Free TranslationFree Translation
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'



Tempt   /tɛmpt/   Listen
Tempt

verb
(past & past part. tempted; pres. part. tempting)
1.
Dispose or incline or entice to.  Synonym: allure.
2.
Provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion.  Synonyms: entice, lure.
3.
Give rise to a desire by being attractive or inviting.  Synonym: invite.
4.
Induce into action by using one's charm.  Synonyms: charm, influence.
5.
Try to seduce.
6.
Try presumptuously.



Related searches:



WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Tempt" Quotes from Famous Books



... your crushed spirit as beyond the nature, the endurance of woman to bear, resolve to bear them; fall down upon your knees, and pray to be enabled to bear them—pray for patience—pray for strength to resist the demon that would tempt you to escape; bear unto death, rather than forfeit your fair name and your good conscience; for be assured that the alternative, if you do rush on to it, will be ...
— East Lynne • Mrs. Henry Wood

... moment, and his honest heart recoiled from the thought: not even for Lady Florimel could he consent to be the son of that woman! Yet the thought, especially in Lady Florimel's presence, would return, would linger, would whisper, would tempt. ...
— Malcolm • George MacDonald

... precisely so with our cuffs and collars. We sell them so cheaply that some people wear three or four a day, while a careful person would make one suffice. When the collar was attached to the shirt, it served for a much longer time; what but cheapness and convenience can tempt to such wastefulness now? My family, at least the female portion, use these articles about as extravagantly, and I think your whole sex must be equally fond of indulging in the same lavish use of them,—otherwise the ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 90, April, 1865 • Various

... at foot; tempt him with speed abroad, Delay it not; I'll have him hence to-night; Away! for everything is sealed and done That else leans on the affair; ...
— Shakspere, Personal Recollections • John A. Joyce

... She tried to tempt the poor gaunt cat into her arms, meaning to carry it home and befriend it; but it was scared by her endeavour and ran back to its home in the outhouse, making a green path across the white dew of the meadow. Then Sylvia began to hasten home, thinking, and remembering—at the stile that led ...
— Sylvia's Lovers, Vol. III • Elizabeth Gaskell

... and publisher) was to "show vice and deception in all their real deformity, and not by painting in glowing colours the fascinating allurements, the mischievous frolics and vicious habits of the profligate, the heedless, and the debauchee, tempt youth to commit those irregularities which often lead to dangerous consequences, not only to themselves but also to the public." This shot of course was aimed at Pierce Egan, who, engaged at that time in bringing out the "Finish," not unnaturally considered these "Doings" ...
— English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century. - How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times. • Graham Everitt

... proper horrors!... Were my pain A single atom greater—were my soul A single breath more weary—I would come. But now I must confront the winds of heaven Still master of my destinies.... To the last, Not in such tomb-world can my spirit rest. No golden clouds that throng Nirvana's gates Shall tempt me there to enter and resign My right to strain beyond all gates that be.... But ...
— Mr. Faust • Arthur Davison Ficke

... fairy, elf, or fiend, Satyr, or other power, that haunts the groves, Shall hurt my body, or by vain illusion Draw me to wander after idle fires, Or voices calling me in dead of night To make me follow, and so tempt me on Through mire and standing pools to find my swain Else why should this rough thing, who never knew Manners nor smooth humanity, whose herds Are rougher than himself, and more misshapen, Thus mildly kneel ...
— Jesse Cliffe • Mary Russell Mitford

... have much to do with this stage effect, and even aid the strong excitement of conflicting passions which pervades every act. Its representation is a scene-shifting, fidgeting business, but its charms tempt us almost invariably to sit ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. 19. No. 534 - 18 Feb 1832 • Various

... the cloudy lilac-tree, Out at the garden-gate, We stole, a little band of three, To tempt our fairy fate. There was no human eye to see, No voice to bid us wait; The gardener had gone home to tea, The hour was ...
— Collected Poems - Volume One (of 2) • Alfred Noyes

... publishers, including Canton, who had once refused the Frog story by omitting it from Artemus Ward's book. It seems curious that Canton should make a second mistake and refuse it again, but publishers were wary in those days, and even the newspaper success of the Frog story did not tempt him to venture it as the title tale of a book. Webb finally declared he would publish the book himself, and Clemens, after a few weeks of New York, joined his mother and family in St. Louis and gave himself ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... saw the water racing below—she saw a wave leap up—she felt it touch her foot with its feathery head, gently, beneficently, and yet traitorously; for how quickly would it quench the lives that it seemed to tempt from the flames! ...
— Dan Merrithew • Lawrence Perry

... such number of men as could be fairly well mounted from the few horses not sent back to Arbuckle. At first I was inclined to disapprove Custer's proposition, but he urged it so strongly that I finally consented, though with some misgivings, for I feared that so small a party might tempt the Cheyennes to forget their pacific professions and seek to avenge the destruction of Black Kettle's band. However, after obtaining my approval, Custer, with characteristic energy, made his preparations, and started with three or four officers and forty picked men, ...
— The Memoirs of General P. H. Sheridan, Complete • General Philip Henry Sheridan

... "Don't tempt me, Mr. Parr!" he said. "Now that I know the truth, I tell you frankly I would face poverty and persecution rather than consent to your offer. And I warn you once more not to flatter yourself that existence ends ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... here. You need freshening up.—Or if not Paris—Paris isn't a necessity—we'll go down by Munich and the Brenner to Italy, and I'll be cicerone. I'll act as banker, too, and you can regard it as a loan in the meantime, and pay me back when you're richer.—Now what do you say? Doesn't the plan tempt you?" ...
— Maurice Guest • Henry Handel Richardson

... comfort, is advantageous just so far as these allow man freedom and aid to pursue the mental and moral line which is the only true path left open to him. But when even these are allowed to minister only to the animal, or to tempt to luxurious ease and indifference to any higher aims, in a word, in so far as they fail to minister to mental and moral advancement, they are in great danger of becoming, if they have not already become, a curse rather than a blessing. And we all know that this has ...
— The Whence and the Whither of Man • John Mason Tyler

... the matter of your affections," Sir Charles went on, his voice deepening. "As you value your career, the pride of your intellect,—yes—and the pride of your manhood itself, let nothing feminine tempt you to be unfaithful to your choice. Tempt you to be of two minds, to turn aside, to turn back. For, so surely as you do, you will find the hell of disappointment, the hell of failure and regret, waiting wide-mouthed to swallow ...
— Deadham Hard • Lucas Malet

... as a suitor craving thy daughter's hand.' 'If he say to thee, 'Thou hast neither cash nor rank nor family'; pull out a thousand dinars and give them to him, and if he ask more, give him more and tempt him with money.' Whereto I replied, 'To hear is to obey; I will do thy bidding, Inshallah!' So on the next morning I donned my richest clothes, mounted my she mule with trappings of gold and rode to the Haymarket ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4 • Richard F. Burton

... But with more lucky hit than those That use to make the stars depose, Like Knights o' th' post, and falsely charge Upon themselves what others forge: As if they were consenting to 585 All mischiefs in the world men do: Or, like the Devil, did tempt and sway 'em To rogueries, and then betray 'em. They'll search a planet's house, to know Who broke and robb'd a house below: 590 Examine VENUS, and the MOON, Who stole a thimble or a spoon; And tho' they nothing will confess, Yet by their very looks can guess, ...
— Hudibras • Samuel Butler

... to me. They called me "Scraps." Even Sister Giltner became offended, and was so for several months, till I was brought down in sickness, and then her good heart conquered, and she came to see me, bringing a load of delicacies to tempt and satisfy my appetite. The "scrap" at which she became offended was about this: Coming on the stage, the first scrap I took from the basket read: "We do not expect many compliments for this dish of scraps, especially from the young ladies of the boarding-house, as they are ...
— Autobiography of Frank G. Allen, Minister of the Gospel - and Selections from his Writings • Frank G. Allen

... my master was just then so full of his work and of the peril he ran, that I think he was all the better disposed to see one of his family thus provided for. Besides, he might safely reckon on the more work from me, when I should have naught to tempt me nightly from my case. As for my mistress, she was already making ready to take her younger children to visit a gossip of hers, one Mistress Crane; and it eased her of some little difficulty to find her party lightened by one for ...
— Sir Ludar - A Story of the Days of the Great Queen Bess • Talbot Baines Reed

... in Pete's hand before sending him away, besides some more food. And he might at the same time be given a hint that if he only headed directly south along the river, the sheriff would not be apt to follow him far, since he dared not tempt the terrible McGee by infringing on the territory of ...
— Chums in Dixie - or The Strange Cruise of a Motorboat • St. George Rathborne

... angel who is permitted to tempt mankind by teaching them magic; see the legend respecting ...
— Oriental Literature - The Literature of Arabia • Anonymous

... relinquished; and they constantly gained new privileges, as they were prepared to appreciate them, or as they were in danger of subjection by the governing classes. They never had the ascendency, but they enjoyed renewed and increasing power, until they were strong enough to tempt aristocratic demagogues and successful generals. When Caesar condescended to flatter the people, they had become a power, but a power incapable of holding its own, or using it for the welfare of ...
— The Old Roman World • John Lord

... it may be, a timely caution to them that think they stand upon their feet. Give not way to falling because everlasting arms are underneath, take heed of that: God can let thee fall into mischief, he can let thee fall, and not help thee up. Tempt not God, lest he cast thee away indeed. I doubt there are many that have presumed upon this mercy, that thus do couch beneath, and have cast themselves down from their pinnacles into vanity, of a vain conceit that they shall be lifted up again: whom yet God will leave to die there, because their ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan

... We may not be able to launch the bark of our affections on the ocean-tide of humanity, we may be forced to paddle along its shores, or shelter in its creeks and rivulets: but we have no right to reproach the bold and adventurous pilot, who dared us to tempt the uncertain abyss, with our own want of courage or of skill, or with the jealousies and impatience, which deter us from undertaking, or might prevent us from ...
— The Spirit of the Age - Contemporary Portraits • William Hazlitt

... for a while. Brutus was discovered, much to his annoyance, to have a saddle-raw, and was even so unjust as to lay the blame on me, though, for my own part, I thought it a mark of apt, though tardy, retribution. I was not disposed to tempt Fortune upon any other mount, but I could not keep away from the Row, nevertheless, and appeared there on foot. I saw Diana riding with the Colonel, who seemed to think his opportunity had come at last; but whenever ...
— The Talking Horse - And Other Tales • F. Anstey

... kissed her, drawing her to him almost fiercely. "Oh, girl!" he said, "why did you tempt me? I've forgotten what was due you as my guest. I've forgotten all that I've been remembering so carefully for weeks. Now it's over. Some day the right man will tell you how he ...
— Desert Conquest - or, Precious Waters • A. M. Chisholm

... the largest tributaries, flows from Wachusett Mountain, through Lancaster, Groton, and other towns, where it has formed well-known elm-shaded meadows, but near its mouth it is obstructed by falls and factories, and did not tempt us ...
— A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers • Henry David Thoreau

... and sent them to the southern departments of the Republic. The massacres, murders, and other atrocities which they committed show what the passions of the ablest men in the most civilized society will tempt them to do when wholly unrestrained ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson • James D. Richardson

... lady should happen to like you; suppose she should prefer you to all your sex, and admit you to the same familiarities as you might have hoped for if you had been born her equal, are you certain that no vanity could tempt you to discover her? Answer me honestly, Joseph; have you so much more sense and so much more virtue than you handsome young fellows generally have, who make no scruple of sacrificing our dear reputation to your pride, without considering the great obligation ...
— Joseph Andrews Vol. 1 • Henry Fielding

... "here are five bits of meat to tempt de hyena to come up to de trap. You go dere, you go dere, you go dere;" and we all, as he pointed out, went in different directions round the spot to some distance, and then dragged the tainted meat up towards the trap. "Now, ...
— In the Wilds of Africa • W.H.G. Kingston

... all our attention to the cottonwoods. It's a good thing we've got this creek with the high banks back of us. Now, we're in for a long wait. When warriors are besieging, they always try to wear out the patience of those they besiege and tempt 'em ...
— The Great Sioux Trail - A Story of Mountain and Plain • Joseph Altsheler

... the lip and distorted the perfect features of Isora. She remained silent for some moments, and then murmured, "My oath forbids me even that single answer: tempt me no more; now, and forever, I ...
— Devereux, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... who know how, 'if any power we have, it is to ill'; we who understand the weakness, the unaptness of our spirits to any good, and our strength for every vagrant evil that comes upon them to tempt them, should surely recognise as a Gospel in very deed that which proclaims to us that the 'everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,' who Himself 'fainteth not, neither is weary.' hath yet a loftier display of His strength-giving ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John • Alexander Maclaren

... it up to the withering glare of print: she herself, quoting an obscure maximmonger, says of these lapidary sentences, that they have merely 'the value of chalk-eggs, which lure the thinker to sit,' and tempt the vacuous to strain for the like, one might add; besides flattering the world to imagine itself richer than it is in eggs that are golden. Henry Wilmers notes a multitude of them. 'The talk fell upon our being creatures of habit, and how far it was good: She said:—It is there that we ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... go to you, and we will fly; but from this moment until then, let us not tempt providence, let us not see each other. It is a miracle, it is a providence that we have not been discovered. If we were surprised, if it were known that we met thus, we should have no ...
— The Count of Monte Cristo • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... impell'd by thirst of fame To seek in crimes the lustre of a name; Who the bright path of genuine greatness seek, But, having found it, take a course oblique, Where glittering rainbows rise from far, to cheat Their wondering eyes, and tempt their eager feet; And lead them forward o'er forbidden ground, } Where pleasures still decrease, and pains abound, } Till in a miry lake, or whelming torrent, drown'd. } Thus form'd by art, a fancied meteor flies On glowing wings, and sails along the skies, Shoots to the stars ...
— Gustavus Vasa - and other poems • W. S. Walker

... from to-day forth I know that is a shameful lie! If I had possessed their nature and claws, I should have sprung at the throat of this rascal, and torn out his windpipe; but, instead of that, I stood as if delighted with his degrading proposal! Oh, fie! the good-for-nothing kidnapper would tempt a poor creature! Let us wait, they will get their reward. He shall pay me the five hundred thalers, and then this trader of hearts shall recognize that, however much ill-earned money he may throw away, love and constancy are hot to be bought. ...
— Old Fritz and the New Era • Louise Muhlbach

... he said, "that I have been tempted, more than once. Not by the prospect of wealth or power—those cannot tempt me; but by the thought that, after subduing the world, I might 're-mould it nearer to the heart's desire.' And yet how vain to fancy that I or any man possesses the wisdom to do that! No; that cannot be. Each nation must shape its own destiny, as friends and brothers. It is for me to strike ...
— The Destroyer - A Tale of International Intrigue • Burton Egbert Stevenson

... mouse, its hair all wet and rumpled, crouched dumbly between the feet of its captor and would not run. Again and again the cat stirred it up, sniffing suspiciously to make sure it was not dead; then in a last effort to tempt it he deliberately lay over on his back and rolled, purring and closing his eyes luxuriously, until, despite its hurts, the mouse once more took to flight. Apparently unheeding, the cat lay inert, following its wobbly course with half-shut eyes—then, lithe as a panther, he ...
— Hidden Water • Dane Coolidge

... reasonable the explanation of them given by the country people in his time. They thought that the roads 'were designed for the chase, and that the terraces were made after the spots were cleared in lines from wood, in order to tempt the animals into the open paths after they were rouzed, in order that they might come within reach of the bowmen who might conceal themselves in the woods above ...
— Fragments of science, V. 1-2 • John Tyndall

... Panama and Colon, is only to be permitted to the permanent working staff of the Canal and to the military force in occupation. It should be added that the salaries of the American "gold employees," liberal though they may appear, do not tempt them to remain in service. One is astonished to learn that nearly half the American staff changes annually: young men come to acquire a little experience and save a little money, which may help them to a start in their own country. Service on the Canal works leads to no pension; and the ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 21 - The Recent Days (1910-1914) • Charles F. Horne, Editor

... resting in the shade. The Feringee approached and asked me to guide him to the river. I told him to pass on and not to disturb me. Then he stayed and talked and talked till I got tired and told him not to tempt me further; for I had never yet had such a chance to kill a white man. Still he annoyed me with his foolish talk until, weary of it, I led him away into the thickets to his death and won trophies ...
— The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier • Edgar Beecher Bronson

... and despondency may sometimes tempt us, thinking of slow advancement and of dying men who fade from the place of the living before the gradual light has reached their eyes, our duty is plain—to be sure that the word we carry cannot fail. You remember the old story how, when Jerusalem was in her hour of direst need, and the army of ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - St. Mark • Alexander Maclaren

... of Marius.] Marius did not live much longer. He had had his revenge. He had gained his seventh consulship. It is said that, telling his friends that after such vicissitudes it would be wrong to tempt fate further, he took to his bed and after seven days died. He drank hard, was seized with pleurisy, and in his last hours became delirious. He fancied that he was in Asia, and by shouts and gestures cheered on the army of his dreams, and with 'such a stern and iron-clashing close' died January ...
— The Gracchi Marius and Sulla - Epochs Of Ancient History • A.H. Beesley

... privileged one should have had occasion to feel slighted; and to have failed in courtesy to that countless host of wilderness imps and godlings, the Kini Akua,[28] mischievous and irreverent as the monkeys of India, would indeed have been to tempt a disaster. ...
— Unwritten Literature of Hawaii - The Sacred Songs of the Hula • Nathaniel Bright Emerson

... began, it was merged in the New York Mirror, of which Willis became associate editor, leaving his native city forever, and never forgiving its injustice towards him. In the heyday of his happy social career in England he wrote to his mother, "The mines of Golconda would not tempt me to return and live ...
— Literary and Social Essays • George William Curtis

... thou hast fail'd thy plighted word, To fight with caution, not to tempt the sword; I warn'd thee, but in vain, for well I knew What perils youthful ardour would pursue, That boiling blood would carry thee too far, Young as thou wert to dangers, raw to war. O curst essay ...
— Lives of the Poets, Vol. 1 • Samuel Johnson

... know it! I'm not a Spiritualist, I'm sure, and nothing would tempt me to be. But still that sort of reasoning has a flaw in it, hasn't it, dear? The King of ...
— Men, Women, and Ghosts • Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

... work, and might give them habits of industry. But in the years 1868 and 1869 the demand began, both in Queensland and Fiji, to increase beyond what could be supplied by willing labour, and the premium, 8 a head, on an able-bodied black, was sufficient to tempt the masters of small craft to obtain the desired article by all possible means. Neither in the colony nor in Fiji were the planters desirous of obtaining workers by foul means, but labour they must have, and they were willing to pay for it. Queensland, anxious to free herself from ...
— Life of John Coleridge Patteson • Charlotte M. Yonge

... going on, arose and fled. None of the three came back; for discretion is not absent from the African, and those whom Richard personally disposed of felt as might ones who had escaped from some malignant providence which they did not think it wise or fitting to further tempt. As for number three, he was pleased to find himself a block away, and did all he might to add to it, like a miser ...
— The President - A novel • Alfred Henry Lewis

... A place of rest and peace and joy. To forsake home is to despise bliss and accept woe. It is to reject felicity and receive sorrow. When God has been so kind as to furnish a peaceable, well-governed home, nothing should tempt the young to leave it. All that is necessary for pure pleasure can be found in the family circle. The unwary are sometimes induced to leave home through false representations, and a desire to gratify every earthly propensity. Idle curiosity may ...
— Gathering Jewels - The Secret of a Beautiful Life: In Memoriam of Mr. & Mrs. James Knowles. Selected from Their Diaries. • James Knowles and Matilda Darroch Knowles

... simple falsehood, uttered by hypocrisy; definite absurdity, rooted in affectation, and coldly asserted in the teeth of nature and fact. Passion will indeed go far in deceiving itself; but it must be a strong passion, not the simple wish of a lover to tempt his mistress to sing. Compare a very closely parallel passage in Wordsworth, in which the lover ...
— Selections From the Works of John Ruskin • John Ruskin

... them," said Faith, very decidedly; "but I do blame you, Mr. Denton; it was wicked of you to tempt them." ...
— For Gold or Soul? - The Story of a Great Department Store • Lurana W. Sheldon

... wolf would not have stood his ground had it been a man instead of two young women who were in face of him. Wolves are very cunning, and I know will attack a woman or child when they will fly from a man. Besides, it is very unusual for a wolf to remain till daylight, even when there is offal to tempt him. It was the offal, the animal's extreme hunger, and the attack of the dog—a combination of circumstances—which produced the event. I do not see that Martin can be blamed, ...
— The Settlers in Canada • Frederick Marryat

... used for the river aquarium, and having a clear bottom and a supply of good water, is now ready for planting. Many beautifully colored and delicately fringed Algae and Sea-Wracks will be found on the rocks at low tide, and will sadly tempt the enthusiast to consign their delicate hues to the aquarium. All such temptations must be resisted. Green is the only color well adapted for healthy and oxygenating growth in the new tank. A small selection of the purple or red varieties may ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 8, No. 47, September, 1861 • Various

... cruel he is! O how he tears the flesh of his enemies and crunches the bones! O how like the tiger and the leopard and the wolf and the bear he is! O, row row row row, how fond I am of him!' which might tempt the Society of Friends to charge at a hand-gallop into the Swartz-Kop location and exterminate ...
— Reprinted Pieces • Charles Dickens

... me; look at me. What haf I done? I haf betray my maestro—I haf betray my friends: this castle is took; my friends are run away, many of them dead; their bodies are over there—they are dead. Who kill them? I—I the traidor! I the Judas! I betray! And why? I betray—because you tempt me! Do you know that? You tempt me! You ask me to helpa you! you promise me all the world! I helpa you! I make mysef a traidor, and now it haf come ...
— A Castle in Spain - A Novel • James De Mille

... for I was reflecting that four shots, which was all we had, was not many, and that nothing should tempt me to waste one of them. Oh! why had Hans put on that rotten old waistcoat instead of the new one I gave ...
— Allan and the Holy Flower • H. Rider Haggard

... the several steps in that remarkable mental progress. Obviously, the thing is absurd; one might as reasonably say that contemplation of a pitted face will make a man go and catch smallpox, or the spectacle of an amputated limb on the scrap-heap of a hospital tempt him to cut off ...
— The Shadow On The Dial, and Other Essays - 1909 • Ambrose Bierce

... two of minor consequence, where some irremovable difference between them compelled some trifling variations. It was not a connection of domination on the one side and subordination on the other, where every concomitant circumstance might tempt the one to overbearing arrogance, while the other could not escape a feeling of humiliation. It was rather—to quote the eloquent peroration of Pitt, when, in the preceding year, he first introduced the subject to the consideration of the House of Commons—"a free and voluntary ...
— The Constitutional History of England From 1760 to 1860 • Charles Duke Yonge

... supreme command against the Romans. Of the internal condition of Parthia during this interval we have no account. Apparently, Orodes ruled quietly and peaceably, contenting himself with the glory which he had gained, and not anxious to tempt fortune by engaging in any fresh enterprise. It was no doubt a satisfaction to him to see the arms of the Romans, instead of being directed upon Asia, employed in intestine strife; and we can well understand that he might even deem ...
— The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 6. (of 7): Parthia • George Rawlinson

... if it were so much as guessed at, she should be exposed to the worst treatment, and punished as an enemy to the order of which she was a member. Louisa as often assured her that nothing should either tempt or provoke her to abuse that generous friendship she had testified for her; but as she was not able to command her countenance, tho' she could her words, she resolved to pretend herself indisposed and keep her bed, that she might ...
— The Fortunate Foundlings • Eliza Fowler Haywood

... her a service!" said Jasper with emphasis. "Nothing shall tempt me to desert Mabel Dunham until she is safe in her ...
— The Pathfinder - The Inland Sea • James Fenimore Cooper

... who were much enraged that Castruccio should have seized Pistoia during the truce, considered how they could tempt the city to rebel, to do which they thought would not be difficult in his absence. Among the exiled Pistoians in Florence were Baldo Cecchi and Jacopo Baldini, both men of leading and ready to face danger. ...
— The Prince • Niccolo Machiavelli

... our compact!' said Kendal. 'Remember you are to be the judge of our behaviour at the end. It is not the part of a judge to tempt those on whom he is to ...
— Miss Bretherton • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... above my necessary expenses, until I get one or two thousand dollars ahead, which shall be in five years. Then I will look out for a golden opportunity, such as Mervin has found. This agreement with myself I solemnly enter into in the sight of heaven, and nothing shall tempt me ...
— Words for the Wise • T. S. Arthur

... Tempt not devas' fiery vengeance on thy old heroic race, Tread not in the path of darkness, seek the path of ...
— Maha-bharata - The Epic of Ancient India Condensed into English Verse • Anonymous

... a breath of relief. The shaft had glanced off the armor of innocence without making the faintest dent. She rushed into the house. She did not dare trust herself with her cousin. What might the demon within her tempt ...
— Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise • David Graham Phillips

... it. From the new road one can look down upon the cluster of large buildings on the side of the mountain, but the old roads are so very steep, with such interesting names as "Devil's Elbow," and the like, that they would not tempt an automobile. Many with horses get out and ...
— Two Thousand Miles On An Automobile • Arthur Jerome Eddy

... exactly the eighth day since I left you. Our passage was pleasant, inasmuch as we had no storms, and the most obliging, attentive captain. I never met with more unremitted politeness. He was constantly endeavouring to tempt my appetite by all the delicacies in his own stores. To the child he proved an excellent nurse when I was fatigued and the rest sick. We are now in my father's town-house. Mrs. Allen had gone up the North River before my arrival; thus I have seen neither her nor her sons. John is to return ...
— Memoirs of Aaron Burr, Complete • Matthew L. Davis

... credited, the same voice, so neglected in one country, has in another had charms sufficient to make that crown sit easy on the head of a Monarch, which the jealousy of politicians (who had their views in his keeping it) fear'd, without some such extraordinary amusement, his Satiety of Empire might tempt him a ...
— The Palmy Days of Nance Oldfield • Edward Robins

... foliage has become scanty, and the nut-clusters hang fascinatingly clear, far above one's head, to tempt the climb and the club. The black walnut is a tree that needs our care; for furniture fashion long used its close-grained, heavy, handsome wood as cruelly as the milliners did the herons of Florida from which were ...
— Getting Acquainted with the Trees • J. Horace McFarland

... hypocrisy." No doubt he has carefully explained that he does not mean by God or religion what the clergy mean; but can he be sure that by imitating their phrases he may not imperceptibly slide into their frame of mind? or at any rate tempt the weaker brethren to do so? In using such an expression he comes perilously near the attitude adopted by the Bishop of London in a recent address to the sailors of the Grand Fleet. His Lordship told ...
— God and Mr. Wells - A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King' • William Archer

... bustled about, displaying to the best advantage the dainty breakfast she had brought to tempt the appetite of ...
— Bessie Bradford's Prize • Joanna H. Mathews

... tempt me too much," she said, after a silence, "I shall do it. I need only just jump up and throw myself upon you. I'm a desperate young woman. And then as we went down you'd try to explain. And that would spoil it.... You know ...
— Ann Veronica • H. G. Wells

... that he owns he cannot help it; must I have asked to stay, knowing he would attempt me again? for all you could assure me of, was, he would do nothing by force; so I, a poor weak girl, was to be left to my own strength! And was not this to allow him to tempt me, as one may say? and to encourage him to go on in his wicked devices?—How then, Mrs. Jervis, could I ask ...
— Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded • Samuel Richardson

... calls nor had invitations to evening entertainments; and herein lay Mr. Ridley's safety. It was on his social side that he was weakest. He could hold himself above appetite and deny its cravings if left to the contest alone. The drinking-saloons whose hundred doors he had to pass daily did not tempt him, did not cause his firm steps to pause nor linger. His sorrow and shame for the past and his solemn promises and hopes for the future were potent enough to save him from all such allurements. For him their doors stood open ...
— Danger - or Wounded in the House of a Friend • T. S. Arthur

... she said, "though I am but a poor gitana and humbly born, yet I have a certain fantastic little spirit within me, which moves me to great things. Promises do not tempt me, nor presents sap my resolution, nor obsequiousness allure, nor amorous wiles ensnare me; and although by my grandmother's reckoning I shall be but fifteen next Michaelmas, I am already old in thought, and have more understanding than my years would seem to promise. This may, perhaps, ...
— The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

... inequities of life. For his demon kept him from sleep. If another demon, and perhaps a gentler, tried to whisper to him that night of another life and a sweeter, tried to turn him from his course into the normal walks of man, tried to break his purpose and tempt him to dwell in the comely tents of Kedar—if some gentler angels that would have saved him from a harsher fate had beckoned to him and called him that night, through passing lovers' arms and the murmur of loving voices, ...
— In the Heart of a Fool • William Allen White

... bush—a bishop is nothing to him. But I own that when he goes to town the digger becomes a very devil let loose. Think of the surroundings here—innocent twittering birds, silent arboreous trees, clear pellucid streams, nothing to tempt, nothing to degrade." ...
— The Tale of Timber Town • Alfred Grace

... in autumn, when fine sport is to be obtained by those who handle "mantons" with even moderate skill; furthermore, the followers of quaint old Isaac, the ancient angler, need but a tithe of his art to tempt the piscatory tribe from their native element. But he did affirm that in midsummer, the mercury in the tube scarcely ever gets below 100 deg. Fahrenheit, and the action of the sun's rays upon the stagnant water before-named, gives such an intimation ...
— Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas • W. Hastings Macaulay

... "Calibogus," or "bogus," was cold rum and beer unsweetened. "Black-strap" was a mixture of rum and molasses. Casks of it stood in every country store, a salted and dried codfish slyly hung alongside—a free lunch to be stripped off and eaten, and thus tempt, through thirst, the purchase of ...
— Customs and Fashions in Old New England • Alice Morse Earle

... the consent of the governed, he asserted, was the central doctrine of the Declaration of Independence. Moreover, the acquisition of foreign lands, he believed, would lead us into competition with European powers for territory, and thus tempt us away from the international policy which had been laid down by the "fathers" and followed by the nation ever since. Most of the Democrats held similar views, but some of them heeded the advice of Bryan, who urged that the treaty be ratified ...
— The United States Since The Civil War • Charles Ramsdell Lingley

... invite us to examine them. Star-shaped, heart-shaped, spear-shaped, arrow-shaped, fretted, fringed, cleft, furrowed, serrated, sinuated, in whorls, in tufts, in spires, in wreaths, endlessly expressive, deceptive, fantastic, never the same from foot-stalk to blossom, they seem perpetually to tempt our watchfulness and take delight in outstepping ...
— The Beauties of Nature - and the Wonders of the World We Live In • Sir John Lubbock

... half a century ago. Since this rate prevails in many industries where an adequate supply of women's labour cannot be drawn from married or "assisted" women, and where the wage must be sufficient to tempt women who have to keep themselves, 10s. may be said to be the "bare subsistence" wage for women. The wide prevalence of this wage and its independence of conditions of locality, time, nature of work, have made it generally recognised ...
— The Evolution of Modern Capitalism - A Study of Machine Production • John Atkinson Hobson

... desire to tempt his fate in either. With what strength was left in his numbed limbs he tried hard ...
— Canoe Boys and Campfires - Adventures on Winding Waters • William Murray Graydon

... existence my illustrious but unthinking lord will be blended with a variety of baser substances and passed from hand to hand, his immaculate organs serving to reward murderers for their deeds and to tempt the weak and vicious to all manner ...
— The Wallet of Kai Lung • Ernest Bramah

... of the Arizona day and was miles away towards the Gila before Feeny awoke to a realizing sense of what had happened. Then he came out and blasphemed. There in that wretched little green safe were locked up thousands enough of dollars to tempt all the outlawry of the Occident to any deed of desperation that might lead to the capture of the booty, and with Donovan and his party away Feeny saw he had but half ...
— Foes in Ambush • Charles King

... thick bunches by the footpath, which hang over and brush the feet. While approaching there seems nothing there except grass, but in the act of passing, and thus looking straight down into them, there are blue eyes at the bottom gazing up. These specks of blue sky hidden in the grass tempt the hand to gather them, but then you cannot gather the ...
— Nature Near London • Richard Jefferies

... outraged modesty if one Spoke of the ancient sin before them, bare To all men's sight, or flimsily conceal By veils that bid adventurous eyes proceed, Charms meant alone for lover and for child. He saw chaste virgins tempt and tantalise, Lure and deny, invite—and then refuse, And drive men forth half crazed to ...
— Poems of Purpose • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... little room, into which the sun poured, and on the other side of a lane which ran underneath was the cricket-field, from which the thud of balls struck by the bat, voices, and laughter resounded in a way to tempt any fellow out of his hole. But there he stuck with his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, forcing himself to concentrate his attention upon a book which ...
— Dr. Jolliffe's Boys • Lewis Hough

... anything for my news till he has actually come, you may then give me a shirt and cloak of good wear if you will. I am in great want, but I will not take anything at all till then, for I hate a man, even as I hate hell fire, who lets his poverty tempt him into lying. I swear by king Jove, by the rites of hospitality, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I have now come, that all will surely happen as I have said it will. Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here to do ...
— The Odyssey • Homer

... which informed me of what had happened yesterday. Is it possible?—can it be true? was my first question. However, the detailed accounts leave no doubt that a pistol was pointed at you again, though not fired. It is really shocking that such wretches exist who dare tempt (sic) to alarm you—though in this instance there was nothing alarming except the evil spirit which inspired ...
— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1 (of 3), 1837-1843) • Queen Victoria

... Campan to inform the queen what a beautiful necklace he had arranged, hoping that she might express a desire to see it. This, however, Madame Campan declined doing, as she did not wish to tempt the queen to incur the expense of three hundred and twenty thousand dollars, the price of the glittering bawble. Boehmer, after endeavoring for some time in vain to get the gems exposed to the eye of ...
— Maria Antoinette - Makers of History • John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott

... the stem of his glass. He was odd in that bibulous age, inasmuch as he never permitted wine to tempt his palate to the detriment of his brains, and he listened gravely to the conversation that was being monopolised at the head of the ...
— Doom Castle • Neil Munro

... sweetmeats, common to all ages and classes. Digestive disorders are somewhat frequent (contrary to the theory in Europe), but they spring from improper food and sedentary habits. The cuisine of the country does not tempt the stomach to repletion, and the climate is decidedly peptic. So the typhoid fever of Quito is due to filth, poor diet, and want of ventilation. Corpulency, especially among the men, is ...
— The Andes and the Amazon - Across the Continent of South America • James Orton

... And, cover'd with Numidian guards, directs A feeble army, and an empty senate, Remnants of mighty battles fought in vain. By Heav'n, such virtue, join'd with such success, Distracts my very soul! Our father's fortune Would almost tempt us ...
— Cato - A Tragedy, in Five Acts • Joseph Addison

... who was said to be a most accomplished musician. He inherited the Blackwater property while still a young man. Neither he nor his wife after taking possession, made advances of any sort towards the society of the neighbourhood, and no one endeavoured to tempt them into abandoning their reserve, with the one disastrous exception of the rector ...
— The Woman in White • Wilkie Collins

... were responsible for much bad work. Those of their children who had come back with boxes filled with Christmas luxuries—candies, pies, cakes, boxes of preserved fruits, nuts, raisins, and whatever would tempt them to eat out of time and place—had little chance to do well in the recitation-room until these were ...
— Miss Ashton's New Pupil - A School Girl's Story • Mrs. S. S. Robbins

... mistaken. Men are much more humble than you think. But we're human, of course. If you tempt us, you soon put ...
— Elizabeth's Campaign • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... crazy Indian. Don't you know that it was your weight that caused the trouble before, and there you are, trying to tempt fate again," said Bob. ...
— Bob Hunt in Canada • George W. Orton

... squaws among the company, but they did not tempt a second glance. They were wooden-faced, slovenly-looking creatures almost disgusting in appearance. They were loaded with string upon string of colored beads forming a solid mass, like a huge collar, from the point of their chins down ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely

... laughing, bare-legged Bedouin boys follow close behind me, watching the new sport with wonder. The fish are here, as lively and gamesome as brook trout, plump, golden-sided fellows ten or twelve inches long. The feathered hooks tempt them, and they rise freely to the lure. My tattered pages are greatly excited, and make impromptu pouches in the breast of their robes, stuffing in the fish until they look quite fat. The catch is enough for a good supper for their whole ...
— Out-of-Doors in the Holy Land - Impressions of Travel in Body and Spirit • Henry Van Dyke

... would not think of such things, father; I have not the slightest intention of leaving you and dear little Wynnie! Nothing should tempt me!' ...
— Nuttie's Father • Charlotte M. Yonge

... I believe to be a criminal from the consequences of his crime. And when you found I was not to be so easily bought as you imagined, you asked me if I were human. I replied to you that I was human, and not above temptation. Since then you have been trying—very hard—to find a means to tempt me. But—so far—you have overlooked the most obvious means of all. You have told me twice over that you will do anything in your ...
— The Odds - And Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell

... kept them fixed toward the entrance. It is doubtful whether the poor thing had a mother or father left to her; but it is more doubtful still, whether those eyes would have relaxed their vacant gaze if both of them had entered at once with anything that could tempt the palate in their hands. No words can describe this peculiar appearance of the famished children. Never have I seen such bright, blue, clear eyes looking so steadfastly at nothing. I could almost fancy that the angels of God had been sent to unseal the vision of these little patient, perishing ...
— A Journal of a Visit of Three Days to Skibbereen, and its Neighbourhood • Elihu Burritt

... not deny that in certain moments of loneliness which come to us, widowers and bachelors alike, I had the impulse to tempt again the matrimonial fortune, and counting on my financial standing, together with other attractions, I ran over the eligible ladies of my acquaintance. But one was a little too old, and another was a good deal too flighty. One was too fond of society, and another did not like ...
— The Romance of an Old Fool • Roswell Field

... to St. Louis to escape the political storm I saw brewing. The President repeatedly said to me that he wanted me in Washington, and I as often answered that nothing could tempt me to live in that center of intrigue and excitement; but soon ...
— The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, Complete • William T. Sherman

... And nothing would tempt Mrs. Copley out that day. Of course Dolly must stay at home too, though she would most gladly have gone about through the rainy, silent city, in one of those silent gondolas, and feed her eyes at every ...
— The End of a Coil • Susan Warner

... whether it pleased the palate or not. Throughout the feast the tall women hovered near, bringing fresh supplies whenever a dearth of any edible appeared to threaten. And when at last the feasters were full to repletion Monitaya himself designated what he considered titbits to tempt ...
— The Pathless Trail • Arthur O. (Arthur Olney) Friel

... coat, and expressed himself ready and willing to tempt fate in her place. Ellen brought him one of her dust-caps, and went into contortions of mirth, which she found it impossible to control, when she saw him put it on before the mirror as grotesquely as he could. Edna herself ...
— The Awakening and Selected Short Stories • Kate Chopin

... Armes tyr'd, or cut off) To leave the field, and sound a base retreat Back to his Country: but so broken both In mind and means, er'e to make head again, That hitherto he sits down by his loss, Not daring, or for honour, or revenge Again to tempt his fortune. But this Victory More broke our State, and made a deeper hurt In Flanders, than the greatest overthrow She ever receiv'd: For Wolfort, now beholding Himself, and actions, in the flattering glass Of self-deservings, and that cherish't by The strong assurance of his ...
— Beggars Bush - From the Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (Vol. 2 of 10) • Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher

... case, it is a wicked law, monsieur, that would grant a divorce when they are married, and—look now—left to himself he will forgive her, but he is catching at what you say. You have come here to tempt him! You ...
— A Dozen Ways Of Love • Lily Dougall

... moments later the Persian general arrived in rich attire, attended by fan and parasol bearer, and by servants bringing carpets for him to sit upon, cooling drinks to refresh him, and delicate dishes to tempt his appetite. ...
— The Story of the Greeks • H. A. Guerber

... Englishmen that meal scarcely exists; and were it not for women, whose delicacy of organization does not allow them to fast so long as men, would probably be abolished. It is singular in this, as in other points, how nearly England and ancient Rome approximate. We all know how hard it is to tempt a man generally into spoiling his appetite, by eating before dinner. The same dislike of violating what they called the integrity of the appetite, [integram famem,] existed at Rome. Every man who knows anything of Latin critically, sees the connection of the word integer with in and ...
— Miscellaneous Essays • Thomas de Quincey

... to and fro for his secret forces. Gone now were the yellow men who had been the instruments of his evil will; gone was the giant intellect which had controlled the complex murder machine. Karamaneh, whose beauty he had used as a lure, at last was free, and no more with her smile would tempt men to death—that ...
— The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu • Sax Rohmer

... has a notable effect on social habits. In the cold days of winter, the great mass of the population live as much as possible within the shelter of their own home; as long as the short days and the cheerless and dismal weather continue, there is little to tempt them out of doors and to bring them into contact with each other. But with the advance of spring this condition of things is changed; the lengthening days, the milder atmosphere, the more abundant sunshine offer increased facilities ...
— Crime and Its Causes • William Douglas Morrison

... city, which he loves so well, even when permitted, if obliged to submit to humiliating ceremonies. He even refuses a laurel crown from any city but from the one in which he was born. No honors could tempt him to be untrue unto himself; no tasks are too humble to perform, if he can make himself useful. At Ravenna he gives lectures to the people in their own language, regarding the restoration of the Latin impossible, and wishing to ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume VI • John Lord

... charming. But these heraldic conversations bored Mary even more intensely than the squabbles. There came a time when desperation got the upper hand of that prudence so earnestly recommended by Lord Dauntrey. She could not endure the long evenings in the villa, and felt that she must again tempt ...
— The Guests Of Hercules • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... I will no more of it. Boy, Take note, and tempt not so thy bride, albeit She tempt thee to ...
— Rosamund, Queen of the Lombards • Algernon Charles Swinburne

... Pompey. [-16-] He made these same statements also to the populace, when that body had likewise assembled outside the pomerium, and he sent for corn from the islands and promised each one of them seventy-five denarii. He hoped to tempt them with this bait. The men, however, reflected that those who are pursuing certain ends and those who have attained them do not think or act alike: at the start of their operations they make all the most delightful offers to such as can work against ...
— Dio's Rome • Cassius Dio

... again, wont you?" said he imploringly. "Though to be sure there's nothing in this hovel to tempt you? ...
— Madame Flirt - A Romance of 'The Beggar's Opera' • Charles E. Pearce

... would be folly to tempt to battle at any closer quarters. He stood on a dead limb about ...
— Jack North's Treasure Hunt - Daring Adventures in South America • Roy Rockwood

... They tried to tempt her with the prospect of being repatriated. Strenuously she opposed the notion, on grounds of health. She argued that she had come to the South at the bidding of her English doctor—which was true enough, that grave personage having been urgently pressed by the family to ...
— South Wind • Norman Douglas

... its fatal asc['e]ndancy Do not tempt thee to mope and repine; With a humble and hopeful dep['e]ndency Still await the good pleasure divine. Success in a higher be['a]titude, Is the end of what's under the Pole; A philosopher takes it with gr['a]titude, And believes it ...
— A Handbook of the English Language • Robert Gordon Latham

... When immense bribes were offered by the king of Persia to induce the Athenians to detach themselves from the alliance with the rest of the Hellenic States, she answered by the mouth of Aristides "that it was impossible for all the gold in the world to tempt the Republic of Athens, or prevail with it to sell its liberty and ...
— Christianity and Greek Philosophy • Benjamin Franklin Cocker

... had come round once more, and again the Sheriff would give a prize. Monceux determined to make the prize a good one, such as might tempt any archer. He hoped thus that Robin ...
— Robin Hood • Paul Creswick

... got the kingdom, called into his presence certain Greeks who were at hand, and asked, 'What he should pay them to eat the bodies of their fathers when they died.' To which they answered, that there was no sum that would tempt them to do such a thing. He then sent for certain Indians, of the race called Callatians, men who eat their fathers, and asked them, while the Greeks were standing by, and knew by the aid of an interpreter all that was said—'What he should give them to burn the bodies of their ...
— Moral Philosophy • Joseph Rickaby, S. J.

... seashells pink, Might tempt, should heaven see meet, An angel's lips to kiss, we ...
— The Home Book of Verse, Vol. 1 (of 4) • Various

... sake shut your mooth, an' let us get her gathered up an' get oot o' here. Dammit, hae ye nae common sense, swearin' an' jokin' about sic a thing! It's enough to tempt Providence, an' had it no' been for the tumblerful o' whisky that Mr. Rundell gied us I dinna think I could ...
— The Underworld - The Story of Robert Sinclair, Miner • James C. Welsh

... made the Great Book of the world Would bless such piety;— Never did worthier lads break English bread: The finest Sunday that the autumn saw, With all its mealy clusters of ripe nuts, Could never keep those boys away from church, Or tempt them to an hour of Sabbath ...
— Bunyan Characters - Third Series - The Holy War • Alexander Whyte

... great advantage of this diet is that it is a dry one, and the biscuits must be thoroughly chewed to enable them to be swallowed at all. The saliva is thereby thoroughly mixed with the food, which is all-important to make it digestible. These biscuits are also so plain as not to tempt the patient to eat more than he can digest, which is the great danger in sickness. The slops of gruel and cornflour so often given are never chewed at all, and often do nothing but harm. Such starchy foods really require to be more thoroughly ...
— Papers on Health • John Kirk

... he will be pregnable. That, as a Statesman, he should have enemies is a matter of course. Against moderate enemies he will hold his own. But when there comes one immoderately forcible, violently inimical, then to that man he will open his bosom. He will tempt into his camp with an offer of high command any foe that may be worth his purchase. This too has answered well; but there is a Nemesis. The loyalty of officers so procured must be open to suspicion. The man who has said bitter things ...
— The Duke's Children • Anthony Trollope

... Castilian so perfectly, and was so Spanish in appearance, that it was not difficult for me to pass myself off as one of their nation and this I did, inventing a feigned tale of my parentage, and of the reasons that led me to tempt the seas. For the rest, now as ever I kept my own counsel, and notwithstanding my reserve, for I would not mingle in their orgies, I soon became well liked by my comrades, chiefly because of my skill in ministering ...
— Montezuma's Daughter • H. Rider Haggard

... It was sold at auction to pay the first quarter's rent; and his furniture also would have been seized, but that he had taken the precaution to sell it himself in Philadelphia, and had placed in his cottage articles of too little value to tempt ...
— Famous Americans of Recent Times • James Parton

... swallowed stuck in the jaws of a Wolf. Thereupon, overcome by extreme pain, he began to tempt all and sundry by great rewards to extract the cause of misery. At length, on his taking an oath, a Crane was prevailed on, and, trusting the length of her neck to his throat, she wrought, with danger to herself, a cure for the Wolf. When she demanded the promised reward for this {service}, ...
— The Fables of Phdrus - Literally translated into English prose with notes • Phaedrus

... announced to me that I should be sent to an aristocratic ladies' boarding-school. There I played all sorts of pranks, smoked like a grenadier, and had always a supply of extra-fine cigarettes wherewith to tempt ...
— Major Frank • A. L. G. Bosboom-Toussaint

... Unjust fears were overcome while yet he was undistracted by society of his kind. Having no other company, he sought ours in frank and friendly manner. Occasionally he would accompany me on indefinite excursions in the bush, and would oft tempt me to play. With the fable of the frogs and the boys in mind, I had to decline participation in his sportful moods, for what would have proved pure frolic to him might have been fraught with disaster to me. At this period of the dairy herd, he spent ...
— Tropic Days • E. J. Banfield

... new countries are in greater need of capital than old ones and consequently are ready to pay a higher rate of interest for it to lenders or to tempt shareholders with a higher rate of profit. And so the opportunity is given to investors in England to develop the agricultural or industrial resources of all the countries under the sun to their own profit and to that of the countries ...
— International Finance • Hartley Withers

... emerald of the inshore, and plunged in her hand. The soft, plump wrist turned baby pink under the riffles. Of a sudden Berthe her maid half screamed, whereat with a delighted little gasp of fright, she jerked out the hand. But she put it back again, to tempt the watchful shark ...
— The Missourian • Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

... the truth," answered the nun, slowly. "You tell me it is, to tempt me. I cannot drive you away by force. Will you not go? I cannot cry out for help—it would ruin me and you. Will you not leave me? But for God's grace, I am at your mercy, and there is little grace ...
— Casa Braccio, Volumes 1 and 2 (of 2) • F. Marion Crawford

... things, and particularly Lady Denham, at Borstal-house, who would have given him all the money she had in her house, but he returned her thanks, and told her he had so ill kept his own, that he would not tempt his governor with more, but if she would give him a shirt or two, and some handkerchiefs, he would keep them as long as he could for her sake. She fetched him two smocks of her own, and some handkerchiefs, saying she was ashamed to give him them, but, having ...
— Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe • Lady Fanshawe

... them as if they were covered with some deadly poison, and the outlaw stood unarmed! It came suddenly to Buck what the whole manoeuvre meant. He gave away his guns in order to tempt someone to arrest him. Better the hand of the law than the yellow glare of those following eyes. Yet not a man moved to apprehend him. Unarmed he still seemed more dangerous than ...
— The Untamed • Max Brand



Words linked to "Tempt" :   shake up, turn on, mesmerize, wind up, bewitch, tweedle, decoy, attract, snare, bid, lead on, call, stir, seduce, stool, stimulate, mesmerise, shake, appeal, excite, spellbind, provoke, sex, magnetize, magnetise, persuade, bait, arouse, hook



Copyright © 2024 e-Free Translation.com