| 释义 |
▪ I. alert, adv., a., and n.|əˈlɜt|
[a. Fr. alerte, formerly allerte, à l'airte, 16th c. ad. It. milit. phr. all' erta on the watch, on the look-out = alla to the, at the, erta a look-out, ‘a high watch tower’ (Florio), literally something erected or raised aloft, fem. of erto, pa. pple. of ergere:—L. ērigĕre to erect. From being used as an advb. phr., stare all' erta, se tenir à l'erte ‘to stand on the watch,’ it became a predicative and complemental, and at length an attributive adj. and a n. When alert was established as a real adj. in Eng., the advb. phr. became ‘on the alert,’ etymologically pleonastic = on the à l'erte. Cf. the similar histories of alarm, alamort, alamode, in which advb. phrases have become more or less adj. or n.]
A. adv. On the watch, on the look-out: hence adj. (in the compl. or pred.) Watchful, vigilant, wide-awake.
a. as a military term.
1598Barret Theor. Warres, Gloss. 249 Alerta, an Italian word, vsed vnto the souldiers, when there is any suspition of the enemy, and signifieth to be watchfull, carefull, and ready. 1618R. Williams Act. Low Countr. 27 (T.) The prince finding his rutters alert (as the Italians say). 1707Freind Peterboro's Cond. Spain 213 Dear Jones, prove a true Dragoon, be diligent and alert. 1780Ann. Reg. 64/1 Their situations were often so alert that no persons slept out of their clothes. 1879Froude Cæsar xxiv. 417 The Pompeys were alert on the water to seize stray transports or provision ships.
b. generally.
1735G. Lyttelton Pers. Lett. (1776) I. 186 The people were kept Alert and upon their guard. 1799S. Turner Anglo-Sax. (1828) I. vii. 169 Caledonian wanderers would be alert to profit by the opportunity. 1866Macgregor 1000 M. in Rob Roy 1 An interest ever varied..keeps fully alert the energies of the mind. 1880Cyples Hum. Exp. vi. 152 Every sense is stirring; he is wholly alert.
B. adj.
a. Quick in attention and motion, lively, brisk, active, nimble. Comb., as alert-looking adj.
1712Addison Spect. No. 403 ⁋5, I saw an alerte young Fellow that cocked his Hat upon a Friend of his. 1818Scott Rob Roy 115 He is an alert, joyous, and lively old soul. 1859Thoreau Lett. (1865) 180 You can..carry any fortress with an army of alert thoughts. 1926F. W. Crofts Insp. French & Cheyne Myst. xix. 270 A tall, alert-looking young man entered the room.
b. Compared -er, -est, or more, most.
1754Richardson Grandison (1766) V. 73 Miss Byron..is one of the alertest in [these amusements]. 1767Burke Corr. (1844) I. 134, I never knew him talk in a more alert, firm, and decided tone. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §298 One of the most alert of the masons. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. (1858) 272 None of the alertest.
C. n. [mod.Fr. alerte, subst. use of the original phrase, used as a military call. Cf. alarm.]
1. a. The call to ‘look out’ for an attack; an alarm; hence, that which amounts to such a call, a ‘waking up,’ a sudden attack or surprise.
1803Wellington in Gurwood Desp. II. 286, I am glad to find that you have given the Enemy an Alert. 1826Scott Woodst. vii. (1846) 79 No man ever saw me drink when an alert was expected. 1870Ev. Standard 17 Sept., In case of an alert, every battalion, every company, and every man know their stations.
b. spec. A signal given by means of a siren or hooter to indicate that an air attack is imminent; an air-raid alarm or warning; also, the state of preparedness so produced or the period during which this alarm is in effect. (Used esp. in the war of 1939–45.)
1940W. S. Churchill in Hansard Commons 5 Sept. ser. v. CCCLXV. 46 It was felt that the red warning should be taken merely as an alert. Ibid., We immediately resumed our work under the conditions of alert. 1940Flight 26 Sept. 243/2 London had three ‘Alert’ warnings in the morning of Monday, September 16, each lasting about half an hour. 1941[see air- III. 2]. 1949E. Bowen Heat of Day viii. 151 There were no alerts just at present, not so much as a yellow.
2. on the alert: on the look-out, on the watch. (Takes the place of the earlier alert adv. = all' erta.)
1796Campaigns 1793–4 II. vi. 31 The troops were..kept constantly on the Alerte. 1827Hare Guess. Truth Ser. i. (1873) 181 Open evil at all events does this good: it keeps good on the alert. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. xxxviii. 132 But those who were stationed at the look-out were equally on the alert. 188219th Cent. No. 69, 736 The men are for ever on the alert to find out something wrong.
▪ II. alert, v. Formerly rare.|əˈlɜːt|
[f. alert a. Cf. content.]
To make alert, to rouse to vigilance. Also aˈlerted ppl. a.; aˈlerting vbl. n. and ppl. a. (Cf. alert n. 1 b.)
a1868W. Whitman Chants Dem. Poems 155 When the fire-flashing guns have fully alerted me. 1941Baltimore Sun 19 Dec. 14/7 Directors of civilian defense air-raid control centers will alone be responsible for..alerting their..districts. 1943Ibid. 12 Jan. 5/3 An alerted zone. 1948Cape Times Week-end Mag. 17 Jan. 2/3 All bank tellers and others handling large sums have now been alerted. 1950Evening News 11 Feb. 1/1 The Shrewsbury Flood Warden Service was alerted to-day. 1954X. Fielding Hide & Seek ix. 114 We spent the whole night with our senses more alerted than the situation..demanded. 1955Financ. Times 10 Sept. 4/2 The advantages of alerting the public to economic realities. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 9 May 256/4 Something of such a writer's concentrated quality gives even his most expansive verse an alerting brevity. |