| 释义 |
▪ I. underˈmining, vbl. n.
[f. as prec.]
1. The action of digging under, excavating, eroding, etc. Also in fig. contexts.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 277 Þis housebondis hous is his bodi, þat his soule is kept ynne; and undirmynyng of þis hous mai be don on two maneres. c1440Promp. Parv. 511/1 Vnder myndynge (P. vndermynynge), idem quod vnderdeluynge, supra. 1598Barret Theor. Warres v. i. 124 Fortes are wonne..by battery,..by vndermining, and such like. 1629Prynne Anti-Armin. 78 By the vndermining of which alone, the whole superstruction..[is] vtterly subuerted. 1679C. Nesse Antichrist 37 Their worshipping of saints [is]..no better then real underminings of the sacred foundation. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. 271 The banks..jagged and torn by..the silent underminings of waves. 1726Cavallier Mem. iv. 342 They came by underminding as far as the brink of the Ditch. 1833–4J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 705/1 The most characteristic effect of a cascade, is that ceaseless undermining of its base and sides. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 765 There are ulcers with but slight under⁓mining of their edges.
†b. An excavation or mine. Obs.—1
1572R. H. tr. Lauaterus' Ghostes 73 These [spirits] wander vp and down in caues and vnderminings.
2. The action of insidiously plotting, assailing, subverting, etc.; an instance of this.
1433Lydg. St. Fremund 559 By vndirmynyng, this was his menyng; Affter Fremund he to be crownyd kyng. 1530Palsgr. 285 Undermyndyng, subornation. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lii. 5 He had..betrayed the giltlesse Preestes by treason and undermyning. 1600Nashe Summer's Last Will F 3 b, Familiaritie and conference, That were the sinewes of societies, Are now for vnderminings onely vsde. 1667Decay Chr. Piety ii. ⁋5 The frauds and underminings, the busie scramblings for little parcels of earth. 1709[see underground adv. 2]. 1841Dickens Barn. Rudge xxiv, We can't bear the plotting and undermining that takes place. 1904Brit. Med. Jrnl. 17 Sept. 638 An undermining of strength that lessens resisting power.
▪ II. underˈmining, ppl. a.
[f. as prec.]
1. That excavates or erodes beneath a surface.
1617Moryson Itin. iii. 160 Ireland hath neither singing Nightingall,..nor vndermining Moule. 1664N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. vi. 219 Those great Hills..would have been worn away..and..their high Tops would have been levell'd by the undermining Streams. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. viii. (1856) 57 The glacier, thus exposed to a saline water base..and to an undermining wave action,..is of course speedily detached. 1882Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 121 It has now probably been carried away piecemeal, for it was then perilously near the undermining river.
b. In fig. contexts.
1661Cowley Cromwell Wks. 1906 II. 352 No Guards can oppose assaulting Ears, Or undermining Tears. a1665J. Goodwin Filled w. the Spirit xiv. (1670) 412 The Gospel..hath cast down..many a strong hold..; it is of an under⁓mining nature. 1711Addison Spect. No. 124 ⁋7 There are others who are Moles through Envy... I have already caught two or three of these dark undermining Vermin. 1858J. Martineau Stud. Chr. 271 Huge piles of curious learning,..which..may detain men from search after the living rock, or notice of the undermining flood.
2. Insidiously subversive or destructive.
1583B. Melbancke Philotimus R iv b, Vndermining easinge droppers..haue wroughte this estraungment betwene vs. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 44 Honours now are purchased by stealth Of vndermining bribes. 1679Roxb. Ball. (1883) IV. 552 The Malice, and the restless Hate, Of Under⁓mining Foes. 1709Stanhope Paraphr. IV. 35 Undermining Arts of Disputers and Deceivers. 1849R. T. Claridge Cold Water Cure 173 There are many sufferers from this under⁓mining malady. 1860Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. v. ii, Instead o' whispering in corners, in that plotting, underminding way.
Hence underˈminingly adv.
c1590Lady Bacon in J. Spedding Bacon's Lett. (1862) III. v. 113 He commonly opened underminingly all letters sent to you from counsel or friends. 1601Deacon & Walker Spirits & Divels To Rdr. 8 Which these men..vnderminingly haue publisht in print, without any..authenticall priuiledge. 1832F. Burney Mem. Dr. Burney III. 176 The accumulation of the whole had, slowly and underminingly, brought him into the state that has been described. |