| 释义 |
felonious, a.|fɛˈləʊnɪəs|
[f. felony + -ous.]
1. Wicked, atrociously criminal. Cf. felon a., felonous. Now chiefly poet.
1575J. Still Gamm. Gurton iii. iii. in Hazl. Dodsley III. 219 Diccons devil..Of Cat and Chat, and Doctor Rat, a felonious tale did tell. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 129 Vnlesse it were a bloody Murtherer, Or foule felonious Theefe. 1599Warn. Faire Wom. ii. 1206 How sayest thou to these fellonious murders, art thou guilty or not guilty? 1601Holland Pliny II. 12 The wicked rable..committed such fellonious outrages, as [etc.]. 1651Sir H. Wotton in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 254 note, That felonious conception. c1750Shenstone Elegies vii. 63 Does not felonious Envy bar the road? 1827Pollok Course T. ix. 204 With most felonious aim.
2. Law. Of or pertaining to felony; of the nature of felony. Hence, in popular lang. of an act or purpose: Thievish.
1634Milton Comus 196 O thievish night! Why should'st thou, but for some felonious end, In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars? 1769Blackstone Comm. IV. 188 Felonious homicide..the killing of a human creature..without justification or excuse. Ibid. IV. 227 Such breaking and entry must be with a felonious intent. c1780Erskine Sp. Trial Lord G. Gordon (1810) I. 82 A felonious riot. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 14 An act was passed..making them felonious. 1869Pall Mall G. 5 Oct. 7 Condemning the appropriation of tenants' improvements as ‘felonious’.
b. Of a person: That has committed felony.
1857Sat. Rev. III. 271/2 He sees no longer the respectable..Mr. Redpath, but only the felonious clerk.
Hence feˈloniousness, the quality or state of being felonious.
1727in Bailey vol. II. 1886 Pall Mall G. 6 Aug. 4/1 A young man..does not forge a cheque for a paltry {pstlg}20 in a mere access of playful feloniousness. |