| 释义 |
▪ I. sudden, a., adv. and n.|ˈsʌd(ə)n|
Forms: 3–6 soden, sodan(e, -ayn(e, 4–6 sudayn(e, Sc. sud(d)an(e, 4–7 sodain(e, -ein(e, -eyn(e, 6–7 sodyne, 6–8 suddain(e, (4 soudein, sudein(e, -en, -eyn(e, Sc. sowdane, soudan, swdan, 5 sothen, -eyn, 6 soddaine, -ayn, soudain(e, -eine, -en, soodain, suddayne, -eyn(e, -ein(e, Sc. soddan(e, suiden, 6–7 sodden, 7 sudain(e), 6– sudden. Also β. 5 soubdayne, subdayn, 6 subdain, Sc. subdane; γ. Sc. 4 so-, sudende, soudande, 4–6 sud(d)and, 5 sodand, sothent, 6 -end, suddant(e; dial. 8 sudent, 9 suddent, -int.
[a. AF. sodein, sudein = OF. (mod.F.) soudain, also † soubdain, † subdain = Pr. sub-, sob(i)tan, sobtan, soptan, It. subitano:—pop.L *subitānu-s, for L. subitāneus (whence Sp., Pg. subitaneo), f. subitus: see subite.
The present spelling was not finally established till after 1700; by far the commonest spelling in the 1st folio of Shakes. is sodaine, and suddain lasted on into the first quarter of the 18th c.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of actions, events, conditions: Happening or coming without warning or premonition; taking place or appearing all at once.
In some contexts the implication is rather ‘Unexpected, unforeseen, unlooked-for’, or ‘Not prepared or provided for’.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1951 What es til man mare certayn Þan þe dede es þat es swa sodayn? Ibid. 5129 Right swa þe commyng of man son sal be, Sodayne and bright and dreful to se. c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 260 This sodeyn cas this man astonyed so That reed he wax. 1390Gower Conf. I. 78 The Schip with sodein blast, Whan men lest wene, is overcast. c1440York Myst. xvii. 42 A sodayne sight was till vs sente. c1460Merita Missæ 125 in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 151 What sothen a wenture the be-falle. 1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 8 Tempest & sodayne storme of rayne. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, From battaile and murther, and from sodain death: Good lorde deliuer us. 1549Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 36 The people wyll not beare sodayne alterations. 1595Shakes. John v. vi. 26 That you might The better arme you to the sodaine time, Then if you had at leisure knowne of this. 1615Sandys Trav. 6 Here a garrison is kept; supplyed by the townes-men vpon each sodaine summons. 1658Whole Duty Man v. §30 His death may be sudden to him, though it comes by never so slow degrees. 1683Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 33 When the Oar is set alone upon the Test, that it may not be put into a violent suddain heat. a1700Evelyn Diary 12 Nov. 1643, Hayle, rain, and suddaine darknesse. 1781Cowper Conversat. 281, I interrupt him with a sudden bow. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxx, She heard a sudden step behind her. 1855Tennyson Brook 24, I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally. 1874Green Short Hist. vii. §7 (1882) 419 Few events in our literary history are so startling as this sudden rise of the Elizabethan drama. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. 189, I..am simply helpless on any sudden need for decision like this.
β1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxii. 69 The soubdayne necessitees that may fall. c1489― Blanchardyn xxiv. 92 A soubdayne sparkle of Ialousye cam to hym. 1563Winȝet Bk. 83 Quest. Pref., Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 49 The subdane change of sum cunning clerkis.
γ [c1375: see suddenly 2.] c1470Henry Wallace iii. 418 It was wicht Wallace, Had thaim our set in to that sodand cas. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 124 At set purpois and nocht of suddante cace. 1556Peebles Burgh Rec. (1872) 234 Gif ony..sudand fyre occurris. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 63 Ewerie man iudgit that suddand and prosperous succes sould haue ane schort end.
b. Of emotions, impulses, etc.
1382Wyclif Prov. iii. 25 Ne drede thou with sodeyn gastnesse. 1390Gower Conf. I. 290 Thurgh his sodein Malencolie To do so gret a felonie. 1575Gascoigne Kenelworth Wks. 1910 II. 121 Into deepe admiration and suddayne perplexitie. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 12 b, Moued by some sodaine toie which taketh them in the head. 1667Milton P.L. v. 452 Sudden mind arose In Adam, not to let th' occasion pass. 1784Cowper Task vi. 550 His horse,..Snorting, and starting into sudden rage. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. xix, After a sudden start of surprise, he recognised his acquaintance Sylvan. 1898‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner ii. 21 Checked in a moment of earnest endeavour by a sudden perception of the humorous.
c. Of a turning, etc.: Abrupt, sharp. In Zool. and Bot. applied to parts that are sharply marked off from the neighbouring parts (cf. suddenly 1 b).
1390Gower Conf. II. 293 It hapneth at a soudein wente,..He fell unwar into a pet. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. xi. 194 The swift coming about of the Work would..draw or job the suddain edge into the Stuff. 1784Cowper Task i. 267 Descending now..A sudden steep. 1837Carlyle Rev. France i. i. iv, At some sudden turning in the Wood of Senart. 1891Cent. Dict. s.v., A sudden antennal club; a sudden truncation.
d. Of physical objects: Appearing or discovered unexpectedly. Now arch. or poet.
c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vii. (1885) 125 Ther come a sodayne armye vpon this londe by see or by lande. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 192 The King of the Pechtes..wastes, with a suddane power, the nerrest cuntreyes perteyneng to the Scottis. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche iv. lxxxviii, Up sprung a suddain Grove. 1712Pope Messiah 68 See lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise. 1712–14― Rape Lock v. 127 A sudden Star, it shot thro' liquid air. 1819Keats Otho i. i. 47 The Hungarians..Appear'd, a sudden host, in the open day. 1841Browning Pippa Passes ii. Poems (1905) 176 When o'er the sudden specks my chisel trips. 1855― Childe Roland xix, A sudden little river crossed my path As unexpected as a serpent comes. 1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia 4 And Earth put forth a thousand sudden flowers.
†e. Of diseases. sudden stroke: apoplexy. sudden taking (see quot. 1688). Obs.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV (1550) 32 b, He was taken with a sore sodayn disease [Grafton adds called an Apoplexie]. a1568Coverdale Treat. Death i. ix. Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 57 The gout, frenzy, the sudden stroke, and such like. 1651T. de Grey Compl. Horsem. i. (1656) 66 And it also preventeth suddain sicknesse, if you haue anie suspect thereof. 1688Holme Armoury ii. 151/1 The Sudden taking [is] when he [sc. a horse] is deprived of his feeling and motion, not being able to stir any way.
2. a. Of actions, feelings: Unpremeditated, done without forethought. Obs. or arch.
a1300Cursor M. 28563 Als wreth þat scort, and soden es [MS. sodenes]. 1390Gower Conf. III. 192 How he..Of sodein wraththe and nought of right Forjugged hath. 1483[see subite]. 1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 230 It is a sodain & tumultuous iudgement, of which a man may truly say, a short sentence of a sottish iudge. 1596Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ii. (1635) 2 If one kill another upon a suddaine quarrell, this is manslaughter. 1658Whole Duty Man iv. §7 He that swears commonly, is not only prepared to forswear when a solemn Oath is tendered him, but in all probability does actually forswear himself often in these suddener Oaths. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 93 Sudden anger, upon certain occasions, is mere instinct. 1781Cowper Hope 390 If sentence of eternal pain belong To ev'ry sudden slip and transient wrong.
b. Of persons: Acting without forethought or deliberation; hasty, impetuous, rash. Obs. or arch.
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1024 Retornyng in here soule ay vp and doun The wordes of þis sodeyn Diomede. 1530Palsgr. 325/1 Sodayne, hasty of condycions, soudayn. a1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 513 Be not soddane, sir, The mater is of wecht. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. iv. i, His Grace is old, and sudden. a1631Donne Poems (1650) 2 Cruell and sodaine, hast thou since Purpled thy Nayle, in bloud of innocence? 1667Milton P.L. ii. 738 My sudden hand Prevented spares to tell thee yet by deeds What it intends. 1825Scott Talism. xx, Neither provoke me to be sudden by any unfit reply. 1850Newman Diffic. Anglicans 252 Some men, or races of men, are more sudden in their tempers than others.
3. a. Performed or taking place without delay; speedy; prompt, immediate. Obs. exc. of death.
a1375Joseph Arim. 390 Vppon sodeyne deþ þou schalt sone dye. 1450–80tr. Secr. Secr. 18 Takyng on him hasty and sodeyne vengeaunce. 1557Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 243 If I do false my faith in any point or case, A sodein vengeance fall on me. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iv. 48 None durst come neere, for feare of suddaine death. 1650Cromwell Let. Gov. Edinb. Castle 13 Dec. (Carlyle), Expecting your sudden answer, I rest, Your servant, Oliver Cromwell. a1658Cleveland Rustick Rampant Wks. (1687) 449 He acquaints the Citizens with the Kings Peril and his own, and requests their sudden Assistance. 1671Milton P.R. i. 96 Our danger..which admits no long debate, But must with something sudden be oppos'd. 1678–9Dryden & Lee Œdipus iv. i, I charge him on his life To speak; concealment shall be sudden death. 1831Scott Jrnl. 21 Dec., If I were worthy I would pray God for a sudden death, and no interregnum between I cease to exercise reason and I cease to exist.
b. sudden death (slang): (a) a single toss used to decide an issue; hence in Lawn Tennis, a game played to break a tie; also in general sporting use (usu. attrib.), designating an additional competition or period of extra time in which the first to concede a game or score is immediately eliminated; (b) U.S., a potent alcoholic drink; (c) (see quot. 1886).
1834Blackw. Mag. May 752/1 ‘Which’, said he, ‘is it to be—two out of three, as at Newmarket, or the first toss to decide?’ ‘Sudden death’, said I, ‘and there will soon be an end of it.’ 1863C. Reade Hard Cash I. vii. 205 America is fertile in mixtures: what do we not owe to her? Sherry-cobbler, gin-sling..sudden death. 1865Slang Dict. 250 Sudden death, the first toss in a bet, to be decided by skying a copper. 1865‘Mark Twain’ in Californian 18 Mar. 8/3 Our reserve (whom we had..kept out of sight and full of chain-lightning, sudden death and scorpion-bile all day..) came filing down the street as drunk as loons. 1886Yule & Burnell Hobson-Jobson, Sudden death, Anglo-Indian slang for a fowl served as a spatchcock. 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 36 Sudden death [is used] for a game played to bring a set to a sudden, decisive conclusion without playing out the full number. 1939Sun (Baltimore) 21 July 15/8 Skipper Bill Barrow, of the Rochester Yacht Club, sailed his Thisbe II to victory today in a sudden-death race against defending champion Aphrodite. 1945Ibid. 3 Mar. 7/2 Tech meets the winner tonight, and got this break by having its name picked out of a hat when the ‘sudden death’ playoff plan was decided on. 1946L. P. Hartley Sixth Heaven viii. 162 ‘Game-ball all,’ was called... ‘Shall we play it out?’ said Dick, ‘or shall we have sudden death?’ 1961Times 29 Aug. 3/4 Player and..J. Herbert tied for the lead..and then had a sudden-death play-off. 1972‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing xxvi. 224 ‘I hear that it wasn't a bad game.’.. ‘Not bad! When it went into sudden death overtime?’ 1974Times 22 Jan. 10/7 The WCT circuit as a whole contains a controversial innovation: a 13-point tie-break with a ‘sudden death’ finish. This means that the first player to score seven points wins the tie-break whether he leads by two points or not. 1977Evening Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 11 Jan. 14/6 These matches are ‘sudden death’ affairs, a single match in each round either home or away depending on the luck of each draw.
†4.
a. Of persons: Swift in action, quick to perform, prompt, expeditious. Also, peremptory, sharp. Obs.
1591Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 18 Speake man, be sodaine, who thy Father was. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 19 Caska be sodaine, for we feare preuention. 1622Fletcher Span. Cur. iv. vii, A suddain witty thief. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 193 The French is of so sudden and busie disposition, that he quickly yeelds to that a man demands. 1716Pope Iliad vii. 282 No more—be sudden, and begin the fight. 1753Richardson Grandison III. xvii. 135 You are a little sudden upon me.
†b. Of mental faculties: Quick, sharp. Obs.
1608Pennyless Parl. xlvi. in Harl. Misc. (1744) I. 181 There shall so many sudden, or rather sodden Wits, step abroad, that a Flea shall not frisk forth, unless they comment upon her. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 190 Men of light and unsteady braines, have commonly sudden and sharpe conceits. 1742Pope To Mr. T. Southern 11 The feast, his tow'ring genius marks In yonder wild goose and the larks! The mushrooms shew his wit was sudden!
†c. Of the eye: Glancing quickly. Obs.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. v. 10 The Paynim chaunst to cast his eye, His suddein eye,..Vpon his brothers shield. 1649Milton Eikon. xxiv. 492 Like the Apples of Asphaltis, appearing goodly to the sudden eye, but look well upon them, or at least but touch them, and they turne into Cinders. 1651Davenant Gondibert i. vi. 59 [He] Bids both their Breasts be eithers open book, Where nought is writ too hard for sodain Eies.
5. Made, provided, or formed in a short time. Obs. or arch.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 32 Neuer was such a sodaine Scholler made. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 187 How dangerous it is, that the Army should depend on sudden provisions. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 554 Swift Rivers are with sudden Ice constrain'd. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 101 A sudden dinner was provided. 1870Lowell Study Wind., Chaucer (1871) 173 Nothing is more certain than that great poets are not sudden prodigies, but slow results.
6. Prompt in action or effect; producing an immediate result. poet.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxiv. iv, Thou, O God, from sodain bow Death striking them a shaft shall send. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 45 Had'st thou no poyson mixt, no sharpe ground knife, No sudden meane of death? 1819Shelley Cenci ii. i. 142 How just it were to hire assassins, or Put sudden poison in my evening drink? 1826Milman A. Boleyn 165 There's no disease will let the spirit loose With less keen anguish than the sudden axe! 1865Swinburne Atalanta 44 Hast not thou One shaft of all thy sudden seven that pierced Seven through the bosom?
†7. Done, performed, or prepared on the spur of the moment; extempore, impromptu. Obs.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 12 Notwithstanding all her sodaine quips, The least whereof would quell a louers hope. 1591― 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 6 Doe it without inuention, suddenly, As I with sudden, and extemporall speech, Purpose to answer what thou canst obiect. a1656Bp. Hall Let. to Person Qual., Your love will put the best construction upon these sudden lines. 1741Watts Improv. Mind Pref., Imperfect sketches, which were designed by a sudden pencil, and in a thousand leisure moments.
†8. Brief, momentary, lasting only a short time.
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. ix. (1634) 30 God brought not his word among men for a sodaine shew [vne monstre et parade de petite duree]. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 29 The race of this life was so sodaine and short so often perilled and every eche moment at death his nod and beck. c1595Carew Excell. Eng. Tongue in G. G. Smith Eliz. Crit. Ess. II. 287 A fuller obseruation of what my soddaine memorye cannott represent vnto mee.
†9. Happening at an early date; shortly to come or to be. Obs. (Cf. suddenly 4.)
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. iv. 45 We haue not yet set downe this day of Triumph: To morrow, in my iudgement, is too sudden. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. i, The Dukes sonne..One that is like to be our suddaine Duke. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 122 To represent the daungers and the present and sodeyne occasions which may be loste. 1712R. Gale in Mem. W. Stukeley (Surtees) I. 149, I will make up the first summe by a sudden opportunity. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xv. ix, I must pray for a sudden opportunity of returning those pecuniary obligations.
B. adv. (So F. soudain.)
1. = suddenly. Chiefly poet.
1404–826 Pol. Poems 24 Deþ claymeþ eche man for hesse, And sodeyn, deþ no dayes selle. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 107 Pardon me, I am too sodaine bold. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 6 The day with cloudes was suddeine ouercast. 1652in Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) III. 76 If I cannot be sudaine in the heade of a considerable armie, I am likly to be founde in the counties of Sligoe or Letrim. 1667Milton P.L. v. 650 Pavilions numberless, and sudden reard. 1742Blair Grave 63 Sudden! he starts. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. xix, As up the flinty path they strain'd Sudden his steed the leader rein'd. 1833Tennyson Dream Fair Women xxxi, Sudden I heard a voice that cried, ‘Come here’. 1884Browning Ferishtah, Eagle 13 Sudden there swooped An eagle downward.
2. When qualifying an adj. in the attrib. position sudden is often hyphened to it.
1730Thomson Autumn (ed. 2) 951 The sudden-starting tear. 1836Newman in Lyra Apost. (1849) 10 Sudden-whelming storm. 1859Tennyson Elaine 327 There brake a sudden-beaming tenderness Of manners and of nature.
C. quasi-n. and n.
1. In advb. phr. formed with preps. = suddenly (chiefly in sense 1).
a. of a sudden (earlier † of the sudden): now usually with preceding all.
1570Dee Math. Pref. d iij b, I thinke, that none can iustly account them selues Architectes, of the suddeyne. 1590H. Barrow in Greenwood Coll. Art D ij b, I was..compelled..to answere of the sodaine vnto such articles. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 152 Is it possible That loue should of a sodaine take such hold? a1648Digby Closet Opened (1669) 188 When all is heated through, it [sc. gravy] will quicken of a sudden. 1681–6J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 66 All of a sudden, and without any..previous Instructions, they were heard to speak..in the fifteen several Tongues of fifteen several Nations. 1864Mrs. Lloyd Ladies of Polcarrow 103 And then Prudy, all of a suddent, began to keep company with that little Preventative fellow. 1890Doyle White Company xxx, As he gazed, he saw of a sudden a man steal forth from the wood. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xvii, Then all of a sudden appears Caligula, and demands that Claudius should be recognised as his slave.
b. on or upon a (or the) sudden (also † on sudden, o' the sudden). arch. Very common c 1560–1700.
1558in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 17 To be..done..for more reasonable hier in hope of present payment then can be had or done upon the soden. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Subitarius, Subitarij milites, souldiours mustred..vpon a sodayne. 1581T. Howell Deuises G iij, Who running well, at first, on sodaine slakes. 1611Bible Ecclus. xi. 21 It is an easie thing in the sight of the Lord, on the sudden to make a poore man rich. 1630Ussher Lett. (1686) 449 For the Bargain which you mention of Ancient Coins,..I cannot upon the sudden say any thing; for my own Purse is too shallow. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §23 He did not upon the Suddain comprehend the consequences. a1700Evelyn Diary 15 Oct. 1644, It pleas'd God on the suddaine to appease the wind. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 136 My Crop promis'd very well, when on a sudden I found I was in Danger of losing it all again. 1825Scott Talism. xii, At length, and upon a sudden, the gallant stag-hound bayed furiously. 1843F. E. Paget Warden of Berkingholt 118 He became on the sudden, moody, sullen and reckless. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 152 On a sudden a gleam of hope appeared. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. ix. Bottinius 1303 O' the sudden, as good gifts are wont befall.
† (b) as adj. Prompt, speedily made. Obs.
1683Temple Mem. Wks. 1720 I. 439, I was surpriz'd to hear a Proposition so on the sudden, so short, and so decisive.
†c. at a (or the) sudden. Obs.
1560Whitehorne Ord. Souldiours (1588) 3 To know how many men may march in a rancke, & at a sudden to bring them into a fouresquare battaill. 1574Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 70 When they shoulde haue done a thing at the soudaine, they haue sit downe with great leysure to take counsell. 1589Puttenham Engl. Poesie iii. xxiv. (Arb.) 287 When Parmenio..perswaded king Alexander..to set vpon Darius at the sodaine. 1632Sir T. Hawkins tr. Mathieu's Unhappy Prosp. 170 Caligula seeing many Senators at his table, laughed at a sudden.
†d. in a sudden. Obs.
1560Whitehorne Arte Warre 60 Parte of thy men maie be well hidden, to be able in a sodain, and contrary to thenemies opinion to assaut him. Ibid. 69 The other twoo shal remain behinde, distaunte other thirtie yardes: the which facion maie bee ordained in a sodaine.
†e. on (upon, with) such a sudden, so suddenly; of (upon) this sudden, on the spur of the moment; upon a very great sudden, in great sudden, very suddenly. (Cf. 2.) Obs.
1572in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 267 If I could make them [sc. lodgings] better upon suche a sodeyn, then wold I. 1575Gascoigne Kenelworth Wks. 1910 II. 102 These verses were devised..upon a very great sudden. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. xlvii. 103 b, And indeed with such a sodaine came upon him, that [etc.]. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 27 Is it possible on such a sodaine, you should fall into so strong a liking with old Sir Roulonds yongest sonne? 16001st. Pt. Sir J. Oldcastle i. iii. 116 You are welcome, Sir, what ere you be; But of this sodaine, Sir, I do not know you. 1617Ussher Lett. (1686) 60, I have nothing that upon this sudden I can well write of. a1674Milton Hist. Mosc. v. Wks. 1851 VIII. 513 Wherat the Emperor in great sudden bid him get home.
†2. A sudden need, danger, or the like; an emergency. Obs.
Chiefly governed by preps. at, on (cf. 1 b, c).
1559W. Bercher Nobylytye Wymen (Roxb. Club) 102 Howe redye they be in matters of dowbte, howe constant in the Sodeyne of dayngers. Ibid. 119 Wymen be best at the sodeyne. 1585–6Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 228 When parliaments be called vppon suddens. 1589Bigges Summarie Drake's W. Ind. Voy. 44 The helpe of marriners for that sudden to make trenches could not be had. 1608Chapman Byron's Conspir. ii. ii. 221 On any sudden, upon any ground, And in the form of all occasions. a1639Wotton in Reliq. (1651) 331, I would wish Parents to mark..the witty excuses of their Children, especially at Suddains and Surprizals. 1704S. Sewall Diary 22 May, He had..called me back again; At such a Sudden I knew not what to doe.
†3. Suddenness. Obs. rare.
1575Gascoigne Glasse Govt. Wks. 1910 II. 63 The sodaine of our departure seemeth somewhat straunge unto me.
†4. for a sudden: for an instant. Obs.
1688Bunyan Heavenly Footman (1724) 84 Agrippa gave a fair Step for a sudden.
▪ II. sudden
obs. pa. pple. of seethe v. |