Question

feint feynt (o. fr.) n. 1. a pretense or make-believe show 2. military, competitive sport. a false attack intended to draw the defense away from the actual target v. 3. to deceive with a false movement 4. to make a false show of
which meaning of feint is used in the sentence below?
her act of helplessness was a feint to disguise her unwillingness to help with the gardening.
a. definition 3
b. definition 1
c. definition 2
d. definition 4

Explanation:

To determine the correct definition of "feint" in the sentence, we analyze each definition:

• Definition 1: "a pretense or make - believe show" fits the context as her "act of helplessness" is a false show to disguise her unwillingness to help with gardening.
• Definition 2 is about a military/competitive false attack, which doesn't fit here.
• Definition 3 is about deceiving with a false movement, not relevant to an act of helplessness.
• Definition 4 is about making a false show (similar to 1 but 1 is more about pretense in general, and the sentence's "act of helplessness" is a pretense, so definition 1 is the best fit.

(corrected):

1. Analyze definition 1: "a pretense or make - believe show" matches the context where her "act of helplessness" is a false show to hide her real intention (unwillingness to help).
2. Definition 2 (military/competitive false attack) does not fit the context of an act of helplessness.
3. Definition 3 (deceive with false movement) is not relevant to an act of helplessness.
4. Definition 4 (make a false show) is similar to definition 1 but definition 1 is more about pretense, and the act of helplessness is a pretense. So definition 1 (option B) is correct.

Answer:

A. definition 3 (Note: There seems to be a typo in the options. Based on the analysis, the correct definition should be definition 1, but following the given options, if we assume the options are mislabeled and the intended correct one for the analysis is the one corresponding to the pretense meaning, and if option A is supposed to be definition 1 (maybe a labeling error), then the answer is A. definition 3 is incorrect based on analysis, but following the given option labels as per the problem, if we re - evaluate: Wait, maybe I misread. Let's re - check. The sentence: "Her act of helplessness was a feint to disguise her unwillingness to help with the gardening." A feint here is a pretense (definition 1). But the options are labeled A. definition 3, B. definition 1, C. definition 2, D. definition 4? Wait, the original problem's options: "A. definition 3, B. definition 1, C. definition 2, D. definition 4". Oh! I misread the options. So B is definition 1. So the correct answer is B. definition 1.

Correcting the earlier mistake: The sentence's "act of helplessness" as a feint is a pretense (definition 1), so the correct option is B. definition 1.