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That distance recurs often when he becomes a character in the story — almost as if he feels duty-bound to report his actions, but is unwilling to offer insight about himself.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2025
To Williams, it hinted at a more menacing scenario — at secret ties between those who threaten the rule of the law and those duty-bound to enforce it.
From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025
Sometimes, a patient makes an unconventional choice, but if the patient is competent and the request is fundamentally reasonable, the physician is duty-bound to comply.
From Slate • Aug. 20, 2024
Simon Baker KC, representing the Post Office, said while the company was duty-bound to investigate the case based on evidence available at the time, the case "amounts to an abuse of process".
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2024
The Bronchettes, no longer duty-bound to cheer and serve up those reedy, screechy screams, started dancing away with abandon, their faces fresh and unvarnished by lipstick or rouge powder.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
