All 4 Uses of
expedient
in
The Mill on the Floss
- He could not refuse to see that the costs of this protracted suit would take more than he possessed to pay them; but he appeared to himself to be full of expedients by which he could ward off any results but such as were tolerable, and could avoid the appearance of breaking down in the world.†
Chpt 3.1expedients = actions that are speedy, practical, or convenient
- At length, in a case of aberration such as this, comment presented itself as more expedient than any answer.
Chpt 3.3 *expedient = speedy or practical; or an action that is speedy or practical
- The miller himself, unaware of the lapse of time, fancied himself still in that first stage of his misfortunes when expedients might be thought of; and often in his conscious hours talked in a feeble, disjointed manner of plans he would carry out when he "got well."†
Chpt 3.7expedients = actions that are speedy, practical, or convenient
- We are not apt to fear for the fearless, when we are companions in their danger, and Bob's mind was absorbed in possible expedients for the safety of the helpless indoors.†
Chpt 7.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(expedient) convenient and practical, but sometimes not the best or most moral choice
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, expedient can also imply that an action was taken for reasons of self-interest rather than for moral reasons.
In the sense of speedy, the word is less commonly used today than in the past; though it may still be used as in "an expedient end" or "an expedient amount of time," or "We are depending upon your expediency."