Literary notes about crisp (AI summary)
The word "crisp" in literature takes on a remarkable versatility, functioning both as a tactile descriptor and a metaphor for clarity and precision. It is used to evoke the sharp, immediate quality of sound or touch, as when a knock is described as crisp, suggesting both suddenness and clarity ([1]), or when footsteps are depicted with a crisp rattle, enhancing the scene's vividness ([2]). At times, it characterizes physical sensations or appearances—a crisp autumn morning shimmering with clarity ([3], [4]), or even the neat, sparkling style of language that cuts through ambiguity ([5], [6]). In portraits of character and nature alike, "crisp" conveys both a refreshing intensity and defined precision, enriching the narrative by appealing to both the senses and the intellect ([7], [8], [9]).
- " I had opened my mouth to reply to this tirade, when with a crisp knock our landlady entered, bearing a card upon the brass salver.
— from The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle - There was a rush, a clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running footfalls from the street.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - It was a crisp autumn evening, just cold enough to make one glad to quit playing tag in the yard, and retreat into the kitchen.
— from My Ántonia by Willa Cather - The air was fresh and crisp, and little smoke-blue mists curled through the valleys and floated off from the hills.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery - He was a felicitous skirmisher with a pen, and a man who could say happy things in a crisp, neat way.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - But he might have done it dryly; he has made every sentence crisp and sparkling.”— Chicago Times-Herald.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell - I heard the creak of a door and the crisp sound of boots upon gravel.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - The crisp, fresh mountain air outside the cave acted as an immediate tonic and I felt new life and new courage coursing through me.
— from A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - But I need solitude—that is to say, recovery, [Pg 26] return to myself, the breathing of free, crisp, bracing air....
— from Ecce Homo by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
