释义 |
ad-lib, v. orig. U.S.|ˌædˈlɪb| [f. prec.] trans. and intr. To speak extempore; to announce without script, improvise (words, etc.) esp. in the course of a stage or broadcast performance. Hence ad-ˈlibbed ppl. a., improvised; ad-ˈlibber, one who ad-libs; ad-ˈlibbing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1919F. Hurst Humoresque 265 ‘Easy money, friends,’ Miss Hoag would ad lib. to the line-up outside her railing. 1926Whiteman & McBride Jazz iii. 73, I remember one day asking one of my English musicians, ‘Can you ad lib?’..‘Certainly,’ answered the man, rather nettled, ‘I can ad lib anything.’ 1927Sat. Even. Post. 5 Mar. 54/3 The text of musical plays..is much more flexible..and considerable ‘ad libbing’, as impromptu speeches are called, is indulged in. 1929Bookman (U.S.) Mar. 149/2 ‘Ad⁓libbing’ is improvising. ‘When Jones got lost back stage I had to ad-lib all over the place until he came on.’ 1936Harper's Mag. 2 Apr. 573/1 The preacher or orator whose message is canned beforehand never reaches the emotional heights of persuasion that his ‘ad libbing’ brother does on a rival rostrum. 1938Scrutiny VII. 216 It seems much more likely from the extensive ad-libbing (to borrow a word from the Americans) Mr. Roberts allows himself that Hulme's positions were useful to him in working out problems that are preoccupying him. 1939Adeler & West Remember Fred Karno vi. 69 In the sketch he ‘ad-libbed’ a bit, to use Fred Karno's phrase. 1940Amer. Speech XV. 65 Fadiman is a carbolic ad libber. 1956C. W. Mills Power Elite i. 15 The easy ad-libbed gags the celebrity ‘spontaneously’ echoes. 1958I. Brown Words in Our Time 15 The adlibber in the theatre is one who introduces what are called ‘gags’. 1958‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose iii. 95 The whole squadron in the stalls chi-hiking at us and Judy ad⁓libbing back at them across the footlights. |