| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈfluctuate, a. Obs.
[ad. L. fluctuāt-us, pa. pple. of fluctuāre: see fluctuate v.]
Tossed on the waves; fickle as the waves, wavering.
1631R. H. Arraign. Whole Creature x. §2. 86 The godly man hath his..sure Anchor, when he seemes to be fluctuate. Ibid. xv. §4. 278 Ever vaine, and foolish, and fluctuate in all our wayes.
▪ II. fluctuate, v.|ˈflʌktjʊeɪt|
[f. L. fluctuāt- ppl. stem of fluctuāre to undulate, f. fluctus, wave.]
1. intr. To move like a wave or waves, rise and fall in or as in waves; to be tossed up and down on the waves; lit. or with conscious metaphor. Now rare.
1656–81in Blount Glossogr. 1659T. Pecke Parnassi Puerp. 75, I can't call him Rich, or Poor; whose Estate, Upon deluding Waters, fluctuate. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 128 The..Mists, which we could discern fluctuating against the impenetrable Promontories. 1711W. King Ruffinus 98 So sounds, so fluctuates, the troubled sea. 1712Addison Spect. No. 549 ⁋2 The greatest part of my estate has been hitherto of an unsteddy and volatile nature, either tost upon seas or fluctuating in funds. c1750Shenstone Ruined Abbey 57 Sees the strong vessel fluctuate, less secure. 1754Warburton Wks. (1811) X. xxxii. 270 Wanting those principles..human knowledge only fluctuates in the head, but comes not near the heart. 1793Wordsw. Descr. Sk. Poems (1888) 20/1 The traveller sees Thy [France's] three-striped banner fluctuate on the breeze. 1809Campbell Gert. Wyom. ii. xvi, Wild-cane arch..That fluctuates when the storms of El Dorado sound. 1849Bryant Prairies 13 The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye.
2. fig. (Now chiefly without allusion to the literal sense.)
a. Of things, conditions, etc.: To vary irregularly, undergo alternating changes in level, position, form, constituent elements, etc.: to be unstable or unsettled.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. iv. §8 But not successive [Monarchs] and fixed in a Family, but fluctuating from one Kingdome to another. 1723J. Atkins Voy. Guinea Pref. (1735) 22 Our Bodies..are continually fluctuating and changing while we live. 1769Burke Late St. Nation Wks. 1842 I. 83 Average estimates are never just but when the object fluctuates. 1779J. Jay in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) II. 283 The Committee..fluctuates, new members constantly coming in, and old ones going out. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. i, Mr. Nickleby's income..fluctuated between sixty and eighty pounds per annum. 1866Crump Banking i. 20 Money fluctuates in price like any other article. 1874Deutsch's Rem. 343 We see the text [of a Targum] fluctuating down to the middle of the 2nd century.
b. Of persons: To pass to and fro, from one opinion, sentiment, or course of conduct, to another; to vacillate, waver.
1634in Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 378 His Majestie..fluctuating by that occasion betuix love and feare. 1684T. Hockin God's Decrees 248 Like silly Children..fluctuating in our opinions. 1793Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 133 After fluctuating a long time without any system, we have adopted one that..is completely ruinous. 1828Scott F.M. Perth v, [His features] fluctuating between shamefacedness and apprehension of her displeasure. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iv. 194 Lotharingia, the border land, ever fluctuating in its allegiance.
3. trans.
a. To throw into fluctuation; to unsettle.
b. To throw into a wave-like motion.
1788F. Burney Diary 28 July, The thought of guiding their mother..flattered and fluctuated them. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xcv, A breeze began to..fluctuate all the still perfume. |