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Literary notes about withstand (AI summary)

The word "withstand" is employed to express a steadfast resistance against formidable forces, whether they be physical, emotional, or metaphysical. It appears in contexts where a character defies an overpowering presence or resists an inevitable fate, as in a defiant challenge to divine judgment ([1], [2], [3]) and in the struggle to overcome internal barriers like temptation or sorrow ([4], [5], [6]). It also conveys the idea of enduring the relentless pressures of nature or war ([7], [8], [9]), while in mythic and epic narratives it often illustrates heroic resilience in the face of insurmountable odds ([10], [11], [12]). Even in more technical discourse, the term signifies the capacity to bear stress or pressure, underscoring its multifaceted role in capturing the notion of unwavering durability and resistance ([13], [14]).
  1. and who is that shepherd that can withstand my countenance?
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  2. Therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and supplication for them: and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  3. If then God gave them the same grace as to us also who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ: who was I, that could withstand God?
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  4. “Perhaps I feel it as much as you do, but it is my belief that it is only hard to withstand temptation at first.
    — from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
  5. Human nature could not withstand these bewildering temptations.
    — from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
  6. She had not foreseen anything of this, and her feelings could seldom withstand the melancholy influence of the word “last.”
    — from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
  7. What ship could withstand a collision with his underwater Monitor ?
    — from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne
  8. And I find that several species in this state withstand uninjured an immersion in sea-water during seven days.
    — from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
  9. Calculate, then, how much resistance of bone structure and strength of constitution they'd need in order to withstand such pressures!"
    — from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne
  10. O, if he would my will withstand When banished from his home and land, This were a comfort in my woe; But he will ne'er do this, I know.
    — from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki
  11. Then Níla with his fist he slew, And Śarabh with his knee o'erthrew, Nor could Gaváksha's strength withstand The force of his terrific hand.
    — from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki
  12. But long thou shalt not thy just fate withstand, If any power assist Achilles' hand.
    — from The Iliad by Homer
  13. Strong enough to withstand much higher pressures than that at which it is worked; (2) so designed as to burn its fuel to the greatest advantage.
    — from How it Works by Archibald Williams
  14. Both of these juices withstand heat remarkably well.
    — from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess

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