take exception

takes exception (third-person singular present)
taking exception (present participle)
took exception (past)
taken exception (past participle)

(及物带 to) 对...感到不快，反感，受到...的冒犯；反对

I think he took exception to the joke about environmentalists.

我觉得那个开环保主义者玩笑的笑话冒犯到他了。

I take exception to the assumption that simply because I am young I am not able to discern fact from fiction.

觉得只是因为我年轻我就没办法区分现实和虚构的成见让我感到不快。

I am sorry to learn that the senior medical staff of the Dreadnought Hospital take exception to portions of Sir Henry Burdett's letter […] which was published in the Times of July 11th.

1898 July 20, Percival A. Nairne, letter, published in the Lancet of 1898 December 10, page 1575:

[…] the body of a deceased Indian, wrapped in a blanket and reposing on the limbs of an old tree in the sandhills. Horatio Walker, then President of the Club and generally so sympathetic with artists, seemingly took exception to it, and Morris felt the silent criticism […]

1984，Jean S. McGill，Edmund Morris, Frontier Artist，Dundurn Press, →ISBN，頁 165:

Upset, about 20 Kuala Lumpur-based judges met on 25 March and decided that Salleh should write to the king explaining their position. The king apparently took exception to the letter or to the manner in which it was sent […]

1989，“Asia Yearbook”, in Far Eastern Economic Review，頁 167:


have one's cake and eat it too

字面意思为“（想同时）拥有蛋糕，和吃掉它”，因为吃了蛋糕就没有了，吃蛋糕和拥有蛋糕两件事无法同时达成。

has one's cake and eats it too (third-person singular present)
having one's cake and eating it too (present participle)
had one's cake and ate it too (past)
had one's cake and eaten it too (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-have one's cake and eat it too.ogg

一般以谚语的形式出现：One cannot have one's cake and eat it too。

又要马儿好，又要马儿不吃草 （同时达到两个互斥的目的）

It's not possible to get your savings and keep the piggy bank intact. You can't have your cake and eat it too!

你没办法又能拿到存着的钱，又要存钱罐完好无损。鱼和熊掌不可兼得。


chow down

chows down (third-person singular present)
chowing down (present participle)
chowed down (past participle)

We're all famished; it's time to chow down.

我们都饿坏了，该好好吃一顿了。


get the ball rolling

gets the ball rolling (third-person singular present)
getting the ball rolling (present participle)
got the ball rolling (past)
got the ball rolling
gotten the ball rolling

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-get the ball rolling.ogg

Did you ever get the ball rolling on your plans to build a shed?

你有没有开始着手你的建小屋计划？

The execution of Littlefinger is formal, although his trial admittedly gives us ample opportunity to appreciate the tables finally turning on the man who got the ball rolling on all this bloodshed.

2017年August27日，Brandon Nowalk，“Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:


uniformise

uniformises (third-person singular present)
uniformising (present participle)
uniformised (past participle)


uniformises

uniformise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


utilise

源自法語 utiliser，源自意大利語 utilizzare，源自utile (“有用的”)，源自拉丁語 ūtilis，源自ūtī (“使用”)。最早見於c. 1810。

utilises (third-person singular present)
utilising (present participle)
utilised (past participle)

許多寫作風格指導會建議讀者不使用 utilize 及 utilise，認為直接用 use 更好（同樣地，名詞 use 也要優於 utilization 和 utilisation）。在一般場景下，使用本詞可能會顯得比較浮誇（如“please utilise the rear door when exiting the aircraft”），因此權威辭書也會建議謹慎使用。
但在某些情況下，utilise 比需要迂言的 use 更合適，比如：

“投入使用”，如“... utilise the production capacities of the local industries fully before ordering from foreign industries”；

“消耗、消費”，如“... utilise the support that the system provides, such as by making the most of tax exemptions and special supplies”；

“充分利用”，如“... farmers must utilise their land fully to boost food security”.

The bodywork employs, where possible, the same constructional methods as for the standard B.R. coaching stock, in order to utilise existing jigs and press tools.

1959 March，“The 2,500 h.p. electric locomotives for the Kent Coast electrification”, in Trains Illustrated，頁 125:

Since then we have had the opportunity to travel in them and were much impressed by the internal styling and comfort of the seating (with the minor exception of the single seats which have been tucked in longitudinally alongside some of the entrance vestibules and which are so cramped that only the slimmest of female figures could be comfortable in them; the space they occupy would have been better utilised to increase standing room).

1960 December，“The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated，頁 715:


utilises

utilise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


urbanises

urbanise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


valorise

valorises (third-person singular present)
valorising (present participle)
valorised (past participle)


valorises

valorise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


vampirise

vampirises (third-person singular present)
vampirising (present participle)
vampirised (past participle)


volatilises

volatilise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


vandalises

vandalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


vectorises

vectorise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


verbalises

動詞alise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


verlanise

verlanises (third-person singular present)
verlanising (present participle)
verlanised (past participle)


virilise

virilises (third-person singular present)
virilising (present participle)
virilised (past participle)


vulgarises

vulgarise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


stylises

stylise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


subjectivise

subjectivises (third-person singular present)
subjectivising (present participle)
subjectivised (past participle)


subjectivises

subjectivise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


territorialise

territorialises (third-person singular present)
territorialising (present participle)
territorialised (past participle)


territorialises

territorialise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


terrorises

terrorise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


titularises

titularise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


titularise

titularises (third-person singular present)
titularising (present participle)
titularised (past participle)


solubilise

solubilises (third-person singular present)
solubilising (present participle)
solubilised (past participle)


solubilises

solubilise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


sodomises

sodomise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


swish

swishes (third-person singular present)
swishing (present participle)
swished (past participle)

The cane swishes.

In the stern of the low-laden canoe his paddle swished steadily and powerfully, with thrust of straight, stiff upper arm backed by a twisting swing of the body from the waist, and with every stroke the little craft leaped as if a giant hand had shoved her forward.

to swish a cane back and forth

After Virginia came the twins, who were usually called "the Star and Stripes", as they were always getting swished.

Doctor Wordsworth and assistants would swish that error out of him in a way that need not here be mentioned.

c. 1842, William Makepeace Thackeray, Character Sketches

I shall not swish; I'll merely act limp-wristed.

Swish the mouthwash around the mouth and between the teeth for one minute.

在口中及牙齿间涮漱口水一分钟。


conk out

可能是模仿抛锚内燃机的一个拟声词。可能是英国摩托骑手在约1910年所造。

conks out (third-person singular present)
conking out (present participle)
conked out (past participle)

He wasn't there, just the dog, conked out on the porch.

他不在那里，只有那只狗睡在门厅那。

The old car conked out halfway up the hill.

He lived to be 90, then conked out in his sleep.

他活到了90岁，然后睡梦中咽气了。


konk out

konks out (third-person singular present)
konking out (present participle)
konked out (past participle)


stay put

stays put (third-person singular present)
staying put (present participle)
stayed put (past participle)

I'm not moving there; I'd rather stay put.

I keep adjusting the focus, but it won't stay put.

我一直在调焦，但是它就是固定不下来。


hit it

hits it (third-person singular present)
hitting it (present participle)
hit it (past participle)

He looks at the band behind him and says, “Hit it, boys!” The band launches into its own rendition of happy birthday.

2010，E. K. Schiller，Holly Schiller，The Midnight Hour，頁 196:

If I say you look fuckable, how would you react?
 Starin' at you, daydreamin' 'bout hittin' it from the back

仅按字面意思，并无比喻或俗语义；参见hit、it。


beat it

beats it (third-person singular present)
beating it (present participle)
beat it (past)
beat it (past participle)
beaten it (past participle)

[…] and he said, "You beat it." So I beat it two squares up to Seventeenth Street and went into a saloon.

1916，United States. Commission on Industrial Relations, Francis Patrick Walsh, Basil Maxwell Manly，Industrial relations: Final report and testimony，頁 10986:

Showin' how funky and strong is your fight / It doesn't matter who's wrong or right / Just beat it

1983，Michael Jackson （作曲作詞）, “Beat It”, in Thriller:

仅按字面意思，并无比喻或俗语义；参见beat、it。


conscientises

conscientise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


satirises

satirise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


scandalises

scandalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


sectorises

sectorise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


sexualises

sexualise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


signalises

signalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


socialises

socialise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


racialises

racialise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


radicalises

radicalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


rationalises

rationalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


relativises

relativise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


rivalises

rivalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


robotises

robotise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


romanises

romanise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


paralyses

paralyse的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


parabolise

parabolises (third-person singular present)
parabolising (present participle)
parabolised (past participle)


parabolises

parabolise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


pasteurise

借自法語 pasteuriser。源自路易·巴斯德，这一消毒方法的发明者， + -ise。

pasteurises (third-person singular present)
pasteurising (present participle)
pasteurised (past participle)

/ˈpæst͡ʃəɹaɪz/

/ˈpɑːstʃəɹaɪz/


pasteurises

pasteurise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


pelletise

pelletises (third-person singular present)
pelletising (present participle)
pelletised (past participle)


pelletises

pelletise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


phosphorise

phosphorises (third-person singular present)
phosphorising (present participle)
phosphorised (past participle)


phosphorises

phosphorise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


polygonise

polygonises (third-person singular present)
polygonising (present participle)
polygonised (past participle)


polygonises

polygonise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


pressurise

pressurises (third-person singular present)
pressurising (present participle)
pressurised (past participle)

pressurize在非牛津英式英語的标准拼写


pressurises

pressurise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


psychiatrise

psychiatrises (third-person singular present)
psychiatrising (present participle)
psychiatrised (past participle)


psychiatrises

psychiatrise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


psychologises

psychologise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


harmonises

harmonise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


purifies

purify的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


dip out

dips out (third-person singular present)
dipping out (present participle)
dipped out (past participle)


pooped

poop 的過去式和過去分詞


catch some z's

源自常用来表达人睡着时发出的声音的Z。

catches some z's (third-person singular present)
catching some z's (present participle)
caught some z's (past participle)

His boss found him catching some z's at his desk yesterday.

他老板昨天抓到他在自己的桌上睡觉。


catch some zs

catches some zs (third-person singular present)
catching some zs (present participle)
caught some zs (past participle)


catch some Zs

catches some Zs (third-person singular present)
catching some Zs (present participle)
caught some Zs (past participle)


catch some Z's

catches some Z's (third-person singular present)
catching some Z's (present participle)
caught some Z's (past participle)


grab some z's

grabs some z's (third-person singular present)
grabbing some z's (present participle)
grabbed some z's (past participle)

Thought I'd just crash here for the evening. Grab some z's.

2007，Denise Hildreth Jones，The Will of Wisteria, →ISBN，頁 278:

Have the men grab some z's. I'll take the first watch.

2011，Charles F. David，Fire Base X-Ray, →ISBN，頁 84:

No use thinking about it tonight. Time to grab some z's. I'm sure this will make more sense in the morning.

2017，Lynn Cahoon，Fatality by Firelight, →ISBN:


grab some Z's

grabs some Z's (third-person singular present)
grabbing some Z's (present participle)
grabbed some Z's (past participle)

You look beat, buddy. Grab some Z's on the way home.

1994，Dana Stabenow，A Cold-Blooded Business, →ISBN，頁 85:

Would you like a pillow, Mr. Mann? Looks as if you're about ready to grab some Z's.

Dean typed a quick reply to Colt with another heart, letting him know they were home safe and they were going to grab some Z's and call if he needed anything.


grab some Zs

grabs some Zs (third-person singular present)
grabbing some Zs (present participle)
grabbed some Zs (past participle)

I'll just chat with you while I finish up and then I'll be gone and you can grab some Zs.

2000，Bud Jones，Snake, Rolling in Hot, →ISBN，頁 323:

At the time, I thought it a good bit of practice for Nicolas to be able to just lie down most anywhere and grab some Zs, as it would serve him well his first year in college.

2003，A. Lee Chichester，Falcons and Foxes in the U.K.: The Making of a Hunter, →ISBN，頁 102:

He'd let her grab some Zs as soon as he could. In fact, having her sleep while he and Chaos worked would keep her out of trouble.


chillax

chillaxes (third-person singular present)
chillaxing (present participle)
chillaxed (past participle)

Let's watch a movie with Maria and chillax tonight.

我们今晚和Maria看部电影放松一下吧。

Chillax dude, or they are going to know you are tripping.

冷静点兄弟，不然他们就看出你吸了。

Oi, chillax sunshine, or there's gonna be trouble!

喂，老实点小伙子，不想惹上麻烦吧。


stargaze

stargazes (third-person singular present)
stargazing (present participle)
stargazed (past participle)

It was a very clear night so I paused to stargaze until I got cold and went in.

那天晚上天空很晴，我就停下来去看星星了，一直看到觉得冷了就回屋里了。

"That's right," declared Browning's companion. "I was out stargazing last night. Looked at the Long-Handled Dipper a long time, and it gave me an awful thirst. I've had it with me all day. Yes, mine's ale."

1903，Burt L. Standish [pseudonym; Gilbert Patten]，Frank Merriwell at Yale:

Before books came into my life, I was given to stargazing and daydreaming. When books were given me, I fell upon them as a glutton pounces on his meat after a period of enforced starvation.


chillaxes

chillax的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


chillaxed

chillax 的過去式和過去分詞


peace out

peaces out (third-person singular present)
peacing out (present participle)
peaced out (past participle)

Lauren was peaced-out in her bedroom, and almost everyone had gone home. I started chilling by the pool with the bartender,

2007，Dana Vachon，Mergers & Acquisitions，頁 154:

The suspect ate a light bulb and bit through a man’s neck before peacing out in a stolen taco van.

2008年October29日，“JELLO spells death for some”, in The Daily Evergreen, WA:

I cracked him with a stone I'd picked up in the garden. The inscription on the stone read PAZ. The man, peaced out, fell back

2005，David Terrenoire，Beneath a Panamanian Moon，頁 253:

催眠；走神；出幻觉 （意识，感觉被改变）

And she gets all peaced out and says she feels the presence of the Lord

1982，Stephen Levine with Ondrea Levine, Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying，頁 177:

After experiencing the totally peaced out acid trance, the first thing that occurred to most users was "Let's dose the President!"

1994，Douglas Rushkoff，Media Virus!: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture，頁 2 59:

"As they say out in Californication" — I try to sound peaced-out like someone from Santa Cruz — "Isabella's way bitching."

consider it some sort of "peaced out utopian higherminded enlightenment"

2008年April24日，“The light and dark side of DNA”, in MSNBC:

I am peacing out of that hellhole. Are you still thinking about leaving?"

2007，Dan Brown，The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle，頁 237:


contended

contend 的過去式和過去分詞


militarises

militarise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


miniaturise

miniaturises (third-person singular present)
miniaturising (present participle)
miniaturised (past participle)

miniaturize在非牛津英式英語的标准拼写


miniaturises

miniaturise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


modernise

modernises (third-person singular present)
modernising (present participle)
modernised (past participle)

The principal locomotive workshops now in use are those of the former Rhymney Railway at Caerphilly, modernised and re-equipped to meet the requirements of the new regime.

1939 September，D. S. Barrie，“The Railways of South Wales”, in Railway Magazine，頁s 159, 161:

The same applies to the toilets. Simply the ability to remove those labels that read "do not flush while the train is at a station" (a sticker that dates a train as 'old') modernises them no end.

2019年October23日，Pip Dunn，“The next king of Scotland”, in Rail，頁 50:


modernises

modernise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


municipalise

municipalises (third-person singular present)
municipalising (present participle)
municipalised (past participle)


municipalises

municipalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


naturalises

naturalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


nomadise

nomadises (third-person singular present)
nomadising (present participle)
nomadised (past participle)


nomadises

nomadise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


occidentalise

occidentalises (third-person singular present)
occidentalising (present participle)
occidentalised (past participle)


occidentalises

occidentalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


officialise

officialises (third-person singular present)
officialising (present participle)
officialised (past participle)


oralise

oralises (third-person singular present)
oralising (present participle)
oralised (past participle)


oralises

oralise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


orientalise

orientalises (third-person singular present)
orientalising (present participle)
orientalised (past participle)

orientalize在非牛津英式英語的标准拼写：Orientalize的大小寫替代形式。


orientalises

orientalise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


orthogonalise

orthogonalises (third-person singular present)
orthogonalising (present participle)
orthogonalised (past participle)


ovalise

ovalises (third-person singular present)
ovalising (present participle)
ovalised (past participle)


stave off

staves off (third-person singular present)
staving off (present participle)
staved off (past participle)
stove off (past participle)

He drank plenty of orange juice, hoping to stave off the cold making the rounds at the office.

他喝了很多橙汁，希望能够抵御办公室里的冷气。

LANCE: Only through my training as a sex machine am I able to stave off genital turgidity.

2011，Jamie Noguchi，Yellow Peril: The View:

So it was perhaps political backlash from the trebling of public transport times between Harlech to Porthmadog if buses took over that staved off immediate talks of closure and the release of a £241,000 subsidy (2020: £3.8m).

2020年April8日，Howard Johnston，“East-ended? When the ECML was at risk”, in Rail，頁 69:


whip up

whips up (third-person singular present)
whipping up (present participle)
whipped up (past participle)

（匆匆）制作 （尤指食物）

I'll whip up a quick meal for our unexpected guests.

我匆匆地为突然拜访的客人很快地做好了简单的菜。

使...激动，激起...的热情

His speech whipped the crowd up into a frenzy.

他的演讲点燃了人们的热情。

Hurricane force winds damaged the North Clydeside catenary on January 17 and 18 and on February 12, causing interruptions to the Helensburgh services; in the neighbourhood of Craigendoran and Cardross, the seas in the Firth of Clyde were whipped up to the height of the conductor wires and the insulators themselves.

1962 April，“Motive power miscellany: Scottish Region”, in Modern Railways，頁 285:

Greater Anglia 745005 whips up snow as it passes Fox Street (near Colchester) on February 8, with the 1000 Norwich-London Liverpool Street.

2021年February24日，“Network News: ... but snow and ice forces Greater Anglia to sideline Class 745s”, in RAIL，期 925，頁 13, photo caption:


save something for a rainy day

saves something for a rainy day (third-person singular present)
saving something for a rainy day (present participle)
saved something for a rainy day (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-save something for a rainy day.ogg


go to town

goes to town (third-person singular present)
going to town (present participle)
went to town (past)
gone to town (past participle)

仅按字面意思，并无比喻或俗语义；参见go、to、town。

She really went to town with the party preparations.

她准备派对准备得很开心。

The greatest impact, good and bad, fell on the city's northeast suburbs, 60-plus minutes from the downtown Huairou district, a key APEC venue. Obama and other VIPs spent just seven hours there Tuesday, but Huairou went to town as perhaps only China can. The district spent about $4.9 billion preparing for APEC, according to state media including the Beijing Youth Daily and China Daily newspapers.

2014年November12日，Calum MacLeod，“As with 2008 Olympics, China spends big to look good”, in USA Today, →ISSN, →OCLC，存檔自the original on 2014-11-14:

Never slow to bang the drum, the English press went to town, calling Lineker the “Matador of Madrid” and announcing that “Spain are Linekered.”

2018年October15日，Steven Pye，“When Gary Lineker scored four goals to help England win 4-2 in Spain”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The news channels had been the first to figure out that particular wrinkle, but the religions really went to town with it.

2018 November，N. K. Jemisin，How Long 'til Black Future Month?，Hachette, →ISBN:

Oh, I went to town in the last lockdown, spent a lot of money on the paints, the brushes, the figurines for a game called Hero Quest.

2022年May29日，Tom Lamont，引 Jim Howick, “‘We were always trying to push boundaries’: Jim Howick on breaking taboos, coping with life and the joy of dogs”, in The Observer, →ISSN:


pack heat

packs heat (third-person singular present)
packing heat (present participle)
packed heat (past participle)

If the current trend toward relaxation of concealed-weapons laws continues, soon the most important gun restrictions may involve destinations: the states will probably allow various venues—public gathering places, offices, stores—to ban firearms on the premises. The only problem will be how to know who is packing heat.

1995年March27日，David Van Biema，“Peekaboo: The New Detector”, in Time:


japonise

japonises (third-person singular present)
japonising (present participle)
japonised (past participle)

But Japanese political predominance, and constant intercourse during three centuries, have almost japonised the island.

1895，Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan，頁 5:

Not methods alone are borrowed wholesale, but even plots, the proper names which occur in the stories being slightly japonised, as Shimizu for Smith, Risa for Eliza, and details being altered so as to suit Japanese social conditions.

1927，B.H. Chamberlain，Things Japanese，頁 274:

But japonise it into Benkei and the difficulty vanishes, to say nothing of the apparent prop given to the story of Yoshitsune's visit to Yezo, by the fact of the name of his celebrated henchman Benkei thus figuring in the geography of the island.

1996，Kirsten Refsing，Early European Writings on the Ainu Language:


japonises

japonise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


lapinise

lapinises (third-person singular present)
lapinising (present participle)
lapinised (past participle)


lobotomise

lobotomises (third-person singular present)
lobotomising (present participle)
lobotomised (past participle)


lobotomises

lobotomise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


localises

localise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


lyophilise

lyophilises (third-person singular present)
lyophilising (present participle)
lyophilised (past participle)


lyophilises

lyophilise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


manualise

manualises (third-person singular present)
manualising (present participle)
manualised (past participle)


manualises

manualise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


martyrise

martyrises (third-person singular present)
martyrising (present participle)
martyrised (past participle)


martyrises

martyrise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


masculinise

masculinises (third-person singular present)
masculinising (present participle)
masculinised (past participle)

masculinize在非牛津英式的标准拼写


masculinises

masculinise的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


dispones

dispone的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


eek out

eke out的拼寫錯誤。


fuck with

fucks with (third-person singular present)
fucking with (present participle)
fucked with (past participle)

roll with

与...合作，与...有关联； 喜欢，中意

Don't fuck with that gang! They all carry guns!

别惹那个黑帮！他们都有枪的！

Don't take it serious, man, I'm just fucking with you.

别认真啊，兄弟，和你开个玩笑而已。

The thought that she might be cheating on me is really fucking with me.

一想到她可能给我戴绿帽了，我就寝食难安。

与...合作，与...有关联； 喜欢，中意

特別用於非洲裔美國人白話

I fuck with you heavy.

“I’m promoting you, dawg. I’m planning an early retirement, and I gotta know that my business is in good hands. I worked hard to get shit to this point, yo. You think you could handle being the boss one day?” “Muthafuckin’ right,” Smurf said beating his chest. “I’m ready to do whatever is asked of me for the team.” “That’s why I fuck with you, Smurf,” Dink said with a sly smile.

2005，Lisa Lennox，Crack Head, →ISBN，頁 211:

“Yo, Kid, Dude is my cousin.” “Oh well! I’m sorry, Son, but your cousin fucked up!” “Nah, I mean, you’re my peoples. I fuck with you heavy. I don’t even fuck with that nigga like that, but he is family. If you kill him, then I gotta go to the funeral.”

2012，Michael Archer，Trunk-Space: The Retribution of A Psychopath, →ISBN:

How can I fuck with the fun again, when I'm known?

2013，“Tennis Court”, in Pure Heroine，演出者 Lorde:

“Boss, no disrespect. I fuck with you, and what shorty just pulled was foul. I know y’all got history, but I hope you ain’t planning on going back to the bitch anytime soon.”

2017，Dana Shontale，Naked Truth, Naked Truths, →ISBN:

RODOLFO RAMIREZ (played by Amaury Nolasco):What do you know about how we roll on the West coast? TOMMY EGAN (played by Joseph Sikora): Not much. But I fucks with that Cali herb hard.

2019年October7日，Courtney A. Kemp, Theo Travers, Andre J. Ferguson，章號 7 (片头起21:15), in Power(Like Father, Like Son) (6) (TV series), spoken by Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora):


fwd

fwds (third-person singular present)
fwding (present participle)
fwded (past participle)


infantilise

infantilises (third-person singular present)
infantilising (present participle)
infantilised (past participle)

infantilize在非牛津英式的标准拼写


infantilises

infantilise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


infixes

infix 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


informatise

informatises (third-person singular present)
informatising (present participle)
informatised (past participle)


informatises

informatise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


initialises

initialise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


insensibilise

insensibilises (third-person singular present)
insensibilising (present participle)
insensibilised (past participle)


insensibilises

insensibilise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


instrumentalise

instrumentalises (third-person singular present)
instrumentalising (present participle)
instrumentalised (past participle)


instrumentalises

instrumentalise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


intellectualise

intellectualises (third-person singular present)
intellectualising (present participle)
intellectualised (past participle)


intellectualises

intellectualise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


innerve

innerves (third-person singular present)
innerving (present participle)
innerved (past participle)

To imbue with nervous energy; to give increased force or courage to.


innerves

innerve 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


institutionalise

institutionalises (third-person singular present)
institutionalising (present participle)
institutionalised (past participle)


instaure

instaures (third-person singular present)
instauring (present participle)
instaured (past participle)


softlock

softlocks (third-person singular present)
softlocking (present participle)
softlocked (past participle)

处在软锁状态中或导致软锁（处在可操作但无法继续游玩的状态）


humanises

humanise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


grow out of

grows out of (third-person singular present)
growing out of (present participle)
grew out of (past)
grown out of (past participle)

从...处出现，从...长出来，产生自，是...的成果

长大后不再适合 （尤指衣物）

I give my old clothes to charity when I've grown out of them.

我会把我穿不下的旧衣服捐给慈善机构。

长大成熟后不再有，长大后改掉 （爱好，习惯等）

Still, I see you mean well enough, and are merely suffering from the debilitating cheerfulness of youth. You will soon grow out of that.

2002, House of the Seven Gables - Page 37


fragilise

fragilises (third-person singular present)
fragilising (present participle)
fragilised (past participle)


globalise

globalises (third-person singular present)
globalising (present participle)
globalised (past participle)


globalises

globalise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


grammaticalise

grammaticalises (third-person singular present)
grammaticalising (present participle)
grammaticalised (past participle)


grammaticalises

grammaticalise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


whack off

whacks off (third-person singular present)
whacking off (present participle)
whacked off (past participle)

Did I mention that when I was fifteen I took it out of my pants and whacked off on the 107 bus from New York?

1969，Philip Roth，“Cunt Crazy”, in Portnoy’s Complaint，New York: Random House:

[…] why is it that I am discomfited by the bizarre fact that the one thing she will do, though in a pleasureless and rather perfunctory way, is to whack me off hour after hour until I am a lifeless and juiceless stalk, exhausted and even humiliated by this dumb pursuit?

1979，William Styron，章號 14, in Sophie’s Choice，New York: Random House:


teeter

teeters (third-person singular present)
teetering (present participle)
teetered (past participle)

He teetered on the brink of the precipice.

他在峭壁的边缘摇摇欲坠。

The concrete floors of B2B sheds were already being built to an exacting degree of flatness, calibrated using lasers, so that forklifts would not teeter while lifting pallets to the highest shelves.

2019年November21日，Samanth Subramanian，“How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian:

This is not a land of blowouts. It’s a middle ground, and that’s reflected in voter registration rolls. Nearly 2.6 million North Carolinians declare themselves unaffiliated, while just over 2.4 million identify as Democrats and just under 2.2 million as Republicans. We don’t tilt. We teeter.

2023年May4日，Frank Bruni，“Republicans Are Running Wild in My State”, in The New York Times:

We teetered on the fence about buying getaway tickets and missed the opportunity.

我们之前犹豫要不要买度假的票，结果错过了机会。

Despite appearances, the firm was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

虽然表面光鲜，但是公司已经濒临破产。


wind up

winds up (third-person singular present)
winding up (present participle)
wound up (past participle)

roll up

把...摇起来 （车窗，井的水桶等）

raise

把...摇起来 （车窗，井的水桶等）

snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches

wind down

把...摇起来 （车窗，井的水桶等）

roll down

把...摇起来 （车窗，井的水桶等）

lower

把...摇起来 （车窗，井的水桶等）

I wound up the spool of rope.

I wound up the clock.

Your pocket watch will run for a long time if you wind up the spring all the way.

你给你的怀表完全扭好发条以后它可以转好久的。

The movie wound me up emotionally.

那部电影绷紧了我的神经。

Try not to wind up the kids too much right before bedtime.

睡觉前别让孩子们玩的太疯了。

Of all their regrets, it was their inability to score an away goal that might wind up Klopp the most. Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way.

2019年May1日，Daniel Taylor，“Lionel Messi magic puts Barcelona in command of semi-final with Liverpool”, in The Guardian:

把...摇起来 （车窗，井的水桶等）

Wind up your window — it's starting to rain.

把窗摇起来，开始下雨了。

Mess around with drugs and wind up broke.

沾上毒品结果就是身无分文。

I followed the signs, and I wound up getting nowhere.

我跟着路标走，结果走到了不知道啥地方。

The Hound's afraid to go in. Maybe he's afraid the occupants will tell on him, but Beric points out that there's no smoke in the chimney or livestock in the yard, so it's probably deserted. It's not. Inside are the decaying corpses of the farmer and his little girl, in bed together with a knife on the floor. Beric CSIs that they were starving to death, so the man ended the suffering for both of them. And they might not have wound up that way if they hadn't met the Hound.

2017年July16日，Brandon Nowalk，“Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:

Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.

2013年January10日，Brian Hayes，“Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist，卷 101, 期 1，頁 62:

Now, things got even more confusing. Farenholt and Laffey hadn't spotted the incoming Japanese Navy vessels, and were winding up to full speed to more-quickly bypass the cruisers. Duncan, of course, could see the radar contacts to its starboard, and so assumed that this increase in speed by its compatriots was the start of a general assault on the enemy. And so, not wanting to be left behind, it broke off and headed off into the darkness to start what turned out to be a one-ship torpedo assault.

2020年December9日，Drachinifel，片头起15:25, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Cape Esperance (IJN 1 : 2 USN)，存檔自the original on 2022-12-04:

终止，关停 （合作关系，公司等）

Even though he had bad news, he tried to wind up his speech on a positive note.

虽然他讲了坏消息，但他还是想以正面的语气结束演讲。

同類詞：wind down

A general feast, of which all the male inhabitants of the town partake, winds up the proceedings at the close of the nineteen days.

1911，James George Frazer，The Golden Bough，卷 8，頁 231:

In late April, residents were sent a blunt letter telling them that the town's ancient market, which had stopped because of the pandemic, and which really did date back to the reign of Queen Anne, would be wound up.

2020年September1日，Tom Lamont，“The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:

Twenty quid? Are you winding me up?

Paige seemed to be winding up for a fastball but then switched it up.

Paige似乎做了个准备投快球的姿势，但最后又换了。


cut it

cuts it (third-person singular present)
cutting it (present participle)
cut it (past participle)

Sometimes, professional tools are necessary and homespun solutions just don't cut it.

有时候还是得用专业工具，平常的解决方法还是不够的。

I couldn't cut it as a poor man, stealing


externalise

externalises (third-person singular present)
externalising (present participle)
externalised (past participle)


externalises

externalise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


familiarises

familiarise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


favorise

favorises (third-person singular present)
favorising (present participle)
favorised (past participle)


favorises

favorise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


coop up

coops up (third-person singular present)
cooping up (present participle)
cooped up (past participle)

使...窝在；将...困在 （处于一个狭窄受限的地方或出于束手无策的境地）

This was a fine day's outing for anybody who had been cooped up in the shops for a few months.

1944 September and October，A Former Pupil，“Some Memories of Crewe Works—I”, in Railway Magazine，頁 285:


fraternises

fraternise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


bite the big one

bites the big one (third-person singular present)
biting the big one (present participle)
bit the big one (past)
bitten the big one (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-bite the big one.ogg

"I thought all of dad's relatives bit the big one a long time ago."

1983，Susan Arnout，The Frozen Lady，頁 397:

Whatever air-conditioning system the car had once possessed had bitten the big one years ago; ...

1988，Barbara Hambly，The silicon mage，頁 5:

Empire of the Sun was an enormous literary and commercial success in Britain but pretty much bit the Big One on its own in the United States.

1990，Norman Spinrad，Science fiction in the real world，頁 183:

To Verdi, it bit the big one, but that was the way it worked.


ragequit

ragequits (third-person singular present)
ragequitting (present participle)
ragequit (past participle)
ragequitted (past participle)

/ˈɹeɪd͡ʒˌkwɪt/

Having had my share of ragequitting teammates and unfinished campaigns -- I still haven't completed a L4D2 campaign on Expert -- I'll take a positive outlook and say that the complaints about difficulty amount to a longer and taller learning curve, that will give this game a longer lifespan than the first.

2009年November28日，rms，“What have you been playing... IN NOVEMBER 2009?”, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (Usenet), message-ID <herjp3$ucc$1@news.eternal-september.org>:

Cheap insta-kill attacks have made me ragequit at least twice.

2010年February8日，Chris Whitworth，“Pow, Wallop & Bam”, in uk.games.video.misc (Usenet), message-ID <slrnhn0725.gik.usenet.chris@parm.vs.topper.me.uk>:


ensiles

ensile 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


zip one's lip

zips one's lip (third-person singular present)
zipping one's lip (present participle)
zipped one's lip (past participle)

Why don’t you just zip your lip? I’m tired of listening to you.

你能不能别说话了？我听都听烦了。


zip it

zips it (third-person singular present)
zipping it (present participle)
zipped it (past participle)


transluces

transluce 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


transluce

形態上似乎來自拉丁語 trānslūceō (“閃耀；半透明”)，但亦有可能逆構自 translucent（來自同一拉丁語動詞）。

transluces (third-person singular present)
translucing (present participle)
transluced (past participle)

使光能夠透過，從而讓被照耀的物體半透明

[…] for her stainless soul transluced the fairest skin, making simplicity a grace, filling her large blue eyes with gentle rays; and her arch laughter with innocent mirth.

1904，John P. Lonargan，Cwan and Genevieve: A Tale of Love and Romance in the Days of Roderick, Last Monarch of All Ireland，頁 35:

By translucing the paper when the negative is otherwise finished the grain can be reduced to a minimum. The following translucing media may be mentioned: (1) Vaseline, (2) paraffin waxin paraffin, (3) castor oil and alcohol, (4) white wax ...

1915，The Photographic Journal of America: The Oldest Photography Magazine in America，頁 111:

The less transparent consciousness is, the less translucent will the world itself be. In other words, when consciousness is very opaque, it is not able to transluce the world. Now to transluce the world means to make it understandable.

1970, Robert S. Hartman, Robert. E. Carter, "Dialogue on Intrinsic Value" (1970), pages 122-23, quoted in 2014, Rem B. Edwards, John W. Davis, Forms of Value and Valuation: Theory and Application, Wipf and Stock Publishers (ISBN 9781625648471), page 119:

In his refusal to allow tropes to transluce into meaning, Donne locates spiritual significance not in the disembodied and abstract sphere but in the body itself.

2014，Kimberly Johnson，Made Flesh: Sacrament and Poetics in Post-Reformation England，University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN，頁 32:

半透明或透明，光能夠透過

holy are the doors that admit
holy are the rivets that bind
holy are the windows that transluce

2006，Alexander Levering Kern，Becoming Fire: Spiritual Writing from Rising Generations，Andover Newton Publications，頁 5:

At the end of the dance, when “matter turned to spirit,” the two cliffs once again came together to form an arch but both rock structures were now lighted to transluce and transform into stained glass.

2007，Nicanor G. Tiongson，Salvador F. Bernal: Designing the Stage:

Cook the bacon in a pan, add the onion and cook until they start to transluce, then add the garlic and cook for another minute.

2018，Mattis Lundqvist，25 Low-Carbohydrate Recipes for the Slow Cooker: Delicious low carb recipes for all slow cooker fans - part 1: Measurements in grams，BookRix, →ISBN:


fanfaronnade

fanfaronnades (third-person singular present)
fanfaronnading (present participle)
fanfaronnaded (past participle)


get the lead out

“get the lead out of one's shoes”或“...one's pants”的缩短形式，其中lead指很重的金属，因此这句话可能指“把拖后腿的重物丢掉然后加快脚步”。

gets the lead out (third-person singular present)
getting the lead out (present participle)
got the lead out (past)
got the lead out
gotten the lead out


ring a bell

rings a bell (third-person singular present)
ringing a bell (present participle)
rang a bell (past)
rung a bell (past participle)

His face rings a bell. I wonder if I know him from somewhere.

他看着有点眼熟，我是不是在哪遇到过他。

让人回忆起什么，有点耳熟

仅按字面意思，并无比喻或俗语义；参见ring、a、bell。


exorcises

exorcise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


redresses

redress 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


rough up

roughs up (third-person singular present)
roughing up (present participle)
roughed up (past participle)

The gangsters roughed him up a little.


wreak havoc

wreaks havoc (third-person singular present)
wreaking havoc (present participle)
wreaked havoc (past participle)

The storm wreaked havoc on his garden.

风暴把他的花园弄得面目全非。


wreck havoc

将常用词wreck与罕用词wreak混淆造成的。这两个词词义相近，均指“破坏”，且词源相似。

wrecks havoc (third-person singular present)
wrecking havoc (present participle)
wrecked havoc (past participle)


surveille

surveilles (third-person singular present)
surveilling (present participle)
surveilled (past participle)


surveilles

surveille 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


walk like an Egyptian

有时古埃及画作中有如此姿势的人。

walks like an Egyptian (third-person singular present)
walking like an Egyptian (present participle)
walked like an Egyptian (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-walk like an Egyptian.ogg

像埃及人一样走路 （一边上臂水平，下臂垂直向上，手腕弯曲，手垂直向外，另一边上臂水平，下臂垂直向下，手做同样姿势）

“Get ready for pharaohs, pyramids and walking like an Egyptian.” He held bent arms in front and behind him. A laugh bubbled through the room as Mac walked back to his desk and found his Egypt teaching plan.

2008，Patricia S. Otto，The Gelidus Factor，頁 28:


meet one's maker

多种宗教均认为人死后会到达天堂等可以见到造物主的地方。

meets one's maker (third-person singular present)
meeting one's maker (present participle)
met one's maker (past participle)

On the gallows high he has met his Maker...Your victim waits for you to meet your Maker

1871，Unknown (Execution ballad)，“Execution of Frederick Baker.”, in Curiosities of Street Literature, Comprising "cocks," Or "catch Pennies"，頁 205:

This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!

1969年December7日，Monty Python，“Full Frontal Nudity, Dead Parrot sketch”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus，spoken by Mr Praline (John Cleese):


lose one's mind

loses one's mind (third-person singular present)
losing one's mind (present participle)
lost one's mind (past participle)


lose one's marbles

loses one's marbles (third-person singular present)
losing one's marbles (present participle)
lost one's marbles (past participle)

There it was again, the suggestion that the governor had lost his marbles. And, to be truthful, Breslin is a bit late on the loony angle.

1981 April 13, New York magazine, vol. 14, no. 15,

If my golfing friends would see me now, they'd crap in their pants laughing at me. They'd say that poor jerk had lost his marbles.

2004，Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Dick Gerde，A world for Julius:

Jimi's obsession with his guitar garnered him a nickname around Clarksville: Marbles. He was so named because people thought he had "lost his marbles" and was crazy as a result of his excessive practicing.

2005，Charles R. Cross，Room full of mirrors: a biography of Jimi Hendrix:

On the substance of Smith’s grumble – that Microsoft’s remedies for the cloud part of the gaming market were sufficient – opinion obviously differs, but the CMA hasn’t lost its marbles.

2023年April27日，Nils Pratley，“Ignore Microsoft’s whines about the Activision takeover. The CMA did its job”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


wear one's heart on one's sleeve

wears one's heart on one's sleeve (third-person singular present)
wearing one's heart on one's sleeve (present participle)
wore one's heart on one's sleeve (past)
worn one's heart on one's sleeve (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-wear one's heart on one's sleeve.ogg

Iago: For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

约1603–1604年，威廉·莎士比亚，“The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice [奥赛罗]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (第一对开本)，伦敦: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, 出版於 1623, →OCLC, [Act 1, scene 1]，行 64:

There was something very direct and childlike in Virginie Poucette. She could not pretend; she wore her heart on her sleeve.

1915，Gilbert Parker，章號 18, in The Money Master:

I'm not being smart or trying to be cold on my part / And I'm not gonna wear my heart on my sleeve / But you know people get all emotional

1978，Lou Reed （作曲作詞）, “Street Hassle”, in Street Hassle:

I feel so close to you right now, it's a force field / I wear my heart on my sleeve, like a big deal

2011，“Feel So Close”, 演出者 Calvin Harris:


turn in one's grave

turns in one's grave (third-person singular present)
turning in one's grave (present participle)
turned in one's grave (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-turn in one's grave.ogg

死不瞑目，棺材板都压不住

Beethoven is probably turning in his grave at the way that rock group mangled his Ninth Symphony.

贝多芬看到那个摇滚乐队这样糟蹋他的《第九交响乐》的话，他估计都得从坟里爬出来。

The new scientific discovery about the gravitation particle could make Isaac Newton turn in his grave.

关于引力粒子的新科学发现可以让牛顿从坟墓里爬出来。

Brought forth wind that made critics rave / While Verdi turned round in his grave

1937，Rodgers and Hart （作曲作詞）, “Johnny One Note”:

If he ever finds out who's hijacked his name / He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave

1989，The The （作曲作詞）, “Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)”, in Mind Bomb:

仅按字面意思，并无比喻或俗语义；参见turn、in、one's、grave。


troupe

1825年可考，借自法語 troupe，参见该词条。troop 的同源對似詞，可能也是thorp和dorp 的同源對似詞。

troupes (third-person singular present)
trouping (present participle)
trouped (past participle)

（与歌剧团一起）巡回演出


tranquillise

tranquillises (third-person singular present)
tranquillising (present participle)
tranquillised (past participle)


robed

robe 的簡單過去時和過去時分詞


outstand

源自中古英語 outstanden、utstanden，等价于out- + stand。同源词有薩特弗里斯蘭語 uutstounde (“忍耐”)、荷蘭語 uitstaan (“容忍，忍受”)、德語 ausstehen (“容忍，忍耐”)、瑞典語 utstå (“忍受，经受”)。

outstands (third-person singular present)
outstanding (present participle)
outstood (past participle)

坚持得比...久，保持不变得比...久

仍保持原样 （比如未修复，未支付，未解决等等）

outstanding contracts


transgresses

transgress 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


wipe the floor with someone

wipes the floor with someone (third-person singular present)
wiping the floor with someone (present participle)
wiped the floor with someone (past participle)

The young newcomer is wiping the floor with the more experienced players.

那个新来的年轻选手远远超过了那些更有经验的老将。

横扫某人，彻底击败某人，使某人一败涂地

"Courage? Blast it all, lad, if I were twenty years younger I'd wipe the floor with you now."

1936，F.J. Thwaites，章號 I, in The Redemption，Sydney: H. John Edwards，頁 6:


sunder

源自中古英語 sundren (“分离，分开”)，源自古英語 sundrian (“分离，分开”)，源自原始日耳曼語 *sundrōną (“分离”)，源自原始印歐語 *sen(e)- (“没有，不带，分离”)。同源词有低地蘇格蘭語 sinder、sunder (“分离，分割”)、荷蘭語 zonderen (“隔离，隔开”)、德語 sondern (“分离”)、瑞典語 söndra (“分割”)。详见sundry。

sunders (third-person singular present)
sundering (present participle)
sundered (past participle)

In Taran's hand the sundered bone had turned into gray dust, which he cast aside.

Two souls, the shores wave-mocked of sundering seas: —

1881 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Severed Selves, lines 8-9

… Carlo finally saw Everything, before it sunders into things; he saw Knowledge before it sunders into knowing; he saw Integrity before it sunders in integrals; he saw Unity before it sunders into units.

2003，Dean Barton，Searching for the Evergreen Man，Llumina Press, →ISBN，頁 69:

Where a fair opportunity offers, and the grass is perfectly dry, the hipples are sundered; that is, broken out into beds in the usual manner, turned, and again got up into cocklets, of such size as the state of dryness requires.

1788，William Marshall，The Rural Economy of Yorkshire:

Except under abnormal conditions, protection can be afforded to a field by cutting a strip half a chain in width all round the field, with a reaper and binder for preference, when the crop is in the best condition for hay, and then ploughing or sunder-cutting the stubble.

1941，The Queensland Agricultural and Pastoral Handbook，頁 82:

The trees and shrubs all around us began to show the signs of death; dried branches, leafless gray and molding wood. The ground here was as hard as stone, the dirt and dust dry as bone sundered in the desert scorch.

2010，Stony Stern，Run Past The Hunter，頁 143:

The world, a good deal of it, sundered, scorched.

2013，Thomas Glave，Among the Bloodpeople: Politics and Flesh，頁 165:


steer clear

steers clear (third-person singular present)
steering clear (present participle)
steered clear (past participle)

I always told Sir John to steer clear of too much journalizing.

1835，James Fenimore Cooper，The Monikins, Introduction:

Foreign youth steer clear of the gymnasium; its rules are too severe.

1880，Mark Twain，章號 4, in A Tramp Abroad:

"You steer clear of that rascally teacher and young Merwell," advised Dave's father. "They are a bad lot."
"I'll steer clear if I can," answered Dave.

1914，Edward Stratemeyer，章號 10, in Dave Porter in the Gold Fields:

But unless you are also philosophical and like to listen to a lot of dialogue—or, worse yet, read reams of subtitles—I think you'd be wise to steer clear.

1964年January28日，Bosley Crowther，“Movie Review: The Seventh Juror (1962)”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-01-15:

If you think you can steer clear of government surveillance by staying off-line, think again.

2013，“Surveillance State: Three Ways You're Being Watched”, in BloombergBusinessweek Videos, retrieved 2014-01-15:


tranq

tranqs (third-person singular present)
tranqing (present participle)
tranqed (past participle)

He was about to stand up and start on another rant, which only would have led to Sam tranqing him.

2007，Michele LeBlanc，Belt Buckles and Pajamas，頁 65:

He fumbled at the dart but the needle was barbed and wouldn't come out. His fingers slid from it as a powerful numbness began to creep over his extremities. “Got him!” the man who had tranqed him shouted to his buddies.

2008，Charlotte Boyett-Compo，In the Arms of the Wind，頁 144:


play hooky

对于hooky的词源，参见该词条；该词构成类似play truant。

plays hooky (third-person singular present)
playing hooky (present participle)
played hooky (past participle)

Plenty of people played hooky from work to go see the movie on opening day.

电影上映那天好多人旷工去看那部电影。


play truant

plays truant (third-person singular present)
playing truant (present participle)
played truant (past participle)


truant

源自中古英語 truant、truand、trewande、trowant（平行于中古荷蘭語 trouwant、trawant、truwant），源自古法語 truand、truant (“流浪汉，乞丐；乞丐一样的”)，源自凱爾特語族，可能源自高盧語 *trugan，或源自布列塔尼語 truan (“悲惨的”)，源自原始凱爾特語 *térh₁-tro-m，最终源自原始印歐語 *terh₁-。
同源词有蘇格蘭蓋爾語 truaghan、愛爾蘭語 trogha (“贫困的”)、trogán、布列塔尼語 truc (“乞丐”)、威爾士語 tru。

truants (third-person singular present)
truanting (present participle)
truanted (past participle)

the number of schoolchildren known to have truanted

Tis double vvrong , to truant vvith your bed

c. 1594，William Shakespeare，“The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio)，London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, 出版於 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

By this means they lost their time and truanted on the fundamental grounds of saving knowledge.


take a shine to

takes a shine to (third-person singular present)
taking a shine to (present participle)
took a shine to (past)
taken a shine to (past participle)

He took a shine to jazz.


put the kibosh on

puts the kibosh on (third-person singular present)
putting the kibosh on (present participle)
put the kibosh on (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-put the kibosh on.ogg

Someone really needs to go put the kibosh on that noisy party.

那个聚会真的吵死了，得找人让他们停下来。

For Belgium put the kibosh on the Kaiser; / Europe took the stick and made him sore; / On his throne it hurts to sit, / And when John Bull starts to hit, / He will never sit upon it any more.

1914，Mark Sheridan （作曲作詞）, “Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser”:

I'm not sure how it became a trope to call second albums "sophomore." But if Olivia Rodrigo's debut, Sour, hadn't become one of the biggest releases of 2021, winning her a Grammy for best new artist and putting the kibosh on her post–high school plans, the 20-year-old might be a literal sophomore now.

2023年September8日，Carl Wilson，“The Olivia Rodrigo–Taylor Swift "Beef" Is Really About Something Deeper”, in Slate，存檔自the original on 2023-09-09:


shoot the breeze

shoots the breeze (third-person singular present)
shooting the breeze (present participle)
shot the breeze (past participle)

We were just standing around shooting the breeze.

Oh, I've just been upstairs with your boss, shooting the breeze… shooting his fish.

1989，Lethal Weapon 2 (motion picture), spoken by Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson):

Listen, I came here to do some business, not shoot the breeze. If you want to expound your personal philosophies, write another book.

1999，The Ninth Gate (motion picture), spoken by Dean Corso (Johnny Depp):


swap spit

swaps spit (third-person singular present)
swapping spit (present participle)
swapped spit (past participle)


sideswipe

sideswipes (third-person singular present)
sideswiping (present participle)
sideswiped (past participle)

In her haste, she sideswiped the 4x4 truck that was ahead of her as well as two other cars. “Help!” she yelled as she sped through the orange construction cones. “They're going to kill me!”

2012，Curtis L. Alcutt，Fatal Intentions，頁 175:


side-swipe

side-swipes (third-person singular present)
side-swiping (present participle)
side-swiped (past participle)

A semi had side-swiped my patrol car, breaking windows and destroying the driver's door.

The author was involved in a rail accident not included in this analysis, when his train was side-swiped by a freight passing in the opposite direction, which contained derailed wagons.

2022年January26日，John Crosse，“When the tide turned to a safer railway...”, in RAIL，期 949，頁 52:


buzz up

buzzes up (third-person singular present)
buzzing up (present participle)
buzzed up (past participle)

用楼栋电子门禁放...上楼

I'll be back in ten minutes; can you buzz me up then?

我10分钟以后回来，到时候帮我按一下门锁。


giddyup

giddyups (third-person singular present)
giddyuping (present participle)
giddyupping (present participle)
giddyuped (past participle)
giddyupped (past participle)

Not expecting any traffic, he giddyuped them onto the main road.

2011，Janet Dailey，Foxfire Light, →ISBN，頁 30:

But she just kept bopping up and down and telling me to giddyup, so that I had to turn and make my way properly on the stairs for fear of her pulling us both over.

2012，Celine Kiernan，Into the Grey, →ISBN:

“Yeah, been partying since I was fourteen, never thought I'd wind-up in a place like this,” I sat there for a moment in quiet reflection, “been high most of my life . . . on one thing or another . . . guess it's time I giddyuped and got going on this clean up my act thing, I've hit the break point . . . gotta' do something . . . do something or it's going to kill me."

2012，Thaddeus Deluca，At Bully Hills: Confessions of an American Oxycontin Addict, →ISBN，頁 32:


stop short

stops short (third-person singular present)
stopping short (present participle)
stopped short (past participle)

hold back

停下 （使某物停在某个点）

急停，猛然停下 （尤指说话时或驾车时）

停下 （使某物停在某个点）

Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

1914，Louis Joseph Vance，章號 III, in Nobody，New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, 出版於 1915, →OCLC:

He stopped short of saying the story was true but accused the palace of lying when they "squashed" it.

2022年December15日，Jack Royston，“Prince Harry throws more accusations at Prince William than ever before”, in Newsweek:

停下 （而没能到某个点）

Thirteen people were injured in August 1957 when this Bristol freighter skidded on the runway at Southend Airport when landing with a flight from Calais. It ploughed through the boundary fence, but thankfully stopped short of the railway and the 1,500V overhead wires. A tripwire was installed on this section of Shenfield-Southend line to warn train drivers of instances such as this.

2020年December30日，Tim Dunn，“The railway's mechanical marvels”, in Rail，頁 58, photo caption:


make a pass

makes a pass (third-person singular present)
making a pass (present participle)
made a pass (past participle)

He clumsily made a pass at the prom queen, and she responded with a scowl.

Men seldom make passes / At girls who wear glasses.

1926，Dorothy Parker，“News Item”, in Enough Rope，頁 85:

You know, all those nights we stayed up talking…How come you never made a pass at me?

1985，Joel Schumacher, Carl Kurlander，St. Elmo's Fire (motion picture), spoken by Julianna "Jules" Van Patten (Demi Moore):


emplead

en- + plead: compare 古法語 emplaidier (en- + plaidier).

empleads (third-person singular present)
empleading (present participle)
empleaded (past participle)


stopped short

stop short 的簡單過去時和過去時分詞


perseveres

persevere 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


absconded

abscond 的簡單過去時和過去時分詞


wait for

waits for (third-person singular present)
waiting for (present participle)
waited for (past participle)

Wait for the light to change before you cross the street.

过马路前要等信号灯变颜色。

What are you waiting for?

And now we're waiting for the very same people to establish GBR, drive through urgently needed fares reform, and come up with imaginative and effective train operating contracts...

2022年January12日，Nigel Harris，“Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL，期 948，頁 3:

I'm waiting for my date.

I'm waiting for the train.


call the shots

calls the shots (third-person singular present)
calling the shots (present participle)
called the shots (past participle)

In today's health care system, insurance companies call the shots. They pick whom they cover and how they cover them. They can cut off your benefits when you need your coverage the most. They are in charge.

1994年January25日，Bill Clinton，William Jefferson Clinton's Second State of the Union Address:

Myanmar's Shan state, which borders both China and Thailand, is the wild wild east. And in many parts of the state, it's well-armed ethnic militias, not Myanmar's military, who call the shots.

2019年July4日，Michael Sullivan，“In Myanmar, Methamphetamine, Synthetic Drug Production Soars”, in NPR.org:

The conventional wisdom in Washington is that Iran’s elections are insignificant. Regardless of who wins, the argument goes, in the end, it’s the supreme leader who calls the shots.

2021年June22日，Ali Vaez, Dina Esfandiary，“The Hard-Liners Won in Iran. That’s Not All Bad News.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


push someone's buttons

pushes someone's buttons (third-person singular present)
pushing someone's buttons (present participle)
pushed someone's buttons (past participle)

尤其用于仅影响这个人而非其他人的动作。

惹怒某人，惹恼某人； 激起某人性欲； 引诱某人作出激烈反应

You really knew how to push my buttons.

I end up cleaning up after her, which I’ve repeatedly told her makes me upset. She’s a smart, talented kid. So why does she keep pushing my buttons?

2019年April10日，Cheryl Maguire，“How to Stop Thinking Your Teen Is ‘Pushing Your Buttons’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


clue in

clues in (third-person singular present)
cluing in (present participle)
clued in (past participle)

It looks like somebody finally clued them in that the intercom was broken the whole time.

看来终于有人告诉他，他的内部对讲机一直是坏的了。


do time

does time (third-person singular present)
doing time (present participle)
did time (past)
done time (past participle)

if you can't do the time, don't do the crime

My wife is unavailable for three months, as she's doing time for fraud.

我妻子这三个月都没空，她因为诈骗蹲监狱了。


mustachioed

mustachio 的簡單過去時和過去時分詞


JFK

JFKs (third-person singular present)
JFKing (present participle)
JFKed (past participle)

杀掉，暗杀 （尤指因政治原因）

I am not saying choosing McCain would necesarrily lead to Kerry getting JFKed but Democratic presidential runners need to be aware of the problem.

2004年April5日，JonZ，“Poll Picks McCain as Kerry's Vice President”, in alt.politics.bush (Usenet):

The way he is decimating the CIA will more likely get him JFKed.

2009年November14日，Eddie Haskell，“Obama resists Pentagon pressure on Afghanistan quagmire - will he be JFKed?”, in alt.fan.rush-limbaugh (Usenet):

If Obama tried to do the right thing he'd be JFKed. If Obama tried to live up to his promises, if he opposed the neocons and military-industrial complex ...

2010年June20日，Johnny Asia，“If Obama tried to do the right thing he'd be JFKed”, in alt.politics (Usenet):

This may seem a little presumptious, but I feel that this group is pretty much JFKed out.

1991年April19日，Steve Feinstein，“JFK Survey”, in sci.skeptic (Usenet):

I'm going to give 'nobody' the benifit of the doubt , seeing by his own admission that he's been JFKing it for just a couple of months now .

2009年November14日，cdddraftsman，“More indications of the investigative”, in alt.assassination.jfk (Usenet):

The point is that the JFK world is a very polarized world, and it does not reflect the general population. In a word, JFKing can screw-up a person's head. Look at the ridiculous assertion of Robert Harris from the other day where he said that he took Ruby's shooting of Oswald as a clear sign that Oswald was guilty.

2016年August14日，Ralph Cinque，“There are two kinds of people: JFKers and non-JFKers”, in alt.assassination.jfk (Usenet):

有与约翰·肯尼迪类似的政治观点

(from the standard code-word remark "I'm a JFK liberal") Examples: "He's useless...he JFKed a long time ago",

2003年November10日，zepp，“The Wingnut Dictionary”, in talk.politics.misc (Usenet):

JFKing is symbiotically related to the "Even Some Liberals Agree" gambit, since JFKers quickly establish their roles as the reliable house liberals who provide neocons with all their even-some-liberals-agree examples.

2004年October6日，Alex，“OT / Right Wingnut Debate Dictionary”, in alt.true-crime (Usenet):

He could've JFKed all the overweight babes he wanted to and that's that.

2010年May20日，Bill Bonde，“evangelical Repulican quits over sex scandal”, in alt.activism.death-penalty (Usenet):


get a load of

gets a load of (third-person singular present)
getting a load of (present participle)
got a load of (past)
got a load of
gotten a load of

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-get a load of.ogg

常暗示这个事物很惊人或杰出，比如Wow, get a load of this! (“天啊，瞧瞧这个！”)

One night Bernette happened to get a load of Peggy doing a rumba with Jackie.

Get a load of the "eyesome femininity" at the International Casino, as the Times put it.

2004年June13日，David W. Dunlap，“The Crossroads of the Crossroads”, in New York Times，頁 CY3:


hit the bottle

hits the bottle (third-person singular present)
hitting the bottle (present participle)
hit the bottle (past participle)

（尤指因心情不好而长时间地）饮酒

He's been hitting the bottle hard since his wife left him.

他妻子离开他以后他就一直在酗酒。


hit the sauce

hits the sauce (third-person singular present)
hitting the sauce (present participle)
hit the sauce (past participle)

Pat Crowley's been hitting the sauce pretty hard since Karen split, and he's got no head for it.

2007，Dana Stabenow，A Deeper Sleep, →ISBN，頁 120:

If you've done all you can, and everyone still hit the sauce a little too hard, take their keys, call them a cab, offer them the couch, or give them a ride if you are sober

2009，Christina Perozzi, Hallie Beaune，The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer, →ISBN:

She adored him and never said an unkind word about him, although she said he hit the sauce every now and again.

2012，Analiese Douchay，The Flight of the Wood Nymphe, →ISBN:


remobilise

remobilises (third-person singular present)
remobilising (present participle)
remobilised (past participle)


remobilises

remobilise 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


there be

补充词there源自古英語 þær，用于放在英语曾使用的动词第二顺位的第一个位置。

就近原则：当引入多于一个名词短语时，动词变位对应于第一个名词短语的单复数。There is a swing and a seesaw for kids.
有一个秋千和一个跷跷板给孩子们玩。

If there be any thing ILL in the Univerſe from Deſign, then that which diſpoſes all things, is no one good deſigning Principle.

1749, Anthony Ashley Cooper Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, J. Baskerville, page 8:

Unless there be some lesion of the stomach, there is no blood, either microscopic or occult.

1907, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, J.B. Lippincott, Co., page 627:

There ought to be representation on the broad basis of population and public discussion with open doors and free debate. . . . Nor should there be any constraint upon the opinions of any of the members of the Diet or upon their right of publishing them, even though such would meet with opposition from without.

1988，John S. Doskey, William Maclure，The European Journals of William Maclure, →ISBN，頁 204:

There may be people with drug or alcohol problems who may go into withdrawal.

1996，Diane Meyers，Disaster Response and Recovery: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals, →ISBN，頁 75:

I just want to know the truth, you are expressing your concerns, but I also want there to be some candor between us.

1999，Christopher Shays，“Hearing Before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relationsof the Committee on Government Reform”, in Anthrax Immunization Program, →ISBN，頁 35:


pull strings

来源于木偶戏，其中的角色需要拉动人偶上的线才能活动。

pulls strings (third-person singular present)
pulling strings (present participle)
pulled strings (past participle)

牵线，打招呼 （用自己的影响力请别人为自己做有利的事）

He has the job not because of talent, but because his dad pulled strings with the boss.

他并非因为他的才华而得到工作，而是因为他爸爸让老板开了后门。

通常在“string”前加“the”

“his”之类形容词性物主代词

We know who pulls the strings around here.


draw near

draws near (third-person singular present)
drawing near (present participle)
drew near (past)
drawn near (past participle)

/dɹɔː nɪə(ɹ)/

I became nervous as my wedding day drew near.

我离大喜日子越来越近，变得越发紧张起来。

The crowd drew near to the speaker.


lay claim

lays claim (third-person singular present)
laying claim (present participle)
laid claim (past participle)

Spencer University lays claim to the recently published discovery.

Argentina also lays claim to what is now Queen Elizabeth Land, as well as to other South Atlantic dependencies including South Georgia and the uninhabited South Sandwich Islands.

2013年January3日，Luke Harding, Uki Goni，The Guardian:


save it

saves it (third-person singular present)
saving it (present participle)
saved it (past participle)


come to grips with

comes to grips with (third-person singular present)
coming to grips with (present participle)
came to grips with (past)
come to grips with (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-come to grips with.ogg

Until she comes to grips with her mother's death, she has no hope of putting it behind her.

On Thursday, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, put the sale of the company’s “noncore” channels, including ABC and FX, on the table. He called the decline in traditional television “a reality we have to come to grips with.”

2023年July15日，Brooks Barnes，引 Robert A. Iger, “In Hollywood, the Strikes Are Just Part of the Problem”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


hear the end of it

hears the end of it (third-person singular present)
hearing the end of it (present participle)
heard the end of it (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-hear the end of it.ogg

多用于否定，和will或would连用。

If I spilled wine on their new carpet, I'd never hear the end of it.

如果我把酒撒到他们的新毯子上，他们就会没完没了地说我。


get a word in edgewise

edgewise和edgeways (“边缘向着移动方向地”)是比喻用法，比喻插话者能够进入的间隙很小。

gets a word in edgewise (third-person singular present)
getting a word in edgewise (present participle)
got a word in edgewise (past)
got a word in edgewise
gotten a word in edgewise

/ˌɡɛt ə ˈwɜːd ɪn ˈɛdʒwaɪz/

/ˌɡɛt ə ˈwɝd ɪn ˈɛdʒwaɪz/

Everyone was talking at once. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

大家都同时说了起来，我插不上话。

The converſation at breakfaſt began on reading, which ſhe ſaid ſhe was extremely fond of, and Joſeph, her ladyſhip, and my papa, fell into ſuch a deep diſcourſe, that I verily thought they would never have finiſhed; for, believe me, I was quite out of patience, as neither mama nor I, could ſo much as put a ſingle word in edgewiſe; for they might as well have talked Greek to us, and we ſhould have underſtood them much the ſame.

[1778 December，“[Original Letters. Miss Clifford to Miss Granby.] In Continuation.”, in The Lady’s Magazine; or, Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, Appropriated Solely to Their Use and Amusement，London: Printed for G[eorge] Robinson, […], →OCLC，頁 652，列 1:

Accordingly she was exceedingly elevated; alternately singing pieces of hymns in a hobbling broken voice, having lost her teeth, breaking out into incoherent exclamations, and relating parts of her experience; while I had not room, which indeed I did not much require, to get a word in edgewise.

1822，[James Colman]，“Letter VIII. The Contrast.”, in Walks in the Country; or, Christian Sketches of Scenery, Life, and Character, in Familiar Letters，London: Printed for the author; published by James Nisbet, […], →OCLC，頁s 100–101:

We help him push his Nash down the street, then drink awhile and talk with Evelyn a beautiful blonde woman that young Ron Blake wants and even Dave Wain wants but she's got her mind on other things and taking care of the children who have to go to school and dancing classes in the morning and hardly gets a word in edgewise anyway as we all yak and yell like fools to impress her tho all she really wants is to be alone with me to talk about Cody and his latest soul.

1962年September11日，Jack Kerouac，章號 13, in Big Sur，New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, →OCLC; 再版為 Big Sur (Penguin Modern Classics)，London: Penguin Books, 2012, →ISBN:

源自the women who write to her, Cokie Roberts has observed, "I get the feeling that the country is full of women who've never gotten a word in edgewise when the men talk politics."

1996，Louis Baldwin，“Cokie Roberts: Political Commentator (1943– )”, in Women of Strength: Biographies of 106 who have Excelled in Traditionally Male Fields, A.D. 61 to the Present，Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN，頁 177:

I sat there, letting his voice run on. Even if I'd wanted to, I couldn't have gotten a word in edgeways. Perhaps if life continued thi way, I would gradually lose the faculty of speech, [...]

1999，Zena Collier，章號 3, in A Cooler Climate，Lincoln, Neb.: toExcel Press, iUniverse, →ISBN，頁 24:

I only included the interview because it is revealing of Javanese gender relationships. The young dancer is muted and hardly gets a word in edgeways, as the (male) troupe leader and her mother hijack each question and provide answers which are sometimes contradictory.

1999，Felicia Hughes-Freeland，“Dance on Film: Strategy and Serendipity”, in Dance in the Field: Theory, Methods and Issues in Dance Ethnography，Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, part II (Methodological Approaches)，頁 117:

[W]hen interacting with a member of a cultural group used to taking longer to reflect on what to say next, native English speakers virtually prevent this person from getting a word in edgewise. We feel compelled to fill the "uncomfortably long" silence with words.

2003，Sylvia Helmer, Catherine Eddy，“ESL Learners and Communication”, in Look at Me when I Talk to You: ESL Learners in Non-ESL Classrooms (Pippin Teacher’s Library; 39)，Toronto, Ont.: Pippin Publishing Company, →ISBN，頁 48:

Stanton stood up. It seemed the only way of getting a word in edgeways.

2014，Ben Elton，章號 5, in Time and Time Again，London: Black Swan, Transworld Publishers, →ISBN，頁 57:

Betsy rang me every now and then, but I couldn't get caught up in the 'fight' like she did. Besides, if I got a word in edgeways during each call I'd be lucky.

2014，Emma O’Reilly, with Shannon Kyle，“Old Wounds”, in The Race to Truth: Blowing the Whistle on Lance Armstrong and Cycling’s Doping Culture，London: Bantam Press, →ISBN，頁 248:

She must have nattered on for half an hour. Everyone else was gone when I finally got a word in edgewise and escaped.

2015 February，Eva Gates，By Book or by Crook (A Lighthouse Library Mystery)，New York, N.Y.: Obsidian, New American Library, →ISBN，頁 313:


take at face value

takes at face value (third-person singular present)
taking at face value (present participle)
took at face value (past)
taken at face value (past participle)

take on trust

看...时只看表面，不假思索地接受

take on faith

看...时只看表面，不假思索地接受

take with a grain of salt

看...时只看表面，不假思索地接受

read between the lines

看...时只看表面，不假思索地接受

看...时只看表面，不假思索地接受


brownnose

brownnoses (third-person singular present)
brownnosing (present participle)
brownnosed (past participle)


take the edge off

takes the edge off (third-person singular present)
taking the edge off (present participle)
took the edge off (past)
taken the edge off (past participle)

Allen Gregory DeLongpre: You know what? Let's forget all the mishegoss and try to enjoy our lunch, huh? Take the edge off.

2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1):

She knew better than to drink from the bar, but she'd been so thirsty, and she needed something to take the edge off.

2011，Allison Brennan，Kiss Me, Kill Me: A Novel of Suspense，頁 1:

（通过饮酒、服药等）放松


skulk

源自中古英語 skulke, skulken，源自北日耳曼語支，对比丹麥語 skulke (“逃避，偷懒”)、瑞典語 skolka (“偷懒”)。

skulks (third-person singular present)
skulking (present participle)
skulked (past participle)

Stephen's craze for physical culture increased, and now it began to invade the schoolroom. Dumb-bells appeared in the schoolroom bookcases, while half worn-out gym shoes skulked in the corners.

1928，Radclyffe Hall，章號 6, in The Well of Loneliness，London: Jonathan Cape, →OCLC; 再版 New York, N.Y.: Covici Friede Publishers, October 1932, →OCLC, book 1, section 5，頁 60:

He has been seen with her, by one whom he would not know, at Cuper’s Gardens; dressed like a Sea-officer, and skulking, like a thief, into the privatest walks of the place.

1753，Samuel Richardson，The History of Sir Charles Grandison，London, Volume 4, Letter 38, p. 266:

Noble brother, I am
Not one of those men who in words are valiant,
And when it comes to action skulk away.

1800，Friedrich Schiller，譯者 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Piccolomini, or The First Part of Wallenstein，London: Longman and Rees, act V, scene 4，頁 196:

Fully a dozen of the citizens had seen him hastening toward the woods and noted his skulking air [...]

1904，Paul Laurence Dunbar，“The Lynching of Jube Benson”, in The Heart of Happy Hollow，New York: Dodd, Mead，頁 233:

They are paid about three shillings a day for ten hours’ work—it is hard work, especially in windy weather, and there is no skulking, for an inspector comes round frequently to see that the men are on their beats.

1933年January9日，George Orwell [筆名；本名 Eric Arthur Blair]，章號 33, in Down and Out in Paris and London，London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:


look the part

looks the part (third-person singular present)
looking the part (present participle)
looked the part (past participle)

If you want to be a successful business person, you have to look the part.

你想做成功的商务人士的话，你就要仪表得体。

We were going to cast him in our new movie but unfortunately he didn't look the part.

我们本来想找他出演我们的新电影，但是他外貌不太合适。

Turner looked assured, picking out his men at the lineouts, while Redpath was seeing plenty of the ball and also looked the part as the Scots probed for opening.

2021年February6日，Graham Bean，“Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years”, in The Scotsman:


mangled

mangle 的簡單過去時和過去時分詞


add insult to injury

派生自公元前一世纪的菲得洛斯寓言。寓言中，有一个秃子打落在自己头上的苍蝇，但却给了自己的头一击。苍蝇说：“你因为我碰了你你就想杀我，那你现在在伤口上撒盐（added insult to injury），你要对自己做什么呢？”首个英语内的措辞记载出现于18世纪中叶。

adds insult to injury (third-person singular present)
adding insult to injury (present participle)
added insult to injury (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-add insult to injury.ogg

To add insult to injury,...

As if the hostile takeover weren't enough, to add insult to injury they scrapped ninety percent of our products and replaced them with their own.

恶意收购还不够，他们还雪上加霜，把我们百分之九十的产品都换成了他们的。

[...] the line crossed over an iron bridge spanning Ludgate Hill itself [...] neatly obliterating any view of St Paul's from Ludgate Circus and Fleet Street. A thousand people had put their names to a petition against the bridge. To add insult to injury it carried a small thicket of railway signals as well as regular steam trains.

2012，Andrew Martin，Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube，Profile Books, ISBN 978-1846684777，頁 52:


gloss over

glosses over (third-person singular present)
glossing over (present participle)
glossed over (past participle)

They glossed over the problem, hoping that the customers wouldn't notice.

他们隐瞒了那个问题，希望顾客们注意不到。

忽略，忽视，对...关心不足

This book only glosses over quantum mechanics, and doesn't go into detail.

这本书对量子力学只是一笔带过，没有细讲。


wig out

wigs out (third-person singular present)
wigging out (present participle)
wigged out (past participle)

Oh no, you didn't! You called me a what? / Don't make me wig out / How you gonna let some shit like that slip out your mouth?

2003，“Let Me Watch”, in Vaudeville Villain，演出者 Viktor Vaughn ft. Apani B. Fly:

An organist wigged out like Rick Wakeman, the diamante lapels of Humza Yousaf’s kilt jacket sparkled, and out in the Mall, the procession began.

2023年May6日，Rachel Cooke，“It was ludicrous but also magnificent: the coronation stirred every emotion”, in The Guardian:


send someone packing

sends someone packing (third-person singular present)
sending someone packing (present participle)
sent someone packing (past participle)

拒绝某人，回绝某人；赶走某人

[T]he parliament, to their immortal honour, presently sent him packing.

c. 1695，Dr. Robert South，“To Archbishop of Dublin”, in Sermons, Vol. III:

Two ladies called one day, pale and anxious, and begged earnestly, humbly, to be allowed to see Mr. Moore one instant: Mrs. Yorke hardened her heart, and sent them packing.

1849，Currer Bell [筆名; Charlotte Brontë]，章號 32, in Shirley. A Tale. […]，卷 (請指定|volume=I、II或III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:

"Monsieur, you and yours are not for me. Seek elsewhere." . . .
"You send me packing!" he blurted out, getting red in the face.

1904，Gilbert Parker，章號 2, in Michel and Angele:

[L]eague authorities sent him packing after ruling he was registered with a fake Dominican passport under circumstances that remain murky.

2014年June14日，Anne Marie Garcia，“Cuba ballplayers chase dreams, big bucks, overseas”, in Businessweek, retrieved 2014-07-08:


hand someone his hat

hands someone his hat (third-person singular present)
handing someone his hat (present participle)
handed someone his hat (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-hand someone his hat.ogg

有时用被动语气，如：have one's hat handed to one或get one's hat handed to one

McNeil replied, "It may have been Hitler who helped Chamberlain with his overcoat but don't forget it was the British people who handed him his hat."

1948年November27日，Drew Pearson，“The Washington Merry-go-round”, in Ludington Daily News，US, retrieved 2015-11-10，頁 4:

You grew up under dictators who would have put people to the sword if they dared hand them their hats and invite them to buzz off.

1972年July25日，Bob Considine，“Letter to Kremlin”, in Reading Eagle，US, retrieved 2015-11-10，頁 4:

The President's men, nonetheless, view him the way the Vatican saw Galileo—as a dangerous heretic. . . . They would hand him his hat if they dared.

1984年February6日，Mary McGrory，“Feldstein doggedly speaks his mind”, in Eugene Register-Guard，US, retrieved 2015-11-10，頁 15A:


grow on

grows on (third-person singular present)
growing on (present participle)
grew on (past)
grown on (past participle)

I didn't like this song at first, but now it's starting to grow on me.

我一开始不喜欢这首歌，但是现在越来越喜欢。

Blinking and swallowing, she checked her list of questions. “What are some of your favorite outdoor and indoor activities?” “Well, whale watching is growing on me.”

2015，Jenny Elliott，Save Me，Macmillan, →ISBN，頁 82:

"I can tell you now, Sam. […] When you left me last night, the whole deadly seriousness of the matter grew on me, till I was as miserable as a man can be." His face lightened as I spoke.

1902，Bram Stoker，章號 XVIII, in The Mystery of the Sea:

Realisation grew on me / As quickly as it takes your hand

2014，“Hunger of the Pine”, in This Is All Yours，演出者 alt-J:


get a rise out of

gets a rise out of (third-person singular present)
getting a rise out of (present participle)
got a rise out of (past)
got a rise out of
gotten a rise out of

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-get a rise out of.ogg

He's just doing it to get a rise out of you. Just ignore him.

1985，John Hughes，The Breakfast Club，spoken by Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald):

Ahmadinejad is no simpleton. . . . His Holocaust denial is a flagrant ploy—the easiest way to get a rise out of the Jewish community.

2007年September26日，Joe Klein，“Inflating a Little Man”, in Time:


make nice

makes nice (third-person singular present)
making nice (present participle)
made nice (past participle)

And now he had to go make nice with the good doctor's grandma.

1999，Gina Wilkins，Doctor in Disguise，頁 18:

[H]e either had to make nice with the guards or make nice with the prisoners. And frankly, the way the prisoners made nice scared the bejeesus out of him.

“A jackass? I'm trying to make nice.” “I don't need your nice. Go make nice with Angela.”


transpire

借自中古法語 transpirer，源自中世紀拉丁語 transpirare (“通过...呼吸”)，源自拉丁語 trans (“穿过”) spirare (“呼吸”)。“为人所知”一意也出现于法语内，但是“发生”没有。可能后者是在英语内基于前者衍生出来的。

transpires (third-person singular present)
transpiring (present participle)
transpired (past participle)

sweat

出汗，排汗 （17-19世纪）

perspire

出汗，排汗 （17-19世纪）

come to light

为人所知，公开，透露出来 （自18世纪）

词义“发生”可能产生于对“为人所知”一意的误解，后者又是原意“散发出”的一个比喻义。一些评论家认为这样的用法是错误做作的，不应使用。但是，这个用法可追溯回18世纪，且自19世纪以来即已普及。

排出，发出，散发出 （自16世纪）

出汗，排汗 （17-19世纪）

为人所知，公开，透露出来 （自18世纪）

It eventually transpired that the murder victim had been a notorious blackmailer.

最后发现，谋杀案死者是一个恶名昭彰的勒索者。

Hubert then recommends M. Leproux to be punctual to meet him at the rendezvous agreed on between them, where a third individual, whose name did not transpire, was to join them.

1839，Edmund Burke，The Annual Register of World Events:

Although I was prevented from attending the 1952 annual conference, I was immediately informed as to what had transpired.

1994，Nelson Mandela，“Part Four: The Struggle is My Life”, in Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela，Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN，頁 166:

But there is a school of thought that holds that the more you talk about recession, the more likely it is to transpire.

2018年September21日，Mark Rice-Oxley，“Don't mention the R-word”, in The Guardian:


keep tabs on

见tab (“用来记录的小板子”)。

keeps tabs on (third-person singular present)
keeping tabs on (present participle)
kept tabs on (past participle)

If you are careful to keep tabs on your finances, you should be able to stay within a budget.

The police kept close tabs on him during the holidays.

He might have spent the hours camped under the trees of the more remote meadow, whence in the brilliant moonlight he could keep tabs on the trails.

1910，Stewart Edward White，章號 85, in The Rules of the Game:

I'll catch him—I'll trip him up—I'll keep tabs on his arguments.

1919，Lucy Maud Montgomery，章號 16, in Rainbow Valley:

Syria's much feared state-security apparatus keeps close tabs on everyone entering and leaving the embassy.

2010，Andrew Lee Butters，“Why the U.S. Is Back on the Road to Damascus”, in Time:

Nadal, absent from the draw for the first time nearly two decades, said he won’t watch it all from afar, but he will be keeping tabs.

2023年May18日，Christopher Clarey，“Even as He’s Out, Rafael Nadal Will Always Be a Part of the French Open”, in The New York Times:


put the cart before the horse

puts the cart before the horse (third-person singular present)
putting the cart before the horse (present participle)
put the cart before the horse (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-put the cart before the horse.ogg

The hour had struck; and with it, as always, appeared the man. So it has ever been in the history of the world; though we, with characteristic vanity, uniformly put the cart before the horse, and declare that it is the man that brings the hour.

1898，Julian Hawthorne，章號 1, in The History of the United States:

To attempt to remove the armaments before removing these substantive conflicts of interest is to put the cart before the horse.

1957年December2日，“Corruption of the Mind”, in Time:

Mr. Schumer said that the idea of agreeing to a date for a vote before the committee had held hearings was "to put the cart before horse."

2005年July27日，David D. Kirkpatrick，“Timing of Hearings and Vote Stalls Confirmation Talks”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-11-06:


make a point

makes a point (third-person singular present)
making a point (present participle)
made a point (past participle)

I suppose the people who wrote that stuff on the wall were trying to make a point, but they mainly made a mess.

我认为在墙上写东西的人想说点什么，但是他们弄得乱七八糟。

Make a point to carry [or of carrying] your calendar with you at all times.

记得到哪都要带着你的记事本。


come to terms with

comes to terms with (third-person singular present)
coming to terms with (present participle)
came to terms with (past)
come to terms with (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-come to terms with.ogg

She finally came to terms with her addictions at her third rehab clinic and rarely drank again.

她终于在第三家复健诊所治好了她的瘾，之后几乎没再喝过酒。

接受，妥协，面对 （让人心理上痛苦的事物）

Until he comes to terms with the likelihood of failure, he will not succeed.

在他接受失败的可能性之前，他不会成功。


recompost

recomposts (third-person singular present)
recomposting (present participle)
recomposted (past participle)


recomposts

recompost 的第三人稱單數簡單現在時直陳式


cluttered

clutter 的簡單過去時和過去時分詞


get a kick out of

gets a kick out of (third-person singular present)
getting a kick out of (present participle)
got a kick out of (past)
got a kick out of
gotten a kick out of

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-get a kick out of.ogg

高兴于，喜欢，从...得到乐趣

I really got a kick out of that clown's juggling act.

我觉得那个小丑的杂技特别好玩。

Some get a kick from cocaine / I'm sure that if I took even one sniff / That would bore me terrifically too / Yet I get a kick out of you

1934，Cole Porter （作曲作詞）, “I Get a Kick Out of You”:


go nuclear

goes nuclear (third-person singular present)
going nuclear (present participle)
went nuclear (past)
gone nuclear (past participle)

In this context, the humiliating defeat of 1971 and the Indian nuclear test were major factors in the Pakistani decision to go nuclear.

2000，Hooman Peimani，Nuclear Proliferation in the Indian Subcontinent, →ISBN，頁 28:

A decision to go nuclear has important adverse diplomatic repercussions as well. Trying to build a nuclear arsenal is not the way to win friends in the international community.

2008，Ted Galen Carpenter，Smart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America, →ISBN，頁 111:

This agreement codified nuclear apartheid, leaving in place three types of nuclear states: the five recognized nuclear powers (the United States, Britain, China, France, and the Soviet Union), NATO and Warsaw Pact allies with access to nuclear weapons but not ownership, and a large class of non-nuclear states who renounced their right to go nuclear.

2010，Shane J. Maddock，Nuclear Apartheid, →ISBN:

Now the cost-benefiters calculated nuclear power to be a more efficient investment than building more coal-fired plants, which put them in agreement with the technological optimists on the question of whether to go nuclear.

1997，Robert Pool，Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology, →ISBN:

However, once we bite the bullet and decide to go nuclear again, it will take at least a decade before new plants start coming on line.

2005，A.W. Galston, Christiana Z. Peppard，Expanding Horizons in Bioethics, →ISBN，頁 240:

When US energy policy went nuclear, about the same time as some large mines flooded in Canada and Australia, hedge fund speculators dived into the market and uranium shot up to US$138 a pound, settling back eventually to about half that price, but still almost ten times the US$7 low.

I suppose what he is worried about is epitomized by a conversation that I had ten years ago with the Executive Vice President of a utility that was going nuclear.

2013，George G. Berg，Measurement of Risks, →ISBN，頁 338:

Some have suggested that nuclear disarmament will increase the chance that conventional wars will occur since nation states will no longer be deterred by the thought that wars can go nuclear.

1984，Douglas P. Lackey，Moral Principles and Nuclear Weapons, →ISBN，頁 236:

This paper does not deal with nuclear terrorism as Thomas Schelling once defined it — namely being he 'balance of nuclear terror' between the major nuclear weapon state - but rather refers to terrorist groups going nuclear.

2012，Paul Wilkinson，Technology and Terorrism, →ISBN，頁 48:

The best place to be if things went nuclear was in a bomb shelter.

2015，Dean Marquis，Roxanne of Dark Energy: A Construct of Science Fiction, →ISBN:

“We cut the show short, and the brothers went nuclear on me afterward,” said Sammy. “They crucified me for that."

2011，Kevin Dodds，Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography, →ISBN，頁 150:

He snickered. Janelle was going nuclear. “Why didn't you tell me?” she shouted.

There's barely a week that goes by without me going nuclear about something or other to do with middle age as portrayed in the media.

2015，Helen Walmsley-Johnson，The Invisible Woman: Taking on the Vintage Years, →ISBN:

Years ago, the sport spread from New Zealand to Australia—and went nuclear. Overnight, it seemed, Australia boasted 40 tracks, which were promptly divided into several warring factions.

1999 November，Ted West，“Kicking and Screaming”, in Boating，頁 114:

As if the release of her emotions had freed something in him, his ardor increased and the kiss went nuclear.

2011，Lucy Monroe，The Sheikh's Bartered Bride, →ISBN:

But the fever pitch went nuclear when the Ramones took the stage.

2015，Marky Ramone, Richard Herschlag，Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone, →ISBN，頁 358:

“They don’t want to deal with this,” Ms. Lalich said. “It’s going to have to go nuclear, using the Insurrection Act and bringing out the military.”

2020年December12日，Hailey Fuchs, Pranshu Verma, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs，“4 Stabbed and One Shot as Trump Supporters and Opponents Clash”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


rein in

reins in (third-person singular present)
reining in (present participle)
reined in (past participle)

The government has no other option than to rein in public spending.

政府不得不减少公共开支。

“As you are well aware, over the last few months we’ve made a considerable effort to rein in costs, but it simply hasn’t been enough,” Daniel Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, said in a note to employees on Monday.

2023年January23日，Isabella Simonetti，引 Daniel Ek, “Spotify to Lay Off 6% of Its Work Force”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


knock for a loop

knocks for a loop (third-person singular present)
knocking for a loop (present participle)
knocked for a loop (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-knock for a loop.ogg

throw for a loop

使...惊讶，使...困惑，使...动摇，使...犹豫

throw off

使...惊讶，使...困惑，使...动摇，使...犹豫

使...惊讶，使...困惑，使...动摇，使...犹豫

[Denham answered] "Gas bombs, Old Man! My own prescription. […] Gas bombs powerful enough to knock a row of elephants for a loop."

1932，Delos W. Lovelace，King Kong，出版於 1965，頁 7:

[A] triple threat to the U.S. economy[…]has knocked stock prices for a loop.

1967 November 17，“Wall Street: Big Casino”, in Time, retrieved 2014-08-02:

Poor Janice, she'll be knocked for a loop. She'll feel she's let her father down.

1990，John Updike，Rabbit at Rest, →ISBN，頁 394:

Karyn McNay as Ulla, the sexy Swedish actress/receptionist/cleaning woman, knocks the audience for a loop too.

2008 September 7，Anita Gates，“Stage: Dinner and a Show, in One Spot, at One Price”, in The New York Times, retrieved 2014-08-02:


throw for a loop

throws for a loop (third-person singular present)
throwing for a loop (present participle)
threw for a loop (past)
thrown for a loop (past participle)

He thought he was up-to-date on all the latest wine lingo until a longtime wine writer returned his sample request card with a bold, hand-written note on it that stated, “Send me all samples—ABC!”
 “ABC” threw my friend for a loop. When he called me, I translated the cryptic phrase—ABC is winespeak for “Anything But Chardonnay.”

1997 March，Ron Loutherback，“Beyond the Label: The ABCs of white wine”, in Orange Coast，卷 23, 期 3，頁 168:


afforest

16世纪起可考。源自中世紀拉丁語 afforēstō，源自拉丁語 ad (“向”) + forēsta (“森林”)。

afforests (third-person singular present)
afforesting (present participle)
afforested (past participle)

“afforest”曾意指将林地纳入森林法下，使其变成狩猎场。但现在一般指为了经济开发目的。

After we leave the quarry, we intend to afforest the land and turn it into a nature reserve.

我们离开采石场后，打算把那片地绿化成森林，变成自然保护区。

It is probably impossible to afforest quickly any real desert.

1901年June7日，G. H. Davies，“Rain-making”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record，卷 4, 期 7，頁 195:


screw the pooch

20世纪50年代，源自早期形式fuck the dog (“浪费时间”)（1935年）（对比fuck around），后面意思为“犯丢人的错误”（对比screw up、fuck up）。由汤姆·沃尔夫所著的《太空先锋》（1979年）及其电影改编（1983年）普及开来。

screws the pooch (third-person singular present)
screwing the pooch (present participle)
screwed the pooch (past participle)


take five

takes five (third-person singular present)
taking five (present participle)
took five (past)
taken five (past participle)

休息几分钟 （常指五分钟）

Hey, stop fighting! Take five, people!

喂，别打了，各位！休息几分钟！


undulating

undulate 的現在時分詞和動名詞


transmogrify

17世纪，词源不详，但可能源自transmigure、transmigrate。但还可能派生自maugre，因此一开始可能指“凶眼”，但受到了上一个词源的影响，其词义变换为“变形”。还有一种可能性是transfigure和modify的合并。

transmogrifies (third-person singular present)
transmogrifying (present participle)
transmogrified (past participle)

/tɹænzˈmɒɡɹɪfaɪ/

/tɹænzˈmɑɡɹɪfaɪ/

Our present Governors (who have transmografide Monarchy into a Free State) ...

1652，n.a. [Isabel Yeamans]，The Year of Wonders，London: George Horton，頁 10:

Just set the dial to "Calvin", and I'll transmogrify back to a boy.

1987年April2日，Bill Watterson，Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

But 'Hamilton,' directed by Thomas Kail and starring Mr. Miranda, might just be about worth it—at least to anyone who wants proof that the American musical is not only surviving but also evolving in ways that should allow it to thrive and transmogrify in years to come.

2015年August5日，“Review: `Hamilton,' Young Rebels Changing History and Theater”, in The New York Times:


fit the bill

源自早期形式fill the bill，可能与戏剧表演有关。

fits the bill (third-person singular present)
fitting the bill (present participle)
fit the bill (past participle)


get down to brass tacks

不详。字面意思是「黄铜钉子」。最早记录出现于1863年美国德克萨斯。一个理论认为，其源自五金店或布店的柜台上用来以准确单位量布的黄铜钉子（而不是用一边放在鼻子前，另一边放在伸长的手臂上来近似量出一码）。还有一种说法是，其源自19世纪通行于美国的用黄铜钉子在棺材上写出死者名字的做法。再有一种说法是，美国西部早期用黄铜钉子来装饰枪托的习惯。用黄铜是因为其不会生锈而且易于抛光。根据作家Stanley Vestal的说法，“钉在步枪上的黄铜钉子记录了死在枪口下的受害者的数量。黄铜钉子。”

gets down to brass tacks (third-person singular present)
getting down to brass tacks (present participle)
got down to brass tacks (past)
gotten down to brass tacks (past participle)
got down to brass tacks (past participle)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-get down to brass tacks.ogg

When you come down to brass tacks – if we may be allowed the expression – everybody is governed by selfishness.

1863, January 21, 1863, The Tri-Weekly Telegraph, newspaper of Houston, Texas

That's no answer. Get down to brass tacks.

Let's get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?

1972, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream

We're gonna stop playing games with these Arabs and get down to brass tacks!

You must be Jules, which would make you Vincent. Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking. Is that right, Jimmie?

1994，Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary，Pulp Fiction，spoken by The Wolf (Harvey Keitel):

And if the government got a grip, got down to brass tacks and started doing their actual job, all these things could be avoided.

2023年April2日，Pippa Crerar, Robyn Vinter，引 Lisa Nandy, “Suella Braverman denies Brexit to blame for Dover queues of 14 hours”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


keep at arm's length

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-keep at arm's length.ogg

Ramsey's goal secured the points, but the win came on the back of a measured performance that saw Arsenal keep Dortmund at arm's length for long periods and score with a classic counter-attack.

2013年November6日，Chris Bevan，“Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport:

She's been keeping me at arm's length all the time. She doesn't want to get involved.

她一直都与我保持距离，不想掺和进来。


make tick

makes tick (third-person singular present)
making tick (present participle)
made tick (past participle)

I honestly don't know the specifics that make him tick, and I wish I did.

2005，Cherie Priest，Four and Twenty Blackbirds, →ISBN，頁 91:

Most of us find ourselves caught in the middle, ducking for cover and wondering just who these people are and what could possibly make them tick.

2012，Kevin Seamus Hasson，The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America, →ISBN:

I wanted to roam the world, exploring what made it tick, helping to make it tick better, and never get married.

2013，Betty Lussier，Intrepid Woman: Betty Lussier's Secret War, 1942-1945, →ISBN:

仅按字面意思，并无比喻或俗语义；参见make、tick。