All 5 Uses of
dictate
in
Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis
- Vida Sherwin's dictatorial voice cut through, took control of the revolution: "Tut, tut, tut, tut!†
Chpt 7 *
- But in September, when the year was at its richest, custom dictated that it was time to return to town; to remove the children from the waste occupation of learning the earth, and send them back to lessons about the number of potatoes which (in a delightful world untroubled by commission-houses or shortages in freight-cars) William sold to John.†
Chpt 12
- I went to a denominational college and learned that since dictating the Bible, and hiring a perfect race of ministers to explain it, God has never done much but creep around and try to catch us disobeying it.†
Chpt 13
- And their wives I says to them, "Tain't my affair to decide what you should or should not do with your teachers,' I says, 'and I ain't presuming to dictate in any way, shape, manner, or form.†
Chpt 32
- She filed correspondence all day; then she dictated answers to letters of inquiry.†
Chpt 37
Definitions:
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(1)
(dictate as in: Hitler dictated that...) issue commands or orders
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(2)
(dictate as in: reason dictates) determine or control what will happen
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(3)
(dictate as in: dictate a letter) say out loud for the purpose of recording
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(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus