All 8 Uses of

focus

in

The Poisonwood Bible

He said he needed a focal point to get the church geared up.
Chpt 1

focal = area where attention is concentrated

There stood my own little sister in the center of our yard, the focal point of a gleaming black arc of children strung from here to there, silently sucking their sugarcane sticks, not even daring to blink.
Chpt 2 *

focal = center of attention

Rachel and Adah were assigned any number of hope-chest projects to work on, but the domestic arena was never my long suit, so I was to focus on a single, big project: a cross-stitch tablecloth.
Chpt 2

focus = concentrate

I narrowed my eyes to a hard focus on Patrice Lumumba and tried to understand his words.
Chpt 2

focus = look

"Nkondo and Gabriel, more than the others?" he said, slowly bringing his focus onto the present conversation, and me.
Chpt 3 *

focus = attention

Well, the palm trees in our courtyard were ripped and flattened from the wind of the helicopters, and looked far too defeated by war to accept my prayers. So I focused on the sturdy walls of the compound and prayed straight to the black stones.
Chpt 5

focused = looked

But the picture is so small I have to hold it practically at the end of my nose to make out who is who. It hurts my eyes to focus on it, so mostly it stays in the drawer.
Chpt 5 *

focus = adjust vision to see something clearly

You focus on getting your own one little place set up perfect, as I have done, and you'll see.
Chpt 6

focus = concentrate

Definitions:

(1) (focus as in: Turn your focus to question #2.)
verb: to concentrate, look at, or pay attention to

noun: the act of concentration, or the ability to concentrate

(to concentrate is to direct attention or effort towards a single thing)
(2) (focus as in: The focus of our study is...)
where attention is concentrated or directed
(3) (focus as in: bring into focus; or out of focus)
a state where something has come into view or can be seen clearly; or an adjustment made to permit a clear view
(4) (focus as with technical usage)
technical usage typically involves some sense of center or concentration such as:
- physics — a point where things come together such as the point where light rays meet
- geometry — a fixed reference point (as of a parabola)
- geology — the point of origin of an earthquake
See a comprehensive dictionary for other less common meanings.
(5) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)