Both Uses
passive
in
Leaves of Grass
(Auto-generated)
- Me Imperturbe
Me imperturbe, standing at ease in Nature,
Master of all or mistress of all, aplomb in the midst of irrational things,
Imbued as they, passive, receptive, silent as they,
Finding my occupation, poverty, notoriety, foibles, crimes, less
important than I thought,
Me toward the Mexican sea, or in the Mannahatta or the Tennessee,
or far north or inland,
A river man, or a man of the woods or of any farm-life of these
States or of the coast, or the lakes or Kanada,
Me wherever my life is lived, O to be self-balanced for contingencies,
To confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule, accidents, rebuffs, as
the trees and animals do.†Chpt 1 - The female contains all qualities and tempers them,
She is in her place and moves with perfect balance,
She is all things duly veil'd, she is both passive and active,
She is to conceive daughters as well as sons, and sons as well as daughters.†Chpt 4 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(passive as in: she remained passive) accepting what happens without trying to take control or reacting strongly
-
(2)
(passive as in: written using the passive voice) grammar: where the subject receives the action rather than doing it"The dog chased the cat." is written in the active voice where the dog is doing the action. "The cat was chased by the dog" is written in the passive voice where the cat is receiving the action.
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) More specialized senses of the word are found in chemistry, physics, electronics, and communications. All senses have to do with inactivity.