All 5 Uses
phase
in
Never Let Me Go
(Edited)
- This was all a long time ago so I might have some of it wrong; but my memory of it is that my approaching Tommy that afternoon was part of a phase I was going through around that time—something to do with compulsively setting myself challenges—and I'd more or less forgotten all about it when Tommy stopped me a few days later.
p. 13.1 *phase = a period of time when someone exhibits unusual behavior
- The boys were going through a phase of "enjoying" rounders in order to flirt with us, so there were over thirty of us that afternoon.
p. 79.3 *phase = a period of time or a stage during the development of something
- It must have been just before my talk with him by the pond; a time, I suppose, when Tommy was still coming out of that phase of being teased and taunted.
p. 84.9
- Sometimes, if it was late, I'd close my eyes and nestle against the arm of a sofa—or of a boy, if it was during one of those brief phases I was officially "with" someone—and drift in and out of sleep, letting images of the roads move through my head.
p. 143.5phases = stages (of the development of something)
- It wasn't long after Tommy's third donation, and though he was recovering well, he was still needing a lot of time to rest, and as it turned out, that wasn't a bad way at all for us to start this new phase together.
p. 237.2phase = stage (of the development of something)
Definitions:
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(1)
(phase as in: a critical phase) a period of time or a stage during the development of something
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(2)
(phase as in: she's going through a phase) a period of time when someone exhibits unusual behavior
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(3)
(phase as in: phased out over three years) make a change gradually (phase in = gradually add; phase out = gradually removed)
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(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) More specialized and less common senses of the word are found in astronomy, physics, chemistry, and zoology. Consult a comprehensive dictionary if you wish to see those. All senses have to do with stages or periods of time.