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reciprocal
in a sentence
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show 3 more with this conextual meaning
  • "I love you." I wait, barely able to breathe.
    "I know, and I know how lucky that makes me."
    I want to ... demand a reciprocal declaration.   (source)
    reciprocal = equivalent
  • Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them--if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement.   (source)
    reciprocal = balanced (interchanged equivalence)
  • Her gray sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, discontented face.   (source)
    reciprocal = mutual (each influencing the other)
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show 2 more with this conextual meaning
  • Every night for a month I sat in the opera house, in a chair of red velvet, and practiced the most basic operations—how to multiply fractions, how to use a reciprocal, how to add and multiply and divide with decimals—while on the stage, characters recited their lines.   (source)
  • Risk is the reciprocal of safety.
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show 10 more examples with any meaning
  • There is no wholeness outside of our reciprocal humanity.†   (source)
  • But unfortunately' she said, with an attempt at a reciprocal smile that made her look as though she had lockjaw, 'it is what I think that counts, as they are in my House, Dolores.†   (source)
  • Langdon sensed a suspicion in her guarded manner, but the feeling was quickly becoming reciprocal.†   (source)
  • From the first afternoon they bathed together, naked, the two of them making their reciprocal ablutions with water from the cistern.†   (source)
  • She had toyed with the idea of getting her Maine certification — Maine and New York were reciprocal; it was mostly a matter of filling out some forms.†   (source)
  • The dancers paused, evidently waiting for some acknowledgment or reciprocal gesture, but there was none.†   (source)
  • Reciprocal bearing, transcription error, something like that.†   (source)
  • When Esther gave advice and Klara submitted to it, there should have been an element of reciprocal condescension.†   (source)
  • It was obvious by her tone that the recognition was reciprocal.†   (source)
  • Then they're over at Cedric's collection-thirty-one CDs that he's carefully, lovingly collected-and Rob offers reciprocal curiosity.†   (source)
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show 77 more examples with any meaning
  • I'd say Switzerland's out; the reciprocal laws are so narrow these days, as Vesco found out.†   (source)
  • For obligations were palpable, soundly rooted in reciprocal deeds; possibilities on the other hand were chimeras, flimsy and worthless, dangerous even.†   (source)
  • Most people know that, by their nature, debts are reciprocal.†   (source)
  • She gave him kiss after kiss, but no reciprocal waves of affection rose from him.†   (source)
  • Reciprocal, I guess.†   (source)
  • Therefore, each will have an interest in this reciprocal forbearance.†   (source)
  • Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy.†   (source)
  • They spent many hours without speaking, content with their reciprocal company, but while Amaranta was inwardly pleased in keeping the fire of his devotion alive, he was unaware of the secret designs of that indecipherable heart.†   (source)
  • Where the current of one's need for control met the tide of one's paranoia, this was where the dossier was reciprocally satisfying.†   (source)
  • Now he was on a reciprocal heading at five knots, about the top speed the Alfa could travel without making much noise.†   (source)
  • Actually, those who saw that man in his forties with careful habits, with the leash around his neck and his circus bicycle, would not have thought that he had made a pact of unbridled love with his wife and that they both gave in to the reciprocal drive in the least adequate of places and wherever the spirit moved them, as they had done since they had began to keep company, and with a passion that the passage of time and the more and more unusual circumstances deepened and enriched.†   (source)
  • There were few people about that day, and that few seemed bound together by a camaraderie of reciprocal esteem; they did nothing except sit rather glumly in their armchairs, drink occasionally, and exchange congratulations on not being seasick.†   (source)
  • …and sway to the music under the housebroke aurora borealis with the skates flashing and the white knees flashing and white arms serpentining in the blue light, and the little twin, hard-soft columns of muscle and flesh up the backbones of the bare backs swaying and working in a beautiful reciprocal motion, and what was business under the silver brassieres vibrating to music, and the long unbound unsnooded silver innocent Swedish hair trailing and floating and whipping in the air.†   (source)
  • It was highly likely that the serpent of sin that nosed about the chambers of my heart was lashed to hunger by hymns as well as dreams, each reciprocally feeding the other.†   (source)
  • Mine was not the reciprocal wish till envy stimulated me to oust Arabella.†   (source)
  • "I had a job in Newark until last October," returned the other, with reciprocal feeling.†   (source)
  • The reciprocal position of the two men is changed—their mutual relations must be so too.†   (source)
  • The honour is reciprocal, sir, as I usually say when I dramatise a book.†   (source)
  • "That feeling is more than reciprocal, princess," Varenka answered hurriedly.†   (source)
  • —reciprocal compliments, which would have been esteemed about equal.†   (source)
  • The history of manners and ideas permeates the history of events, and this is true reciprocally.†   (source)
  • They do not quarrel about their reciprocal situations, but each knows his own and keeps it.†   (source)
  • Besides, at the first hint of reciprocal love on the part of Sondra, would he not be anxious and determined to desert Roberta if he could?†   (source)
  • It appeared that the deference which, on my grandmother's authority, we owed to Mme. de Villeparisis imposed on her the reciprocal obligation to do nothing that would render her less worthy of our regard, and that she had failed in her duty in becoming aware of Swann's existence and in allowing members of her family to associate with him.†   (source)
  • It was for them that Odette so often shewed him a reciprocal kindness, which counted for less than nothing in his moments of jealousy, because it was not a sign of reciprocal desire, was indeed a proof rather of affection than of love, but the importance of which he began once more to feel in proportion as the spontaneous relaxation of his suspicions, often accelerated by the distraction brought to him by reading about art or by the conversation of a friend, rendered his passion less…†   (source)
  • Now in the present case Erskine contended that the examples of the whale and the lady were reciprocally illustrative of each other.†   (source)
  • He had two selves within him apparently, and they must learn to accommodate each other and bear reciprocal impediments.†   (source)
  • They both act as reciprocal cause and effect, and a change in neither alone will bring the desired effect.†   (source)
  • D'Artagnan at the moment of quitting Milady felt only the liveliest regret at the parting; and as they addressed each other in a reciprocally passionate adieu, another interview was arranged for the following week.†   (source)
  • My sister is in the garden plucking the dead roses; my brother is reading his two papers, the Presse and the Debats, within six steps of her; for wherever you see Madame Herbault, you have only to look within a circle of four yards and you will find M. Emmanuel, and 'reciprocally,' as they say at the Polytechnic School."†   (source)
  • The British of the New World have a thousand other reciprocal ties; and they live at a time when the tendency to equality is general amongst mankind.†   (source)
  • He takes SIEBEL by the nose: the others do the same reciprocally, and raise their knives.†   (source)
  • The stint of reciprocal feeling was perceived, and Henchard showed chagrin at once—nobody was more quick to show that than he.†   (source)
  • No reference was ever again made between them to Ralph's opinion of Gilbert Osmond, and by surrounding this topic with a sacred silence they managed to preserve a semblance of reciprocal frankness.†   (source)
  • The chemist and the cure plunged anew into their occupations, not without sleeping from time to time, of which they accused each other reciprocally at each fresh awakening.†   (source)
  • The absolute solitude in which they lived intensified their reciprocal thoughts; yet some might have said that it had the disadvantage of consuming their mutual affections at a fearfully prodigal rate.†   (source)
  • Who knows the reciprocal ebb and flow of the infinitely great and the infinitely little, the reverberations of causes in the precipices of being, and the avalanches of creation?†   (source)
  • And the object of chemistry, Madame Lefrancois, being the knowledge of the reciprocal and molecular action of all natural bodies, it follows that agriculture is comprised within its domain.†   (source)
  • Like heavenly forces rising and descending, Their golden urns reciprocally lending, With wings that winnow blessing From Heaven through Earth I see them pressing, Filling the All with harmony unceasing!†   (source)
  • Every individual being in the possession of rights which he is sure to retain, a kind of manly reliance and reciprocal courtesy would arise between all classes, alike removed from pride and meanness.†   (source)
  • Sir James never liked Ladislaw, and Will always preferred to have Sir James's company mixed with another kind: they were on a footing of reciprocal tolerance which was made quite easy only when Dorothea and Celia were present.†   (source)
  • These things are reciprocal; the ball rebounds, only to bound forward again; for now in laying open the haunts of the whale, the whalemen seem to have indirectly hit upon new clews to that same mystic North-West Passage.†   (source)
  • The more equal social conditions become, the more do men display this reciprocal disposition to oblige each other.†   (source)
  • Moreover these same States retained the rights of determining the civil and political competency of the citizens, or regulating the reciprocal relations of the members of the community, and of dispensing justice; rights which are of a general nature, but which do not necessarily appertain to the national Government.†   (source)
  • This woman must have loved this man, to all appearance, judging from the amount of love within her; but probably, in the daily and reciprocal reproaches of the horrible distress which weighed on the whole group, this had become extinct.†   (source)
  • Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed by no other means than by the reciprocal influence of men upon each other.†   (source)
  • …to belong to it—Causes which tend to keep them united—Utility of the Union to resist foreign enemies, and to prevent the existence of foreigners in America—No natural barriers between the several States—No conflicting interests to divide them—Reciprocal interests of the Northern, Southern, and Western States—Intellectual ties of union—Uniformity of opinions—Dangers of the Union resulting from the different characters and the passions of its citizens—Character of the citizens in the…†   (source)
  • On the contrary, in proportion as nations become more like each other, they become reciprocally more compassionate, and the law of nations is mitigated.†   (source)
  • She saw their sashes untied, their hair pulled about their ears, their work-bags searched, and their knives and scissors stolen away, and felt no doubt of its being a reciprocal enjoyment.†   (source)
  • The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes.†   (source)
  • To say that the constitution of England is a UNION of three powers reciprocally CHECKING each other, is farcical, either the words have no meaning, or they are flat contradictions.†   (source)
  • If the strength of your reciprocal attachment had failed, as between many people, and under many circumstances it naturally would during a four years' engagement, your situation would have been pitiable, indeed."†   (source)
  • Thus necessity, like a gravitating power, would soon form our newly arrived emigrants into society, the reciprocal blessings of which, would supersede, and render the obligations of law and government unnecessary while they remained perfectly just to each other; but as nothing but heaven is impregnable to vice, it will unavoidably happen, that in proportion as they surmount the first difficulties of emigration, which bound them together in a common cause, they will begin to relax in…†   (source)
  • Silent, each contemplating the other in both mirrors of the reciprocal flesh of theirhisnothis fellowfaces.†   (source)
  • What, reduced to their simplest reciprocal form, were Bloom's thoughts about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom and about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom's thoughts about Stephen?†   (source)
  • As not more abnormal than all other parallel processes of adaptation to altered conditions of existence, resulting in a reciprocal equilibrium between the bodily organism and its attendant circumstances, foods, beverages, acquired habits, indulged inclinations, significant disease.†   (source)
  • At Stephen's suggestion, at Bloom's instigation both, first Stephen, then Bloom, in penumbra urinated, their sides contiguous, their organs of micturition reciprocally rendered invisible by manual circumposition, their gazes, first Bloom's, then Stephen's, elevated to the projected luminous and semiluminous shadow.†   (source)
  • While Not the Past Forgetting While not the past forgetting, To-day, at least, contention sunk entire—peace, brotherhood uprisen; For sign reciprocal our Northern, Southern hands, Lay on the graves of all dead soldiers, North or South, (Nor for the past alone—for meanings to the future,) Wreaths of roses and branches of palm.†   (source)
  • Reciprocally also, the Civill Law is a part of the Dictates of Nature.†   (source)
  • ] 'Let our reciprocal vows be remembered.†   (source)
  • What if that light, Sent from her through the wide transpicuous air, To the terrestrial moon be as a star, Enlightening her by day, as she by night This earth? reciprocal, if land be there, Fields and inhabitants: Her spots thou seest As clouds, and clouds may rain, and rain produce Fruits in her softened soil for some to eat Allotted there; and other suns perhaps, With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry, Communicating male and female light; Which two great sexes animate the…†   (source)
  • They were unmarried, young, of the same age and of the same tastes, which was enough to account for the reciprocal friendship between them.†   (source)
  • This holy fox, Or wolf, or both,—for he is equal ravenous As he is subtle, and as prone to mischief As able to perform't; his mind and place Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally— Only to show his pomp as well in France As here at home, suggests the King our master To this last costly treaty, the interview, That swallowed so much treasure, and like a glass Did break i' the rinsing.†   (source)
  • The two cousins began now to impart to each other their reciprocal curiosity to know what extraordinary accidents on both sides occasioned this so strange and unexpected meeting.†   (source)
  • As neither can CONTROL the other, each will have an obvious and sensible interest in this reciprocal forbearance.†   (source)
  • The motives on the part of the State governments, to augment their prerogatives by defalcations from the federal government, will be overruled by no reciprocal predispositions in the members.†   (source)
  • And of Names Universall, some are of more, and some of lesse extent; the larger comprehending the lesse large: and some again of equall extent, comprehending each other reciprocally.†   (source)
  • Love, however barbarously we may corrupt and pervert its meaning, as it is a laudable, is a rational passion, and can never be violent but when reciprocal; for though the Scripture bids us love our enemies, it means not with that fervent love which we naturally bear towards our friends; much less that we should sacrifice to them our lives, and what ought to be dearer to us, our innocence.†   (source)
  • Not All Rights Are Alienable Whensoever a man Transferreth his Right, or Renounceth it; it is either in consideration of some Right reciprocally transferred to himselfe; or for some other good he hopeth for thereby.†   (source)
  • The particular policy of the national and of the State systems of finance might now and then not exactly coincide, and might require reciprocal forbearances.†   (source)
  • …which she chose should make no farther progress than it had made already; but mostly, she desired to keep it from the ears of Sophia; for though that young lady was almost the only one who would never have repeated it again, her ladyship could not persuade herself of this; since, as she now hated poor Sophia with most implacable hatred, she conceived a reciprocal hatred to herself to be lodged in the tender breast of our heroine, where no such passion had ever yet found an entrance.†   (source)
  • The necessity of a superintending authority over the reciprocal trade of confederated States, has been illustrated by other examples as well as our own.†   (source)
  • And, to say the truth, Blifil had passed sentence against Sophia; for, however pleased he had declared himself to Western with his reception, he was by no means satisfied, unless it was that he was convinced of the hatred and scorn of his mistress: and this had produced no less reciprocal hatred and scorn in him.†   (source)
  • As long as the connection subsists between his reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal influence on each other; and the former will be objects to which the latter will attach themselves.†   (source)
  • An unrestrained intercourse between the States themselves will advance the trade of each by an interchange of their respective productions, not only for the supply of reciprocal wants at home, but for exportation to foreign markets.†   (source)
  • The authors of this discovery may be told, what few others need to be informed of, that as engagements are in their nature reciprocal, an assertion of their validity on one side, necessarily involves a validity on the other side; and that as the article is merely declaratory, the establishment of the principle in one case is sufficient for every case.†   (source)
  • The principle of reciprocality seems to require that its obligation on the other States should be reduced to the same standard.†   (source)
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