All 4 Uses of
arbitrary
in
Billy Budd
- At the time of Billy Budd's arbitrary enlistment into the Indomitable that ship was on her way to join the Mediterranean fleet.
Chpt 3 *arbitrary = based on chance or impulse
- As to Billy's adieu to the ship Rights-of-Man, which the boarding lieutenant had indeed reported to him, but in a deferential way more as a good story than aught else, Captain Vere, tho' mistakenly understanding it as a satiric sally, had but thought so much the better of the impressed man for it; as a military sailor, admiring the spirit that could take an arbitrary enlistment so merrily and sensibly.
Chpt 18
- And before a court less arbitrary and more merciful than a martial one, that plea would largely extenuate.
Chpt 21
- Even could you explain to them—which our official position forbids—they, long moulded by arbitrary discipline have not that kind of intelligent responsiveness that might qualify them to comprehend and discriminate.
Chpt 21
Definition:
-
(arbitrary) based on chance or impulse (rather than upon reasoning, consistent rules, or a proper sense of fairness)