Literary notes about Trim (AI summary)
The word "trim" in literature assumes multiple shades of meaning, ranging from descriptions of physical neatness and vigor to precise acts of cutting or adjusting. It is employed as an adjective to depict polished appearances and well-kept conditions, as seen in passages that celebrate a neat waist or ship-shape structures ([1], [2], [3]). As a verb, it illustrates the careful act of pruning or refining, whether in the context of adjusting a tent, sails, or even meat ([4], [5]). At times the term is infused with a playful or ironic tone, serving as both gentle rebuke and endearing characterization in dialogue ([6], [7]). This rich versatility demonstrates how "trim" not only enhances visual imagery but also deepens narrative dynamics by intertwining literal and metaphorical expressions.
- When he comes home from business, and the child is in good humor and handsome trim, he takes the little darling on his knee and plays with it.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Yon valley, that's so trim and green, In five months' time, should he be seen, A desart wilderness will be.
— from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth - But no vision of trim front gardens or of kindly lights in the windows poured a tender influence upon him now.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce - But in the absence of orders, he began to trim his sails a bit, so as to be prepared for whatever might be the policy.
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount - She was in another canning factory, and her work was to trim the meat of those diseased cattle that Jurgis had been told about not long before.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - Come, come, Thersites, help to trim my tent; This night in banqueting must all be spent.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - He was an honest, light-hearted lad, an' please your honour, as ever blood warm'd— —Then he resembled thee, Trim, said my uncle Toby, rapidly.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne
