| 释义 |
suppleness|ˈsʌp(ə)lnɪs|
[f. supple a. + -ness.]
The quality or condition of being supple.
1. Flexibility and elasticity: sometimes with implication of nimbleness of movement (cf. 2).
1626Bacon Sylva §610 The Supplenesse and Gentlenesse of the Iuyce of that Plant, being that which maketh the Boughes also so Flexible. 1707Curios. Husb. & Gard. 69 There is no part..in which the Subtility and Suppleness of the Sap more claim our Admiration, than in Trees that are grafted. 1782Sir J. Reynolds Disc. xi. (1876) 29 That suppleness which is the characteristic of flesh. 1791Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. ii. 134 By scouring, silk acquires its suppleness and whiteness. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. ix. (1883) 186 Hair like the fibrous covering of a cocoa-nut in..suppleness as well as color. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. v. ii. (1872) II. 68 You have beaten Louis XIV. to the suppleness of washleather.
2. Of the body or limbs: Capability of bending easily.
1768Tucker Lt. Nat. I. ii. xx. 47 Nature may have prepared one man for a dancer by giving him strength and suppleness in his joints. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 165 Serpents..have the length and the suppleness of the eel. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xiii, Giving his right arm two or three flourishes to try its power and suppleness. 1893A. S. Eccles Sciatica 80 Elderly persons from whom feats of suppleness could not be expected.
3. Flexibility or adaptability of mind, character, etc.
1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits v. (1596) 62 Children..through the great supplenesse of their braine, abound in memory. 1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 160 He hath both the substance and the suppleness which are necessary in dealing with the brains of that country. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. (1848) 35 Bringing those that use to write their Thoughts to what may be call'd a certain Suppleness of Style. 1807Knox & Jebb Corr. (1834) I. 328 A certain suppleness in your mental powers, by virtue of which they will bend to all occasions and subjects, with an ease and readiness [etc.]. 1878O. W. Holmes Motley xxi. 187 As a diplomatic his great want is suppleness.
4. Yielding disposition or character, compliantness, complaisance. ? Obs. exc. as in b.
1629Donne Serm. Whitsunday (1640) 309 God findes a better disposition, and souplenesse, and maturity, and mellowing, to concurre with his motion in that man. 1671Woodhead St. Teresa i. xxv. 172 There never remains any sweetness, or softness, or suppleness in the Soul; but she is, as it were, frighted. 1752Johnson Rambler No. 189 ⁋11 A governess, whom misfortunes had reduced to suppleness and humility.
b. Servile or obsequious compliance or complaisance.
c1727Harte Eulogius 398 He smooth'd his voice to the Bizantine note, With courtly suppleness unfurl'd his face. 1838Lytton Alice iii. i, Naturally dictatorial and presumptuous, his early suppleness to superiors was now exchanged for a self-willed pertinacity. 1855Prescott Philip II, i. ii. I. 13 He had none of the duplicity or of the suppleness which often marks the character of the courtier. 1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 207 The ever-rising tide of Roman sensuality and Græco-Syrian suppleness. |