| 释义 |
ˌunderˈdo, v.
[under-1 10 a.]
1. intr.
a. To refrain from full action.
1611B. Jonson Catiline ii. iii, You ouer-act when you should vnder-doe.
b. To do less than is requisite or necessary.
1622F. Markham Bk. War ii. vii. 67 He [sc. the corporal] must equally vnderstand both how to obey and how to command, and therwithal it must be mixt with such a temperance, that he must neither ouerdoe nor vnderdoe, lest he utterly undoe. 1642W. Price Serm. 8 We would not cry, that Preacher overdoes, this underdoes, and that goes too farre, this falls short. 1681Grew Musæum i. iv. iv. 79 Nature is so intent upon finishing her Work, that she may be observ'd much oftener to over do, than under do. 1710Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 121 He may either overdoe, and give too much,..or he may underdoe and give too little. 1739J. Trapp Righteous Over-much 5 We may..under-doe, and be defective.
2. trans. To do, or deal with, insufficiently or imperfectly.
1716Derham Phys.-Theol. To Reader A vij, In the former of which I fear he will think I have as much under-done, as in the latter over-done, the Matter. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. v. (1869) I. 47 They sometimes overdo the business, and sometimes underdo it. 1886M. W. Hungerford Mental Struggle iii, Once or twice..it struck me that you were rather under-doing it. 1888Rickaby Mor. Philos. 77 Doing right is opposed to overdoing the thing, and to underdoing it.
b. To act (a part) inadequately. Also used attrib.
1748Richardson Clarissa VII. 401 Thou must, however, own a good deal of blunder of the over-do and under-do kind, with respect to the part thou actedst. 1754― Grandison I. xv. 95 Can I do it, if I place him in the light of a Lover, and not..underdo his character as such? a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) I. v. 87 A disposition and behaviour which may be overdone as well as underdone.
c. spec. To cook insufficiently. (Cf. underdone ppl. a.)
1864Webster. 1894Westm. Gaz. 1 Jan. 7/2 An adept at underdoing the meat and overdoing the potatoes.
Hence ˌunderˈdoer.
1753Richardson Grandison V. ix. 45 These overdoers, my dear, are wicked wretches. What do they, but make religion look unlovely, and put underdoers out of heart? |