All 11 Uses
focus
in
Memoirs of a Geisha
(Edited)
- Somewhere between the various thoughts about my mother—somewhere past the discomfort in my lip—there nestled a pleasant thought I tried again and again to bring into focus.
p. 16.6 *focus = view (a state where something can be seen clearly)
- As I walked along behind Mameha, I focused my attention not on Nobu but on a very elegant man seated beside him on the same tatami mat, wearing a pinstripe men's kimono.
p. 195.5focused = concentrated
- Besides, it would be disastrous for me to focus my attention on him while Hatsumomo was watching.
p. 205.2focus = concentrate
- A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.
p. 324.1
- From this experience I understood the danger of focusing only on what isn't there.
p. 349.1focusing = concentrating, or looking
- It was true that Pumpkin was having trouble focusing her eyes.
p. 377.1focusing = adjusting vision (to see something clearly)
- Instead, to help give feeling to my dance, I focused my mind on the saddest thing I could think of, which was to imagine that my danna was there in the room with me—not the Chairman, but rather Nobu.
p. 380.2focused = concentrated
- The few times I did manage to focus my mind clearly on Nobu, I grew so numbed I seemed to feel nothing at all.
p. 390.9 *focus = concentrate
- I tried to distract myself by focusing on the door.
p. 403.4focusing = looking
- She stopped when she caught sight of me; but rather than hurrying over to apologize as I half-expected she might, she turned her focus slowly toward me like a snake that had spotted a mouse.
p. 406.5focus = attention
- I felt I might float up into the air, just like a piece of ash from a fire, unless I could focus on something in the room.
p. 416.2focus = concentrate
Definitions:
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(1)
(focus as in: Turn your focus to question #2.) to direct attention or effort toward a single thing; or the ability to do so without getting distracted
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(2)
(focus as in: The focus of our study is...) where attention is concentrated or directed
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(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
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(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)