"Loose end" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... or twenty. I know it's a big one. One of our men— Dilloo, I think it was—saw him one day ashore. Look here, old chap, tell you what. We'll get some of the fellows to lend us a rope with a loose end, and a hook, and we'll set a night-line for the beggar, and catch ...
— The Rajah of Dah • George Manville Fenn
... gone, and Barrington was alone, staring at the doorway through which she had passed. A tangle of thoughts was in his brain, one loose end uppermost. He had not moved ...
— The Light That Lures • Percy Brebner
... one's time, take one's leisure, take one's ease; repose &c 687; move slowly &c 275; while away the time &c (inaction) 681; be master of one's time, be an idle man. Adj. leisure, leisurely; slow &c 275; deliberate, quiet, calm, undisturbed; at leisure, at one's ease, at loose ends, at a loose end. Adv. unhurriedly, deliberately, without undue haste; anytime. Phr. time hanging heavy on one's hands; eile mit ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget
... anchor and began hauling in. The rope came in gaily, but not the "Eliza." She danced merrily cut to sea in a straight line for the North Pole, with the six brown- paper parcels on board, leaving her poor custodian to console himself as best he could with a loose end of rope, which had never been ...
— Parkhurst Boys - And Other Stories of School Life • Talbot Baines Reed
... George Hargreave, came out of the Army after the Armistice, I found myself, like many hundreds of other ex-officers, completely at a loose end, without a shilling in the world over and above the gratuity of between two and three hundred pounds to which my period ...
— The Golden Face - A Great 'Crook' Romance • William Le Queux
... this. With Cicely so meek and quiet, however, and his indignation against her, already weakened by having been spread over a fortnight, having now entirely evaporated by being expressed, as his indignation generally did evaporate, he had arrived somehow at a loose end. He looked at his daughter for the first time with some affection, and noticed that she was pale, ...
— The Squire's Daughter - Being the First Book in the Chronicles of the Clintons • Archibald Marshall
... his own hat off with the loose end of the reins. It fell under the wheels. He cast one look behind, to satisfy himself that it had been very thoroughly run over and crushed into the dirt, and left it to ...
— The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.) • Various
... his strange appearance, Captain Flint sat perched upon his shoulder and gabbled odds and ends of purposeless sea-talk. I had a line about my waist, and followed obediently after the sea-cook, who held the loose end of the rope, now in his free hand, now between his powerful teeth. For all the world, I was ...
— Treasure Island • Robert Louis Stevenson
... been ready to fall in love with any pretty thing in petticoats that seemed to promise you three ha'porth of kindness. A lost dog looking for a master! You're a stray man looking for a mistress. Miss Grammont being a woman is a little more selective than that. But if she's at a loose end as I suppose, she isn't protected by the sense of having made her selection. And she has no preconceptions of what she wants. You are a very interesting man in many ways. You carry marriage and entanglements lightly. With an air of being neither married nor entangled. She is quite prepared ...
— The Secret Places of the Heart • H. G. Wells
... Ed Austin's death, the more certain he became that it was in some way connected with Alaire's disappearance; and the loose end by which the tangle might be unraveled, it seemed to him, lay in the hands of Rosa Morales, Jose's sweetheart. That Sanchez was the murderer Dave now had little doubt; but since the chance of apprehending ...
— Heart of the Sunset • Rex Beach
... in an easy-chair, with his hands clasped behind his head. "No, I haven't found any will, and there's not a corner left that I haven't turned inside out. I suppose he never really made it. Just talked about it, probably, as people are so fond of doing. And now I'm at a loose end; all alone in this big house with no one to speak to and nothing to do with myself. It's a beast of a day, or I should go out and try for a salmon, in self-defence. To-morrow I shall go South. And you, have you found out anything ...
— The Ashiel mystery - A Detective Story • Mrs. Charles Bryce
... religion, I have felt enthusiasm waning. These weeks past I have contemplated return without visiting Mecca at all. I have wandered to and fro, hoping for the fervor back again, yet finding none. And now, sahib, I find you—I, Rustum Khan, at a loose end for lack of inspiration. I have prayed. Colonel sahib bahadur, I believe thou art the ...
— The Eye of Zeitoon • Talbot Mundy
... cautiously, striving to adapt his actions to the swing of the boat. The line was ready coiled to hand and he tossed the loose end overboard, to feel the cord jerk taut as one of the dolphins caught ...
— Key Out of Time • Andre Alice Norton
... drags, the hook caught the latter, and I pulled it up into the tree, taking the whole of it in until I held the loose end in my hands. The other end I permitted to remain as it was; I saw it was securely knotted around the trunk, and that ...
— The Hunters' Feast - Conversations Around the Camp Fire • Mayne Reid
... older and I seem to be at a loose end. D'you know I'm on the verge of thirty-seven—and I have no definite career? I'm rather tired ...
— Mrs. Warren's Daughter - A Story of the Woman's Movement • Sir Harry Johnston
... There must be some pore delooded fool in this State hez a right to the loose end o' your hitchin'-strap. I'm blame sorry fer him, but he shall hev his rights when we're through ...
— The Day's Work, Volume 1 • Rudyard Kipling
... the desk the reddish roll which he had brought into the room with him, he sent the loose end of it wheeling across the floor, until it lay, fully outspread. In black letters against red, the legend glared and blared ...
— Average Jones • Samuel Hopkins Adams
... up the lamp, Paul replaced it on his cap, and doubling his line, made one end of it fast to an old timber prop or support of the gangway roof that stood a short distance from the shaft. Knotting the loose end about his body, and bidding the boys place one of the old logs close to the edge of the shaft and hold it there to prevent the rope from being chafed or cut, the brave little hump-backed lad, who, like most of those in his condition, was unusually strong ...
— Derrick Sterling - A Story of the Mines • Kirk Munroe
... Pol-de-Leon and Treguier in Brittany, neither of which is on a railway, whereas St. Die is, but at the very end. When you get there and want to go on, not back, you simply journey on foot, or awheel if you can find a conveyance, and take up with another "loose end" of railway some fifteen miles away, which will take you southward, should you be going that way. If not, there appears to be nothing for it, but to retrace ...
— The Cathedrals of Northern France • Francis Miltoun
... of the string to the nail. Set the pail on the floor. Pass the string through the handle of the pail and up over the spool (Fig. 33). Pull down on the loose end of the string. Is the pail easier to lift in this way or in the way you first tried? As you pull down with your hand, notice whether your hand moves farther than the pail, not so far as the pail, or the same distance. Is the greater ...
— Common Science • Carleton W. Washburne
... lay them around the piles," the young sea-king shouted; and the half-naked rowers, unshipping their oars, reached out under the roofs and passed the stout cables twice around the wooden supports of the bridge. The loose end was made fast at the stern of each vessel, and then, turning and heading down stream, King Olaf's twenty stout ...
— The Junior Classics • Various
... Ren whirled on, and the driver shook the reins and thought only of Bergen. He struck the White Steed with the loose end of the rope. The Buk gave three great snorts and three great bounds, then faster went, and as they passed by Dyrskaur, where the Giant sits on the edge, his head was muffled in scud, which means that a storm is coming. The Storbuk ...
— Animal Heroes • Ernest Thompson Seton
... the word three. At the last sound of the word three, he slips the rope smartly over the bough of the tree and descends smartly to the ground, landing on the balls of his feet and coming to attention. At the word four, the remainder seize the loose end of the rope, being careful to hold it in such a way that the fakir has a chance to breathe. And at the last sound of the word five, you haul all together, lifting the fakir off the ground, and keeping him so until ...
— Told in the East • Talbot Mundy
... lorries!" And he explained that by a charming accident he had disposed of them to a chance buyer in Hanbridge, just before starting for Birmingham. So he had telephoned to Birmingham that the matter was 'off,' and then, being 'at a loose end,' he had come over to Bursley in search of his betrothed. At Holl's shop they had told him that she was with Mrs. Povey. Constance glanced at him, impressed by his jolly air of success. He seemed exactly like his breezy and self-confident advertisements in the Signal. He was absolutely ...
— The Old Wives' Tale • Arnold Bennett
... bottom of the remaining pile and drew out a coiled strip of leather many yards in length, ending in a noose,—a tough, well-seasoned lasso, looking as if it had seen service and was none the worse for it. He uncoiled a few yards of this and fastened it to the knob of a door. Then he threw the loose end out of the window so that it should hang by the open casement of Elsie's room. By this he let himself down opposite her window, and with a slight effort swung himself inside the room. He lighted a match, found a candle, and, having lighted that, looked curiously about him, ...
— Elsie Venner • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
... time I could see nothing of the two men. Next, in the light flashed from the stick, I guessed that Mr. Pike was in pursuit of the thing. He evidently must have captured it at the rail against the starboard rigging and caught a turn around it with a loose end of rope. As the vessel rolled to windward some sort of a struggle seemed to be going on. The second mate sprang to the mate's assistance, and, together, with more loose ends, they seemed ...
— The Mutiny of the Elsinore • Jack London
... dug one spur into the pole and started climbing upward, dragging his improvised car with him, together with the loose end of the ...
— The Brighton Boys in the Radio Service • James R. Driscoll
... always does smile when apparently at a loose end. At moments when most cross-examiners would browbeat he grows sympathetic—humours his man, and, by following whatever detour offers, gets back ...
— Affair in Araby • Talbot Mundy
... person or thing associated with it. But it is the astral senses which are employed in describing either the past environment of the thing, or else the present or past doings of the person in question, etc. In short, the object is merely the loose end of the psychic ball of twine which the psychometrist proceeds to wind or unwind at will. Psychometry is merely one form of astral seeing; just as is ...
— Clairvoyance and Occult Powers • Swami Panchadasi
... humour of it. But a little detail like that wouldn't deter Alex. It will be an interest for the summer, she's always rather at a loose end when there's no hunting. She had taken up this socialistic business very thoroughly, organizing meetings and lectures. A completely new scheme for the upbringing of children seems to be a special sideline of the ...
— The Shadow of the East • E. M. Hull
... with a sharp knife Into rectangular pieces about 4 inches long and 2-1/2 inches wide and each one of these pieces then cut lengthwise into three strips attached at one end. When cut in this way, the strips are braided and then pinched together at the loose end. Or, the pieces may be made 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, cut into two strips attached at one end, and the strips then twisted around each other and pinched together ...
— Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4 • Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
... that Tony found him an hour later when he strolled into the salle, looking somewhat at a loose end ...
— The Vision of Desire • Margaret Pedler
... fine flat-headed brads 7/8 in. long. These ribs are spaced 1 ft. apart and extend 1 ft. beyond the rear edges of the main frames, as shown in Fig. 1. After nailing one end of a rib to the front long beam, the rib is arched by springing down the loose end and nailing to the rear beam. The ribs should have a curve as shown in Fig. 2, the amount of curvature being the same in all ...
— The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 - 700 Things For Boys To Do • Popular Mechanics
... no woman would undertake the responsibility of human life like that," Bess answered as she tucked in a loose end of ...
— The Golden Bird • Maria Thompson Daviess
... meanwhile, had taken the receiver from the telephone. Scotty strung yards of wire around the room and handed the loose end to Rick. That was the antenna. Then Scotty scraped a bright place on a water pipe with his knife and twisted a length of wire tightly around it. That ...
— The Blue Ghost Mystery • Harold Leland Goodwin
... wide and eight yards long; for the fingers, three-quarters of an inch wide and three yards long. The bandage may be rolled on itself till it is as large as the finger, and then rolled down the front of the thigh, with the palm of the right hand, while the loose end is held taut in the ...
— The Home Medical Library, Volume I (of VI) • Various
... could speak, he had walked boldly to the tree. Baree did not turn his head—did not for an instant take his eye from Thoreau. There came the click of the snap that fastened the chain around the body of the spruce, and David stood with the loose end of the chain in ...
— The Courage of Marge O'Doone • James Oliver Curwood
... brisk, I wouldn't maybe argue it, but 'hard' I'd argue," and Pemberton said agreeably, "Why, when you put it that way, you're right, not but the meaning was good, ain't a doubt of it;" and Uncle Abimelech, getting hold of a loose end in his ...
— The Belted Seas • Arthur Colton
... and warm. The green-crested pewee builds its nest in many instances wholly of the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss and lichens on a horizontal branch. There is never a loose end or shred about it. The sitting bird is largely visible above the rim. She moves her head freely about and seems entirely at her ease,—a circumstance which I have never observed in any other species. The nest of the great-crested flycatcher is seldom free from snake skins, three ...
— Wake-Robin • John Burroughs
... you do next?" Fred asked him before be had recovered breath enough to question us. "I suppose the Germans had you at a loose end?" ...
— The Ivory Trail • Talbot Mundy
... this must be what the writer fellows meant. He had happened upon one of those delightful friendships without any suspicion of sex in them of which the American girl had the monopoly. Yes, that must be it. It was a comforting explanation. It accounted for his feeling at a loose end whenever he was away from Elizabeth for as much as half an hour. It accounted for the fact that they understood each other so well. It accounted for everything so satisfactorily that he was able to get to sleep ...
— Uneasy Money • P.G. Wodehouse
... spare end, with an inward fold, over the little pile of belongings, and then roll the whole to the other end, using your knees and judgment to make the swag tight, compact and artistic; when within eighteen inches of the loose end take an inward fold in that, and bring it up against the body of the swag. There is a strong suggestion of a roley-poley in a rag about the business, only the ends of the swag are folded in, in rings, and not 'tied. Fasten the swag ...
— Children of the Bush • Henry Lawson
... sure. We were awfully worried about him after the war. He was all at a loose end without anything to do. And dreadfully restless. We thought he'd never settle to anything again. And I was afraid he'd ...
— Anne Severn and the Fieldings • May Sinclair
... think as she isn't full-growed. But about Mr. Tom, Miss," said Bob, speaking lower and looking serious, "he's as close as a iron biler, he is; but I'm a 'cutish chap, an' when I've left off carrying my pack, an' am at a loose end, I've got more brains nor I know what to do wi', an' I'm forced to busy myself wi' other folks's insides. An' it worrets me as Mr. Tom'll sit by himself so glumpish, a-knittin' his brow, an' a-lookin' at the fire of a night. He should be a bit livelier ...
— The Mill on the Floss • George Eliot
... thoughtful interest in a trifle. He pauses to note the number of the sparrows, as thick as leaves upon the trees. He carefully unfolds his cloak, gives the loose end a little shake, and casts it skilfully over his shoulder, so that it falls across his back, and, hanging there, displays the bright lining. He pauses to watch the result of an infantile accident. The baby picks itself up and brushes the dust from its diminutive frock with all the earnestness ...
— The Grey Lady • Henry Seton Merriman
... snarled the man, in his best awe-inspiring tone. And in that instant the wire-bound rhinoceros-hide whistled down across Finn's face, cutting him almost as painfully as the hot iron was wont to sear him. He snarled ferociously. Down came the lash again, and this time a loose end of wire stabbed the corner of one of his eyes. The next instant saw the Professor flung back at length against the bars of the cage; and in his face he felt Finn's breath, and heard and saw the flashing, clashing gleam of Finn's white fangs. Sam thrust the ...
— Finn The Wolfhound • A. J. Dawson
... "School of Nature Study," the birds should have untied and unsnarled the strings in a human way, but they did not; they simply tugged at them, bringing their weight to bear, and tried to fly away with the loose end. ...
— Ways of Nature • John Burroughs
... thing happened. As the loose end of the main line trailed along, it whipped against a line of telegraph wires with such violence as to wind itself around the wires again and again, just as a whip-lash winds round a hitching-post when whipped against ...
— McClure's Magazine, March, 1896, Vol. VI., No. 4. • Various
... clattering hansoms rang excitedly in his ears. He felt that he was touching the points of a thousand quick romances. The flash of a smile, a quick step, were enough to make him press on eagerly in the possibility that it was here, perhaps, the loose end of his own life ...
— The Web of the Golden Spider • Frederick Orin Bartlett
... battered old man of thirty-five," said he, "and I know what I am talking about. If you think you are going to wander at a loose end about Europe without men paying you compliments and falling in love with you and making themselves generally delightful, you're traveling under ...
— Septimus • William J. Locke
... sawdust, which was sprinkled over the larvae. I had made a partition of a bit of a British officer's tent which I had used in India and China, made of several layers of colored canvas and cloth. The ants found a loose end of this, teased it out and unraveled it, so that all the larvae near by were blanketed with a gay, parti-colored covering ...
— Edge of the Jungle • William Beebe |
