| 释义 |
distortion|dɪˈstɔːʃən|
[ad. L. distortiōn-em, n. of action f. distorquēre to distort. Cf. F. distorsion (Paré, 16th c.).]
1. a. The action of distorting, or condition of being distorted, or twisted awry or out of shape; spec. a condition of the body or any limb, in which it is twisted out of the natural shape.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxi. (1887) 90 The distortion or writhing of the mouth. 1622Wither Mistr. Philar. Wks. (1633) 622 Her dainty mouth [is] composed So as there is no distortion Misbeseemes that sweet proportion. 1764Reid Inquiry vi. §10. 152 They had never observed distortions of this kind in the eyes of children. 1804Abernethy Surg. Obs. 202, I could not..perceive any distortion of the face to the opposite side. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 211 That..distortion generally known by the appellation of club-foot. 1887G. H. Darwin in Fortn. Rev. Feb. 266 Earthquake waves consist..of waves or vibrations of compression, and of distortion.
b. Math. and Optics. Any change of shape not involving breach of continuity, as the distortion of a circle into an oval, or that of a rectangle into a rhombus or rhomboid by alteration of the angles, lengthening or curving of certain lines, etc.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 333/1 Refractive aberration, or in other words ‘distortion’, is common to many lenses, producing images wherein straight lines are represented as bulged inwards or outwards. 1885Osborne Reynolds in Proc. Brit. Assoc. 898 The susceptibility of such a medium for a state in which the two sets of grains are in conditions of opposite distortions.
c. concr. A distorted form or image.
1820Shelley Witch of Atlas lxii. 3 But other troubled forms of sleep she saw..Distortions foul of supernatural awe. 1851Nichol Archit. Heav. 59 Instead of an image of the object, will yield only a distortion. 1867A. Barry Sir C. Barry vii. 244 Some remains of the objectionable distortion at the entrance from S. Stephen's Hall.
2. A temporary twist awry, a twisting or writhing movement; a contortion.
1718Prior Power 65 By his distortions he reveals his pains. 1752Johnson Rambler No. 188 ⁋4 What the Latins call, the Sardinian Laughter, a distortion of the face without gladness of heart.
3. a. fig. The twisting or perversion of words so as to give to them a different sense; perversion of opinions, facts, history, so as to misapply them.
1650R. Hollingworth Exerc. Usurped Powers 51 Having vindicated this passage..from this authors distortion. 1745Wesley Answ. Ch. 37 What a frightful Distortion of my Words is this? 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 317 To bring together..by fraudulent distortions of law, an assembly which might call itself a parliament. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. vii. 246 He will be amused at the distortion of history.
b. Psychol. The alteration of repressed or unconscious elements before they appear in the conscious mind.
1910Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. XXI. 304 The distortion in the dream-making is thus a means of evading the censor. 1925A. & J. Strachey tr. Freud's Coll. Papers III. 361 Obsessional thoughts have undergone a distortion similar to that undergone by dream thoughts before they become the manifest content of a dream. 1957R. L. Munroe Schools of Psychoanalytic Thought iii. xi. 482 The child whose personal experience was especially unfortunate..is especially prone to..distortion.
4. Electr. A change in the wave-form of a signal by an electronic device such as an amplifier or during transmission from one point to another, usually impairing the quality of its reproduction.
1887O. Heaviside in Electrician 3 June 80/1 The attenuation..increases so fast with the frequency, thus leading to a most prodigious distortion in the shape of irregular waves... Now the distortion and the attenuation, though different things, are intimately connected. Ibid. 24 June 143/2 ‘Distortion’..I chose myself as preferable to ‘mutilation’ and similar words. Its meaning is obvious. Make current-variations in a certain way at one place. If the current-variations at another place are similar, no matter how much attenuated they may be, there is no distortion. 1914A. B. Rolfe-Martin Wireless Telegr. 117 It is found that, owing chiefly to dielectric losses in the condenser, the distortion has a still greater weakening effect on radiating power. 1962Simpson & Richards Junction Transistors xii. 276 Class B amplifiers must be used in push-pull arrangements if distortion-free amplification is to be obtained.
Hence diˈstortional a., of or pertaining to distortion; diˈstortionist, one who practises or professes distortion: (a) a caricaturist; (b) one who professionally distorts his body; diˈstortionless a. Electr., not producing any distortion; also, not affected by distortion.
1864Sat. Rev. 5 Nov. 563 Bunbury..was a mere caricaturist, or distortionist. 1885Osborne Reynolds in Proc. Brit. Assoc. 898 The transmission of distortional waves becomes possible if the medium be composed of small grains with large grains interspersed. 1886Pall Mall G. 6 Aug. 13/2 They play the rôle of distortionists..Their object is to draw money from the public by their piteous and excruciating positions. 1892O. Heaviside Electr. Papers II. 129 The distortionless system..brings the speed of the current into full view. 1921Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers Apr. 397/2 For satisfactory transmission of speech the circuit should also be practically ‘distortionless’. 1937Proc. Inst. Radio Engineers XXV. 321 It is possible to obtain distortionless reception of considerably higher levels of modulation if two side-band frequencies..are transmitted. 1962Simpson & Richards Junction Transistors xiii. 298 This is readily seen by considering any such distortion voltage as being produced by a fictitious generator added within the closed loop of a distortionless amplifier. |