All 4 Uses of
console
in
Northanger Abbey
- and when she expatiated on the talents of her sons, and the beauty of her daughters, when she related their different situations and views—that John was at Oxford, Edward at Merchant Taylors', and William at sea—and all of them more beloved and respected in their different station than any other three beings ever were, Mrs. Allen had no similar information to give, no similar triumphs to press on the unwilling and unbelieving ear of her friend, and was forced to sit and appear to listen to all these maternal effusions, consoling herself, however, with the discovery, which her keen eye soon made, that the lace on Mrs. Thorpe's pelisse was not half so handsome as that on her own.†
Chpt 4consoling = comforting (emotionally)
- By that her eye was instantly caught and long retained; and the perusal of the highly strained epitaph, in which every virtue was ascribed to her by the inconsolable husband, who must have been in some way or other her destroyer, affected her even to tears.†
Chpt 24 *inconsolable = too sad to be comfortedstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in inconsolable means not and reverses the meaning of consolable. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- On the other hand, the delight of exploring an edifice like Udolpho, as her fancy represented Blaize Castle to be, was such a counterpoise of good as might console her for almost anything.†
Chpt 11 *
- Catherine was still unconvinced; but glad that Anne should have the friendship of an Emily and a Sophia to console her, she bade her adieu without much uneasiness, and returned home, pleased that the party had not been prevented by her refusing to join it, and very heartily wishing that it might be too pleasant to allow either James or Isabella to resent her resistance any longer.†
Chpt 14
Definitions:
-
(1)
(console as in: console her grief) to comfort (emotionally)
-
(2)
(console as in: plug it into the console) controls or video monitor(s) for electrical equipment; or a cabinet made to hold electronic equipment
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, console can refer to a storage compartment between the bucket seats of a car.