How should we understand “unobscured by flying friends” in this context?How should I understand the word “impressive”?How to understand this paragraph?How to understand “fer cryin' out loud” in this context?What does 'marks' refer to in this context?How to understand “you've had it bad” in this context?How to understand “as was inevitable” in this contextHow to understand “in it” in this contextHow should we understand “very handsomely so” in this contextHow to understand “in and of themselves” in this context
When did computers stop checking memory on boot?
Are there any space probes or landers which regained communication after being lost?
What is this sticking out of my wall?
Contractor cut joist hangers to make them fit
Why do the British opposition parties not want a new election?
is it possible to change a material depending on whether it is intersecting with another object?
Why does PAUSE key have a long make code and no break code?
antimatter annihilation in stars
How can Schrödinger's cat be both dead and alive?
If every star in the universe except the Sun were destroyed, would we die?
What's the biggest difference between these two photos?
Leaving the USA for 10 yrs when you have asylum
UK citizen travelling to France at the end of November
Does the 2019 UA artificer need to prepare the Lesser Restoration spell to cast it with their Alchemical Mastery feature?
I multiply the source, you (probably) multiply the output!
What is the difference between tl_to_str:V and tl_to_str:N?
Methods and Feasibility of Antimatter Mining?
The meaning of "offing" in "an agreement in the offing"
Is a MySQL database a viable alternative to LDAP?
How would two worlds first establish an exchange rate between their currencies
Galilean transformation vs simple translation
Friend is very nitpicky about side comments I don't intend to be taken too seriously
Bacteria vats to generate edible biomass, require intermediary species?
Why did Tony's Arc Reactor do this?
How should we understand “unobscured by flying friends” in this context?
How should I understand the word “impressive”?How to understand this paragraph?How to understand “fer cryin' out loud” in this context?What does 'marks' refer to in this context?How to understand “you've had it bad” in this context?How to understand “as was inevitable” in this contextHow to understand “in it” in this contextHow should we understand “very handsomely so” in this contextHow to understand “in and of themselves” in this context
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Mundungus?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I'm not sure how to understand "unobscured by flying friends" in this context. I don't really see anyone flying here. I'm kind of confused.
meaning-in-context
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
add a comment |
Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Mundungus?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I'm not sure how to understand "unobscured by flying friends" in this context. I don't really see anyone flying here. I'm kind of confused.
meaning-in-context
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
1
You don't see anyone flying, because there isn't anyone flying. That's the whole point. The stars are unobscured (not obscured, not hidden) by flying people. of course, they are also unobscured by clouds, planes, birds, whatever.
– Michael Harvey
9 hours ago
add a comment |
Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Mundungus?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I'm not sure how to understand "unobscured by flying friends" in this context. I don't really see anyone flying here. I'm kind of confused.
meaning-in-context
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Mundungus?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I'm not sure how to understand "unobscured by flying friends" in this context. I don't really see anyone flying here. I'm kind of confused.
meaning-in-context
meaning-in-context
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
asked 9 hours ago
dandan
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
5,8764 gold badges33 silver badges97 bronze badges
1
You don't see anyone flying, because there isn't anyone flying. That's the whole point. The stars are unobscured (not obscured, not hidden) by flying people. of course, they are also unobscured by clouds, planes, birds, whatever.
– Michael Harvey
9 hours ago
add a comment |
1
You don't see anyone flying, because there isn't anyone flying. That's the whole point. The stars are unobscured (not obscured, not hidden) by flying people. of course, they are also unobscured by clouds, planes, birds, whatever.
– Michael Harvey
9 hours ago
1
1
You don't see anyone flying, because there isn't anyone flying. That's the whole point. The stars are unobscured (not obscured, not hidden) by flying people. of course, they are also unobscured by clouds, planes, birds, whatever.
– Michael Harvey
9 hours ago
You don't see anyone flying, because there isn't anyone flying. That's the whole point. The stars are unobscured (not obscured, not hidden) by flying people. of course, they are also unobscured by clouds, planes, birds, whatever.
– Michael Harvey
9 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
The passage is saying there was nothing in the sky blocking the view of the stars.
In the real world, flying friends could be taken figuratively to describe airplanes in the sky with people (friends) on board—airplanes travelling between an observer on the ground and the stars in the sky, blocking the stars from sight.
However, since this is a fantasy book, flying friends very likely refers to individuals on broomsticks.
I don't know the specific context of the passage, but I suspect "the four of them" (whoever they are) are expecting to see the people named (their friends) in the sky instead of just the stars.
The sky is free of anything (such as flying friends) that would obscure the sight of the stars. For whatever reason, nobody else is there. So, the four people are concerned and asking where their friends are.
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
add a comment |
I don't know Harry Potter, really, but if they were waiting for Ron, Fred, etc., and if those friends would have arrived by flying, this is a poetic way of the narrator saying they're not there.
The four of them were expecting or hoping to see they're friends flying in the sky, but all they see are the stars. The stars aren't hidden by flying friends. The sky is empty. The friends are absent.
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "481"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"u003ecc by-sa 4.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f223374%2fhow-should-we-understand-unobscured-by-flying-friends-in-this-context%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
The passage is saying there was nothing in the sky blocking the view of the stars.
In the real world, flying friends could be taken figuratively to describe airplanes in the sky with people (friends) on board—airplanes travelling between an observer on the ground and the stars in the sky, blocking the stars from sight.
However, since this is a fantasy book, flying friends very likely refers to individuals on broomsticks.
I don't know the specific context of the passage, but I suspect "the four of them" (whoever they are) are expecting to see the people named (their friends) in the sky instead of just the stars.
The sky is free of anything (such as flying friends) that would obscure the sight of the stars. For whatever reason, nobody else is there. So, the four people are concerned and asking where their friends are.
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
add a comment |
The passage is saying there was nothing in the sky blocking the view of the stars.
In the real world, flying friends could be taken figuratively to describe airplanes in the sky with people (friends) on board—airplanes travelling between an observer on the ground and the stars in the sky, blocking the stars from sight.
However, since this is a fantasy book, flying friends very likely refers to individuals on broomsticks.
I don't know the specific context of the passage, but I suspect "the four of them" (whoever they are) are expecting to see the people named (their friends) in the sky instead of just the stars.
The sky is free of anything (such as flying friends) that would obscure the sight of the stars. For whatever reason, nobody else is there. So, the four people are concerned and asking where their friends are.
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
add a comment |
The passage is saying there was nothing in the sky blocking the view of the stars.
In the real world, flying friends could be taken figuratively to describe airplanes in the sky with people (friends) on board—airplanes travelling between an observer on the ground and the stars in the sky, blocking the stars from sight.
However, since this is a fantasy book, flying friends very likely refers to individuals on broomsticks.
I don't know the specific context of the passage, but I suspect "the four of them" (whoever they are) are expecting to see the people named (their friends) in the sky instead of just the stars.
The sky is free of anything (such as flying friends) that would obscure the sight of the stars. For whatever reason, nobody else is there. So, the four people are concerned and asking where their friends are.
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
The passage is saying there was nothing in the sky blocking the view of the stars.
In the real world, flying friends could be taken figuratively to describe airplanes in the sky with people (friends) on board—airplanes travelling between an observer on the ground and the stars in the sky, blocking the stars from sight.
However, since this is a fantasy book, flying friends very likely refers to individuals on broomsticks.
I don't know the specific context of the passage, but I suspect "the four of them" (whoever they are) are expecting to see the people named (their friends) in the sky instead of just the stars.
The sky is free of anything (such as flying friends) that would obscure the sight of the stars. For whatever reason, nobody else is there. So, the four people are concerned and asking where their friends are.
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
Jason BassfordJason Bassford
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
26k2 gold badges33 silver badges56 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
I don't know Harry Potter, really, but if they were waiting for Ron, Fred, etc., and if those friends would have arrived by flying, this is a poetic way of the narrator saying they're not there.
The four of them were expecting or hoping to see they're friends flying in the sky, but all they see are the stars. The stars aren't hidden by flying friends. The sky is empty. The friends are absent.
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
add a comment |
I don't know Harry Potter, really, but if they were waiting for Ron, Fred, etc., and if those friends would have arrived by flying, this is a poetic way of the narrator saying they're not there.
The four of them were expecting or hoping to see they're friends flying in the sky, but all they see are the stars. The stars aren't hidden by flying friends. The sky is empty. The friends are absent.
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
add a comment |
I don't know Harry Potter, really, but if they were waiting for Ron, Fred, etc., and if those friends would have arrived by flying, this is a poetic way of the narrator saying they're not there.
The four of them were expecting or hoping to see they're friends flying in the sky, but all they see are the stars. The stars aren't hidden by flying friends. The sky is empty. The friends are absent.
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
I don't know Harry Potter, really, but if they were waiting for Ron, Fred, etc., and if those friends would have arrived by flying, this is a poetic way of the narrator saying they're not there.
The four of them were expecting or hoping to see they're friends flying in the sky, but all they see are the stars. The stars aren't hidden by flying friends. The sky is empty. The friends are absent.
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
answered 9 hours ago
Jim ReynoldsJim Reynolds
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
9,36817 silver badges40 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f223374%2fhow-should-we-understand-unobscured-by-flying-friends-in-this-context%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
You don't see anyone flying, because there isn't anyone flying. That's the whole point. The stars are unobscured (not obscured, not hidden) by flying people. of course, they are also unobscured by clouds, planes, birds, whatever.
– Michael Harvey
9 hours ago