Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Expiatory; that makes or is intended to make amends for offenses; reconciling: as, Christ's a toning blood.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of atone.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • It involves making up for or, yes, "atoning" for a poor performance.

    Manute Bol's Radical Christianity Jon A. Shields 2010

  • That Jesus saw his imminent death in Jerusalem as a kind of atoning sacrifice may also have come from Jesus, although I am much less sure.

    Tacitus on Mythicism James F. McGrath 2010

  • That march of a million men, for all its pride and promise, bears the ineradicable stain of ignorant and spiteful prejudice -- and in all the talk of "atoning," there was no atoning for that.

    Never Give Up 1996

  • The stern powers of the paterfamilias were fused with stern duties, such as atoning for crimes committed by the members of his household.

    Feminism and Abortion 1990

  • Despite saying on his release that he would spend the rest of his life "atoning" for his crime, he was arrested in November.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • Despite saying on his release that he would spend the rest of his life "atoning" for his crime, he was arrested in November.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • I don't know how familiar the average audience fifty years ago might have been with this concept, but it's what I got out of the scene and of the Stride character, consumed as he is by the idea of atoning for the sin (pride, arguably the same one that drove the concept of

    GreenCine Daily 2009

  • I don't know how familiar the average audience fifty years ago might have been with this concept, but it's what I got out of the scene and of the Stride character, consumed as he is by the idea of atoning for the sin (pride, arguably the same one that drove the concept of

    GreenCine Daily 2009

  • While Season 5 dealt with Dexter atoning for his involvement, or lack thereof, in Rita's death, along with finally accepting his Dark Passenger's presence, this year we'll find Dexter has gone back to basics in many ways.

    Dexter Exclusive: How Far Will Season 6 Jump Ahead in Time? 2011

  • Jesus 'life and teaching eventually had to lead to his atoning death out of love.

    Scripture 2009

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