discernible, then simply gone.†   (source)
  • The ocean looked like ashes, the old palaces of the marquises were about to succumb to a proliferation of beggars, and it was impossible to discern the ardent scent of jasmine behind the vapors of death from the open sewers.†   (source)
  • Once schools started getting more serious about recruiting me, it was important to discern whether they were being honest.†   (source)
  • For the first time, he peered at Bella closely, as if trying to discern her features under the soot and ash.†   (source)
  • Paul stared into the tent's darkness at the dimly discerned movements of his mother revealed by the manual's glowtab.†   (source)
  • Give us, we beseech thee, wisdom to discern this evil, and power to overcome it.†   (source)
  • When the words became faint, the cadence itself was still discernible, a recurring sequence in the distance.†   (source)
  • It was so dark that Jeremy was unable to discern even the faintest sliver of the moon in the sky.†   (source)
  • At one point during a set of chest compressions, Zeke switched on his red-lens penlight, which was barely discernible to the naked eye but lit up like a circus tent to someone wearing night-vision goggles.†   (source)
  • Now the air thickened between them, as though they were on opposite sides of a chasm in the mountains, trying to discern each other through the cloud and the fog, but terribly frightened of the precipice at their feet.†   (source)
  • Next to it, I discerned the air-lock corridor, the gray zone through which the soldiers had passed into the hot zone.†   (source)
  • A moment passed between them, a barely discernible easing of her features, as if Shiva had caressed her, reached out to comfort her.†   (source)
  • Lissa's sweet tooth was infamous: she was the only person I knew who could discern between Raisinets and chocolate-covered raisins.†   (source)
  • It was a fog so thick, remembered a soldier, that one "could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance."†   (source)
  • We all know that names rise and fall and rise—witness the return of Sophie and Max from near extinction—but is there a discernible pattern to these movements?†   (source)
  • Moody asked with a discernible note of tension in his voice.†   (source)
  • There were banners to her right, banners to her left, and rank on rank of banners before her, but in the predawn gloom, neither colors nor sigils could be discerned.†   (source)
  • Mr. Butorsky was a compact, mustachioed fiftyish man, with watery, blinky blue eyes and, unlike the prison staff I had met so far, of discernible intelligence.†   (source)
  • Behind, they could just discern great, powerful paws and a shaggy black body.†   (source)
  • There are countless wonders to be found in this book, if you but know how to discern them—but you don't, do you?†   (source)
  • My heavy, dark hair could not have been more unlike their pale curls, but their small faces, insofar as you can discern such things in features so unformed, were said by everyone to favor my own looks more than their father's.†   (source)
  • Vlad sniffed, but it was hard to discern what he smelled in the glass.†   (source)
  • He tried to discern the peaks he felt hovering malevolently around him, but he couldn't make them out among the general blackness.†   (source)
  • Washington Post columnist William Raspberry once called it "a language that has no right or wrong expressions, no consistent spellings or pronunciations, and no discernible rules."†   (source)
  • And in the dark windows and on the roofs above I could now discern the forms of women and children.†   (source)
  • You cannot always trust what you see and hear, for it is a land of both enchantment and deceit, and you will need to discern which is which.†   (source)
  • I believe I would be able to discern that the evidence of your ske'pticism is entrenched in the short line from the root of your nose to your central diameter.†   (source)
  • Not a thing wrong with his mind that he could discern.†   (source)
  • For no discernible reason, my arms sprout goose bumps and my forehead leaks sweat.†   (source)
  • In an astonishingly short time, for reasons he couldn't discern but could feel, he was washed clean of the petty shame and embarrassments of a lifetime.†   (source)
  • His smile had a discernible quality now: it was enjoyment.†   (source)
  • Not only was the content on these pages fascinating to me, but the idea behind the pages captivated me as well: that all of these writers had dug deeply inside themselves to discern what they truly believed—and then had the courage to share it with the world.†   (source)
  • Drizzt, by far the more battle-seasoned of the two, quickly discerned the mode of attack that offered the best chance of success.†   (source)
  • As far as Joe could discern, there was nothing menacing in this gracious night.†   (source)
  • Weichmann senses that there's something shady about Booth, having listened to his rants and spent enough time around the Surratts to discern the pro-Confederate leanings of the crowd.†   (source)
  • At that point, she wouldn't have been able to discern the difference between right and wrong?'†   (source)
  • Franny at that moment was gazing at a sunlit faded spot in the carpet over near the piano, her lips very discernibly moving.†   (source)
  • And I do: a stocky little figure, crouched as if sitting, his shape hardly discernible.†   (source)
  • The Iraqi crouched next to the stretcher and murmured something into Saladin's ear that Natalie could not discern.†   (source)
  • We are closed in, and the key is turned On our uncertainty; somewhere A man is killed, or a house burned, Yet no clear fact to be discerned: Come build in the empty house of the stare.†   (source)
  • I could see this child clearly; it had no discernible sex, but it was a blond and airy thing, a sea-child who stood knee-deep in the surf and laughed at the flight of pelicans and the sprints of sandcrabs to their lairs.†   (source)
  • Lee read European history, trying to discern from the filaments of the past some pattern of the future.†   (source)
  • Its report, which was a courageous one under the circumstances, showed that matches had indeed been tossed and the powder kegs had exploded—and that these were individual explosions, not connected through any discernible subversive plotting on the part of black men.†   (source)
  • I was able to discern only her disheveled mane of straw-colored hair and, behind Nathan's shoulder, about a third of her face.†   (source)
  • But the train often stopped for no discernible reason in the open country and stood without sound or motion, like a becalmed ship.†   (source)
  • And by now, the surface of the river gave back light which could not as yet be as clearly discerned in the sky, and along both banks the trees which crowded the water like drinking cattle began to take on distinctness one from another.†   (source)
  • [One must be able to discern the voice of JACQUES, weeping.†   (source)
  • Who he was, the shoemaker for a moment had no idea; then his heart trembled as he realized, before he had thoroughly discerned the face, that Max himself was standing there, embarrassedly explaining what he wanted done to his old shoes.†   (source)
  • In the darkness of the hallway Jimmie discerned a knot of women talking...   (source)
    discerned = noticed something that is not obvious
  • Now superficial people never discern that...   (source)
    discern = to notice or understand something that is not obvious
  • the travelers could scarcely discern the fort of Chupenie   (source)
    discern = see (of something that is hard to see)
  • But whatever blemishes others might discern in William, to his friend's mind he was faultless;   (source)
    discern = notice
  • On the further side of a table bearing candles she could faintly discern faces, and that was all.   (source)
    discern = notice something that is not easy to see
  • he could but dimly discern the others who were brought there   (source)
    discern = see
  • In a few moments he could discern a female figure creeping in by the great north gap, or public gateway.   (source)
    discern = see something that is not obvious
  • As nearly as could be discerned, the second traveller was about fifty years old, apparently in the same rank of life as Goodman Brown, and bearing a considerable resemblance to him, though perhaps more in expression than features.   (source)
    discerned = perceived (noticed)
  • Though the overshadowing trees ... enveloped them in gloom, Bathsheba could see plainly enough to discern the extreme poverty of the woman's garb, and the sadness of her face.   (source)
    discern = noticed something that is not that easy to see
  • Its wandering and wild glances fell at this moment upon the head of the bed, over which the face of its master, rigid with horror, was just discernible.   (source)
    discernible = possible to see
  • But the magistrate was half blind and half childish, so he couldn't reasonably be expected to discern what other people did.   (source)
    discern = to see or understand something that is not obvious
  • After he had seated himself, she fixed her eyes steadfastly upon the veil, but could discern nothing of the dreadful gloom that had so overawed the multitude:   (source)
    discern = notice (something that is not obvious)
  • her eye could not discern anything unusual   (source)
    discern = to notice something that is not obvious
  • He was submerged in a sea of debris, that much he knew, but he could not discern whether he was prone or supine, upright or topsy-turvy.†   (source)
    discern = notice or understand something
  • She was able to track Saladin's labored movements around the sitting room of the cottage and to discern the placement of the four armed ISIS terrorists.†   (source)
  • She always talked like that, with this discernible rhythm, like she was reciting poetry.†   (source)
  • For no discernible reason she pointed across the Gladers back toward the town from which they'd run.†   (source)
  • Teresa appeared in the corner of his vision, her image barely discernible through the clogged air.†   (source)
  • Hawat discerned movement near the opposite cliff—flitting blurs of tan on tan.†   (source)
  • As you will have discerned, this is an approach with which I have limited sympathy.†   (source)
  • There are no discernible marks on his body, but he is dead all the same.†   (source)
  • The triangle and circle representing the Cloak and the stone were still discernible.†   (source)
  • In this condition the subject appears able to discern certain objects, even with the eyes closed.†   (source)
  • All in all, he could discern only two personal aspects of Martin Vanger's life: music and cooking.†   (source)
  • When we discern things, we classify them in various groups or categories.†   (source)
  • As you can see, its true size is very hard to discern.†   (source)
  • The voices were pinched and metallic, but they were discernible.†   (source)
  • She shaded her eyes with one hand, as if this helped her discern us through the thickening sea dusk.†   (source)
  • If anything, he was probably trying to discern how much of her was metal and silicon.†   (source)
  • Ye discerned the weight behind these words.†   (source)
  • The secret passageway was dark; yet I could discern the scurrying of spiders.†   (source)
  • Faint at first, barely discernible over the noises of the storm.†   (source)
  • Their barely discernible profiles too stretched.†   (source)
  • From what nonsense did Owen Meany discern what he would later call a PATTERN?†   (source)
  • pale figure could be discerned in the ghostly glow of the moonlight against the snow.†   (source)
  • I could almost discern its voice now: Yeah, okay.†   (source)
  • There was no discernible door, though there were narrow windows—as narrow as arrow slits.†   (source)
  • The soft white orb produced no discernible heat but as much illumination as a bright lantern.†   (source)
  • Perhaps it's why I discern a conscience in you-a part of you.†   (source)
  • Your ...your scent would be difficult to discern.†   (source)
  • They kept to the barely discernible path where Mark assumed Trina and the others had walked.†   (source)
  • She'd had no idea, no matter what she thought she'd discerned from Kathy.†   (source)
  • They had no mouths, not even a truly discernible face.†   (source)
  • He had sleepy, oatmeal-brown eyes; almost no affect that I could discern.†   (source)
  • Bringing it to his nose, he was still able to discern the scent of the lotion she often wore.†   (source)
  • What might have happened to Harris remains even harder to discern.†   (source)
  • Occasionally, passing a porch, one might discern in its depths a still, shadowed, faceless figure.†   (source)
  • Conklin did so and a barely discernible drawer sprang loose from an all but invisible crack.†   (source)
  • Stare as he might, he could discern nothing of interest in the barren location.†   (source)
  • If I can even discern truth from illusion anymore.†   (source)
  • And there was something else-dull, barely discernible.†   (source)
  • Maybe you discern from far away the air of Numenor.†   (source)
  • But Alice is an extremely intelligent woman with an incisive ability to discern character.†   (source)
  • With the sun behind him, his features were difficult to discern.†   (source)
  • Until the final mouthful, he could discern no flavor whatsoever.†   (source)
  • Her eyes were fixed, intent in concentration, as if trying to discern something at a great distance.†   (source)
  • Torches, perhaps, for there was nothing constant about the barely discernible light.†   (source)
  • As Max watched, he began to discern subtle disturbances above the two pentacles.†   (source)
  • The drow was trying to discern if any alarms had gone up due to the absence of the first patrol.†   (source)
  • He then discerned each of the malakhim's masks was marked by a unique deformity.†   (source)
  • He gripped the ends of the spoon and, without discernible effort, bent it until it snapped in two.†   (source)
  • Still I croak, "Okay," look into his eyes, try to discern what's hiding there.†   (source)
  • The cat had already discerned where it wanted the giant to go.†   (source)
  • My inability to discern the obvious was exacerbated to some degree by the guide-client protocol.†   (source)
  • The only discernible rule of the discipline had been his order forbidding all questions.†   (source)
  • In the headlights of the car Liz discerned a figure standing in the road.†   (source)
  • Just then the bus lurched forward into sunlight, and I was able to discern our fellow passengers.†   (source)
  • Aren't you able to discern the truth in its awful outlines?†   (source)
  • Yet there was no discernible lapse in coordination or locomotion.†   (source)
  • That Zacharias bloke's a wart,' said Ron, who was glowering after the figure of Smith, just discernible in the distance.†   (source)
  • How to diagnose amnesias with no discernible physical manifestation, or certain inexplicable and radical alterations of the personality?†   (source)
  • The squealing clamor coming from Seth's efforts covered every other noise, so there was no discernible sound to make the image one of violence.†   (source)
  • Very carefully, so carefully that the movement was actually discernible, I brought my right arm out from behind my back and raised my hand to touch his cheek.†   (source)
  • Then they stepped away, and the first guard, the one who had warned him, aimed the hose and sprayed him, head to toe, with a substance Zeitoun could not immediately discern.†   (source)
  • Through her, I can discern my opponents' troubles and weaknesses, as well as what will please them and make them amenable to my wishes.†   (source)
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