Wandering Through Chapter 3 - More About Alcoholism
Chapter 3 - page 34
scant
"If he is a real alcoholic and very far advanced, there is scant chance of success."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 34
In this sentence the word scant functions as an adjective. 2
Scant means barely sufficient, inadequate, or limited in amount. In the context of the paragraph, a real alcoholic trying not to drink for an entire year is highly unlikely to happen.
Definition is from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
resolutions
"Some will be drunk the day after making their resolutions; most of them within a few weeks."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 34
In this sentence the word resolutions functions as a noun. 2
"Making a resolution is making a firm decision to do or not to do something. Synonyms for the word resolutions are pledge or intentions.
Definition is from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
baffling, utter, inability, necessity
"This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it--this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - page 34
In this sentence the words baffling and utter function as adjectives. The words inability and necessity function as nouns. 2
Definitions are from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
Chapter 3 - the sentence below spans pages 34-35
fraternity
"The experiment of quitting for a period of time will be helpful, but we think we can render an even greater service to alcoholic sufferers
and perhaps to the medical fraternity."
1
Big Book - More About Alcoholism - sentence spans pages 34-35
In this sentence the word fraternity functions as a noun. 2
In this sentence "medical fraternity," refers to the entire medical profession (doctors, researchers, and practitioners) as a unified body.
Definition is from Webster's 1930 edition. 3
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Footnotes for page 34
1Quotes from the Big Book on listed on this page are from the public domain version, in the United States, of the 2nd edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Accessible at 12step.org
2Sentence diagramming, to determine the word usage within the sentence, was performed by CoreNLP at corenlp.run.
3Definitions used are from the Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language 1930 Edition. Access to this dictionary online is at Hathitrust.org