How To Use Involuntary In A Sentence

  • The coulpe or peccavi, is made for a very small matter — a broken glass, a torn veil, an involuntary delay of a few seconds at an office, a false note in church, etc.; this suffices, and the coulpe is made. Les Miserables
  • Other ocular signs include involuntary rhythmic movement of the eyeball.
  • Hats bowl away, coats fly open, skirts cling, umbrellas flype themselves: and their owners, grotesquely running, grabbing, snatching, struggling, are consumed with rueful and involuntary mirth. Try Anything Twice
  • The fact that compassion is both voluntary and learned differentiates it from other kinds of suffering, which are involuntary and connate.
  • It imposes an involuntary moratorium on a third superdistrict for two seasons.
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  • Hiccups, more officially referred to as singultus, from Latin - to catch your breath while sobbing are repeated, spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm causing a quick inhalation, which is then cut short by an involuntary closing of the glottis. NYT > Home Page
  • True mnemonists, or memorists have the ability to remember lists of words, number or pictures as an involuntary act.
  • Another surge of pain in my ankle caused me to give an involuntary shudder.
  • She felt an involuntary shiver go through her.
  • The anaesthetist and the trainee nurse were found guilty of involuntary wounding and given one-month suspended jail sentences. Times, Sunday Times
  • Passing an amendment to end slavery and actually banishing involuntary servitude are two different things.
  • The action of pilocarpine upon the involuntary muscles is caused in the same manner as upon the sudoriferous glands - by impressing the myo-neural receptors.
  • On another occasion Heine writes that Kalkbrenner is envied for his elegant manners, for his polish and sweetishness, and for his whole marchpane-like appearance, in which, however, ihe calm observer discovers a shabby admixture of involuntary Frederic Chopin as a Man and Musician
  • My stomach gave an involuntary lurch at the word dying, but I tried not to show it. The Year I Turned Sixteen
  • He took an involuntary pace forward and raised the shotgun to point straight at Angel One's face.
  • There's no psychological profiling or involuntary behavioural modification going on here, just a cassette playing a muffled selection of old dance anthems, the hits of Ibiza '97.
  • HD is a widely misunderstood condition: symptoms include involuntary muscular movements, memory lapses and mood changes. Times, Sunday Times
  • gave an involuntary start
  • Tardive dyskinesia is an involuntary movement disorder usually consisting of athetoid or choreic movements in the oro-facial region, but may affect any part of the body.
  • Belief is involuntary; nothing involuntary is meritorious or reprehensible. A man ought not to be considered worse or better for his belief. Percy Bysshe Shelley 
  • It was a cheapjack company that paid writers and artists at rates ranging from poor to involuntary servitude, then printed their wares on presses that were outmoded.
  • Just as a person has a First Amendment Constitutional right, incertain circumstances, to be free from exercising freedom of speech, Plaintiffs in this matter have the Constitutional right to be free from entering a private contract or an involuntary association. The Volokh Conspiracy » Health insurance mandate as a privacy right violation
  • Accidental homicide is often called involuntary manslaughter, for which one can serve time. (Very) Basic Economics and Abortion
  • I jumped at least two feet in the air in a completely involuntary, reflexive response.
  • Furthermore, it will be convenient to exclude 'frictional' unemployment from our definition of 'involuntary' unemployment. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
  • Myotonic dystrophy, the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults, affects the eyes, heart, hormonal systems, and blood, in addition to causing muscular dystrophy and involuntary muscle stiffness (myotonia).
  • The attention of the subject counts for much, and this distinction -- of involuntary from voluntary rhythmization -- which has been made chiefly in connection with the phenomenon of subjective rhythm, runs also through all appreciation of rhythms which depend on actual objective factors. Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory.
  • Sanzone said the judge ruled there was not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to show the boy acted with malice or premeditation, meaning that he would have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter if he had been older. News for Lynchburg News Advance
  • An extended winter break shutdown is in the works (although a proposal to require involuntary furloughs has been dropped).
  • As I grasped the cage another surge of pain in my ankle caused me to give an involuntary shudder. A Roomful of Birds - Scottish short stories 1990
  • As with other anti-psychotics, long-term use of aripiprazole may lead to a potentially irreversible condition called tardive dyskinesia involuntary movements of the jaw, lips, and tongue. POTIONS AND POISONS
  • A sharp tap on the knee usually causes an involuntary movement of the lower leg.
  • There is typically some memory loss and flashbacks may occur where the victim remembers engaging in involuntary behaviour.
  • Slavery signified, of course, involuntary migration and coerced labor.
  • Any imbalance in these neuro-modulators causes involuntary movements like chorea and tremors.
  • And unbidden, the memory returned of her involuntary shiver the previous week when checking the room for her guest. THE GOSPEL MAKERS
  • In the account of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, there is no mention of his liberal social policies, his prohibition of the slave trade and of involuntary sati.
  • Birds, also to some extent like mammals, have involuntary nervous controls to regulate heat; for instance, shivering.
  • A sharp tap on the knee usually causes an involuntary movement of the lower leg.
  • She felt herself give an involuntary shudder and scolded her girlish urges.
  • Formally, palilalia is a compulsive involuntary repetition of a semantically acceptable phrase or word.
  • Opiate drugs can help relieve pain, and the drugs clonazepam and sodium valproate may help relieve involuntary muscle jerks.
  • Belief is involuntary; nothing involuntary is meritorious or reprehensible. A man ought not to be considered worse or better for his belief. Percy Bysshe Shelley 
  • The water was hotter than she had expected, and she gave an involuntary yelp.
  • To what extent does its dependence on charitable donations make it an involuntary party in the game of denial?
  • HD is a widely misunderstood condition: symptoms include involuntary muscular movements, memory lapses and mood changes. Times, Sunday Times
  • These are not cases where the accused has caused death while in an involuntary state.
  • She will insist that a key component of the equation is the word "involuntary. Obama's nominee for Office of Legal Counsel: pregnancy is slavery
  • We do not accept involuntary ejections of speech if they are abusive or plainly unhelpful: it is not what the blog is about.
  • As I grasped the cage another surge of pain in my ankle caused me to give an involuntary shudder. A Roomful of Birds - Scottish short stories 1990
  • The Iranian government, until now, has refused to accept their return as part of a general policy of resisting involuntary repatriations.
  • He grants that St. Augustine would not term involuntary desires sin; then he adds, "We, on the contrary, deem it to be sin whenever a man feels any desires forbidden by Divine law -- and we assert the depravity to be sin which produces them" (Institutes, III, 2, 10). The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux
  • Civil disobedience becomes involuntary resistance. The Times Literary Supplement
  • Botox works by blocking contact between nerve and muscle, weakening involuntary spasms. Times, Sunday Times
  • It would be involuntary, active euthanasia if the patient were not consulted and her wishes were not known.
  • He said the commission would be endeavouring to reduce the number of committals before five tribunals began overseeing involuntary admissions in the middle of next year.
  • My 'oh dear' was involuntary. Times, Sunday Times
  • In the bigger picture, I do not ever want to be the involuntary dispenser of any consumer advertisement hidden inside a product sample box.
  • HD is a widely misunderstood condition: symptoms include involuntary muscular movements, memory lapses and mood changes. Times, Sunday Times
  • At least that's one explanation for the involuntary shudder I experienced as my son began pointing and shouting. Times, Sunday Times
  • It is clearly imperative to arrive at a correct diagnosis of the origins of involuntary unemployment.
  • involuntary servitude
  • A knock on the door startled Namura and she gave an involuntary jump.
  • In her case it has caused involuntary muscle spasms affecting her whole body.
  • Even leaving aside the things she has tried to back-pedal out of, claiming they were just footnotes or whatever (like saying pregnant women were victims of involuntary servitude), this is a woman who fought before the Supreme Court (unsuccessfully, Deo gratias) to deny religious leaders their First Amendment rights; who has argued forcefully that “gender rights” trump all First Amendment rights, especially religious rights, — even in YOUR OWN MIND. The Volokh Conspiracy » Dawn Johnsen Withdraws Nomination to be OLC Chief
  • New Orleans Times-Picayune, the involuntary manslaughter charge was dropped after Grant pleaded no contests to misdemeanor "affray" - fighting two or more persons in a public place. Chicagotribune.com - News
  • The draft law also gives the government the right to decree ‘labor emergencies,’ granting it the right to impose involuntary retirement and layoff of public employees.
  • He was separated from society not by choice and intellect, but by some involuntary spasm of fate that had left him bitter and reduced to beggary.
  • The involuntary muscles are controlled by structures deep within the brain and the upper part of the spinal cord called the brain stem.
  • The paramedic was the seventh witness called at a preliminary hearing after which a judge will decide if there is enough evidence for Murray to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. USATODAY.com News
  • Instead I recoiled in horror, letting out a loud, involuntary gasp of disgust, and dropped them back where I'd found them.
  • HD is a widely misunderstood condition: symptoms include involuntary muscular movements, memory lapses and mood changes. Times, Sunday Times
  • The tears gathered and fell, quietly, all through the process of dressing; and a sort of sob heaved from the child's breast now and then, without words and most involuntary. Melbourne House
  • It was not vanity -- it was ready sympathy that had made him alive to a certain appealingness in her behavior toward him; and the difficulty with which she had seemed to raise her eyes to bow to him, in the first instance, was to be interpreted now by that unmistakable look of involuntary confidence which she had afterward turned on him under the consciousness of his approach. Daniel Deronda
  • With an involuntary yell of alarm, she tumbled forward.
  • The sedative effects of alcohol cause the throat muscle to relax too much and also interfere with the involuntary awakening mechanisms.
  • To apply the term instinct to the regular and involuntary movements of the bodily organs, such as the beating of the heart and the action of the organs of respiration, is manifestly an extension of the ordinary acceptation of the term. The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 31, May, 1860
  • When I at last concluded with a loud note of joy, a long, involuntary suspiration in the darkening room told me that I had been listened to with profound interest; and, although no word was spoken, though I was still a stranger and under a cloud, it was plain that the experiment had succeeded, and that for the present the danger was averted. Green Mansions
  • The involuntary movements, usually of face and neck, are often preceded by psychiatric problems and a change of character. Know Your Own Mind
  • • A condition known as dystonia, which produces involuntary, and often painful muscle spasms, was the most common side effect with 103 cases. Kids Dying From Off-Label Use Of Antipsychotics
  • See involuntary muscles, antagonistic muscles. Biology Basic Facts
  • Signs of the illness include involuntary movements called chorea, as well as motor and cognitive difficulties.
  • IV The judicial ascertainment and criminal liability of involuntary dangerous crime.
  • The drug's side-effects can include involuntary defecation.
  • Cervical dystonia is a neurologic movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that force the head and neck into abnormal and sometimes painful positions.
  • In places the dialogue is so clunky that wincing is involuntary. Times, Sunday Times
  • Cliona seemed to treat my recent resignation as an involuntary termination or lay off.
  • So why not take this natural mixing and "augment" it with some involuntary wealth redistribution? US Market Commentary from Seeking Alpha
  • Startled, his involuntarymovement made Avatre go into a sideslip, and he looked down over her shoulder. Aerie
  • I roamed disconsolately up and down the bank, keeping as close to him in his involuntary travels as I could, while he wailed and cried till it was a wonder that he did not bring down upon us every hunting animal within a mile. CHAPTER X
  • The involuntary muscles continue to function, intercostal muscles and the diaphragm survive to support the lungs which powers the heart. ABSOLUTE ZERO
  • I am speaking of what I can call musical hallucinosis, involuntary music in the head. Dr. Leo Rangell: Music in the Head: Living at the Brain-Mind Border; Part 1
  • The commission will also be able to arrange for an independent review by a Mental Health Tribunal of all decisions to detain patients on an involuntary basis and each decision to extend the duration of such detentions.
  • Involuntary weight loss can lead to muscle wasting, decreased immunocompetence, depression and an increased rate of disease complications.
  • Last season's cup final experience with Dunfermline still prompts an involuntary smile.
  • The compulsion is just that, an involuntary urge which has nothing to do with choice: a deep, sometimes desperate need to order the universe, usually as an anxiety reaction, which sometimes comes to rule the person's life. Counting Your Way to Safety
  • His pleadings usually culminated in involuntary raving, until it seemed to her that he was passing into a fit; but always she shook her head and denied him the freedom for which he worked himself into a passion. THE UNEXPECTED
  • A kindly, gray-whiskered old gentleman came tottering and rocking into view, his rosy, wrinkled face beaming benediction on the world as he passed through it -- on the sunshine dappling the undergrowth, on the furry squirrels sitting up on their hind legs to watch him pass, on the stray dickybird that hopped fearlessly in his path, at the young man sitting very rigid there on his bench, at the fair, sweet-faced girl who met his aged eyes with the gentlest of involuntary smiles. The Tracer of Lost Persons
  • The hand movements were a result of nervous system feedback, the tongue of the creature was some how triggering involuntary muscle spasms.
  • These seizures manifested not only focal convulsion of face or limb, but also choreoid or athetoid involuntary movements.
  • If the brain becomes damaged by infection or other disease, involuntary movements become increasingly likely. Know Your Own Mind
  • Hiccups are the spasmodic, involuntary contraction of the diaphragm that is caused by irritation of the nerves that supply these muscles.
  • It is “characterized by rhythmical, repetitive, involuntary movements of the tongue, face, mouth, or jaw, sometimes accompanied by other bizarre muscular activity.” Law In The Health and Human Services
  • A sharp tap on the knee usually causes an involuntary movement of the lower leg.
  • The medulla controls this involuntary swallowing reflex, although voluntary swallowing may be initiated by the cerebral cortex.
  • The old lady immediately got up and dropped a very quick and what was meant to be a very respect-showing courtesy, saying at the same time, with much deference, and with one of her involuntary twitches, "I '' maun 'to know! Queechy, Volume I
  • That he was not the only one to respond with an involuntary stridulation of shock was shown by the number of abrasive chirrups that echoed in close succession through the various individual workstations. Diuturnity's Dawn
  • Even in the case of the most passionate lifelong readers, the act of picking up and opening a book masks the countergesture that occurs at the same time: the involuntary act of not picking up and not opening all the other books in the universe. Challies Dot Com - Informing the Reforming
  • He had passed brilliantly in engineering; had been saved by his prompt and ready answers the consequences of a "fess" with clean black-board in ordnance and gunnery; had won a ringing, though involuntary, round of applause from the crowded galleries of the riding-hall by daring horsemanship, and he was now within seven days of the prized diploma and his commission. Starlight Ranch and Other Stories of Army Life on the Frontier
  • The three of us have formed an involuntary and immobile conga-line, like a trio of backpackers on a rush-hour commuter train.
  • Inline skating - unlike other popular forms of cardio exercise-works both voluntary and involuntary core muscles.
  • His fingers tightened on her arm painfully, and gentled at her involuntary hiss.
  • In order to cure an epidemic there must be involuntary, mandatory and humane treatment of people who are engaged in abuse.
  • The condition, which affects 29,000 people in Britain, is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary twitches and vocal noises.
  • The contractile activity of involuntary muscle is normally regulated by the autonomic (sympathetic and parasympathetic) nervous system.
  • involuntary manslaughter
  • In September 1998, one of the members of an on-line discussion group for involuntary celibates approached the first author via e-mail to ask about current research on involuntary celibacy.
  • After my years of literally swallowing the homeopathic conviction that licorice is the root of all health, the prospect of sipping parsley soup seasoned with the sticky elixir prompted a fit of involuntary grimacing.
  • The eyes are sensitive to light too, and there are often visual problems as well as involuntary eye movements. The Sun
  • But we free marketeers don't believe in involuntary unemployment compensation. and my children are beating up your kids to steal lunch money because I couldn't afford to feed them. Math and Economics, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
  • Air Traffic Control can get very shirty about some of my involuntary aerial antics I can tell you.
  • It is indisputable that involuntary commitment to a mental hospital after a finding of probable dangerousness to self or others can engender adverse social consequences to the individual.
  • Like Dreiser in Sister Carrie, Wright goes to great lengths to establish that the crime was involuntary, unwilled, accidental. Every protest’s novel
  • ‘I think I'll be able to handle it,’ she said, but the involuntary shudder she did indicated she wasn't so positive about it.
  • Drugs called anti-convulsants, such as phenytoin and valproic acid, are used to stop the involuntary action of the diaphragm.
  • Muscle cramping is a painful, involuntary muscle spasm that regularly frustrates athletes.
  • -- A sprain is usually the result of some involuntary stress coming upon the part. Papers on Health
  • An era of involuntary isolationism would be the lot of the United States.
  • Neither coercion nor involuntary suffering can be attributed to Christ's atoning death on the cross.
  • [Sidenote: 1111a] Again, we do not usually apply the term involuntary when a man is ignorant of his own true interest; because ignorance which affects moral choice constitutes depravity but not involuntariness: nor does any ignorance of principle (because for this men are blamed) but ignorance in particular details, wherein consists the action and wherewith it is concerned, for in these there is both compassion and allowance, because he who acts in ignorance of any of them acts in a proper sense involuntarily. Ethics
  • The water was hotter than she had expected, and she gave an involuntary yelp.
  • In her case it has caused involuntary muscle spasms affecting her whole body.
  • Interrupted by an audible gasp of shock from a spinster-appearing female sunning herself hard by and angularly in the sand in a swimming suit monstrously unbeautiful, Lee Barton was aware of an involuntary and almost perceptible stiffening on the part of his wife. THE KANAKA SURF
  • A few children found themselves in a kind of involuntary competition, when strangers would come to look the children over and leave with the lucky ones, while the numbers of those left unselected gradually dwindled.
  • The involuntary extraction of data from humans across borders requires a review of standards of privacy and data protection laws.
  • Gaskell has used the term involuntary nervous system. IX. Neurology. 7. The Sympathetic Nerves
  • A 14-year-old boy with a pre-existing history of autism exhibited stupor with mutism, akinesia, rigidity, waxy flexibility, posturing, facial grimacing and involuntary movements of the upper extremities.
  • This smooth muscle is the involuntary sphincter of the posterior urethra in the male.
  • Sticking up his hand was a purely involuntary action. The Sun
  • There is thus a conscious and voluntary way and an involuntary and unconscious way in which mental results may get accomplished; and we find both ways exemplified in the history of conversion, giving us two types, which Starbuck calls the volitional type and the type by self-surrender respectively. The Varieties of Religious Experience
  • Muscle cramping is a painful, involuntary muscle spasm that regularly frustrates athletes.
  • The gentleman’s notice was very soon attracted; for he had not walked three paces, when he turned angrily round, and inquired what that young cur was howling for, and why Mr. Bumble did not favour him with something which would render the series of vocular exclamations so designated, an involuntary process? Oliver Twist
  • In the vegetable kingdom sensitiveness of an involuntary nature is discernible in the form of germination and growth while a still higher type of sensibility accompanied by a limited consciousness can be seen in the animal life.
  • Supplement the "dangerousness" standard with broader, flexible standards that would allow for involuntary commitment when an individual is:
 DJ Jaffe: What Harry Reid and John Boehner Should Do in Wake of Giffords Shooting
  • _subsultus_ -- that involuntary twitching and cramp in the muscles of the limbs and abdomen which often characterizes this form of the opium malady, by degrees gets lulled as under a charm, and it may not even be necessary to repeat the dose in two and a half hours to remove it so entirely that the patient gets ten or fifteen minutes of refreshing sleep. The Opium Habit
  • Most of his movements are uncoordinated or involuntary reflexes.
  • I bent lower over her, and as I did so a slight, involuntary movement, akin to what we call a shudder, ran through her body. The Return Of The Soul 1896
  • Overexposure can lead to symptoms of dizziness, respiratory problems, involuntary muscle twitching and even paralysis.
  • It was a freak accident, and as a result, the trauma that I had created focal dystonia, which is involuntary movement of muscles. CNN Transcript Apr 3, 2004
  • Variations of this position are found in monetarism, public choice theory, and the belief of some new classical economists that involuntary unemployment does not exist.
  • He suffers from serious respiratory problems, including apnoeic attacks, an involuntary halt to breathing. Times, Sunday Times
  • I must admit to an involuntary shudder of pride tingling down my spine when I heard her say those words.
  • My 'oh dear' was involuntary. Times, Sunday Times
  • This involuntary quivering of your eyelid muscle is known as myokymia, and usually subsides within three weeks. The Sun
  • A medium suggests a go-between; automatist points to the involuntary side of the phenomenon; sensitive, to having a well-poised receptivity. Experiencing the Next World Now
  • The term "Yips" in golf means the involuntary tremors on wrist, knuckles and thew. It could cause the professional golf players to miss on a fateful putting.
  • Most seizures are accompanied by an altered state of consciousness and sometimes by involuntary movements.
  • The main symptoms are muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, and involuntary tremor.
  • And we must end the stop-loss and involuntary recall of troops that amounts to nothing more than a back-door draft.
  • Instead the acetylcholine accumulates and affects both voluntary an involuntary muscles.
  • She let out a small, involuntary gasp of surprise.
  • It is the best of all gymnastics for the nonstriated or involuntary muscles and for the heart and blood vessels. Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene
  • an involuntary shudder
  • Aristotle believed that strict determinism must be rejected because it destroys the natural basis for distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary actions.
  • It was a part of him, the breath of his soul as it were, involuntary and unpremeditated. Jack London's Short Story - Planchette
  • For this reason, self-delusion is as involuntary as any bodily function regulated by the medulla oblongata, since the very future of our species depends on it. Archive 2010-06-01
  • Yet beyond this involuntary level, she was aware of an altogether more complex reaction.
  • With golf etiquette to drive a PGA pro into an involuntary 72 hour psychiatric commitment, a cover and interior artwork by none other than the legendary Gahan Wilson, and two color printing throughout, Judge Sn is the perfect stocking stuffer for the Scalzi addict in your home — or your heart. Subterranean Press » 2009
  • The risk is that what starts as voluntary euthanasia becomes extended to involuntary euthanasia.
  • Becoming aware of itself, the self also discovers that it is not really its own, but is rather the involuntary executor of cosmic designs.
  • The powerful involuntary muscle contractions are often quite distressing to the patient.
  • Opiate drugs can help relieve pain, and the drugs clonazepam and sodium valproate may help relieve involuntary muscle jerks.
  • Will just gave me a look of such utter wrath and betrayal that I took an involuntary step backwards as he strode towards me.
  • She took an involuntary step backward, encountered the chair she had just left, and sank into it coweringly. Fanny Herself
  • Birds that contract avian botulism lose involuntary muscle control, including eyelid function, have clenched feet, and can't hold up their heads.
  • It appears that they exerted undue coercion on his command to extract involuntary waivers from soldiers who did not want to redeploy overseas.
  • The airways (trachea, bronchi, bronchioles) are surrounded by a type of involuntary muscle known as smooth muscle.
  • Another surge of pain in my ankle caused me to give an involuntary shudder.
  • Given their defense of involuntary treatment as not only justified but morally mandatory, psychiatrists seem weirdly reluctant to acknowledge their role in it.
  • The main symptoms are muscle stiffness, slowness of movement and involuntary tremor.
  • Because if sex was involuntary then it was not ’sex’ but rape. January Comments of the Month « Gender Across Borders
  • HD affects muscle co-ordination, often causing involuntary writhing movements called chorea, and it leads to cognitive decline. BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition
  • I felt an involuntary shudder shake my body at the feel of his hot breath against the sensitive hollow of my neck.
  • Anesthesiologist Dr. Paul White testified for the defense Friday in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray and claimed that the fatal dose of propofol that killed the King of Pop in June 2009 was most likely self-administered, TheWrap.com reports. Expert: Michael Jackson Likely Gave Himself Fatal Drug Dose
  • involuntary muscles
  • There was something desperate about it, watching them wander away and out of sight and for ages I just stood where they had left me and let out small involuntary whimpers.
  • He gave an involuntary smile.
  • Stress plays a large part in this, as your mind focuses on scenarios that have challenged you and anxiety can be reflected in various involuntary movements. The Sun
  • There were even some among them who did not dance at all, but only felt an involuntary impulse to allay the internal sense of disquietude, which is the usual forerunner of an attack of this kind, by laughter, and quick walking carried to the extent of producing fatigue. The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07
  • Her involuntary reflexes kicked in, and she threw out her arms, managing to break his fall.
  • From the hospital correspondence, you gather the psychiatrist detected dysarthria and abnormal involuntary movements and asked for a neurologist's opinion.
  • It mandates a form of involuntary servitude expressly prohibited by the 13th amendment to the US Constitution.
  • It's a sort of involuntary laugh to signify something so exciting, he can no longer contain himself. Times, Sunday Times
  • Its imperialistic court was armed with the power of roping in all sorts of unwilling or involuntary litigants all over Australia.
  • The gentleman's notice was very soon attracted; for he had not walked three paces, when he turned angrily round, and inquired what that young cur was howling for, and why Mr. Bumble did not favour him with something which would render the series of vocular exclamations so designated, an involuntary process? Oliver Twist
  • Sticking up his hand was a purely involuntary action. The Sun
  • It was those weeping indrawn breaths that got you, ripping away your composure the way a crying baby summons panic, some involuntary response to the sound of another human body in anguish. Day of Honey
  • It is this role as mediator that imbues woman with an essential liminality to the extent that she concurrently is the instantiation of both nature and culture, and in so being becomes the most likely sacrificial victim in Greek folk song, be it voluntary or involuntary as in 'Sacrifice at the Bridge of Arta'. 4 Arms and the Woman: Just Warriors and Greek Feminist Identity
  • He gave out an involuntary sigh as the wind rushed from his lungs and he dropped to his knees.
  • Alix suggests that "Kirsty Wark ... asked some fairly daft and muddled questions" in that Newsnight interview, whereas I reckoned she was more or less avoiding involuntary micturition in her big leather chair with beside-herself laughter at his utterly pathetic know-nothing feebleness. Alix Mortimer: Suggesting Osborne Not Up To Job

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