Wu Ting
How would you interpret ‘withdraw’ here? How would you interpret ‘withdraw’ in the phrase ‘for Singer to withdraw a mystery book’? I think it means to borrow, right? Thanks! It’s from The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by McCullers the context: The two mutes had no other friends, and except when they worked they were alone together. Each day was very much like any other day, because they were alone so much that nothing ever disturbed them. Once a week they would go to the library for Singer to withdraw a mystery book and on Friday night they attended a movie. Then on payday they always went to the ten-cent photograph shop above the Army and Navy Store so that Antonapoulos could have his picture taken. These were the only places where they made customary visits. There were many parts in the town that they had never even seen.
Nov 25, 2015 1:55 PM
Answers · 2
1
Yes. "Withdraw" simply means "to take out" or "remove." You withdraw money from a bank. With regard to a public library, we can say "I withdrew a book from the library," "I borrowed a book from the library," "I took out a book from the library," or simply "I got a book from the library." They all mean the same thing. The word "withdraw" doesn't really say whether you are going to return it or not. In U.S. English, a library is never a bookstore that sells books. It usually means a place that lends them. Very often, it means "public library." (The United States is fortunate to have many public libraries, in part because of the philanthropy of steel millionaire Andrew Carnegie who made it a personal mission of his). (It can sometimes mean "a room in a house where books are shelved.") The word "library" tells us that they are borrowing the book.
November 25, 2015
1
Yes, it means to borrow it from the library.
November 25, 2015
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