Both Uses of
vary
in
To Kill a Mockingbird
- Calpurnia poured milk, dished out potato salad and ham, muttering, " 'shamed of yourselves," in varying degrees of intensity.
p. 237.6varying = differing
- I jerked awake and made an honest effort to remain so, by looking down and concentrating on the heads below: there were sixteen bald ones, fourteen men that could pass for redheads, forty heads varying between brown and black,
p. 239.5 *
Definition:
to be different, or to change
Vary is often used to describe small differences or changes--especially about things of the same type. It would be more common to say "The weight of full-grown elephants varies depending upon diet and other factors," than to say "The weight of elephants varies from that of mice."