animating force

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Carbon, he notes, is after all the building block of life, the animating force behind trees, rhinos, eyelashes, hormones, bamboo, and so much more.

From Salon • Mar. 24, 2025

I’ve been trying to cut to, like, the animating force here, and I think that distrust is at the heart of it.

From Slate • Mar. 16, 2023

But behind the scenes, Ted’s opinion continued to serve as the animating force — including, according to multiple people familiar with the family’s thinking, the decision to explore a sale.

From Washington Post • Feb. 16, 2023

The new sequel to that podcast, “Once Upon a Time...at Bennington College,” claims Sherman Oaks-bred “Less Than Zero” author Bret Easton Ellis as one of its central figures and its key animating force.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2021

For all that, Lawrence remained unmistakably the animating force at Livermore, which soon acquired the operational features of a classic Lawrence laboratory.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik