It is a phrase as arresting as a magician's gesture, with a piquant turn of harmony giving an effect of strangeness.

He knew instinctively that next to voice and face an actor's hands are his most useful possession -- that in fiction as in the theatre, gesture is an indispensable shorthand for individualizing character and dramatizing action and response.

Incidentally, one cannot miss the significance of this gesture, for Dickens reintroduces it associatively in Pip's mind at another moral and psychological crisis -- his painful recognition, in a talk with Herbert Pocket, that his hopeless attachment to Estella is as self-destructive as it is romantic.

We are not certain that the word " democracy " was extant when systems that came to be called democratic were first instituted, but around 460 BC an individual is known whose parents had decided to name him ' Democrates ', a name which may have been manufactured as a gesture of democratic loyalty ; the name can also be found in Aeolian Temnus, not a particularly democratic state.

On the matter of American annexation, Carnegie had always thought it is an unwise gesture for the United States.

The Piano Sonata is an example — the whole composition is derived from the work's opening quartal gesture and its opening phrase.

The first player's bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack ; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own ; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl.

A code is a rule for converting a piece of information ( for example, a letter, word, phrase, or gesture ) into another form or representation ( one sign into another sign ), not necessarily of the same type.

In one dialogue, Rabelais speaks of coprophagia as a Christian gesture, saying that monks swallow the shit of the world, that is the sins, and for this they are ostracized by society.

Derrida states that deconstruction is an " antistructuralist gesture " because " Structures were to be undone, decomposed, desedimented.

" At the same time for Derrida deconstruction is also a " structuralist gesture " because it is concerned with the structure of texts.

" As both a structuralist and an antistructuralist gesture deconstruction is tied up with what Derrida calls the " structural problematic.

The clarinet gesture that opens Rhapsody in Blue could likewise be thought of either way: it was originally planned as a glissando ( Gershwin's score labels each individual note ) but is in practice played as a portamento though described as a glissando.

Fox is described by Ellwood as " graceful in countenance, manly in personage, grave in gesture, courteous in conversation ".

In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group.

This gesture is believed to have led Clark to the idea of making the rose the race's official flower.

Responding to the announcement, opposition leader Walid Jumblatt said that he wanted to hear more specifics from Damascus about any withdrawal: " It's a nice gesture but ' next few months ' is quite vague – we need a clear-cut timetable ".

The proximal, inner arm of each player ( the arm that is closest to the board ) is raised in a speaking gesture ; the distal, outside arms of the players are also raised and are bent at the elbows, creating a partial crossing of each player ’ s torso as the hands lift in speaking gestures.

The first is a ritual designed for the individual, which involves sacrificing a " Cake of Light " ( a type of bread that serves as the host ) to Ra ( i. e. the Sun ) and infusing a second Cake with the adept's own blood ( either real or symbolic, in a gesture reflecting the myth of the Pelican cutting its own breast to feed its young ) and then consuming it with the words, " There is no grace: there is no guilt: This is the Law: Do what thou wilt!

" Videotapes of the incident are inconclusive as to whether Mason's upswept hand was intended to be an indecent gesture ( as Mason's fingers are just barely off-camera ), but Sullivan's body language immediately afterward made it clear that he was convinced of it, despite Mason's panic-stricken denials later, claiming that he did not know what the " middle finger " meant, and that he did not make the gesture anyways.

It is not that this gesture is meant to make Hesiod a king.

Blowing a raspberry can also be meant as a gesture of derision.

The middle finger originated in Classical antiquity, where the gesture was used as a symbol of anal intercourse in a manner meant to degrade, intimidate and threaten the individual receiving the gesture.

The North Koreans, ignorant of what the gesture meant, were at first told by the prisoners that it was a " Hawaiian Good Luck Sign ", similar to " hang loose ".

He did not gesture often but, when he did, it meant everything.

When Stauffenberg was about to be shot, in a last gesture of loyalty and defiance, Haeften placed himself in the path of the bullets meant for Stauffenberg.

This symbolic gesture was meant to prevent another bloody gang war such as the Castellammarese War of 1930-1931.

But it was an important symbolic gesture meant to demonstrate the resolve of the Yushchenko campaign not to accept the compromised election results.

In 1614 Sultan Ahmed I wrote Sigismund III that he was sending Ahmed Pasha to punish “ those bandits ”, that this was not meant as a gesture of hostility to the Commonwealth, and that he asked of him not to be a host to fugitives ; Ahmed Pasha wrote hetman Żółkiewski asking for cooperation.

This is a munificent gesture meant to raise funds for its artificial kidneys for its patients.

The commentator strains to approximate the knight's gesture of the absurd, yet lacking faith, he is forbidden to effectuate the transcendent leap.

This derives from a gesture in which the square shape is made by putting together an " L " made with the left thumb and index finger and a " 7 " made with the right thumb and index finger.

Page is commonly associated with the " Self High Five " as well as the " Diamond Cutter " symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion.

A lady, you made clear to me both by precept and example, never raised her voice or slumped in her chair, never failed in social tact ( in heaven, for instance, would not mention St. John the Baptist's head ), never pouted or withdrew or scandalized in company, never reminded others of her physical presence by unseemly sound or gesture, never indulged in public scenes or private confidences, never spoke of money save in terms of alleviating suffering, never gossiped or maligned, never stressed but always minimized the hopelessness of anything from sin to death itself.

He looked disapprovingly at an ash tray piled high with cigarette stubs, shook his head, and moved his hand back and forth in a strong negative gesture.

For example, in certain ceremonies, a person would perform a sequence of three sets of three kowtows-stand up and kneel down again between each set-as an extreme gesture of respect ; hence the term three kneelings and nine head knockings ().

When Rex Ryan became New York's head coach, there was an increased war of words between the clubs culminating with Ryan flashing an obscene gesture to heckling Dolphins fans in January 2010.

Andre Previn said, " You know, Stan Kenton can stand in front of a thousand fiddles and a thousand brass and make a dramatic gesture and every studio arranger can nod his head and say, ‘‘ Oh, yes, that ’ s done like this .’’ But Duke merely lifts his finger, three horns make a sound, and I don ’ t know what it is!

* Bowing, to lower the head or upper body as a social gesture

The Emperor confirmed the privileges of the Holy See as head of the Catholic Church and sent to Rome a codex of the Gospels in a cover of gold richly ornamented with precious stones as a good-will gesture.

Vase-painters, when illustrating the birth of Athena from Zeus ' head, may show two assisting Eileithyiai, with their hands raised in the epiphany gesture.

During the 14th century Shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility ( as well as to make a noble gesture to whomever might take his head in battle ).

Ancient Roman bronze statuette of a priest, his capite velato | head ritually covered, extending a patera in a gesture of libation

Lü Bu betrayed and killed Ding Yuan, severed Ding's head and presented it to Dong Zhuo as a gesture of allegiance.

The then head of the Leningrad Philharmonic, Mikhail Chulaki, recalls that certain authorities bristled at Mravinsky's gesture of lifting the score above his head to the cheering audience, and a subsequent performance was attended by two plainly hostile officials, V. N.

In 1833 the Light Company of the 46th Regiment were authorised to wear red cap distinctions instead of the regulation Light Infantry green, apparently in commemoration of this gesture, and in 1934 The Royal Berkshire Regiment, which carried on the traditions of the 49th Foot, were authorised to wear a red distinction in their head dress although, misleadingly, this was granted ' to commemorate the role of the Light Company at the battle of Brandywine Creek '.

Generally the salutation involves a prayer-like gesture with the hands, similar to the Añjali Mudrā of the Indian subcontinent, and it also may include a slight bow of the head.

Bowing ( also called stooping ) is the act of lowering the torso and head as a social gesture in direction to another person or symbol.

Sometimes the gesture may be limited to lowering the head such as in Indonesia.

* Nod ( gesture ), a head gesture

When it was over, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son.

Stereotypies ( repetitive purposeless movements such a rocking or head banging ) or mannerisms ( repetitive quasi-purposeful abnormal movements such as a gesture or abnormal gait ) may be a feature of chronic schizophrenia or autism.

The high five is a celebratory hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand, about head high, and push, slide or slap the flat of their palm and hand against the palm and flat hand of their partner.

In the most demonstrative gesture of affection to date, the father places a hand on his son ’ s head.

The veneration of the feet of gurus or deities were commonplace in ancient India, placing one's head at or under their feet being a ritual gesture declaring a hierarchy.