All 12 Uses of
compose
in
Pride and Prejudice
- Such doings discomposed Mr. Bennet exceedingly.†
p. 70.8discomposed = unsettled (made nervous or uncomfortable)standard prefix: The prefix "dis-" in discomposed reverses the meaning of composed. This is the same pattern as seen in words like disagree, disconnect, and disappear.
- She looked at Jane, to see how she bore it; but Jane was very composedly talking to Bingley.†
p. 98.7composedly = in a calm manner
- Elizabeth found herself quite equal to the scene, and could observe the three ladies before her composedly.†
p. 159.2 *
- Elizabeth felt all the impertinence of her questions but answered them very composedly.†
p. 160.9
- Had Miss Bingley known what pain she was then giving her beloved friend, she undoubtedly would have refrained from the hint; but she had merely intended to discompose Elizabeth by bringing forward the idea of a man to whom she believed her partial, to make her betray a sensibility which might injure her in Darcy's opinion, and, perhaps, to remind the latter of all the follies and absurdities by which some part of her family were connected with that corps.†
p. 257.7discompose = unsettle (make nervous or uncomfortable)standard prefix: The prefix "dis-" in discompose reverses the meaning of compose. This is the same pattern as seen in words like disagree, disconnect, and disappear.
- I do not know of any other designs that he had formed; but he was in such a hurry to be gone, and his spirits so greatly discomposed, that I had difficulty in finding out even so much as this.†
p. 278.9discomposed = unsettled (made nervous or uncomfortable)standard prefix: The prefix "dis-" in discomposed reverses the meaning of composed. This is the same pattern as seen in words like disagree, disconnect, and disappear.
- The expression of his face changed gradually from indignant contempt to a composed and steady gravity.†
p. 98.1 *
- Charlotte herself was tolerably composed.†
p. 120.7
- She tried, however, to compose herself to answer him with patience, when he should have done.†
p. 185.7
- She retreated from the window, fearful of being seen; and as she walked up and down the room, endeavoring to compose herself, saw such looks of inquiring surprise in her uncle and aunt as made everything worse.†
p. 248.9
- She wanted to ascertain the feelings of each of her visitors; she wanted to compose her own, and to make herself agreeable to all; and in the latter object, where she feared most to fail, she was most sure of success, for those to whom she endeavored to give pleasure were prepossessed in her favor.†
p. 250.0
- She sat intently at work, striving to be composed, and without daring to lift up her eyes, till anxious curiosity carried them to the face of her sister as the servant was approaching the door.†
p. 316.6
Definitions:
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(1)
(compose as in: compose a poem) to write or create something with care
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(2)
(compose as in: composed of many parts) to create something by arranging parts
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(3)
(compose as in: compose myself) to calm someone or settle something
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(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Specialized senses of compose include typesetting (preparing text for printing). There are many specialized senses of composition where context tells what something is made up from. Finally, in classic literature, compose may have been used to indicate settling a dispute.