Sample sentences for FOCUS - verbalworkout.com

5 meanings

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1 —as in:
Turn your focus to question #2.

Definition

verb: to concentrate, look at, or pay attention to

noun: the act of concentration, or the ability to concentrate

(to concentrate is to direct attention or effort towards a single thing)

I find that studying in the library helps me to focus.

focus = concentrate

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The class focuses on classic American literature.

focuses = concentrates (centers attention on)

This week, I'm focusing on finishing my research paper.

focusing = concentrating

My phone will be off for the next hour while I focus on an assignment.

focus = concentrate

He felt dizzy, and couldn't focus his attention.
Lois Lowry -- The Giver

focus = concentrate

In fact, as you listen to Renee talking in the next few paragraphs, focus not on what she's saying but rather on how she's talking and why she's talking the way she is.
Malcolm Gladwell -- Outliers

focus = concentrate

They focused only on survival and put their hopes and dreams into their children's and grandchildren's futures.
Pam Munoz Ryan -- Esperanza Rising

focused = concentrated their efforts and attention

I was so focused on telling myself to breathe that I didn't notice Patrick saying my name at first.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

focused = concentrating (on one thing and not paying attention to other things)

The few times I did manage to focus my mind clearly on Nobu, I grew so numbed I seemed to feel nothing at all.
Arthur Golden -- Memoirs of a Geisha

focus = concentrate

To suppress the rising nausea, Kya focused on Sunday Justice grooming himself on a windowsill.
Delia Owens -- Where the Crawdads Sing

focused = concentrated

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

2 —as in:
The focus of our study is...

Definition

where attention is concentrated or directed

Since we're running out of time, let's narrow our focus to just what needs to be done tomorrow.

focus = area where attention is concentrated

Other Uses (with this meaning)

This focus of this class is classic American Literature.

focus = area where attention is concentrated

My main focus is on getting into a college with a good reputation for preparing students for medical school.

focus = area where attention is concentrated

She likes to be the focus of attention.

focus = where attention is concentrated

The focus of his paper involved putting a price on the variables of happiness.
Jodi Picoult -- Nineteen Minutes

focus = place where attention is directed

You know, America, I've been meaning to ask what your focus was as a Five.
Kiera Cass -- The Selection

focus = place where attention is directed

This was the focus of her nightmares: Louie being shot in his plane.
Laura Hillenbrand -- Unbroken - adapted for young adults

focus = where attention is concentrated

His accent made him exotic and interesting; his broken arm made him a martyr; his sadism made him a natural focus for all those who loved pain in others.
Orson Scott Card -- Ender's Game

focus = place where attention is directed

And so when houses were finally fireproofed completely ... They were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior;
Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451

focus = center (where attention is concentrated)

In a space of a few short weeks, he had shrunk, literally collapsing around his lungs as they became the entire focus of his being.
Homer Hickam -- October Sky

focus = where attention is concentrated

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

3 —as in:
bring into focus; or out of focus

Definition

a state where something has come into view or can be seen clearly

(Typically this is said of the appearance of an image or picture, but it can also be said of something that get's attention, or of an understanding that become clear.)

The bridge collapse brought aging infrastructure into focus as a political issue.

focus = into view (as an area of attention)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The discussion brought into focus an important difference of opinion.

focus = into view (as an area of attention)

The picture is out of focus, but I think I recognize her.

focus = in a state where something cannot be seen clearly

Is the picture in focus.

in focus = clear (sharp)

The blog is called Family-In Focus. Each entry discusses a common family challenge.

in focus = in a state where something is in view and/or clear

They didn't show the man's face in focus.
Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451

in focus = so it could be clearly seen

I stared back, trying to make her face come into focus.
Sue Monk Kidd -- The Secret Life of Bees

focus = a state where something has come into view or can be seen clearly

Things were sliding in and out of focus, and it seemed funny to me that I couldn't run in a straight line.
S.E. Hinton -- The Outsiders

out of focus = a state where something can be seen clearly

I squint at the name until it comes into focus.
Stephanie Perkins -- Anna and the French Kiss

focus = view (a state where something can be seen clearly)

Somewhere between the various thoughts about my mother—somewhere past the discomfort in my lip—there nestled a pleasant thought I tried again and again to bring into focus.
Arthur Golden -- Memoirs of a Geisha

focus = view (a state where something can be seen clearly)

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

4 —as in:
The camera focuses automatically

Definition

to adjust a lens to make an image clear

I have to give the camera a little while to focus before I shoot the picture.

focus = adjust its lens to get a clear picture

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Focus [the camera] on the trees behind the lake.

focus = adjust its lens to get a clear picture

To rest your eyes while reading, look up and focus on something in the distance.

focus = look (when you look at something, you eye's lens automatically adjusts to put it in focus)

The telescope is focused on the moon. Would you like to look?

focused = adjusted [the lens] to make an image clear

It's another nature show, jerky and unfocused.
Katherine Applegate -- The One and Only Ivan

unfocused = with an unadjusted lens so the image isn't clear

(Editor's note: The prefix "un-" in unfocused means not and reverses the meaning of focused. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.)

David must have been testing the range of his camera, keeping the subject the same and varying the focus, the aperture, the available light.
Kim Edwards -- The Memory Keeper's Daughter

focus = lens adjustment

It was true that Pumpkin was having trouble focusing her eyes.
Arthur Golden -- Memoirs of a Geisha

focusing = adjusting vision (to see something clearly)

He touched a drop of marsh water onto the slide, covered it with another, and focused the eyepiece.
Delia Owens -- Where the Crawdads Sing

focused = adjusted a lens to make an image clear

Then she grabbed her own glasses out of her pocket and put them on, and her myopic eyes were able to focus.
Madeleine L'Engle -- A Wrinkle in Time

focus = adjust (to see clearly)

Each time he made the turn, he saw only the white, unused, buckling sidewalk, with perhaps, on one night, something vanishing swiftly across a lawn before he could focus his eyes or speak.
Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451

focus = adjust (to see clearly)

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

5 —
technical usage

Definition

technical usage typically involves some sense of center or concentration such as:

physics — a point where things come together such as the point where light rays meet
geometry — a fixed reference point (as of a parabola)
geology — the point of origin of an earthquake

See a comprehensive dictionary for other less common meanings.

The satellite dish focuses the signal into a relatively narrow beam.

focuses = concentrates

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The focus of a parabola is a fixed point on the interior of the parabola used in the formal definition of the curve.

focus = a fixed reference point

For the first time on the island, Piggy himself removed his one glass, knelt down and focused the sun on tinder.
William Golding -- Lord of the Flies

focused = concentrated sunlight rays by pointing them at the same spot

But it has a tight enough beam. Well-focused. You can aim it and make a three-inch circle of light on a wall a hundred meters off.
Orson Scott Card -- Ender's Game

focused = concentrated at a single point

I summon all my own strength, focus it like a laser beam into the fingers and palm of my right hand.
Gayle Forman -- If I Stay

focus = concentrate at one spot

At the focal point of two beams, it sets up a field in which molecules can't hold together anymore.
Orson Scott Card -- Ender's Game

focal = where things come together

I told Dick to hold the flashlight, focus it.
Truman Capote -- In Cold Blood

focus = concentrate at one spot

Eragon drew upon their combined power and focused it on the words.
Christopher Paolini -- Eragon

focused = concentrated at a single point

One of the pilots had used a watch crystal as a magnifying glass to focus the sun and start a fire so they didn't have to eat the lizards raw.
Gary Paulsen -- Hatchet

focus = concentrate at one spot

The powers on a scope refer to the magnification of the focal length.
Chris Kyle -- American Sniper

focal = the distance between the center of the lens and where it is looking

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

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