All 3 Uses of
enable
in
The Magic Mountain
- All sorts of objects that had fallen out of use, which made them all the more captivating, were kept inside: a pair of sinuous silver candlesticks; a broken barometer, its wooden case carved with figures; an album of daguerreotypes; a cedar chest for liqueurs; a little Turk in a bright silk costume, whose body was rigid to the touch but contained a mechanism that, though it had long since fallen into disrepair, had once enabled him to run across the table; a model of an old-fashioned ship; and way at the bottom, a rattrap no less.†
Chpt 2.1enabled = made possible
- For he could observe only too well how Joachim had to endure the daily, constant assaults of orange-scented handkerchiefs, round brown eyes, a little ruby, a great many unwarranted giggles, and an externally well-formed chest; and the common sense and love of honor, which enabled Joachim to avoid those assaults and flee from them, touched Hans Castorp, kept him under some control and prevented him from "borrowing a pencil," as it were, from a certain narrow-eyed person— which experience taught him he would have been only too ready to do without Joachim's disciplining proximity.†
Chpt 5.2
- But they also enabled him to perceive, understand, and internalize the ever-intensifying accent on shock and indescribable adventure that people up here, both generally and individually, attributed to the matter.†
Chpt 5.5 *
Definition:
to make possible
in various senses, including:
- to give someone the ability, knowledge, or authority to do something -- as in "The study will enable an informed discussion."
- to activate a computer system for use -- as in "You can enable the feature in the Settings Page."
- to permit someone to repeat bad behavior, so they reinforce the bad pattern -- as in "I don't want to enable her drug addiction."