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critical
in a sentence
grouped by contextual meaning

critical as in:  a critical problem

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • Ants play a critical role in the ecosystem.
    critical = important
  • She plays a critical role in the administration.
  • It was a critical factor in my decision.
  • The legislation funds critical infrastructure.
  • Later the doctors would speculate that when Dad, Luke and Benjamin had wrestled Shawn to the ground—and he'd sustained a concussion—he was already in critical condition.   (source)
    critical = serious or dangerous
  • Having left USC a few credits short, he had no college degree, a critical asset in a job market glutted with veterans and former war production workers.   (source)
    critical = important
  • He was in critical condition.   (source)
    critical = serious or dangerous
  • I look more critically at the design on Peeta's arm.   (source)
    critically = seriously
  • ...and they wanted to protect us at this critical stage in my recovery.   (source)
    critical = important
  • "Clappers!" he screams.
    In an instant the word is out.
    ClappersClappersClappers . . .
    It echoes in the kids around them. In an instant it reaches critical mass, and the entire crowd is in full-blown panic.   (source)
    critical = important (resulting in something)
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show 26 more with this conextual meaning
  • And whenever we faced a critical matter such as this, we designed redundant systems.   (source)
    critical = important
  • The situation was critical.   (source)
    critical = highly important
  • PROCTOR—he knows this is critical, and is striving against his disgust with Hale and with himself for even answering:   (source)
    critical = important
  • At any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball had turned to flee.   (source)
  • Ruby Gillis was the handsomest girl of the year at the Academy; in the Second Year classes Stella Maynard carried off the palm for beauty, with small but critical minority in favor of Anne Shirley.   (source)
  • The critical moment came when inspection was called.   (source)
    critical = dangerous or important
  • He noticed that SAFETY/HEALTH and CRITICAL LOCKS might be important, too.   (source)
    critical = important
  • Louie soon learned a critical rule of conversation: Never use a guard's real name.   (source)
  • The critical question regarded provisions.   (source)
  • In critical ways, she was engaged to a stranger.   (source)
  • He knew that it had been cannibalized, and he hoped that critical parts weren't missing.   (source)
  • One by one, they landed, all critically low on fuel, one with a dead engine.   (source)
    critically = seriously or dangerously
  • I have almost no memory of him until five years later, when I am fifteen, and he bursts into my life at a critical moment.   (source)
    critical = important
  • He was in critical condition.   (source)
    critical = serious or dangerous
  • I was on the way back to critical care after another CT scan, and flitted between consciousness and sleep until I woke properly.   (source)
    critical = serious or endangered
  • All those deadlines they'd given at the beginning—when they said the next twenty-four hours were dangerous, forty-eight were crucial, seventy-two were critical—had passed without incident.   (source)
    critical = important
  • Half her work in the UK was moving critically ill children, the other half was treating them in intensive care.   (source)
    critically = seriously
  • In July, the scuttlebutt in camp was that the Americans were attacking the critical island of Saipan, in the Mariana Islands, south of mainland Japan.   (source)
    critical = important
  • The plane was so clumsy that it was difficult to fly in the tight formations that were critical to fending off attack.   (source)
  • With communism wicking across the Far East, America's leaders began to see a future alliance with Japan as critical to national security.   (source)
  • It was a critical piece of information; because a dead engine's propeller continues turning in the wind, it can look just like a running engine.   (source)
  • Naoetsu was a factory village that generated products critical to the war effort, and all of its young workers had gone to war.   (source)
  • In creating the dictionary, Harris may have had more in mind than translating stolen documents; if he ever escaped from Ofuna, the Japanese translations of words like "compass," "seacoast," and "ashore" might be critical to know.   (source)
  • The plot was for Snowball, at the critical moment, to give the signal for flight and leave the field to the enemy.   (source)
  • The animals lashed ropes round these, and then all together, cows, horses, sheep, any animal that could lay hold of the rope — even the pigs sometimes joined in at critical moments — they dragged them with desperate slowness up the slope to the top of the quarry, where they were toppled over the edge, to shatter to pieces below.   (source)
  • It will send the linguists back to India with their tape recorders, because it undermines the critical superstructure of their methodology.   (source)
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critical as in:  don't be so critical

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • She is very critical of the administration.
    critical = tends to find fault
  • The comment prompted a twiterstorm of criticism.
    criticism = description of faults
  • As a child I'd read those letters as an act of worship; now I read them with different eyes, not the eyes of a critic, but also not the eyes of a disciple.   (source)
    critic = someone who finds fault and tells others
  • Is there something you want, or are you just an art critic today?   (source)
  • Mom said that anyone critical of her driving could help with the task.   (source)
    critical = expressing unfavorable opinions
  • The most strident criticism came in the form of a dense, multipage epistle from Ambler, a tiny Inupiat village on the Kobuk River north of the Arctic Circle.   (source)
    criticism = act of finding fault and telling others
  • Thus the attitude of pure scientists was fundamentally critical toward the work of applied scientists, and to industry in general.   (source)
    critical = disapproving
  • Sal, you're becoming very critical.   (source)
    critical = expressing unfavorable opinions
  • Especially because this time if we lose there won't be any criticism of us at all.   (source)
    criticism = sharing of unfavorable opinions
  • Of the three of us, Margot would be the most critical.   (source)
    critical = with a tendency to find fault
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show 88 more with this conextual meaning
  • People like Mr. Heck Tate did not trap you with innocent questions to make fun of you; even Jem was not highly critical unless you said something stupid.   (source)
  • Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians.   (source)
    critical = finding fault and telling others; or tending to have unfavorable opinions
  • Philip Lombard said critically: "It's a bit shut in… I like open country myself. Where you can see what's coming…"   (source)
    critically = in a manner that finds fault
  • "You've done pretty well, I must say, Anne," said Marilla, trying to hide her extreme pride in Anne from Mrs. Rachel's critical eye.   (source)
    critical = with a tendency to find fault
  • His coming, however, had been a certain comfort to us, since it assured us that we should not have to dread hostile criticism as to any of our acts.   (source)
    criticism = sharing of unfavorable opinions
  • All were characterised by the sternness and severity which old portraits so invariably put on, as if they were the ghosts, rather than the pictures, of departed worthies, and were gazing with harsh and intolerant criticism at the pursuits and enjoyments of living men.   (source)
    criticism = pointing to a fault
  • "Yes," he said with a smile, though unsure from her businesslike tone whether he should take the remark as a compliment or criticism....He was tempted in turn to ask (with a glint in his eye) if she had had an "hors d'oeuvre" at the Piazza, but thought better of it.†   (source)
  • Sheriff Tate, the district attorney, and other law enforcement officers who had become targets of criticism were cheered.†   (source)
  • Stung by the criticism, a group of concerned citizens began in the 1950s to restore Savannah's downtown.†   (source)
  • She was a few hundred posts behind, and she made her way through, replying to seventy or so messages, RSVPing to eleven events on campus, signing nine petitions, and providing comments and constructive criticism on four products currently in beta.†   (source)
  • A legend in his own right, Whit had become the father she'd never had-one who, unlike her own, had praise for her instead of criticism.†   (source)
  • I was off the farm, out from under the criticism.†   (source)
  • They stopped my salary for six months and forced me to write a self-criticism to admit that I was wrong.†   (source)
  • This seemed like a fair criticism.†   (source)
  • Dad was too sensitive to criticism, Mom said.†   (source)
  • Our society was utterly, ruinously derivative (although the word derivative as a criticism is itself derivative).†   (source)
  • Social criticism is the outcome of this subversive strategy, flight the device by which Carter sets up her ironic notions of freedom and imprisonment.†   (source)
  • He's antisocial, doesn't like the way the agency is run and reserves his worst criticism for the people in charge.†   (source)
  • "I get wind of much misplaced criticism, by men as clever even as Burnham, because of impressions from incomplete work and undeveloped compositions," he wrote.†   (source)
  • I don't think so, Grandma, because they would have to take so much criticism from their friends and families.†   (source)
  • Kant's ideas get processed too, and his 'reason' becomes the subject of future generations' criticism.†   (source)
  • And now, bending her cheek next to Claudia's cheek, she laughed to soften her criticism; and Celeste laughed, and Santiago laughed, and the whole room seemed alive with unearthly tinkling laughter, preternatural voices echoing against the painted walls, rippling the feeble candle flames.†   (source)
  • This was mostly because he didn't believe in grades or criticism, and was a strong proponent of coed massage as a way of getting in touch with your artistic spirit.†   (source)
  • I want the students who have read the Reference Paper to write a self-criticism and to search deep into their souls!†   (source)
  • They watched with undisguised hostility when Alba went upstairs holding Miguel's hand, and it was a torture for her to overcome her timidity and face the criticism of those stares that ruined the joy of her meetings with Miguel.†   (source)
  • It was a clever bit of psychological manipulation; while ostensibly a criticism, the line contained the implication that the Fugees themselves were special.†   (source)
  • "They can hate me," she answered, cutting off the woman's criticism, "hut they're going to get a good education just the same!"†   (source)
  • I look forward to going to school most days because it gives me time away from all of his criticism.†   (source)
  • This was a very personal subject for me and my family, and if I thought it was hard getting judged and insulted every day in school, how would it be to open myself to the criticism of the world?†   (source)
  • She detested the rosary at dusk, the affected table etiquette, the constant criticism of the way she held her silverware, the way she walked in mystical strides like a woman of the streets, the way she dressed as if she were in the circus, and even the rustic way she treated her husband and nursed her child without covering her breast with her mantilla.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, the son was often told that he was incompetent and was the target of devastating criticism.†   (source)
  • "You would think that criticism would be the worst," Gottman says, "because criticism is a global condemnation of a person's character.†   (source)
  • Piter spoke in a low, sullen tone: "Did you call me in here to impair my efficiency with criticism, Baron?"†   (source)
  • The judge got both heavy criticism and loud support in the press, but I think he couldn't have cared less.†   (source)
  • She hadn't realized how much of a toll the years of judgment and criticism, implied and expressed, have taken on her.†   (source)
  • It's hard not to see this as criticism.†   (source)
  • We suffer enough from unfair criticism.†   (source)
  • The downside of doing it alone was of course the inevitable criticism he would face for buying the wrong things.†   (source)
  • Korogi stops to think again about what she has just said and, as if in self-criticism, gently shakes her head.†   (source)
  • It makes me think I've been overcritical of our relationship.†   (source)
  • Earlier, Matthew, our escort and the presenter of the case, came under harsh criticism from different quarters of the room.†   (source)
  • Respect her limitations to comprehend your objectives, and remember that she is touchy towards criticism of your Dad.†   (source)
  • "One false move and Marlin gets it," Fleming says at one point, putting his finger against the head of one boy in the midst of some elaborate criticism.†   (source)
  • "I'd like to know why, Gus," Jasper said, annoyed that Gus was always singling him out for criticism.†   (source)
  • Aristotelian literary criticism?†   (source)
  • Next year, I'll attend San Francisco State University for film theory and criticism, but he still won't tell me where he's going.†   (source)
  • In relief at the narrow escape, they vent their emotions in impatience and criticism of the unlucky cripple.†   (source)
  • I felt her sight warm each of my bony elbows, and I flopped about in my fake sleep to hide them from her criticism.†   (source)
  • President Kennedy was initially nervous about Jackie's restoration, fearing that she would come under the same sharp criticism as Truman.†   (source)
  • Last year, when the hole was closing over his head, there were no lectures, no words of criticism from anyone.†   (source)
  • We shared a taste for honest criticism in our fiction workshop and a respect for Tobias Wolff and Raymond Carver.†   (source)
  • Mortenson had heard the criticism of the woman who lay on a cot before him ratchet up in the years before her death.†   (source)
  • I find his eyes, and for once, there's no criticism there, only a fierce pride.†   (source)
  • "Oh," Glass said, biting back a criticism.†   (source)
  • "If you ever offered more than simple criticism," Emma said, "if you ever gave a single useful suggestion during a crisis, rather than just shrugging your shoulders at the prospect of failure and death, I might be able to tolerate your unrelenting black moods!†   (source)
  • The second phase emerged as a result of normal intellectual criticism of his lack of definition of what he was talking about.†   (source)
  • Our new brother has succeeded by instinct where for two years your 'science' has failed, and now all you can offer is destructive criticism.†   (source)
  • Typical of the criticism is what Alfred Sewell wrote in his book The Great Calamity.†   (source)
  • Laloo Chiba also served for a time, and in the end, the criticism died a slow and unremarkable death.†   (source)
  • We're responding, but like I told dispatch, there've been some pretty wild parties out here, no criticism intended, sir.†   (source)
  • Howard knew that another scratching would bring down an avalanche of criticism, but he would not second-guess Smith.†   (source)
  • I know, intelligent criticism cannot be 'wrong,' but I was wrong to submit to the tyranny by which critics of art live, and to follow the road that they follow, because, to maintain their society and vocation, they parse by intellect alone works that are great solely because of the spirit.†   (source)
  • To serve them did not just mean bringing them tea in the morning, washing their clothes, or accepting criticism with a smiling face.†   (source)
  • Bruenor had explained that he would be gone for a few days, and at first Wulfgar was happy for the relief from the dwarf's constant grumbling and criticism.†   (source)
  • The standard comment on visitors' books today about "constructive criticism" dates from this period.†   (source)
  • Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas.†   (source)
  • It was a jest, but Sansa took it for criticism.†   (source)
  • It is one thing to think that psychology may solve problems that baffle philosophy or criticism; it well may.†   (source)
  • You could come out of it looking like a hero, and believe me, you won't hear a bit of criticism out of me.†   (source)
  • This criticism shows us that opponents of the Constitution are so determined to find objections that their judgment is impaired.†   (source)
  • It's meant as a criticism and I take it as one.†   (source)
  • No criticism-only a matter of taste.†   (source)
  • Two farmers, whose landholdings were small when compared to the great areas controlled by some of the Virginia slaveholders, were outspoken in their criticism of the institution of slavery.†   (source)
  • In literary criticism the critic has no choice but to make over the victim of his attention into something the size and shape of himself.†   (source)
  • The function of criticism should not be confused with the function of reform.†   (source)
  • , their yawning disdain of politics and the raw dirty world, their quotidian homage to the Kenyon Review, to the New Criticism and the ectoplasmic Mr. Eliot)—was that he was creating life full-blown from a test tube.†   (source)
  • This was how, while appearing just to restate old principles, the President also acknowledged and ridiculed new criticism, whether it was of the madonna cult or of the shortage of food and medicines.†   (source)
  • In the first stage it's the triumph of reason, of the spirit of criticism, the fight against prejudice and so on.†   (source)
  • "No, Mary said, with slight defensiveness, for she felt somehow that criticism might be involved; and hadn't expected to unless, of course ..."Of course, Hannah replied quickly (for she had intended no criticism), "so no doubt we needn't worry.†   (source)
  • Such criticism, even if justified, should have been offered when the international tribunals were being set up.†   (source)
  • In response to bitter criticism and loud laughter, Commissioner Crabbe gave an exclusive press interview in which he revealed that Police Laboratories had discovered a new investigation technique which would break the D'Courtney Case within 24 hours.†   (source)
  • This time she was angry at the implied criticism, and she answered coldly that Jesus was on the side of the good people.†   (source)
  • He had only one criticism, he said, to make of Mr. Pilkington's excellent and neighborly speech.   (source)
    criticism = unfavorable opinion to share
  • She hated the Party, and said so in the crudest words, but she made no general criticism of it.   (source)
    criticism = sharing an unfavorable opinion
  • These people, she thought, would be merciless critics.   (source)
    critics = people who point to faults
  • I had heard some story of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago.   (source)
    critical = unfavorable (pointing to a fault)
  • But she never sharpened the latter on Anne, who continued to be a prime favorite with the critical old lady.   (source)
    critical = with a tendency to find fault
  • I've heard it said that Daisy's murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.   (source)
    criticism = sharing an unfavorable opinion
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critical as in:  critical acclaim

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • The film received critical and commercial success.
    critical = relating to expert judgement
  • She holds up her drawing, eyeing it critically.   (source)
    critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
  • No wonder books stopped selling, the critics said.   (source)
    critics = people whose job is to share expert judgement
  • My ears to an orchestra conductor. My stomach to a food critic.   (source)
    critic = someone whose job is to share expert judgement
  • Some critics have even drawn parallels between McCandless and the Arctic's most infamous tragic figure, Sir John Franklin, a nineteenth-century British naval officer whose smugness and hauteur contributed to some 140 deaths, including his own.   (source)
    critics = people who share expert judgement
  • Grant came over, and peered critically at the creature.   (source)
    critically = with thoughtful examination
  • It was quite a small book, after all, and hardly best-seller material; and although well received in critical circles in New York and London, it didn't make much of a splash up here, not initially.   (source)
    critical = relating to people whose job is to share expert judgement
  • Attentive critics of courthouse business, Atticus said they knew as much law as the Chief Justice, from long years of observation.   (source)
    critics = people who share expert judgement
  • He looked critically at Ralph's golden body and then down at his own clothes.   (source)
    critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
  • Diana pursed up her lips, put her black head on one side critically, and finally pronounced in favor of the beads, which were thereupon tied around Anne's slim milk-white throat.   (source)
    critically = with thoughtful examination
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show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • The Professor watched me critically.   (source)
    critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
  • I did not, like him, attempt a critical knowledge of their dialects, for I did not contemplate making any other use of them than temporary amusement.   (source)
    critical = using careful analysis
  • When he opened his eyes he saw Muldoon peering critically at the stump.   (source)
    critically = with thoughtful examination
  • Holding his breath he cocked a critical ear at the sounds of the island.   (source)
    critical = relating to judgement of what is important
  • Ralph looked at him critically through his tangle of fair hair.   (source)
    critically = in a manner that thoughtfully judges what is good and bad about something
  • Ralph looked at the sun critically.   (source)
  • "How perfectly lovely!" sighed Diana, who belonged to Matthew's school of critics.   (source)
    critics = people who share considered judgement of something
  • Everything was so strange, so brilliant, so bewildering—the rows of ladies in evening dress, the critical faces, the whole atmosphere of wealth and culture about her.   (source)
    critical = making judgments
  • That is the kind of critic I like.   (source)
    critic = someone who shares considered judgement of something
  • I felt so ashamed I wanted to give up altogether, but Miss Stacy said I could learn to write well if I only trained myself to be my own severest critic.   (source)
    critic = someone whose job is to share expert judgement
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show 10 more examples with any meaning
  • Engineers rushed around the main reaction chamber like doctors around a critical patient, trying to keep it going for a little longer.†   (source)
  • Despite all the new laws and the momentum to fix the problems, it seemed most of the weaknesses in critical infrastructure would remain.†   (source)
  • In the meantime, the Count could only cross his fingers that a Scandinavian man would be residing in the hotel at the critical juncture.†   (source)
  • Usha still sometimes reminds me that not every perceived slight—from a passing motorist or a neighbor critical of my dogs—is cause for a blood feud.†   (source)
  • Lotte examined herself critically in the mirror late that Friday afternoon.†   (source)
  • When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.†   (source)
  • Then again, my high-waters and medium-size suit jacket didn't exactly qualify me as a fashion critic.†   (source)
  • It had been one of Mrs. Gandhi's most vocal critics.†   (source)
  • Now that Walter's case record was complete, appeal pleadings would be due soon, and time was critical.†   (source)
  • He could imagine nothing important enough that Collet would interrupt this surveillance cachée—especially at this critical juncture.†   (source)
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show 190 more examples with any meaning
  • Then he announces, "The two teams with the highest scores from all preliminary rounds will meet for what we call a 'quiz-off,' so point totals are critical.†   (source)
  • Phrases jumped out at him: hasn't been seen in public since November....house appears deserted....St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment....Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of critical illness..."They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly.†   (source)
  • As I mentioned, the Big Three (atmospheric regulator, oxygenator, and water reclaimer) are critical components.†   (source)
  • Adler was critical of Jim Williams's "decadent" life-style, but he was just curious enough about it to get out his binoculars and spy on one of Williams's all-male Christmas parties.†   (source)
  • It is critical to recovery.†   (source)
  • The task is herculean, but once we have a critical mass, and with facial recognition advances, we can, we hope, identify pretty much everyone in every photo and every video.†   (source)
  • Luis and Tino were hot and tired, but I was more like in critical condition.†   (source)
  • Time for some feedback from Nate Wright, Art Critic.†   (source)
  • Yes and no. He doesn't feel critical, and he wants to be our friend, but he wouldn't do things our way, and he probably wouldn't have us do things our way, truth to tell.†   (source)
  • It just didn't feel right-as if some critical mass were missing, and they were likely to be split apart like an atom under pressure.†   (source)
  • "WHOM ARE THEY GOING TO ENTERTAIN?" asked The Voice, who was critical of what he called "THE WHITES' SOCIAL PRIORITIES."†   (source)
  • Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Violet was upstairs, surveying her bedroom with a critical eye.†   (source)
  • He studied her critically.†   (source)
  • Just before I graduated, my professor, who happened to also be the critic for the paper, told me I had a lot of talent.†   (source)
  • I tried to anticipate what criticisms she would have.†   (source)
  • Our ship is largely undamaged, with the critical exception, of course, that we have lost much of our lifting gas.†   (source)
  • Cecilia followed at a slow pace, passing the critical mirror with a glance and completely satisfied with what she saw.†   (source)
  • "That crackhead you beat up is critically injured," a policeman told them when they arrived at the station.†   (source)
  • She could not disturb Tita and Pedro in any way at this time, perhaps the most critical moment of their lives.†   (source)
  • He must have made comments critical of Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution.†   (source)
  • She looked a little critically at her round, heavy behind.†   (source)
  • The attacks relied on this critical adaptation.†   (source)
  • Under the Indian's critical eye, Matt shaved down the branch, paring off the thinnest possible shavings.†   (source)
  • His mom looked over at Park, but not for long; Tina's hair was at a critical stage.†   (source)
  • Situation critical topside.†   (source)
  • Like other camps, it had a commandant and guards, but Schindler's presence made the critical difference.†   (source)
  • How much did he take, Niall?" he said to the bruiser who had reappeared in the door and was looking on with a critical eye.†   (source)
  • He doesn't tell her everything because he knows she's far too emotional, far too critical, and often far too biased.†   (source)
  • And, critically, it is a kind of intelligence separate from the sort of analytical ability measured by IQ.†   (source)
  • Critical turning points in the journey?†   (source)
  • PHASE THREE (CRITICAL)
    difficulty breathing
    pain in the chest, throat, or stomach
    difficulty swallowing; refusal to eat
    complete breakdown of rational faculties; erratic behavior; violent
    thoughts and fantasies; hallucinations and delusions†   (source)
  • I doubt he'd be pleased if I were to call him now and tell him how his hospital was treating someone trying to visit his critically wounded girlfriend.†   (source)
  • The moment Eragon and Murtagh were thoroughly surrounded, the leader reined in his horse, then crossed his arms and examined them critically.†   (source)
  • He was there at the critical time-a silent, watchful presence.†   (source)
  • If I seem—abrupt, critical—it is only for your sake.†   (source)
  • Even though some critics said they were just too nasty!†   (source)
  • Miguel remained in critical condition.†   (source)
  • Carrie stopped me on the stairs, looked at me critically, then took my arm and led me back down and out to her cabin.†   (source)
  • Critical biographies.†   (source)
  • Critical or otherwise.†   (source)
  • His blue eyes, usually so thoughtful, are now hard and critical, like they are peeling back layer after layer of me and searching each one.†   (source)
  • The list of instructions I prepared for her couldn't have been more painstakingly detailed were we leaving a critically ill infant in her care.†   (source)
  • Fela stepped back, eyed me critically, then stepped close again and made a small adjustment to the way the cloak fastened across my chest.†   (source)
  • He had graduated from the conservatory and the university faculty of law at the same time, but he was extremely self-critical and had come to the conclusion that he would never be a really top-ranking pianist, so he had entered the law instead; only during the war did he become a pianist again.†   (source)
  • She had married the journalist Roberto Suarez, who was assigned to the National Palace and, though critical of the regime, wrote the flowery feature articles required of him.†   (source)
  • Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically.†   (source)
  • For it was one thing for her to reject her background, to be critical of her family's heritage, another to hear it from him.†   (source)
  • I was late bringing him lunch, and he turned his head to me from his recliner and remarked, with the gentlest critical tone, that I was genetically programmed to not be punctual.†   (source)
  • My best friend was a white guy about sixty years old named Ernie Santosuosso who was the Globe jazz critic then.†   (source)
  • If my life were a movie, this scene of me and Dylan would get slammed by critics for over-the-top foreshadowing.†   (source)
  • Critics speak of this dialogue as intertextuality, the ongoing interaction between poems or stories.†   (source)
  • In Los Angeles, one of the victims was beaten in a tunnel and is in critical condition, and I'm certain it's Nathaniel.†   (source)
  • No one would name her while being critical of her.†   (source)
  • Circumstances had placed the twins in his care, and he was determined that no harm should come to them, especially now that he believed they were destined to play a critical role in the war against the Dark Elders.†   (source)
  • She made a critical error.†   (source)
  • An important shipment of plants from California failed to arrive, worsening an already critical shortage of all plants.†   (source)
  • Distances are almost critically relative.†   (source)
  • Maybe it was the new dress that made me look more critically at myself than usual: 45 years old, unmarried, waistline long since vanished.†   (source)
  • During one SEAL mission, he expertly directed the insertion and was the first man on deck to provide critical cover for his shipmates.†   (source)
  • Critical condition.†   (source)
  • It lightened some of the pain I felt for all those who were critical of our going to Central.†   (source)
  • And my boys—the fellow SEALs and the Marines and the Army soldiers who fought with me and helped me do my job—were all a critical part of my success.†   (source)
  • A 'critical' reading, such as the one he proposed, revealed a number of inconsistencies in the texts.†   (source)
  • After five months awaiting trial in a cell, Joe wrote this letter to the criminal court judge: Dear Sir or Your Honor, In the most critical time on this earth is now on this atmosphere today of my missteak no I'll say wronge com prehendion of corruption that I've place on myself.†   (source)
  • Then she'd think a moment, with the critical detachment of a sculptor whose work was nearly, but not quite, finished.†   (source)
  • In a minute there was a meter-wide puddle of radioactive slag, enough to form its own critical mass.†   (source)
  • Here I was, standing in front of my former teachers, nervous to dance in front of those familiar, critical eyes.†   (source)
  • Reason crashed at a critical juncture, and he ate a harpoon.†   (source)
  • And we had a short list of possible landing zones, unnecessary for the insert, because we'd fast-rope in, but critical for the extract.†   (source)
  • He was critically injured, suffering broken ribs and severe internal hemorrhaging.†   (source)
  • I nodded, exhaling deeply, suddenly aware that I'd been holding my breath during those last critical moments.†   (source)
  • You realize that people may be very critical of you — right, Gaby?†   (source)
  • At this critical moment, when they needed to escape Maryland as quickly as possible, they did something unexplainable — they did nothing!†   (source)
  • Lorenzo Daza did not come home before ten o'clock at night, which was the curfew hour during the less critical periods of the wars.†   (source)
  • She got down from the bed, cocked her head to one side, and regarded her handiwork with a critical eye.†   (source)
  • Me in love would be like being a food critic with no taste buds.†   (source)
  • We mounted a drive with three critical plays, each with a different guy who had made huge plays for us all year.†   (source)
  • Up close, Jane could tell that Miss Milhouse's criticisms of the working girls' clothes had been all too accurate.†   (source)
  • Instead, a key word had been drummed into the man's unconscious to immobilize his muscles at a critical instant.†   (source)
  • It was with these strangers that he practiced his fledgling English, away from Eulalio's gleeful criticisms.†   (source)
  • She gave me a critical once-over.†   (source)
  • But it would end up being one of many little things-a slow accrual, compounding steadily and imperceptibly toward critical mass.†   (source)
  • Had we already passed the critical dimension for our new propellant?†   (source)
  • She was the visiting critic-in-residence.†   (source)
  • For it is, in practice, simply not possible to adopt such a critical attitude towards an employer and at the same time provide good service.†   (source)
  • Heinrich stood in a corner of the room, taking up his critical-observer position.†   (source)
  • Critics hate his coincidences.†   (source)
  • The office bloodletting had made her irritable and more than usually critical.†   (source)
  • I got the E. It's critical'pure MDMA, the real deal.†   (source)
  • He was a strong advocate of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programs, embracing a food safety philosophy that the National Academy of Sciences had promoted for years.†   (source)
  • He was most worried about his friend who was in surgery and in critical condition, lucky to be alive.†   (source)
  • She watched the frying pan critically, waiting for it to become hot enough, then dropped in a little oil.†   (source)
  • It's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the critical factor for saving mothers is access to doctors in an emergency.†   (source)
  • You're so critical.†   (source)
  • AS I LEARNED LATER, the cable to Hema read: COME AT ONCE STOP MARION CRITICALLY ILL STOP THOMAS STONE STOP P.S. DO NOT DELAY STOP—and she did not.†   (source)
  • At critical moments he occasionally closed his eyes.†   (source)
  • I glance up at her, then reach for a black top and look at it critically.†   (source)
  • Moreover, unlike Willie-Jay, he was not critical of Perry's exotic aspirations; he was willing to listen, catch fire, share with him those visions of "guaranteed treasure" lurking in Mexican seas, Brazilian jungles.†   (source)
  • The reason for the soliloquy here is that Morgenstern's previous book had gotten bombed by the critics and also hadn't sold beans.†   (source)
  • Around here, nothing is exempt from dissembling questions and critical examination-not even religion itself.†   (source)
  • "You've had this one awhile, I reckon," he said, looking rather critically at the dress once he got it off her.†   (source)
  • The critical care unit of Beth Israel hospital always reminded Clary of photos she'd seen of Antarctica: It was cold and remote-feeling, and everything was either gray, white, or pale blue.†   (source)
  • It's critical that she think it's her idea.†   (source)
  • ON THE MORNING of Wednesday, August 28, the situation faced by Washington and the army was critical.†   (source)
  • I want to be our nation's greatest female film critic.†   (source)
  • An art critic standing next to him said he thought of Stendhal as daytime reading.†   (source)
  • As the Lakeview Models it is critical that you present the best possible image to the community.†   (source)
  • Friederich was obliged finally to give up the siege, because he learned of the fall of Glatz, the critical point of his new conquests.†   (source)
  • I credit my new reactions (although I didn't know at the time that I had learned anything from them) to the fact that during what surely must have been a critical period I was not dragged down by hopelessness.†   (source)
  • I felt that Farmer was suspending his usually sharp critical judgment.†   (source)
  • The Pritchards with their cold, critical eyes were too much for me.†   (source)
  • Critics worry that school choice will leave behind the worst students in the worst schools.†   (source)
  • 'These are very critical times,' Colonel Cathcart asserted petulantly from a far corner of the office, paying no attention to Colonel Korn.†   (source)
  • The critics had called the result "engaging" and "good, spooky fun," except for the ones who'd deemed it "preposterous" and "convoluted."†   (source)
  • Then she casts a critical eye over Luke.†   (source)
  • THE SITUATION VERGED ON CRITICAL The next Saturday I put Life as We Don't Know It into my backpack and took the subway up to Columbia University.†   (source)
  • It is important that you take this responsibility very seriously; it is a critical aspect of your education.†   (source)
  • The constitution strove to dictate all of the critical details of an individual's life, even the most private concerns of womanhood.†   (source)
  • He looked at the panel critically, like a man trying to decide between cake and pie.†   (source)
  • In the United States mandatory minimum sentencing was a critical part of the late-twentieth-century "War on Drugs."†   (source)
  • In searches like this, the first six hours were critical.†   (source)
  • "Well, let's look at your birth certificate," Charley said, as if he had finally arrived at a critical moment.†   (source)
  • He kissed me, held me at arm's length looking at me carefully and critically, then smiled and said that I was taller than he thought.†   (source)
  • If not, the critic in me cries, "Fake!"†   (source)
  • I pray you will not take offense, Rector, but he became most critical of your sermonizing.†   (source)
  • Her last client has an alibi for the critical hour.†   (source)
  • It's absolutely critical that we speak to someone from the infectious diseases department immediately.†   (source)
  • A slowly tightening American economic boycott of critical exports to Japan hastened the decision to act.†   (source)
  • Mortenson, Parvi advised, should keep his distance from the legal battle, and continue his critical work in Afghanistan.†   (source)
  • Luke surveyed her critically.†   (source)
  • In the view of these churchgoers, it is also having something of a reverse effect, making Northerners less critical of Southern speech.†   (source)
  • The other wounded kids are in varying conditions, but they say most are out of critical danger by now.†   (source)
  • This burden rested not only on the critics, but also on the reader.†   (source)
  • No more wonderful critical schools of experts to determine rationally where each composer had succeeded or failed.†   (source)
  • He watched me critically.†   (source)
  • But when it comes to art, everyone is a critic, and there you have it.†   (source)
  • And how many of those nine do you think would desert you at the critical moment?†   (source)
  • More critical is that it kept fire companies located near De Koven Street in their stations.†   (source)
  • "Perhaps there is a critical level," he suggested.†   (source)
  • The organization also played a critical role in an area that was less obvious but no less important to us.†   (source)
  • The next few seconds were critical.†   (source)
  • From the sideline, Cesar thought it incomprehensible that his pitcher and catcher found anything to laugh about at this critical juncture of the game, but they were.†   (source)
  • In the years ahead, there would be critical moments in which his pursuit of image conflicted with his horse's interests.†   (source)
  • I can think of no surer way to destroy confidence at our most critical period than by having a leader who wears a mask.†   (source)
  • Pilar says the pattern of coins reveals something called "To Kuo," critical mass.†   (source)
  • We knew our capabilities better than anyone, and since we were being trusted to execute the operation, we would also have a critical role in the planning.†   (source)
  • Alessandro thought that if he paid and demanded close attention he might catch a fault in treatment or stimulate the doctors and nurses to do so, and that if he kept up the privileged bearing that, oddly enough, had begun as a fugitive's method of evading capture, he could provide for his father a small margin that in desperate circumstances might be critical in preserving his life.†   (source)
  • All I could do was take a shower, zip on my flight suit, and drive off to report for a flight, praying I didn't lose my focus and make a critical mistake during a mission.†   (source)
  • It's the wooden shoe that does it," said Philip, bending his head sidewise to study it in a manner of critical appreciation.†   (source)
  • Only if we have that faith will we be able to guide the destiny of nations, in this the most critical period of world history.†   (source)
  • That woman had been critical of me for so long.†   (source)
  • Their experience building a ground-based robot proved critical as they set about assembling their underwater vehicle.†   (source)
  • She'd learned quickly never to say a critical word about any of them.†   (source)
  • The spokesman had done well, but one element was missing from his attack-the critical factor that elevated Wulfgar above other men.†   (source)
  • The pit will squeeze through the created holes and critical and supercritical stages will never be reached.†   (source)
  • If the critical information is mind-blowing and the facts authentic, the subject doesn't have much of a choice.†   (source)
  • After I was done memorizing the text and the commentaries, I began to go over the text again critically.†   (source)
  • But the situation is getting critical.†   (source)
  • I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church.†   (source)
  • They looked at me critically, clearly wondering if Heidi was too fragile for my company.†   (source)
  • In Stone's critical view, the central fact remained that in the city's darkest hour, Socrates "never shed a tear for Athens."†   (source)
  • Critics have accused Crook of padding his own part, but the book makes for compelling reading.†   (source)
  • You just don't like the enterprise, and are territorial on behalf of your tribe, that of book readers and literary critics!†   (source)
  • Days passed, and weeks, and months, and Hisham went on working in the department with his old application but with only half his mind, the other half being preoccupied with the urgent and critical question, what could he do to please Dr. Bassiouni?†   (source)
  • It's pretty plain to see the differences in our families, but what you may not realize is that they are alike in the most critical way—our faith.†   (source)
  • She wrinkled her nose, mouth screwed up to one side in what was supposed to be the look of a learned critic.†   (source)
  • He felt his throat critically with one hand, then picked up his shaving brush and began to re-lather strategic parts of his face.†   (source)
  • Tom said critically, "You lookin' kinda peaked.†   (source)
  • A small flaw in appearance wasn't critical, but not so in sound.†   (source)
  • They all agree that the symptoms are critical but that with proper and timely care the patient can actually have improved health.†   (source)
  • Nanniepaks for "critical personnel"—read "high mucketymucks and various people Tyler had designated"—had already arrived.†   (source)
  • But somebody more critical might say that the theme was envy.†   (source)
  • They were critical to the operation's success, but they were the weak link in the network's long chain.†   (source)
  • This, from a contemporary critic's commentary on Madame Butterfly: "Pinkerton suffers from ...being an obnoxious bounder whom every man in the audience itches to kick."†   (source)
  • And Mr. Santoro told me that he would not allow an Irishman to speak critically about his favorite professor's girth.†   (source)
  • She came and examined it critically, testing it for stability to make sure the baby couldn't pull it over on top of her.†   (source)
  • Not only do they steal but they are critical of anyone who tries to reform them.†   (source)
  • Most of the first week he existed in the half-world of the critically hurt where there is neither night nor day, time nor reality, but only the overlapping periods of confused consciousness and dreams and nightmares.†   (source)
  • Remember that Puritans were utterly devoted, like literary critics, to the Word.†   (source)
  • At this critical juncture none but the most self-assured of men, no matter how certain he may be of his privacy, can refrain from casting a surreptitious glance around to reassure himself that he really is alone.†   (source)
  • He is critical of ways he has known all his life.†   (source)
  • I won't be too critical.'†   (source)
  • They would also know who had stopped them; and they might be interested enough, at a critical time like this, to do something rash.†   (source)
  • Only the fact that I was too young for a coronary occlusion saved my heart, which stopped beating for critical seconds.†   (source)
  • It's the story of a middle-aged man who'd come from a farm in the Middle West, who's taciturn and unhappy as a teacher of linguistics and now has reached a critical point in his life.†   (source)
  • HORNBECK As much as a critic can be a friend to anyone (He sits backward an a chair, watching her head.†   (source)
  • He could almost remember, in fact, that someone had seen him—that he had felt eyes watching him critically, perhaps amused or scornful.†   (source)
  • But when this Nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.†   (source)
  • The steamer passed; the dugouts rocked in the swell; and then came the critical moment when the dugouts and the barge came close together.†   (source)
  • She was not very good at this, because all too often she agreed with the critics.†   (source)
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