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persistent
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  • As the service proceeded, the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces, the winning ways, and the rare promise of the lost lads that every soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang in remembering that he had persistently blinded himself to them always before, and had as persistently seen only faults and flaws in the poor boys.   (source)
    persistently = always (in a continuing manner)
  • The persistent smell of the guavas filled their noses.†   (source)
  • In Officer Delinko's experience, kids weren't usually so persistent, or so daring.†   (source)
  • Louie had demonstrated that if they were persistent and resourceful, they could catch food, and both he and Phil felt inspired.†   (source)
  • Several feet away the persistent sun made amber roads of shimmering sunlight upon the pond.†   (source)
  • But Winifred was too persistent for me, in the end.†   (source)
  • In hindsight, I believe my ability to dodge all learning opportunities did reveal a certain inner strength, a persistent refusal to be like the others.†   (source)
  • As one observer noted, "In traveling across America, the Scots-Irish have consistently blown my mind as far and away the most persistent and unchanging regional subculture in the country.†   (source)
  • Later, it's the other way around: while the rest of the world moves on, you find yourself fighting the persistent desire to talk about Cassie to anyone who will listen.†   (source)
  • The problems he'd warned of—and prioritized—over a decade earlier were persistently difficult to solve.†   (source)
  • He was persistent.†   (source)
  • The brutal era of sharecropping and Jim Crow was ending, but what followed was persistent unemployment and worsening poverty.†   (source)
  • But she tired easily and submitted eventually to their persistent badgering.†   (source)
  • Persistent and stubborn—like it was alive.†   (source)
  • Rowdy isn't a fast reader, but he's persistent.†   (source)
  • You're very stubborn-er, persistent, that way.†   (source)
  • Mr. McLellan was a persistent reporter.†   (source)
  • But the rebel boys were persistent, and finally one of them got the gun and shot two boys on our side.†   (source)
  • Mrs. Brocklebank is persistent regarding new information; she goes after everything as aggressively as she attacks her dandelions.†   (source)
  • And yet Galileo was persistent.†   (source)
  • It's really persistent."†   (source)
  • It's only those who are persistent, and willing to study things deeply, who achieve the Master Work.†   (source)
  • And now the rains had really come, so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene.†   (source)
  • The rumors Lindsey and Samuel heard in the first weeks of the school year wove in and out of the rows of student lockers like the most persistent of snakes.†   (source)
  • She says I was real stubborn when it came to something I really wanted; that I would dig my heels in and he very persistent about whatever it was.†   (source)
  • Months crept by and Miss Moss became more persistent.†   (source)
  • Though he will never forget that night, it no longer lurks persistently in his mind, stalking him in the same way.†   (source)
  • And the saddest thing was that she knew what set off her explosions, but each time she had managed to light a match, it had persistently been blown out.†   (source)
  • He does all these things to persistently annoy the subject.†   (source)
  • "Go ahead," said Levana, a persistent warmth behind her gaze.†   (source)
  • Why would he be so persistent?†   (source)
  • But except for the quiet snuffling of the children, a man's persistent hacking cough, and Rachel's labored breathing, no one made a sound.†   (source)
  • But my efforts to put him off had only made him more determined that I should share in the profits; the more I tried to brush off his offer, the more persistent he grew; with typical generosity, he attributed my reticence to "modesty" although my real fear was that a partnership would shed a certain official light on unofficial goings-on in the shop—goings-on that would shock poor Hobie to the soles of his John Lobb shoes, if he knew.†   (source)
  • It was an annoying and extremely persistent habit.†   (source)
  • And Greasy Sae and I were laughing because he was so ridiculous and persistent and kept pointing out women around the Hob who he said had paid far more than a rabbit to enjoy his lips.†   (source)
  • By morning my eyes were burning and bloodshot, my nostrils were clogged with black soot, and I'd developed a dry, persistent hack that would stay with me until the end of the expedition.†   (source)
  • And ridiculous as it is, I can't shake the persistent, needling feeling that I've forgotten something, or missed something, or lost something forever.†   (source)
  • By the time they reached the dispensary, Koop's breathing had become a low persistent moaning, and Dart's terror was rising up in his chest like a thick bubble.†   (source)
  • But she seemed persistent as we entered the living room and motioned for me to join in the game.†   (source)
  • A marked and persistent identity disturbance is almost invariably present.†   (source)
  • Of course, it was my persistent attacker, the ever-present Andy, who continued his threats to get me, no matter what.†   (source)
  • Eragon was one of those few-not through any particular gift, it seemed to him, but because of persistent vigilance and sharp reflexes.†   (source)
  • He was persistent and at one point came to Bubeh's apartment and knocked on the door and stood in the hallway saying, "Come out, Ruth.†   (source)
  • I don't know why I'm so worried about a small-time reporter, but he'd been persistent—too persistent.†   (source)
  • On the third evening, I tried to observe this exodus but six of them turned me back from the edge and gently but persistently brought me back to my hut.†   (source)
  • But he was persistent, and more clever than his father.†   (source)
  • It was this big talk, not the persistent southwesterly breeze, that had prompted New York editor Charles Anderson Dana to nickname Chicago "the Windy City."†   (source)
  • Some were "delicate," "fragile," "sensitive," "wasting away"; others were said to "have a lung" or "suffer from lung disease" or were merely identified as having a persistent cough or periods of low energy.†   (source)
  • The stun bunny left her with a persistent nosebleed and an eternal throbbing headache, and every time the van hit a chuckhole, her head bounced on the Corrugated steel floor.†   (source)
  • A persistent nag involves constant requests for the coveted product and may include the phrase "I'm gonna ask just one more time."†   (source)
  • There was another story , only a rumor, surely, but strangely persistent , that within the caves which honeycombed the stone behind the idol's jewelled forehead there lived a hive of giant albino bees, swarming protectively around their queen, a jellylike monstrosity of infinite poison …. and infinite magic.†   (source)
  • Out of some persistent sense of large-scale ruin, we kept inventing hope.†   (source)
  • He'd phoned her with persistent regularity on the drive down, but she wasn't answering her cell.†   (source)
  • And that was the moment, I am now sure, that has remained so persistently lodged in my memory - that moment as I paused in the dimness of the corridor, the tray in my hands, an ever-growing conviction mounting within me that just a few yards away, on the other side of that door, Miss Kenton was at that moment crying.†   (source)
  • I was ridiculously persistent, and I kept getting passed on and on until I was connected to a guy named Jon Snoddy.†   (source)
  • But I still remember that all week, whether I was at the pictures, in the theatre or eating ices, even during amusements that called for great concentration, I was not free for a single moment of the itch of fear in the pit of my stomach, an unconscious, persistent fear of what would happen when the day of the operation finally came.†   (source)
  • The ammonia smell of bone-tar wafted up from the grate, faint but persistent.†   (source)
  • Her fingers are dry and rough and her eyes seek mine, persistent, though I feel strange meeting her gaze.†   (source)
  • He was conscious of a nagging, persistent pain in his left hand.†   (source)
  • Her persistent memory of him increased her rage.†   (source)
  • Then, as his planet killed him, it occurred to Kynes that his father and all the other scientists were wrong, that the most persistent principles of the universe were accident and error.†   (source)
  • If Bryant hadn't been so persistent, I wouldn't have given the idea any more thought.†   (source)
  • Kant is always superbly methodical, persistent, regular and meticulous as he scales that great snowy mountain of thought concerning what is in the mind and what is outside the mind.†   (source)
  • In the summer of 1967, when I was ten years old, my father caved in to my persistent pleas and took me to get my own dog.†   (source)
  • It was the war, she persistently told herself, it was the prison of camp life, the pressures of the times, their exile from home, that explained his distance.†   (source)
  • SEETHEDOGBOWBOWGOESTHEDOGDOYOUWANTTOPL AYDOYOUWANTTOPLAYWiTHJANESEETHEDOGRUNR Once there was an old man who loved things, for the slightest contact with people produced in him a faint but persistent nausea.†   (source)
  • Instead I felt a persistent, icy dread at the thought of my mother's illness.†   (source)
  • He also hoped to begin to solve one of Zanmi Lasante's most persistent problems.†   (source)
  • Two days after Blomkvist's book came out, a persistent rumour began circulating that Wennerström had left Sweden.†   (source)
  • Mari continues speaking, quietly but persistently, to the woman.†   (source)
  • Voices roared through his head; one voice persistently asked him, "Where is Jesus?†   (source)
  • The knock gets more persistent.†   (source)
  • The women were courageous, persistent, enthusiastic, indefatigable, and their protest against passes set a standard for antigovernment protest that was never equaled.†   (source)
  • The bug sprawled untidily on a mound of squashed letters and Tock, his alarm ringing persistently, was buried under a pile of words.†   (source)
  • The more distressing the memory, the more persistent its presence.†   (source)
  • Mohammed Mohammed would play defense—he was tiny but as persistent as a gnat—and she could move the Dikori brothers around as needed.†   (source)
  • The kettle started to whistle and she didn't respond right away, and the thin persistent wailing filled the room.†   (source)
  • Why I didn't just sleep with someone as persistent as Rudy Elmenhurst is a mystery I'm exploring here by picking it apart the way we learned to do to each other's poems and stories in the English class where I met Rudolf Brodermann Elmenhurst, the third.†   (source)
  • "It's what we call one of the more …. persistent skip tracers," he continued.†   (source)
  • Sometimes the road wound a little upward for a quarter of a mile or so; but the general tendency was persistently down.†   (source)
  • No matter how they scrubbed their hands, the residue of Red Hot Mama had a way of sticking around, as pesty and persistent as a chapter one at a high school dance.†   (source)
  • It was persistent, with incremental decreases year after year.†   (source)
  • In her seduction of me, she was both persistent and patient.†   (source)
  • She was kicking against his grip, but he was persistent, holding her tighter, saying, "Baby, stop.†   (source)
  • Gus seemed unaware that one of the more persistent topics of dispute on the Texas range was whether his voice was louder than Shanghai Pierce's.†   (source)
  • Unfortunately, maternal health is persistently diminished as a "women's issue.†   (source)
  • But I find that such persistent reminders are not healthy.†   (source)
  • But my neck pain was intense and persistent.†   (source)
  • …they had money, how they bought a small white bungalow on the cliffs above the water outside Valparaaso, and Litvinoff was able to give up his job at the school for a while and write most afternoons and evenings, she says nothing of Litvinoff's persistent cough which would often send him out onto the terrace in the middle of the night where he'd stand gazing out at the black water, nothing of his long silences, or the way his hands sometimes shook, or how she was watching him grow old…†   (source)
  • This was the second time he'd given me his card—he certainly was persistent.†   (source)
  • Like the grass, I search the earth and the sky with a thin but persistent thirst.†   (source)
  • He had that annoying, persistent look in his eyes.†   (source)
  • And I thought again, persistently, of my brother.†   (source)
  • With time their love became more persistent and invulnerable, but it already had the depth and certainty that characterized it later on.†   (source)
  • But Snow Flower was persistent in her haunting.†   (source)
  • She had summoned him to follow her as if wishing to test him again and again, to test his love for her; she had summoned him persistently, and here he was, tired and gray, with stiffened fingers that would never again be capable of holding a scalpel.†   (source)
  • But he was persistent and spent a lot of his time at the Thomasville factory.†   (source)
  • Why don't you find one of your own girls," said the persistent intruder.†   (source)
  • Filling page after page, he enumerated the same troubles and woes he had been reporting persistently to Congress for so long, and that he would report still again to John Hancock that same day.†   (source)
  • Even a persistent man would have given up after twenty.†   (source)
  • It never ended—someone's somebody—all persistently filed in to bruise their heads upon the rigid walls of due process.†   (source)
  • Their reports were unreliable, but they were all her secretary had to answer his queen's persistent questions.†   (source)
  • He settled into the second row of the bleachers with Rolf and Connor just as a persistent chant of "Coop, Coop, Coop" worked its way through the crowd.†   (source)
  • You are a persistent little man.†   (source)
  • He thought of his father standing at the phone last night, haunted by the persistent ringing, and he thought, I should have sold the chocolates, after all.†   (source)
  • But she was persistent.†   (source)
  • Jackie revels in the Mona Lisa's presence with a feeling of profound success, for it was her persistent dream to bring the world's most famous painting to the National Gallery of Art, in Washington.†   (source)
  • The most persistent one was Paul Larkin.†   (source)
  • And persistent.†   (source)
  • It has the only flesh that can be kept down by a persistently vomiting patient and is administered to pregnant women for morning sickness.†   (source)
  • Tappan was a pompous, persistent snake, who no doubt sensed the lull in the press coverage of the Amistad case, as well.†   (source)
  • That time in Sunny's bathroom, trying to rub out a persistent cloudy stain in the vanity, I somehow cracked the mirror, and my fingers began bleeding from the edges of the spidery glass.†   (source)
  • The driver closed the door and started up again, but the persistent runner was gaining.†   (source)
  • The birds had ceased singing and there was perfect silence except for one small, persistent sound, which seemed to come from a good distance away.†   (source)
  • Christ, you're persistent.†   (source)
  • They wasted no time, no matter how persistent the customer.†   (source)
  • Persistently.†   (source)
  • I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action.†   (source)
  • They were the same—the mule and old Grandma, she sitting in the corner of the room in the wintertime by the potbelly stove, or the summertime on an apple crate under the elm tree; she was as blind as the gray mule and just as persistent.†   (source)
  • The crux of that problem involves an ongoing partition of the island between British and Irish jurisdictions, and an equally persistent partition of the affections in Northern Ireland between the British and Irish heritages; but surely every dweller in the country must hope that the governments involved in its governance can devise institutions which will allow that partition to become a bit more like the net on a tennis court, a demarcation allowing for agile give-and-take, for…†   (source)
  • Human beings are remarkably ingenious, and often very persistent.†   (source)
  • Drawing away slightly from the mirror, she caught a narcissistic gleam of her familiar beauty, dwelling persistently beneath the white mask, and this gave her a long moment of comfort.†   (source)
  • Some grizzlies live to be thirty, maybe even more, but even if that cub lived to grow up, Its chances of survival this long were slim, with persistent hunters and bear-hating ranchmen.†   (source)
  • A persistent buzzing filled my ears.†   (source)
  • Uncle Allen, who had a passion for the Grand Ole Opry, was especially persistent.†   (source)
  • A rumor, persistent and enlightening, said that she and her husband made some of the best moonshine in the lowcountry during the bootleggers' heyday.†   (source)
  • Mrs. Edwards was persistently if not profoundly religious.†   (source)
  • He possessed, however, that persistent inquisitiveness which for journalists and lawyers is an end in itself.†   (source)
  • Only in one corner was there an urgent, persistent whispering, where Terentii and Goshka huddled in panic with Koska Nekliva-lenykh, a quarrelsome, heavyhanded bully from Ermolai.†   (source)
  • DEEP IN THE NIGHT they experienced the sensation, in their sleep, of being prodded at, as if by some persistent insect.†   (source)
  • "You are as persistent as your grandson," I said, "but being older you should know better.†   (source)
  • And who among us can say that we would have made the same progress were it not for his persistent bravery and his faith in American democracy?†   (source)
  • His dry, simple but persistent language and the quiet intensity of his anger captivated his audience, as he insisted that their newspapers were not giving them the facts and that, despite warnings that he stay away until his role in the filibuster was forgotten, he wanted it to be remembered.†   (source)
  • This made a grave and persistent noise in the still air, that seemed meditative like the chirping of a solitary little bird.†   (source)
  • Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world.†   (source)
  • What's the most persistent tune you ever wrote?†   (source)
  • They talk about their laborers with a persistent irritation sounding in their voices: individual natives they might like, but as a genus, they loathe them.†   (source)
  • As the service proceeded, the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces, the winning ways, and the rare promise of the lost lads that every soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang in remembering that he had ... persistently seen only faults and flaws in the poor boys.   (source)
    persistently = in a continuing manner -- especially despite difficulties or opposition
  • She clung to him persistently to make a point.†   (source)
  • Over a period of years her father persistently abused her mother.†   (source)
  • And he had to be after an answer to something, or he wouldn't have been bugging Charlie so persistently.†   (source)
  • State and federal courts have persistently insulated prosecutors from accountability for egregious misconduct that results in innocent people being sent to death row.†   (source)
  • As the ball rolled into Front Street with Sagamore in close pursuit, the baby-rattle tinkle of the odd bell of the diaper truck dinged persistently, even at the moment of the truck's sudden confluence with Sagamore's unlucky head.†   (source)
  • That night, lying in the cabin beside Maxine, he is woken by the sound of the phone ringing persistently in the main house.†   (source)
  • If the gaps in his education frustrated Oromis, the elf did not betray it through word or action, but labored persistently to mend them.†   (source)
  • The weather was persistently wretched.†   (source)
  • I knew this was her attempt to get me to open up, and though it wasn't something I'd ever been comfortable doing, I knew that Jane would keep prodding me—gently and persistently—until I did.†   (source)
  • Gently but persistently selling her on this alliance, Mark said, "Doctor, we both have set ourselves against those forces of ignorance and fear and self-interest that want to keep the world in darkness."†   (source)
  • Pleasantly but persistently, Yoga Janet had been inviting me to join her class, and when I wrenched my back, she iced it while I lay prone on my bunk.†   (source)
  • Aren't you always having to reprove me because I so persistently like what I like, without reference to the opinions of the world?†   (source)
  • All of the natural night sounds of the city were blocked by the thick tinted windows and the hum of the air conditioner, but they trailed persistently behind the polished back of the vehicle as it turned and headed down the long gray boulevard.†   (source)
  • "It's hardly a secret that Alexander Zalachenko persistently abused Lisbeth's mother," Giannini said.†   (source)
  • Hot, tired, angry, the dust of the way prickling on his face and neck, he was persistently conscious of a letter in the pocket of his striped shirt, over his heavily beating heart, warm and moist like the shirt itself, with the sweat of his body.†   (source)
  • He drove back along the road, across the creek, its banks glittering now with the narrow bottles, the size of harmonicas, in which paregoric was persistently sold under the name of Mother's Helper.†   (source)
  • The wary instinct of the killer was warning him, vaguely, persistently… And Powell could only marvel at the intricate survival mechanism of the human mind.†   (source)
  • The noise just got louder and more persistent.†   (source)
  • But I get the feeling that some of these guys are pretty persistent.†   (source)
  • The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging.†   (source)
  • But the confusion remained, persistent as ever.†   (source)
  • The persistent drizzle and cold had become a daily part of his life here on the island.†   (source)
  • The persistent sound made him open his eyes and stare at the underside of a thatched roof.†   (source)
  • As you are aware, you yourself are the focus of Miss Chase's more persistent fixations.†   (source)
  • "Once, we bothered students with persistent annoyances," he said.†   (source)
  • A particularly persistent beggar began calling himself "Titanic Beggar."†   (source)
  • Cole swatted at the persistent mosquitoes and studied the bay.†   (source)
  • I didn't expect to hear from them, but within days they called, and they were persistent.†   (source)
  • The werecat refused to say more, despite Eragon's persistent questions.†   (source)
  • He likes its oldness, its persistent grace.†   (source)
  • I'm prepared to be annoyingly persistent.†   (source)
  • Sophia sighed, knowing how persistent Marcia could be.†   (source)
  • I'll give you this much, though: You're persistent.†   (source)
  • But Gabby was nothing if not persistent, and she started making small changes anyway.†   (source)
  • Gone was the roar of waves and the persistent drumming of the storm, the crackling of the fire.†   (source)
  • "He seems awfully persistent," Esther observed.†   (source)
  • Fever and chills assaulted him in turn, and of late he had developed a persistent racking cough.†   (source)
  • She didn't bombard the airwaves with a persistent call for prevention and testing.†   (source)
  • As crazy as he was, he was persistent and diligent and his instincts were usually right.†   (source)
  • Behind them, row after row of spikes shot toward the ceiling with a persistent thunk, thunk, thunk.†   (source)
  • But he's being really persistent about this investment thing, so ….†   (source)
  • Women are persistent creatures, and will try to nail you down.†   (source)
  • But all during these years I had a vague but persistent desire to return to New Orleans.†   (source)
  • Theresa squinted and rolled over, trying to get a few more minutes' rest, but Kevin was persistent.†   (source)
  • She had a persistent cough and frequent attacks of fever.†   (source)
  • You are persistent, Ser Axell, I grant you that.†   (source)
  • You are intelligent and persistent, and you have the potential to be a great Rider.†   (source)
  • The Mede ambassador was persistent in his attentions.†   (source)
  • "Sharon was very, very persistent," said Nancy.†   (source)
  • When it kept ringing and ringing, I knew you were more than persistent.†   (source)
  • She was a much more persistent proselytizer than any prisoner I had known in Danbury.†   (source)
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