| 释义 |
unˈfixed, ppl. a.
[un-1 8.]
1. Not fixed in a definite place or position; unfastened, loose, free.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iv. Columnes 131 The Criticall and double-sexed Seven, The Number of th' unfixed Fires of Heav'n. 1660Jer. Taylor Ductor i. iii. rule i. §5 It is like a fire-stick, which..being gently mov'd gives a volatile and unfixed light. 1721Ramsay Morning Interview 93 Her unfix'd eyes with various turnings range. 1787Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 99 The Count of Vergennes has..had a very severe attack of what is deemed an unfixed gout. 1805Loudon Improv. Hot-Houses 65 A stripe of cloth..is left unfixed at top. 1837Dickens Pickw. iii, There was a low cinder fire in a rusty unfixed grate. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 260 All Guards are to parade, with shouldered Arms, and unfixed Bayonets.
†b. Of persons: Not restricted by office to one or a special place. Obs.
1661Papers on Alter. Prayer-bk. 10 Generall unfixed Bishops, like the Evangelists or Apostles,..and the fixed Bishops of Parochial Churches. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. 1 Tim. iii. 7 The Ministerial Work was..Indefinite, by Itinerant, or unfixed Men.
2. fig.
a. Unsettled, uncertain, undetermined; fluctuating, variable.
1654Z. Coke Logick Pref., To guid the intricate and perplexed thoughts of the unfixed people through the great Labyrinth of Time. 1697J. Potter Antiq. Greece i. ix. (1715) 48 It appears to have been unfix'd and arbitrary. 1763Johnson 21 July in Boswell, He is totally unfixed in his principles, and wants to puzzle other people. 1826E. Irving Babylon I. iii. 197 Which..doth exactly determine the time of this trumpet which otherwise would have been unfixed. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. iii. xix. (ed. 2) 440 The orthography is not only unfixed, but..is varied.
absol.1844Mrs. Browning Vis. Poets clix, The tones..throbbed betwixt The incomplete and the unfixed.
b. Unstable; lacking permanency.
1669Boyle Notes Atmospheres in Contn. New Exp. i. 196 The weights themselves..are commonly made of Brass (a Metal very unfixt).
†3. Not properly fitted. Obs.—1
1643Chas. I in Tregaskis' Catal. (1907) 6 So many recovered men of that Regiment as are able to march, divers of whom have unfixed muskets.
Hence unˈfixedness.
1668J. Corbet Sec. Disc. Relig. Eng. §xix. 44 Christianity it self would be much endangered in a state of Ataxy and unfixedness. 1707Norris Treat. Humility ii. 53 The unfixedness and dissipation of his spirit. 1754Edwards Freed. Will iii. v. 174 There is a vast Indistinctness and Unfixedness in..very many of the Terms. 1840Mill Ess. (1859) 65 That entire unfixedness in the social position of individuals. |