释义 |
unaˈvailable, a. [un-1 7 b and 5 b.] 1. Unavailing; inefficacious; ineffectual.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jas. 31 b, Of like sorte doubtles shall the profession of faith, whiche consisteth only in worde and worketh nothynge in dede, bee vnauayleable, but lyeth slugging like as it were deade. a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. xi. §2 Their proofs are unavailable to shew, that Scripture affordeth no evidence for the inequality of Pastors. 1616J. Hayward Sanct. Troub. Soul i. v. (1620) 86 Where shall I hide?.. To go forward it will bee intolerable,..to turne aside vnauailable. 1673Dryden Marr. à la Mode iv. i, Your pity, madam, Is generous, but 'tis unavailable. 1746Hervey Medit. 81 What can they do in this Day of Visitation?.. To fly, will be impossible; to justify themselves, impracticable; and now, to make any Supplications, unavailable. 1777Potter æschylus, Prom. Chained 12 To complain, or not complain, alike Is unavailable. 1808Mem. Female Philos. II. 91 They displayed..the greatest valour and patriotism, but they were, alas, wholly unavailable in opposition to a superior force. 1850Merivale Rom. Emp. xiii. (1865) II. 120 He unburdened his feelings to Atticus in unavailable lamentations. 2. Not available; incapable of being used.
1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 202 Storage in reservoirs..if the river supply is for any reason unavailable. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. iii. lxx. II. 558 In the event of the man they chiefly favour proving ‘unavailable’. |