| 释义 |
▪ I. unˈdoer1
[f. undo v. + -er1.]
†1. An expounder, interpreter. Obs.
1382Wyclif Jas. Prol., So also of interpretouris, or vndoeris, in to Latyn speche thei were turned treuly. c1440Promp. Parv. 365 Ondoar, or expownare, expositor, interpres.
2. One who opens or unfastens. rare.
c1440Promp. Parv. 365/1 Ondoare, or opynnare of thyngys schet or closyd.., apertor.
3. A destroyer, wrecker, ruiner.
c1440Promp. Parv. 365/1 Ondoare, or dystroyare, destructor. 1456Sir G. Hay Gov. Princes Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 101 Thus ar the tymes of somer and wynter bathe doare and undoare to all erdly thing that growis under the hevyn. 1567Drant Horace, Ep. i. xv. E vj, Th' vndoer, tempest, and the hell of al the shambles then. 1598R. Bernard tr. Terence, Adelphos v. iii, Loe heere at hand the common corruption and vndoer of our children. 1633Heywood Eng. Trav. iv, This my customary comming hither, Hath bin to base and sorded purposes: To..be mine owne vndoer. 1796C. Anstey Pleaders' Guide (1803) 171 Sure Law was made to be the undoer Of just such Nincompoops as you are! 1844Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 423, I now confess myself thy death And thine undoer. 1885R. L. & F. Stevenson Dynamiter 161 Greed..has been your undoer.
b. spec. One who ruins a woman; a seducer.
1703Rowe Fair Penit. iv. i, Think, whom I shou'd devote to Death and Hell, Whom Curse, as my Undoer, but Lothario. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 49, I awakened..in the arms of my cruel and accursed undoer. 1847Lytton Lucretia ii. xiv, The child of..your betrayer, your undoer, stands between the daylight and your son.
▪ II. unˈdoer2 rare—1.
[un-1 12.]
One who does not act or perform.
1628Feltham Resolves ii. 232 Hope without Action is a barren vndooer. |