6 uses
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Definition
to take on as one's own
The exact meaning of adopt depends upon its context. For example:
- "adopt a child" — to legally take on parental responsibilities for another person's child
- "adopt a plan" — to accept or begin to use something
- "adopt a pet" — to take in a pet — especially one from an animal shelter
- "Congress adopted the resolution." — had a formal vote and passed
- "adopted a confident attitude" — took on or displayed
- No one understood why, for no one knew his history, other than that he was a vagabond Kenyon had adopted years ago.1 — Last To See Them Alive (15% in)
- While he was careful to avoid making a nuisance of his views, to adopt outside his realm an externally un-censoring manner, he enforced them within his family and among the employees at River Valley Farm.1 — Last To See Them Alive (10% in)
- When she had first appeared in Holcomb, a melancholy, imaginative child, willowy, wan and sensitive, then eight, a year younger than Nancy, the Clutters had so ardently adopted her that the fatherless little girl California soon came to seem a member of the family.1 — Last To See Them Alive (26% in)
- The police booked him as "Bob Turner"-a name he'd adopted because of being listed by the F.B.I. He spent fourteen days in jail, was fined ten dollars, and departed from Worcester on another wet November afternoon.2 — Persons Unknown (78% in)
- He was the father of two sons, but the younger had died, a tragedy that greatly affected the parents and led them to adopt a small boy who had appeared in court as an abandoned, homeless child.4 — The Corner (15% in)
- Sue, who had adopted another of Nancy's orphaned pets, a cat, wished she could give Babe a home, for she loved the old horse and knew how much Nancy had loved her.4 — The Corner (22% in)
There are no more uses of "adopt" in In Cold Blood.
Typical Usage
(best examples)