All 4 Uses of
dilate
in
Paradise Lost
- For Spirits, when they please,
Can either sex assume, or both; so soft
And uncompounded is their essence pure,
Not tried or manacled with joint or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but, in what shape they choose,
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure,
Can execute their airy purposes,
And works of love or enmity fulfil.†Book 1 *dilated = wider than normal (bigger); or became wider
- On the other side, Satan, alarmed,
Collecting all his might, dilated stood,
Like Teneriff or Atlas, unremoved:
His stature reached the sky, and on his crest
Sat Horrour plumed;†Book 4
- These in their dark nativity the deep
Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame;
Which, into hollow engines, long and round,
Thick rammed, at the other bore with touch of fire
Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth
From far, with thundering noise, among our foes
Such implements of mischief, as shall dash
To pieces, and o'erwhelm whatever stands
Adverse, that they shall fear we have disarmed
The Thunderer of his only dreaded bolt.†Book 6
- opener mine eyes,
Dim erst, dilated spirits, ampler heart,
And growing up to Godhead;†Book 9
Definitions:
-
(1)
(dilate as in: dilated eyes) become wider (bigger)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, dilate can mean to add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing.