Literary notes about ACE (AI summary)
The word ace in literature is remarkably versatile, serving both as a literal playing card and as a metaphor for near misses or defining moments. In some passages it denotes being just short of a significant or disastrous event, as when a character is described as being nearly doomed or suffering a pivotal loss [1, 2, 3, 4]. In other instances, ace is firmly rooted in the imagery of card play, used to signify elements of chance, hierarchical standing, or the unexpected overturning of fate—as in the appearance of an ace of spades or hearts that shifts the momentum of a game [5, 6, 7, 8]. This dual usage enriches the narrative by weaving together themes of fortune and fate, heightening the tension between imminent risk and the promise of excellence [9, 10, 11].
- Had he just been within an ace of being murdered?
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - He was within an ace of having us court-martialled.
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov - I was within an ace of calling for help.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Once before, in my hot youth, I had suffered a sudden loss of blood, and had been within an ace of death.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - —Said the ace of spades was walking up the stairs.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - The baron leads the ace of hearts and Belinda takes it with the king, thus escaping "codille" and winning the stake.
— from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope - The Ace of Clubs is musing to himself, that the King of Spades may be just passably good-looking.
— from The Hungry Stones, and Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore - Behold him in his seat, his face carnation, Just like an ace of hearts, Not red and white in parts, But one complete illumination.
— from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll - Everywhere the instincts were in a state of anarchy; everywhere people were within an ace of excess: the monstrum in animo was the general danger.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche - The ace counts four, the king three, queen two, knave one, ten ten.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - Seiz III.13 is within an ace of making him a knight of the Golden Fleece.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
