All 3 Uses of
contingent
in
Oryx and Crake
- Kids came and went, desks filled and emptied, friendship was always contingent.
p. 71.4 *contingent = determined by conditions or circumstances not yet established
- But the rest of the team, he said — the MaddAddamite contingent — was confined to base for the duration.
p. 304.2 *contingent = group
- Language itself had lost its solidity; it had become thin, contingent, slippery, a viscid film on which he was sliding around like an eyeball on a plate.†
p. 260.3
Definitions:
-
(1)
(contingent as in: contingent upon) to be determined by conditions or circumstances not yet established
-
(2)
(contingent as in: the Canadian contingent) a sub-group united by something in commonin various senses, including:
- a squad of soldiers sent to do a job
- members of an association at a convention of many associations
- all the women at a meeting with women and men