Trumpov’s return to power and his election for a second time should have vanquished naïve beliefs in the fundamental decency of the American people and the eternal nature of American democracy.

Instead, still a couple of weeks out from his 18th birthday, Littler calmly made his way through the rounds and then put in a display as mature as it was astonishing to vanquish Van Gerwen.

The Oilers have clearly become the Kings’ white whale, the foe who must be vanquished.

The driving forces of the moment are fixated less on enlightenment than on attacking, distorting and vanquishing.

The preparations, as Zeldovich notes, often contain remains of vanquished bacteria that, when injected, inflame the immune system and put the patient at risk.