All 50 Uses of
assume
in
War and Peace
- As she named the Empress, Anna Pavlovna's face suddenly assumed an expression of profound and sincere devotion and respect mingled with sadness, and this occurred every time she mentioned her illustrious patroness.†
Chpt 1
- Between ourselves" (and her face assumed its melancholy expression), "he was mentioned at Her Majesty's and you were pitied…."†
Chpt 1
- The Italian's face instantly changed and assumed an offensively affected, sugary expression, evidently habitual to him when conversing with women.†
Chpt 1
- All the affectation of interest she had assumed had left her kindly and tear-worn face and it now expressed only anxiety and fear.†
Chpt 1
- Prince Andrew shook himself as if waking up, and his face assumed the look it had had in Anna Pavlovna's drawing room.†
Chpt 1
- Her beautiful eyes glanced askance at her husband's face, and her own assumed the timid, deprecating expression of a dog when it rapidly but feebly wags its drooping tail.†
Chpt 1
- "Why do you say this young man is so rich?" asked the countess, turning away from the girls, who at once assumed an air of inattention.†
Chpt 1
- "I am glad I was able to do you a service, my dear Anna Mikhaylovna," said Prince Vasili, arranging his lace frill, and in tone and manner, here in Moscow to Anna Mikhaylovna whom he had placed under an obligation, assuming an air of much greater importance than he had done in Petersburg at Anna Scherer's reception.
Chpt 1 (definition 1)assuming = taking on or adopting
- The eldest princess paused in her reading and silently stared at him with frightened eyes; the second assumed precisely the same expression; while the youngest, the one with the mole, who was of a cheerful and lively disposition, bent over her frame to hide a smile probably evoked by the amusing scene she foresaw.
Chpt 1 (definition 1)assumed = took on or adopted
- "Come here a bit," said she, assuming a soft high tone of voice.
Chpt 1 (definition 1)assuming = taking on or adopting
- Assuming quite the pose of a society woman (heaven knows when and where she had learned it) she talked with her partner, fanning herself and smiling over the fan.
Chpt 1 (definition 1)
- "I know the will was made, but I also know that it is invalid; and you, mon cousin, seem to consider me a perfect fool," said the princess with the expression women assume when they suppose they are saying something witty and stinging.†
Chpt 1
- As with everyone, her face assumed a forced unnatural expression as soon as she looked in a glass.
Chpt 1 (definition 1) *assumed = took on (the appearance of)
- —perhaps both, but evidently he did not wish to be seen in that mood, for hearing footsteps in the passage he hurriedly unclasped his hands, stopped at a table as if tying the cover of the small box, and assumed his usual tranquil and impenetrable expression.†
Chpt 1
- The officer evidently had complete control of his face, and while Kutuzov was turning managed to make a grimace and then assume a most serious, deferential, and innocent expression.†
Chpt 2
- Several of those present smiled at Zherkov's words, expecting one of his usual jokes, but noticing that what he was saying redounded to the glory of our arms and of the day's work, they assumed a serious expression, though many of them knew that what he was saying was a lie devoid of any foundation.†
Chpt 2
- Prince Vasili frowned, twisting his mouth, his cheeks quivered and his face assumed the coarse, unpleasant expression peculiar to him.†
Chpt 3
- She met Prince Vasili with that playful manner often employed by lively chatty people, and consisting in the assumption that between the person they so address and themselves there are some semi-private, long-established jokes and amusing reminiscences, though no such reminiscences really exist—just as none existed in this case.†
Chpt 3
- Although in female society Anatole usually assumed the role of a man tired of being run after by women, his vanity was flattered by the spectacle of his power over these three women.†
Chpt 3
- When the reading which lasted more than an hour was over, Langeron again brought his snuffbox to rest and, without looking at Weyrother or at anyone in particular, began to say how difficult it was to carry out such a plan in which the enemy's position was assumed to be known, whereas it was perhaps not known, since the enemy was in movement.†
Chpt 3
- "However, if you command it, Your Majesty," said Kutuzov, lifting his head and again assuming his former tone of a dull, unreasoning, but submissive general.
Chpt 3 (definition 1)assuming = taking on or adopting
- He remembered the expression Dolokhov's face assumed in his moments of cruelty, as when tying the policeman to the bear and dropping them into the water, or when he challenged a man to a duel without any reason, or shot a post-boy's horse with a pistol.†
Chpt 4
- "Where would I not go at the countess' command!" said Denisov, who at the Rostovs' had jocularly assumed the role of Natasha's knight.†
Chpt 4
- When conversation turned on her husband Helene assumed a dignified expression, which with characteristic tact she had acquired though she did not understand its significance.†
Chpt 5
- …Speranski, either because he appreciated the other's capacity or because he considered it necessary to win him to his side, showed off his dispassionate calm reasonableness before Prince Andrew and flattered him with that subtle flattery which goes hand in hand with self-assurance and consists in a tacit assumption that one's companion is the only man besides oneself capable of understanding the folly of the rest of mankind and the reasonableness and profundity of one's own ideas.†
Chpt 6
- "Well, what is it tonight?" said the mother, having arranged her pillows and waited until Natasha, after turning over a couple of times, had settled down beside her under the quilt, spread out her arms, and assumed a serious expression.†
Chpt 6
- Only then did she remember how she must behave at a ball, and tried to assume the majestic air she considered indispensable for a girl on such an occasion.†
Chpt 6
- She could not assume that pose, which would have made her ridiculous, and she moved on almost fainting from excitement and trying with all her might to conceal it.†
Chpt 6
- "A wonderful talent!" he said to Prince Andrew, and Magnitski immediately assumed a pose and began reciting some humorous verses in French which he had composed about various well-known Petersburg people.†
Chpt 6
- To leave family, home, and all the cares of worldly welfare, in order without clinging to anything to wander in hempen rags from place to place under an assumed name, doing no one any harm but praying for all—for those who drive one away as well as for those who protect one: higher than that life and truth there is no life or truth!†
Chpt 6
- With Sonya's help and the maid's, Natasha got the glass she held into the right position opposite the other; her face assumed a serious expression and she sat silent.†
Chpt 7
- Natasha suddenly shrank into herself and involuntarily assumed an offhand air which alienated Princess Mary still more.†
Chpt 8
- On Sunday morning Marya Dmitrievna invited her visitors to Mass at her parish church--the Church of the Assumption built over the graves of victims of the plague.
Chpt 8 (definition 2)assumption = the act of taking someone up or receiving someone in heaven
- Mademoiselle George, with her bare, fat, dimpled arms, and a red shawl draped over one shoulder, came into the space left vacant for her, and assumed an unnatural pose.†
Chpt 8
- Having looked in a mirror, and standing before Dolokhov in the same pose he had assumed before it, he lifted a glass of wine.†
Chpt 8
- He did not know that Natasha's soul was overflowing with despair, shame, and humiliation, and that it was not her fault that her face happened to assume an expression of calm dignity and severity.†
Chpt 8
- His face quivered and immediately assumed a vindictive expression.†
Chpt 8
- A deed done is irrevocable, and its result coinciding in time with the actions of millions of other men assumes an historic significance.†
Chpt 9
- Each of the three armies had its own commander in chief, but there was no supreme commander of all the forces, and the Emperor did not assume that responsibility himself.†
Chpt 9
- Though it was quite incomprehensible why he should be King of Naples, he was called so, and was himself convinced that he was so, and therefore assumed a more solemn and important air than formerly.†
Chpt 9
- Then suddenly, as if remembering his royal dignity, Murat solemnly drew himself up, assumed the pose in which he had stood at his coronation, and, waving his right arm, said: "I won't detain you longer, General.†
Chpt 9
- It was this: the Emperor did not assume the title of commander in chief, but disposed of all the armies; the men around him were his assistants.†
Chpt 9
- Everything was assumed to be possible for Napoleon, they expected him from every side, and invoked his terrible name to shatter each other's proposals.†
Chpt 9
- But when he had gone into another room, to which the countess hurriedly followed him, he assumed a grave air and thoughtfully shaking his head said that though there was danger, he had hopes of the effect of this last medicine and one must wait and see, that the malady was chiefly mental, but….†
Chpt 9
- …from between the backs of those in front he caught glimpses of an open space with a strip of red cloth spread out on it; but just then the crowd swayed back—the police in front were pushing back those who had pressed too close to the procession: the Emperor was passing from the palace to the Cathedral of the Assumption—and Petya unexpectedly received such a blow on his side and ribs and was squeezed so hard that suddenly everything grew dim before his eyes and he lost consciousness.†
Chpt 9
- The Emperor entered the Cathedral of the Assumption.
Chpt 9 (definition 2) *assumption = to take up or receive someone into heaven
- While the service was proceeding in the Cathedral of the Assumption—it was a combined service of prayer on the occasion of the Emperor's arrival and of thanksgiving for the conclusion of peace with the Turks—the crowd outside spread out and hawkers appeared, selling kvas, gingerbread, and poppyseed sweets (of which Petya was particularly fond), and ordinary conversation could again be heard.†
Chpt 9
- "God grant only that Prince Kutuzov assumes real power and does not allow anyone to put a spoke in his wheel," observed Anna Pavlovna.†
Chpt 10
- Lavrushka, understanding that this was done to perplex him and that Napoleon expected him to be frightened, to gratify his new masters promptly pretended to be astonished and awe-struck, opened his eyes wide, and assumed the expression he usually put on when taken to be whipped.†
Chpt 10
- She assumed an attitude of prayer, looked at the icons, repeated the words of a prayer, but she could not pray.†
Chpt 10
Definitions:
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(1) (assume as in: She assumed a false identity) to take on (adopt, wear, strike a pose or appearance of) -- often while pretending or disguising
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(2) (assume as in: assumed into heaven) to take up or receive someone into heaven
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(assume as in: I assume it's true) to accept something as true without proof