| 释义 |
expendable, a. (and n.)|ɛkˈspɛndəb(ə)l|
Also expendible.
[f. prec. + -able.]
That may be expended; considered as not worth preserving or salvaging; normally consumed in use; spec. of military personnel: that may be allowed to be sacrificed to achieve a military objective. Hence as n., an expendable person or object.
1805W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. III. 240 That property should be dividable, transferrable, and expendable. 1942W. L. White They were Expendable 7 In a war anything can be expendable—money or gasoline or equipment or most usually men. 1942Reader's Digest Oct. 40/1 They would be considered in part as expendable ammunition much as the Navy considers its PT boats. 1942Topeka Jrnl. 9 Nov. 4/4 When an army is retreating, a small force is left behind to cover the retreat and be sacrificed to the enemy. They are ‘expendables’. 1956A. Toynbee Historian's Approach to Religion xix. 266 The true purpose of an institution is simply to serve as a means for promoting the welfare of human beings. In truth it is not sacrosanct but is ‘expendible’. 1966D. Holbrook Flesh Wounds 81 We're expendable, see, so you want to watch out. 1966Aviation Week & Space Technol. 5 Dec. 22/2 With five years of supplies and all the expendables, including a crew. |