| 释义 |
▪ I. † unˈgain, n. Obs.—1
[un-1 12 + gain n.1 Cf. ON. úgagn (MSw. and Sw. ogagn, MDa. ugavn), Norw. dial. ugjegna.]
Detriment, harm.
13..St. Cristofer 251 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 457 Þere rynnes bysyde þis heghe mountayne A water, þat turnes to mekill vngayne.
▪ II. unˈgain, a. Now chiefly dial.
[un-1 7 + gain a. Cf. ON. úgegn unreasonable, obstinate, MSw. ogēn unsuitable, unpleasant.]
1. Of ways: Not plain or direct.
a1400Bone Florence 1421 The lady seyde, We ryde ylle, Thes gates they are ungayne. 1426Audelay Poems (Percy Soc.) 14 Therof the pepul wold be fayne, Fore to cum home aȝayne, That hath goon gatis ungayne, for defaute of lyȝt. 1613Beaum. & Fl. Cupid's Rev. iv. i, Though she take th' ungain'st weas she can, I'll ne'er ha't fro' you. 1824[Carr] Craven Gloss. 119 Vngain, round about, indirect. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., An indirect roundabout road is an ungain one.
†2. Unsparing, severe; rough. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 1332 Ercules..Gird gomes vnto grounde with vngayn strokes. c1425Wyntoun Cron. i. xi. 952 Thare reueris ragis for na rayne, Na muffis for na wedderis vngayne.
3. Unpleasant, disagreeable.
a1425Cursor M. 22751 (Trin.), Alas what shal þe synful say? vngeyn [earlier MSS. ungainand] þenne shal be his gamen. 1795H. Walpole Let. to Miss Berry 28 Aug., The assemblage was not so ungain as I expected, for..there were several I knew. 1851Palgrave Normandy & Eng. I. 312 The ungain character of Raoul Torta..has been clearly chronicled.
4. Awkward, inconvenient, troublesome, difficult. † at ungain, inconveniently.
c1460Towneley Myst. ii. 379 Bot this cors I wold were hid, For som man myght com at vngayn. 1553Bale Gardiner's De Vera Obed. C iij b, Left hande mater is vngayne, and wicked what soo euer proceedeth of the fleshe. 1635Quarles Embl. i. xiii, How backward! how preposterous is the motion Of our ungain devotion! 1763Wesley Compend. Nat. Philos. (1784) I. ii. i. § 2. 206 The joints by which they bend are nearly in the middle,..and the large bulk which they are to support, makes their flexure ungain. 1764Museum Rust. II. 84 As they are ungain to empty on the cloth,..they are not much used. 1782F. Burney Cecilia ix. vi, But, Sir, that was but an ungain business..t'other morning. 1823–in dialect glossaries. 1837Marryat Dog Fiend iii, The ungain temper of his brute companion. 1893P. H. Emerson Lagoon xxxii. 168 Are you all alone in that wherry?..isn't she ongain for the bridges?
5. Unskilled, incompetent; good-for-nothing.
1658W. Burton Itin. Anton. 229 Peutingers Military Tables, which the noble Mark Velser set forth, but corruptly (for how could it be otherwise after so long time, and so ungain Transcribers?). 1834Beckford Italy II. 93 One of the most ungain, conceited professors of the art of murdering I ever met with. 1851Borrow Lavengro III. 374 For fear that he should turn out what is generally termed ungain, my father determined to send him to sea.
6. = ungainly a. 1.
1709Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) III. 269 She look'd wholesome, ungain, and country. Ibid. IV. 72 What we see of her now is nothing but an old slatternly, ungain Thing. 1779G. Keate Sk. fr. Nat. (ed. 2) II. 66, I was..a pupil of the famous Marcel of Paris, though no one who now views my curved and ungain figure, would suppose it. 1835Beckford Recoll. 108 One of the most ungain hobble⁓dehoys I ever met with. 1844P. Parley's Ann. V. 306 He is the most ungain and foolish loitering bird in our domain.
Comb.1834J. J. Halls Life H. Salt I. i. 15 A tall, thin, and somewhat ungain-looking young man.
b. Of movement, bearing, etc.
1757[E. Perronet] Mitre i. xxxi, What ungain postures of defence, As void of manliness as sense! 1776F. Burney Let. 2 Dec. in Early Diary, She..has a carriage the most ungain that ever was seen. 1820L. Hunt Indicator No. 64 (1822) II. 95 Walking in the most ungain manner upon its hind legs. 1824Examiner 1 Feb. 71/1 The position on her knees is ungain. |