English Synonyms and Antonyms
Chapter 71 : Synonyms: attend, hark, harken, hear, heed, list.Between _listen_ and _hear_ is a diffe

Synonyms:

attend, hark, harken, hear, heed, list.

Between _listen_ and _hear_ is a difference like that between the words look and see. (Compare synonyms for LOOK.) To _hear_ is simply to become conscious of sound, to _listen_ is to make a conscious effort or endeavor to _hear_. We may _hear_ without _listening_, as words suddenly uttered in an adjoining room; or we may _listen_ without _hearing_, as to a distant speaker. In _listening_ the ear is intent upon the sound; in _attending_ the mind is intent upon the thought, tho _listening_ implies some attention to the meaning or import of the sound. To _heed_ is not only to _attend_, but to remember and observe. _Harken_ is nearly obsolete.

Antonyms:

be deaf to, ignore, neglect, scorn, slight.

Prepositions:

We listen _for_ what we expect or desire to hear; we listen _to_ what we actually do hear; listen _for_ a step, a signal, a train; listen _to_ the debate.

LITERATURE.

Synonyms:

belles-lettres, literary productions, publications, books, literary works, writings.

_Literature_ is collective, including in the most general sense all the written or printed productions of the human mind in all lands and ages, or in a more limited sense, referring to all that has been published in some land or age, or in some department of human knowledge; as, the _literature_ of Greece; the _literature_ of the Augustan age; the _literature_ of politics or of art. _Literature_, used absolutely, denotes what has been called "polite _literature_" or _belles-lettres_, _i. e._, the works collectively that embody taste, feeling, loftiness of thought, and purity and beauty of style, as poetry, history, fiction, and dramatic compositions, including also much of philosophical writing, as the "Republic" of Plato, and oratorical productions, as the orations of Demosthenes. In the broad sense, we can speak of the _literature_ of science; in the narrower sense, we speak of _literature_ and science as distinct departments of knowledge. _Literature_ is also used to signify literary pursuits or occupations; as, to devote one's life to _literature_. Compare KNOWLEDGE; SCIENCE.

LOAD, _n._

Synonyms:

burden, charge, enc.u.mbrance, incubus, pack, cargo, clog, freight, lading, weight.

A _burden_ (from the Anglo-Saxon _byrthen_, from the verb _beran_, bear) is what one has to bear, and the word is used always of that which is borne by a living agent. A _load_ (from the Anglo-Saxon _l[=a]d_, a way, course, carrying, or carriage) is what is laid upon a person, animal, or vehicle for conveyance, or what is customarily so imposed; as, a two-horse _load_. _Weight_ measures the pressure due to gravity; the same _weight_ that one finds a moderate _load_ when in his full strength becomes a heavy _burden_ in weariness or weakness. A s.h.i.+p's _load_ is called distinctively a _cargo_, or it may be known as _freight_ or _lading_. _Freight_ denotes merchandise in or for transportation and is used largely of transportation or of merchandise transported by rail, which is, in commercial language, said to be "s.h.i.+pped." A _load_ to be fastened upon a horse or mule is called a _pack_, and the animal is known as a pack-horse or pack-mule.

LOCK.

Synonyms:

bar, catch, fastening, hook, bolt, clasp, hasp, latch.

A _bar_ is a piece of wood or metal, usually of considerable size, by which an opening is obstructed, a door held fast, etc. A _bar_ may be movable or permanent; a _bolt_ is a movable rod or pin of metal, sliding in a socket and adapted for securing a door or window. A _lock_ is an arrangement by which an enclosed _bolt_ is shot forward or backward by a key, or other device; the _bolt_ is the essential part of the _lock_. A _latch_ or _catch_ is an accessible _fastening_ designed to be easily movable, and simply to secure against accidental opening of the door, cover, etc. A _hasp_ is a metallic strap that fits over a staple, calculated to be secured by a padlock; a simple _hook_ that fits into a staple is also called a _hasp_. A _clasp_ is a fastening that can be sprung into place, to draw and hold the parts of some enclosing object firmly together, as the _clasp_ of a book.

LOOK.

Synonyms:

behold, discern, inspect, see, view, contemplate, gaze, regard, stare, watch.

descry, glance, scan, survey,

To _see_ is simply to become conscious of an object of vision; to _look_ is to make a conscious and direct endeavor to _see_. To _behold_ is to fix the sight and the mind with distinctness and consideration upon something that has come to be clearly before the eyes. We may _look_ without _seeing_, as in pitch-darkness, and we may _see_ without _looking_, as in case of a flash of lightning. To _gaze_ is to _look_ intently, long, and steadily upon an object. To _glance_ is to _look_ casually or momentarily. To _stare_ is to _look_ with a fixed intensity such as is the effect of surprise, alarm, or rudeness. To _scan_ is to _look_ at minutely, to note every visible feature. To _inspect_ is to go below the surface, uncover, study item by item. _View_ and _survey_ are comprehensive, _survey_ expressing the greater exactness of measurement or estimate. _Watch_ brings in the element of time and often of wariness; we _watch_ for a movement or change, a signal, the approach of an enemy, etc. Compare APPEAR.

LOVE.

Synonyms:

affection, charity, friends.h.i.+p, regard, attachment, devotion, liking, tenderness.

attraction, fondness,

_Affection_ is kindly feeling, deep, tender, and constant, going out to some person or object, being less fervent and ardent than _love_, whether applied to persons or things. _Love_ is an intense and absorbing emotion, drawing one toward a person or object and causing one to appreciate, delight in, and crave the presence or possession of the person or object loved, and to desire to please and benefit the person, or to advance the cause, truth, or other object of _affection_; it is the yearning or outgoing of soul toward something that is regarded as excellent, beautiful, or desirable; _love_ may be briefly defined as strong and absorbing _affection_ for and _attraction_ toward a person or object. _Love_ may denote the sublimest and holiest spiritual _affection_ as when we are taught that "G.o.d is _love_." _Charity_ has so far swung aside from this original meaning that probably it never can be recalled (compare BENEVOLENCE). The Revised Version uses _love_ in place of _charity_ in _1 Cor._ xiii, and elsewhere. _Love_ is more intense, absorbing, and tender than _friends.h.i.+p_, more intense, impulsive, and perhaps pa.s.sionate than _affection_; we speak of fervent _love_, but of deep or tender _affection_, or of close, firm, strong _friends.h.i.+p_.

_Love_ is used specifically for personal _affection_ between the s.e.xes in the highest sense, the _love_ that normally leads to marriage, and subsists throughout all happy wedded life. _Love_ can never properly denote mere animal pa.s.sion, which is expressed by such words as appet.i.te, desire, l.u.s.t. One may properly be said to have _love_ for animals, for inanimate objects, or for abstract qualities that enlist the affections, as we speak of _love_ for a horse or a dog, for mountains, woods, ocean, or of _love_ of nature, and _love_ of virtue.

_Love_ of articles of food is better expressed by _liking_, as _love_, in its full sense, expresses something spiritual and reciprocal, such as can have no place in connection with objects that minister merely to the senses. Compare ATTACHMENT; FRIENDs.h.i.+P.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ANTIPATHY; ENMITY; HATRED.

Prepositions:

Love _of_ country; _for_ humanity; love _to_ G.o.d and man.

MAKE.

Synonyms:

become, constrain, fabricate, manufacture, bring about, construct, fas.h.i.+on, occasion, bring into being, create, force, perform, bring to pa.s.s, do, frame, reach, cause, effect, get, render, compel, establish, make out, require, compose, execute, make up, shape.

const.i.tute,

_Make_ is essentially causative; to the idea of _cause_ all its various senses may be traced (compare synonyms for CAUSE). To _make_ is to _cause_ to exist, or to _cause_ to exist in a certain form or in certain relations; the word thus includes the idea of _create_, as in _Gen._ i, 31, "And G.o.d saw everything that he had _made_, and, behold, it was very good." _Make_ includes also the idea of _compose_, _const.i.tute_; as, the parts _make up_ the whole. Similarly, to _cause_ a voluntary agent to do a certain act is to _make_ him do it, or _compel_ him to do it, _compel_ fixing the attention more on the process, _make_ on the accomplished fact. Compare COMPEL; DO; INFLUENCE; (make better) AMEND; (make haste) QUICKEN; (make known) ANNOUNCE; AVOW; CONFESS; (make prisoner) ARREST; (make up) ADD; (make void) CANCEL.

Antonyms: