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tentative
in a sentence
grouped by contextual meaning

tentative as in:  said it tentatively

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • She took a tentative step to see if her injured ankle would support her weight.
    tentative = careful
  • She walked tentatively down the steps, knowing that no words were required.   (source)
    tentatively = in a hesitant, unsure manner
  • I tentatively bite into one, and it's as good as our blackberries.   (source)
    tentatively = done in a careful way indicating a lack of confidence
  • Augustus raised his hand tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in a hesitant, unsure manner
  • "I'm —I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward.   (source)
    tentative = in an unsure way (indicating a lack of confidence)
  • The wiener was hot, so Juju licked at it tentatively, but when I stood up and started stirring the hot dogs again, I felt a blaze of heat on my right side.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure way
  • The siren song of the void puts you on edge; it makes your movements tentative, clumsy, herkyjerky.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • "Sir," Jonas said tentatively, "I would be very interested to hear the story of your life, and to listen to your memories."   (source)
    tentatively = in a hesitant, unsure manner
  • The raptor bent over, poked at the radio on the floor, tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful, unsure manner
  • I lay down next to her, and Gramps tentatively sat down on the other side.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure way
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show 89 more with this conextual meaning
  • Angela stepped tentatively behind the secretary, not knowing whether to ignore her disability or to take her arm.   (source)
    tentatively = in a hesitant, unsure manner
  • Even when he showed seven scenes from the same battle, but from different vids, only one boy asked, tentatively, "Are some of those from the same battle?"   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • I have my arm around Laura, but tentatively, as if ordered to place it there.   (source)
    tentatively = unsure (showing a lack of confidence)
  • Henry tentatively pressed his fingers into the fur under Baboo's jaw, attempting to scratch without getting slobber on his fingers.   (source)
    tentatively = carefully (in an unsure or hesitant manner)
  • "I guess … the chariot," she said tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • But somehow their caress felt soft and tentative.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • He nodded and reached out with his cane and tapped tentatively at the road.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • He returned to shallow tentative breaths, drawing air past his lips as if he were sipping from a straw.   (source)
    tentative = careful
  • He seemed as skeptical as he'd been the other day, but instead of just patting my shoulder, he leaned in and tentatively wrapped his arms around me.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure manner
  • She stepped forward tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure way
  • Was that a tiny, tentative knock at the door?   (source)
    tentative = unsure (showing a lack of confidence)
  • "You still mad, Jean Louise?" he asked tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure way
  • He kisses me tentatively on the lips, almost as if he's scared to touch me again.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • "You think there's a path through those woods?" he asked in his mild tentative voice when I got near.   (source)
    tentative = unsure
  • Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative, "It is enough, Okonkwo," pleaded from a reasonable distance.   (source)
    tentative = cautious
  • She dropped to her knees and gave the tail a tentative tug.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • Then he flung himself down under a bush and waited for a moment till his breathing steadied. He passed his tongue tentatively over his teeth and lips and heard far off the ululation of the pursuers.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure manner
  • They approached the doorway tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = carefully (in an unsure or hesitant manner)
  • She looked up from a magazine, and I offered a tentative smile.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • "Being married might be scary," Hannah agreed tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful way
  • "I think my way is easier, Mr. Dussel," I say tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure way
  • A smile appears again, this time fleeting, tentative.   (source)
    tentative = unsure
  • He remembered asking his father, tentatively, afraid that he was invading his privacy, how much it had hurt him to start life over, to give up his old life, his career, his friends.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • The Queendom had been enjoying a tentative peace ever since the time, twelve years earlier, when unbridled bloodshed spattered the doorstep of every Wonderlander.   (source)
    tentative = unsure (showing a lack of confidence)
  • tentative greetings   (source)
    tentative = cautious (done in a careful way indicating a lack of confidence)
  • Tentatively, Patria brought up the topic.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • The chief was smiling broadly now. Tentatively I smiled back.   (source)
  • I'd finally loaded my camera and tentatively taken a few pictures, just objects and still lifes, no faces yet.   (source)
  • Tentatively, I reached down and touched it.   (source)
  • This, finally, was what had pained his mother most, the lost years standing between them, their words so tentative and formal where ease and love should have been.   (source)
    tentative = cautious
  • I took a tentative step, then another.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • Erik laughed and tentatively touched the newly tattooed skin of my back.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • I smile tentatively and smooth down my hair.   (source)
  • She waits several seconds, trying to make up her mind about something, and looks at RUTH a little tentatively before going on.   (source)
  • I walked up to the door and knocked, tentative and soft.   (source)
    tentative = carefully and uncertain of what would happen
  • Then she leans in and kisses me, a gentle kiss, tentative but lingering.   (source)
    tentative = done in a careful way indicating a lack of confidence
  • 'Doctor,' said the patient tentatively.   (source)
  • One evening when I tentatively broached the subject of returning to America, Moody grew despondent rather than angry.   (source)
    tentatively = in a careful or unsure way
  • I looked down, then sucked in my breath so fast I almost choked. I was standing on a translucent platform suspended high over the sewer system. I wanted to scream, feeling off-balance and scared. ... I swallowed hard and tried to get a grip. Tentatively, I glanced down again at the translucent surface.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or careful manner
  • Hel pokes at the mash and takes a tentative sniff.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • Old people walked tentatively, took careful steps, used rubber-tipped sticks to keep them safe.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure manner
  • He started tentatively to the left; the elevator had been on his left when he had driven the car up several days ago.   (source)
  • Residents, numb from ceaseless easy-listening radio, tentatively peeked in, then sat to listen.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • And then he kisses me. Tentatively at first, waiting for something, but there isn't any need. I would kiss him forever.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure way
  • Lou pulled tentatively at first, and then started to hit her stride.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure manner
  • The doctor waited and then hit him again, and again the man fell down and then got back up to his feet, this time more tentatively.   (source)
    tentatively = carefully
  • His legs were weak and his hip joints stiff and painful, but he took a few tentative steps, holding to the window frames.   (source)
    tentative = careful or unsure
  • he sat down and pumped the pedals and very tentatively,   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • He drank another mouthful of gin, picked up the white knight and made a tentative move.   (source)
    tentative = in an unsure way (indicating a lack of confidence)
  • Jordan and Tom and I got into the front seat of Gatsby's car, Tom pushed the unfamiliar gears tentatively, and we shot off into the oppressive heat, leaving them out of sight behind.   (source)
    tentatively = in a cautious unsure manner
  • Again, tentatively, he felt his coat sleeve.   (source)
    tentatively = in an unsure or hesitant manner
  • I tentatively tried the door handle, and it easily clicked around, the door silently sliding open in front of me.†   (source)
  • "Are you teaching ...?" the Count asked tentatively.†   (source)
  • "Are you all right?" she asks tentatively, fearing he will be suspicious of such an intimate question.†   (source)
  • An embarrassing sense of pride tentatively bloomed in the middle of the sadness I felt at my surroundings.†   (source)
  • He pressed at it tentatively.†   (source)
  • He came back a few moments later and grinned at me tentatively.†   (source)
  • Buds burst from brown branches, perennials forcing their way tentatively through the dark, claggy soil.†   (source)
  • When Tariq's fingers tentatively began to slip into hers, Laila let them.†   (source)
  • The threehundred-page draft—tentatively titled Symbols of the Lost Sacred Feminine—proposed some very unconventional interpretations of established religious iconography which would certainly be controversial.†   (source)
  • He put his right foot out, tentatively, not quite daring to put his full weight on it.†   (source)
  • The faces of the Sleer nuzzled the air about Jack tentatively, as if they wanted to stroke or caress him.†   (source)
  • His hands rose from his sides and held her, tentatively, around the waist, just his fingertips, as if she were a balloon he didn't want to pop. But for a terrible moment, his mouth was inanimate, stunned.†   (source)
  • Tentatively I whispered, "Stargirl?"†   (source)
  • Tentatively, she opened the door to the hall, and immediately Ishmael materialized.†   (source)
  • Students of the age of Dan's, and mine, have no great feeling—for example—for wit; wit simply passes them by, or else they take it to be an elderly form of snobbery, a mere showing off with the language that they use (at best) tentatively.†   (source)
  • We approached tentatively and peeked through the fence slats.†   (source)
  • He put one foot tentatively on the reef, and I warned him, "Bing."†   (source)
  • "It's okay," Kate had said tentatively.†   (source)
  • After a moment or two I saw the wings lift and push tentatively, then again, and again, each time with more force.†   (source)
  • Rather than risk drawing the curtains just yet, she turned on the reading light, and tentatively began the hunt for her dark glasses.†   (source)
  • At first he did not touch me, but then, tentatively, he traced a small scar along my side.†   (source)
  • "Peony—" She tentatively reached forward, but Peony stumbled back, swiping at her wet cheeks and nose.†   (source)
  • We clutched our only possessions—the bolts of cloth and bottles of vodka that Schindler had secured for us—and walked tentatively through the city toward our old neighborhood.†   (source)
  • "Right," I said tentatively.†   (source)
  • He hands me the latest copy of They Walk Among Us and I sit tentatively on the edge of his bed.†   (source)
  • I could see all of this in her face, the way it didn't quite settle on any one expression, but hovered tentatively.†   (source)
  • A dim acknowledgment came tentatively through the link, but Eragon wondered if it really understood.†   (source)
  • Meggie saw her mother get up and come toward her, walking tentatively, as if she were treading on broken glass.†   (source)
  • I signed a contract with Quinto Sol and worked on the publication of the book, tentatively titled "Barrio Expressions."†   (source)
  • He tentatively reached out and touched the wood railing.†   (source)
  • "Mama?" said the child tentatively.†   (source)
  • "According to one of our insiders, your execution is tentatively scheduled for two weeks from today," he says.†   (source)
  • Marley loved people, loved being underfoot, loved resting his chin on the mattress and panting in our faces as we slept, loved jamming his head through the shower curtain for a drink as we bathed, and he wasn't about to stop now Each night when Jenny and I retired to our bedroom, he would fret at the foot of the stairs, whining, yipping, pacing, tentatively testing the first step with his front paw as he mustered his courage for the ascent that not long before had been effortless.†   (source)
  • "The next day it happened again," he went on tentatively, "only this time Kubo's fur was bright red."†   (source)
  • He was staring at me, scrutinizing my face, so I smiled tentatively at him.†   (source)
  • He says it tentatively, his voice sounding strained to his ears, the statement turning without his meaning to into a question.†   (source)
  • Nathaniel tentatively fingers his way through a Beethoven-like dirge.†   (source)
  • The little girl stepped forward, tentatively, as if her sister had the power to pull her across the room, without so much as a touch, like the moon and the tides.†   (source)
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tentative as in:  a tentative plan

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • I have a tentative plan, but don't want to make any promises until I discuss it with some friends.
  • She escorts me instead to the automatic doors, and we make tentative plans again, contingent upon this and that, all of it contigent still upon Patrick and Patrick alone, and the sad and peculiar notion of waiting for a heart.   (source)
    tentative = subject to change (possibly going to change)
  • As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, I let out a tentative sigh of relief.   (source)
  • He figures the truth is the best way to begin even a tentative friendship.   (source)
    tentative = careful (indicating a lack of confidence)
  • It was April and everything alive was tentative.   (source)
    tentative = subject to change (likely or possibly going to change)
  • Helen and I made tentative plans to meet at three o'clock that afternoon in a park near the embassy.   (source)
    tentative = subject to change (possibly going to change)
  • Tentative plans for the next issue were outlined, and decisions about the content of the magazine were made for several months in advance.   (source)
  • This time it was a tentative pull, not solid nor heavy,   (source)
    tentative = careful (indicating a lack of confidence)
  • A plan forms in my head, tentative, outlandish, and mad enough that it just might work.   (source)
    tentative = subject to change (likely or possibly going to change)
  • It was the pre-evening hour during an international conference, a thousand tentative plans being made, rank and courtesan separated by glances of approval and rebuke, odd groupings everywhere.   (source)
    tentative = subject to change (possibly going to change)
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show 5 more with this conextual meaning
  • Let me state them before advancing even tentative conclusions.   (source)
  • the race-meeting undoubtedly complicated the plans we had made tentatively beforehand.   (source)
    tentatively = with an expectation that there might be changes
  • We'd made tentative plans to meet here at the hospital, and of course my unexpected stay would seem good timing (of a sort) for a visit, but a part of me doesn't want to talk to Mrs. Hickey just now, or even see her face.   (source)
    tentative = subject to change (possibly going to change)
  • We spent the remainder of the afternoon making tentative plans, not knowing when we could put them into effect.   (source)
  • Those tenuous, tentative first life-impressions have scattered like reflections in a pond under the swirling hand of an older brother or sister saying, I remember the day you ate the rat poison, Carlos, or, I remember the day you fell down the stairs…   (source)
    tentative = subject to change
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show 10 more examples with any meaning
  • From those great rooms overlooking the Fontanka Canal, new cuisines, fashions, and ideas all took their first tentative steps into Russian society.†   (source)
  • A weak, tentative smile.†   (source)
  • This book is meant to show how, for those of us who live in the most precarious places in this country, our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step down the right one.†   (source)
  • He and I have been exchanging looks for the past year as Susan and Caleb flirt in the tentative way known only to the Abnegation.†   (source)
  • Her gestures were slow and tentative and her eyes reflected deep mental confusion.†   (source)
  • At first, a tentative trickle, stepping off trains or out of cars in brightly colored waterproof coats, clutching their guidebooks and National Trust membership; then, as the air warmed and the season crept forward, disgorged alongside the belch and hiss of their coaches, clogging up the high street, Americans, Japanese, and packs of foreign schoolchildren dotted the perimeter of the castle.†   (source)
  • The girl's voice, underneath his, was tentative and shrill.†   (source)
  • So Butterscotch barked—first a couple of tentative yips, then louder and more urgent.†   (source)
  • TONY (taking a tentative step)†   (source)
  • Everything transient and aching; everything tentative.†   (source)
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show 190 more examples with any meaning
  • Ignoring her, he tried to catch Fudge's eye, or Madam Bones's, wanting to ask whether he was free to go, but Fudge seemed quite determined not to notice Harry, and Madam Bones was busy with her briefcase, so he took a few tentative steps towards the exit and, when nobody called him back, broke into a very fast walk.†   (source)
  • He raised a tentative hand, and Mae waved.†   (source)
  • These ways of speaking that were neither conciliatory nor tentative came roughly to my tongue exactly when a tone was needed that would not offend.†   (source)
  • She hoped someone would come up and check on her, but when she heard a small, tentative knock on her door earlier this afternoon, Spencer didn't answer.†   (source)
  • It was always the last to the feed tray and the water trough, and it was scrawnier and more tentative than its siblings.†   (source)
  • Grandmother regarded Owen uncertainly; before she allowed him to replace her at the open door, she reached outside and snatched her mail from Mr. Morrison's tentative hand.†   (source)
  • As he watches her she picks up a cup of steaming liquid and takes a tentative sip.†   (source)
  • Halder delivered a tentative smack to his foe's upraised cheeks.†   (source)
  • The skeleton hovered a moment, like a tentative lover, and then with a sticky crackling, it succumbed to gravity and peeled away.†   (source)
  • I'm still smoldering a little, so it's with a tentative hand that Caesar reaches out to touch my headpiece.†   (source)
  • Pretending in words was too tentative, too vulnerable, too embarrassing to let anyone know.†   (source)
  • She was perhaps too young to realize that what she assumed was her love for Chacko was actually a tentative, timorous, acceptance of herself.†   (source)
  • He stood, giving his back another tentative stretch, and started pacing the small space.†   (source)
  • She took a tentative step into the concrete cube.†   (source)
  • Kitsey, though she hadn't phoned, had sent me a tentative text.†   (source)
  • It was the friendliest tap, a bit tentative, as if she was afraid she had arrived too early at a friend's house.†   (source)
  • She wraps her arms around me in a tentative hug.†   (source)
  • Mark Fossie tried hard to keep up a self-assured pose, as if nothing had ever come between them, or ever could, but there was a fragility to it, something tentative and false.†   (source)
  • Everybody acted tentative.†   (source)
  • The words came out low and tentative as though he didn't quite believe them himself.†   (source)
  • Atmospheric drag stabilized the squid and Kassad felt the first tentative tug of gravity as he searched the console and the command chair arms for the control circuit he prayed would be there.†   (source)
  • Until this point I had barely spoken a dozen words, responding to most of their tentative questions with grim silence.†   (source)
  • I asked, tentative, not wanting to upset his buoyant humor.†   (source)
  • But she is terrified to raise a child in a country where she is related to no one, where she knows so little, where life seems so tentative and spare.†   (source)
  • His playing is a little scratchy and tentative, but just like before, it's clear this is no beginner.†   (source)
  • "Begging my lord's indulgence," said Seivarden from the floor, voice tentative.†   (source)
  • The door swung open, slowly— Ridley seemed tentative.†   (source)
  • The eastern men gave their tentative acceptance, but their concerns had not diminished.†   (source)
  • In between we'd worked on radio corns and general strategy, exchanged ideas about how to provide the best cover for the squads we'd be accompanying, and made a dozen tentative tactical decisions, such as deciding whether it would be generally better to shoot from the top floor or the one right below.†   (source)
  • Sasha and Harriet smiled, gave me tentative airkisses, trying not to get too close.†   (source)
  • His eyes are big, his movements tentative.†   (source)
  • He had once asked for them in a timid and tentative voice, and she had given him a look of such utter darkness that he had told her at once to forget it.†   (source)
  • Finally there was a tentative briefing about a possible Operation Redwing, which involved the capture or killing of this highly dangerous character.†   (source)
  • Their expressions were so fragile and tentative, I decided I couldn't break down in front of them.†   (source)
  • They get very tentative about sitting in it.†   (source)
  • Instead of the old, sure smile that flashed on easily and frequently as a photographer's bulb, his face was grave, even tentative-the face of a man who often does not get what he wants.†   (source)
  • She touched her rough, calloused hand to the other girl's rough, calloused hand, and they slipped out into the midst of other girls beginning tentative dance steps.†   (source)
  • She pokes him gently in his soft middle, and he gives her a tentative smile.†   (source)
  • Vanguard managed three tentative feet off the pad, lost thrust, and then blew up.†   (source)
  • Her voice is tentative.†   (source)
  • So Hitler gave me something to grow into and develop toward, tentative as I have sometimes been in the effort.†   (source)
  • "I think I need another one of these," she said with a tentative smile.†   (source)
  • There was such hope however, such a promise of light in this tentative act of trust by Pilgrim that she felt something shift and open within her and knew that it was permanent.†   (source)
  • One tentative hand stretched toward mine.†   (source)
  • He wore a small mustache over narrow lips; and he smiled a tentative smile which did not quite mask his patient wonder as to who they were.†   (source)
  • They emerge through the air-lock door, pale, shaken, tentative, trembling, angry with the Army, angry with themselves.†   (source)
  • This doesn't mean that we should drop programs to send girls to school and instead settle for introducing cable television to villages full of wife beaters, for these findings are tentative and need to be replicated elsewhere.†   (source)
  • Glad to be diverted from having to talk about my own horrid parental issues, I looked up, smiling, at the sound of Sarah's tentative, nervous voice.†   (source)
  • Her hand, tentative like mine, slipped past my waistband, prospecting.†   (source)
  • It had only been that first day that he'd said anything big, and that was just— There was a whirring noise behind me, and next Lissa's voice, slight and tentative.†   (source)
  • —a comment that draws applause, albeit tentative.†   (source)
  • His touch was gentle, almost tentative.†   (source)
  • Two or three of the cowboys trailed back to the grave, a little tentative, not sure they were invited.†   (source)
  • He ventured a tentative "Hey."†   (source)
  • Morning had arrived but darkness still mingled with the tentative daylight seeping through the slits in the tapes.†   (source)
  • After an initial, tentative lick to determine what it was Eragon had given him, Sloan dug his teeth into the lizard and ripped a thick gobbet from the carcass.†   (source)
  • He took a tentative step toward me, then paused, holding his sword out and shaking it.†   (source)
  • He grew awkwardly into a tall, strange, dreamy boy with fragile eyes and a very delicate mouth whose tentative, groping smile collapsed instantly into hurt disorder at every fresh rebuff.†   (source)
  • But he said I was too tentative in what it might have turned into that night.†   (source)
  • But the tentative first stones were already falling around the crazy lady.†   (source)
  • "Miss Boon?" she asked, uncharacteristically tentative.†   (source)
  • After a tour, which included Hanna's tentative selection of her new bedroom, they settled around a plank farm table on the porch and had French toast and scrambled eggs.†   (source)
  • Yet he was not Kennedy's first choice to head the State Department, and just three months into his new job, the new secretary of state remains tentative with his boss, wary of speaking his mind.†   (source)
  • The tentative attitude of Dickinson and the "Quaker interests" was becoming more and more difficult to tolerate.†   (source)
  • Just as a battle begins in a state of equilibrium between the two sides, which gradually alters one way or the other until it is clear that the balance has tilted so far that the issue can no longer be in doubt—so this gathering of rabbits in the dark, beginning with hesitant approaches, silences, pauses, movements, crouchings side by side and all manner of tentative appraisals, slowly moved, like a hemisphere of the world into summer, to a warmer, brighter region of mutual liking and approval, until all felt sure that they had nothing to fear.†   (source)
  • John reached out a tentative hand and stroked the air a whisper above the surface of the door.†   (source)
  • But he is too exhausted to eat; he takes a few tentative bites of the eggs; pushes the plate from him.†   (source)
  • Eve took a tentative sip—and nearly moaned.†   (source)
  • Their first steps seemed tentative, taken almost simultaneously toward each other.†   (source)
  • He urged her to keep goading their parents, so tentative with the English language, to keep writing letters to him.†   (source)
  • Glass took a tentative step forward.†   (source)
  • I reach out a tentative hand to touch them.†   (source)
  • The tribesmen took tentative steps.†   (source)
  • However, the teleprinter was impatient: TRANSMIT REPLY TO CENTRAL CODES After a moment, Stone typed back: message to central codes follows cannot characterize at this time but suggest tentative classification as "bacterial strain end message MESSAGE FROM CENTRAL CODES FOLLOWS UNDERSTAND REQUEST FOR BACTERIAL, CLASSIFICATION OPENING NEW CATEGORY CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO ICDA STANDARD REFERENCE CODE FOR YOUR ORGANISM WILL BE ANDROMEDA.†   (source)
  • The government, in its slow and tentative way, was reckoning that they had to come to some accommodation with the ANC.†   (source)
  • Pleased, tentative and oddly sexual.†   (source)
  • Though he was standing in front of Swayne's desk, the general's corpse in the chair beside him, Bourne managed a tentative, slow smile.†   (source)
  • Ari gave him a tentative smile.†   (source)
  • From the back of the stall, there came a tentative sound of nostrils drawing the air, weighing the scent.†   (source)
  • Ernesto's pallid skin mottled with excitement, his tentative hands that quickly became assured under her encouragement, the way he laid his — downy head between her breasts and slept contentedly, like a well-fed baby.†   (source)
  • They were tentative, slithering across the low warehouses on the fringes, blurring them into the midnight world, laying claim to them.†   (source)
  • Gullberg had begun at the Russia desk of the third division of the state police, and after two years in the job had undertaken his first tentative field work in 1952 and 1953 as an air force attaché with the rank of captain at the embassy in Moscow.†   (source)
  • At first he made tentative approaches, with his hands in front of his eyes, but it was too hot to bear, and as the wind pushed the fire at him he had to retreat.†   (source)
  • Lillian's head was poised to bow in greeting, with the tentative hint of a smile on her lips, half-timid, half-brash.†   (source)
  • After that they circled around each other in a half crouch, making tentative passes with their hands, and looking like a couple of roosters.†   (source)
  • The little chins, the lips, the eyes, they're tentative organs on these kids, almost as if they're optional equipment.†   (source)
  • He put a tentative arm up; instantly one pulled over, in a rolling wave of black slush.†   (source)
  • They were tentative, apparently frightened.†   (source)
  • Tentative ID is a freighter.†   (source)
  • Friends and /or family could give testimonials, supposing they cared to (this wording struck her daughters as pathetically tentative), and Reverend Stock could say something brief and—if it wasn't asking too much—"not too heavy on the religion."†   (source)
  • I breathed out a sigh of relief when Sofia stepped out of the room, a tentative smile spreading across her lips at the sight of me.†   (source)
  • Sacrabani, who had been screaming vigorously, began to quieten down: he gave one or two more tentative wails, then his mouth split in something like a smile and his fingers curled round Selvam's.†   (source)
  • A tentative list of the material requirements for this assignment lay on the conference table, surrounded by many grave countenances.†   (source)
  • The first blows were tentative and timid, but when she did not cry he slashed at her sides and shoulders.†   (source)
  • Then he raised it to his lips and blew a few tentative notes.†   (source)
  • Ambiguous, tentative—but there.†   (source)
  • This was not the first tentative contact by a race which knew nothing of man.†   (source)
  • There was some way she began to move her arms that was mysteriously sweet and yet abrupt and tentative, a delicate and vulnerable manner, as though her breasts gave her pain.†   (source)
  • I took a tentative bite ...and it was pretty good.†   (source)
  • Her voice is a tentative, high-pitched whisper.†   (source)
  • There was a tentative little nudge in my womb.†   (source)
  • She heaved it up and took three tentative steps for the kitchen door.†   (source)
  • His voice was not the usual aggressive rumble, but flatter, softer, more tentative.†   (source)
  • Tentative, he reached for it-surprised, as he had been before, at how incredibly heavy it was.†   (source)
  • Langdon stepped closer, his footing tentative beneath the water.†   (source)
  • Wit isn't tentative; therefore, neither is it young.†   (source)
  • She took a tentative step forward, only a little wobbly.†   (source)
  • I took a tentative step onto the grand flying staircase that led up to Lena's bedroom.†   (source)
  • And finally the father of them all, looking tentative, fell from the bag and into the tank.†   (source)
  • Her giggle was tentative, testing to see if we were on good terms again.†   (source)
  • She lifts the bundle to her nose and takes a tentative sniff.†   (source)
  • Mariam slowly grew accustomed to this tentative but pleasant companionship.†   (source)
  • The knock on the door was low and tentative.†   (source)
  • She scoots along the bench to Octavia and touches her skin with a tentative finger.†   (source)
  • I took a tentative step onto a groaning stair so I could get a closer look.†   (source)
  • Gina's face came alive with a tentative smile.†   (source)
  • Above the tank, Victor looked tentative, and was trying to catch Stenton's eye.†   (source)
  • His heavy eyebrows, his boat-keel nose, his tentative smile.†   (source)
  • "Hey Mae," he said, and gave her a tentative hug.†   (source)
  • He reached a tentative hand for her shoulder.†   (source)
  • She stood and took a few tentative steps.†   (source)
  • They dismounted and took some tentative steps.†   (source)
  • His fingers touched my hair, soft and tentative.†   (source)
  • Clary's voice, tentative but familiar, filled his head.†   (source)
  • We Set Up a Tentative Meet For tomorrow evening.†   (source)
  • A tentative smile, so quick as to be almost nonexistent, flashed across her features.†   (source)
  • Producing a handkerchief, Mum gave a tentative wave.†   (source)
  • Stumbling, tentative, and afraid, they were walking once again like very young children.†   (source)
  • A tentative cheer rose out of the crowd.†   (source)
  • Soon I felt other, tentative hands patting my back, stroking my hair.†   (source)
  • "What did I once tell you?" she asks finally, in a tentative voice.†   (source)
  • She took a few tentative sips, and her voice became stronger.†   (source)
  • At his tentative touch, she wheeled around.†   (source)
  • So she peered closely at the fire, reaching out a tentative finger to touch one of the flames.†   (source)
  • Mouths were set in downward crescents, eyes veiled, feet tentative.†   (source)
  • It was like the first, faint, tentative touch of a fish on a line.†   (source)
  • Again the leader paused, as if tentative about actually asking what he had come to ask.†   (source)
  • They took a tentative step, and the crowd started to part.†   (source)
  • Sophia accepted a mug from Linda and took a tentative sip.†   (source)
  • There was a tentative knock and a deep, rumbling inquiry.†   (source)
  • If he was clumsy earlier, his movements now were those of a man incapable of tentative strokes.†   (source)
  • A progressively less tentative peace returned to Tranquility Isle.†   (source)
  • Jessica smiled at me with tentative friendliness before she left.†   (source)
  • Perhaps in twenty years his Korean words will creep out like mine, the notes uncertain, tentative.†   (source)
  • Now the rhythmic applause starts, tentative at first, then spreading densely through the stands.†   (source)
  • "No," replies Zayd, his voice oddly tentative, a puzzled look on his face.†   (source)
  • Then he looked at Tom again and took a few more tentative steps toward him.†   (source)
  • Their gentleness, tentative-ness, and beauty made him feel as if he were in a vivid dream.†   (source)
  • That's a reasonable decision, then," said Jason, a tentative but warm smile on his lips.†   (source)
  • Mike put a hand on Julie's shoulder and took a tentative step toward the door.†   (source)
  • Amanda's smile was tentative when they finally reached her door.†   (source)
  • He took a few tentative steps down the shore, then stopped, feet planted in the sand.†   (source)
  • We ask him questions but he is tentative with this kind of material.†   (source)
  • The flashes no longer blinded when they shot up into the sky, the bolts of blue pale and tentative.†   (source)
  • There he stood, tentative, embarrassed, and unsure what his reception would be.†   (source)
  • Rich colors bloomed in midair from what had been tentative vanishing grays.†   (source)
  • And this caused her to stiffen with a tentative anger against Florence, and with pride and fear.†   (source)
  • Another tentative step behind the world.†   (source)
  • But he said, ironic and tentative, "What made you decide to speak to me so frankly, my dear boy?†   (source)
  • The sex part had been moderately successful, if a little tentative (at least neither of them had cried when it was over; for some reason he had been morbidly sure that one of them would do that).†   (source)
  • At last, a tentative voice answered.†   (source)
  • Keen for them all to be friends again, however, he agreed; but when Ron gave Hermione a tentative smile, she stalked off and vanished behind her book once more.†   (source)
  • I rise and reach for a towel to smother it, when there's a tentative knock and the bathroom door opens, revealing three familiar faces.†   (source)
  • Sophie Mol was more tentative.†   (source)
  • Every FORCE:space shuttle carried some sort of atmospheric egress device-it was a custom dating back almost eight centuries to when the entire realm of space flight consisted only of tentative excursions just above the skin of Old Earth's atmosphere.†   (source)
  • (growling) She took a tentative step backward, her right hand resting lightly on the Pinto's low hood, her nerves on tripwires as thin as filaments, not panicked but in a state of heightened alertness, thinking: It didn't growl before†   (source)
  • Tentative, she inched forward blindly.†   (source)
  • Hester stood still and put her hand out to Owen—her big paw, uncharacteristically tentative and gentle, reached out and touched his face, as if there were a force in Owen's immediate vicinity that compelled the passerby to touch him.†   (source)
  • But although Owen agreed with me that the rector was a moron who messed up the Bible for tentative believers by assaulting us with the worst of God the Almighty and God the Terrible—and although Owen acknowledged that the Rev. Mr. Wiggin's sermons were about as entertaining and convincing as a pilot's voice in the intercom, explaining technical difficulties while the plane plummets toward the earth and the stewardesses are screaming—Owen actually preferred Wiggin to what little he knew of Pastor Merrill.†   (source)
  • Once, in Winston Churchill Park, when there were children roughhousing—at least, moving quickly—I saw someone about his size, standing slightly to the side of whatever activity was consuming the others, looking a trifle tentative but very alert, certainly eager to try what the others were doing, but restraining himself, or else picking the exactly perfect moment to take charge.†   (source)
  • After giving Moby a tentative pat on the head, he had sneaked inside to change into shorts, tucking the leash in his back pocket.†   (source)
  • People go running past, looking half ablaze, and Russ Hodges moves with the tentative steps of some tourist at a grand bazaar, trying to hand-shuffle through the crowd.†   (source)
  • Dawson asked, his voice tentative.†   (source)
  • She is eager to get to the theater but tentative in her approach because Mr. Lincoln's moods have been so unpredictable lately.†   (source)
  • Maryse took a tentative step forward.†   (source)
  • But just as she began building, the economy took a slide: there were layoffs, the stock market plummeted, and suddenly everyone was tentative with their dollars, especially when it came to real estate.†   (source)
  • They scampered quickly after Rasmussen, who seemed to swim through the dark with tentative swipes of his raw white hands.†   (source)
  • 'Nate's voice was low, tentative.†   (source)
  • Again, I felt it: this tentative, careful peace between my sisters-not exactly flimsy, but not set in stone, either.†   (source)
  • She offered a tentative smile.†   (source)
  • She offered a tentative smile that gradually gave way to a look of concern when it became obvious that Andrea wasn't answering.†   (source)
  • Now she was tentative, taking light steps and holding herself tight even though she had the whole enormous aisle to spread out in.†   (source)
  • Then it took a tentative step toward Arya ....and another ....and then another, its beak parting as it strained toward the pool of blood by her feet.†   (source)
  • She could hear the engine idling, and as she descended the porch steps, her dad offered a tentative wave.†   (source)
  • Hey, hey, they said, a little tentative at first, not ready to accept the implications of the process unfolding before them.†   (source)
  • He was afraid to remain by Francisco's side and afraid to let him loose among the guests, He backed a few tentative steps away, but Francisco followed him, smiling.†   (source)
  • She's in a tentative mood—they've spent so little time alone in the past few months that being together, just the two of them, feels strange.†   (source)
  • It was all very tentative, the way he looked, like a man peeping around a corner of someplace he is not supposed to be, trying to make up his mind whether to go forward or to turn back.†   (source)
  • Yves always seemed, a moment before the act, tentative and tremulous; not like a girl—like a boy: and this strangely innocent waiting, this virile helplessness, always engendered in Eric a positive storm of tenderness.†   (source)
  • With the purchase of works of art, he was tentative at first, buying only two "small laughing busts," as he recorded, then a plaster statue of Hercules and two portraits that he itemized only as "heads."†   (source)
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