| 释义 |
unˈfirm, a.
[un-1 7 and 5 b; cf. infirm a. and the earlier form unferme.]
1. Of a loose or soft consistency; incompact.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 6 The Churchyard..Being loose, vnfirme with digging vp of Graues. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis ii. ii. 71 Further onward the water very deepe, and the ground unfirm. 1683Tryon Way to Health 95 What is the reason that most Veal is so unfirm and like a Jelly? 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 117 b, When the banks of a River are unfirm, its channel will be stopt up with shelves. 1866J. B. Rose tr. Ovid's Met. 1 Unfirm the earth, unbuoyant was the wave.
†2. Unsteady, flighty. Obs.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 34 Our fancies are more giddie and vnfirme..Then womens are.
†3. Weak; wanting in strength or power; feeble, infirm, invalid. Obs.
1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme iii. ix. 345 A subiect of a more feeble and vnfirme nature than the graft it selfe. 1660Jer. Taylor Ductor iii. v. rule viii. §8 For without it, it [sc. marriage] is not only inauspicious and unlucky, but illegal, unfirm and insufficient.
4. Not firmly placed or planted; insecure; unstable, unsteady; liable to slip or fall.
1697Dryden æneis x. 397 Now take the time, while staggering yet they stand With feet unfirm. 1761Earl Pembroke Milit. Equitation (1778) 58 Depend upon it those people are not only ignorant and unfeeling, but also very unfirm in their seat. 1771E. Griffith Hist. Lady Barton III. 20 His supplicating eye..may change my unfirm purpose. 1809Susan I. 176 Our best resolutions are, however, unfirm. |