The Only Use of
hypnotize
in
To Kill a Mockingbird
- With one phrase he had turned happy picknickers into a sulky, tense, murmuring crowd, being slowly hypnotized by gavel taps lessening in intensity until the only sound in the courtroom was a dim pink-pink-pink: the judge might have been rapping the bench with a pencil.
p. 197.7hypnotized = put into a trance-like state of focused concentration
Definitions:
-
(1)
(hypnotize as in: hypnotized to try to remember) to put someone into a state of hypnosis (a trance-like state of focused concentration and heightened suggestibility)
(Heightened suggestibility means that the hypnotized person is more inclined to accept and act on suggestions of the hypnotist.) -
(2)
(hypnotize as in: hypnotized by her performance) fascinate so much that awareness of other surrounding things is lost or too much trust is granted
- (3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)