| 释义 |
unˈguarded, ppl. a.
[un-1 8.]
1. Not furnished with, or protected by, a guard; left undefended or open to attack, spoliation, etc.
a1593Marlowe Ovid's Elegies iii. iv. 26 Few loue what others haue vnguarded left. 1626Mead in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 250, I hear some of opinion that the Duke likes not so unguarded a place. 1697Dryden æneis xii. 817 He views the unguarded city from afar, In careless quiet, and secure of war. 1741–2Gray Agrippina 5 Alone, unguarded and without a lictor. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. III. 193 His troops..occupied the unguarded passes of the Apennine. 1824L. M. Hawkins Annaline III. 40 [He] made off and left the door unguarded. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 208 We used to ride..through the country unarmed and unguarded. 1885Manch. Exam. 13 Jan. 5/3 A small body..entered the town by an unguarded gate.
b. In fig. contexts.
1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 39 This is Momba's and De Groot's doings, to leave this passage open and ungarded. a1704T. Brown Sat. agst. Woman Wks. 1730 I. 56 Thus all the unguarded passes of his mind she'll try.
c. transf. In chess or card-playing: Not protected by other pieces or cards.
1808Hoyle's Game of Chess 46 note, Your knight will then defend your king's pawn, otherwise unguarded. 1862‘Cavendish’ Whist (1864) 95 Queen singly guarded may make a trick, but the ten of clubs unguarded cannot.
2. Not on one's guard; not taking heed or exercising caution. Chiefly fig.
1640Fletcher, etc. Coronat. iv. i. ad fin., I..have not A thought so much unguarded, as to be won From my truth, and innocence. 1697Dryden æneis xii. 1058 Rais'd on the Stretch, young Turnus aims a blow, Full on the Helm of his unguarded Foe. a1763W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 44 Sir Robert [Walpole] was frequently very unguarded in his expressions. 1796F. Burney Camilla IV. 185 The unsuspicious frankness of an unguarded, because innocent nature. 1840Lady Lyttelton Corr. (1912) 298 Such a new thing for her to dare to be unguarded in conversation with anybody. 1881Jowett Thucyd. I. 186 The general who..never loses an opportunity of striking at an unguarded foe.
b. Of times: Characterized by the absence of guard or caution.
1680Otway Orphan i, I'll yet possess her love, Wait on and watch her loose unguarded hours. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. xii. I. 336 An active enemy..must, in the end, discover some feeble spot or some unguarded moment. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 596 It is highly probable that his mother..took a fatal advantage of some unguarded hour, when he was irritated by finding his advice slighted.
c. Of expressions, actions, etc.: Incautious, imprudent; careless.
1714S. Ockley in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 350 If a person should..upon the account of an unguarded expression..suffer a capital sentence. 1751Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift ix. (1752) 114 A picture..drawn in too loose a garment, and too unguarded a posture. 1827Lytton Falkland 37, I have watched feeling in its unguarded sallies. 1835― Rienzi x. vii, Their gestures were vehement and unguarded. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 163 Every unguarded word uttered by him was noted down.
3. Not protected, screened, or fenced off, by some arrangement or device.
1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 240, d, f, l, when they stand with their beaks unguarded,..run as great a hazard [of being broken]. 1784Cowper Task iv. 469 Ev'ry twentieth pace Conducts th' unguarded nose to such a whiff Of stale debauch. 1844Noad Electricity (ed. 2) 80 Decomposing water by current alone, and with unguarded poles. 1872Howells Wedding Journ. (1892) 177 The road.., next the precipice, is unguarded by any sort of parapet. 1900Westm. Gaz. 2 May 6/3 Dust or gas..ignited by an unguarded lamp.
Hence unˈguardedness.
1818T. Brown Brighton III. i. 38 So also does he argue with ability, when unguardedness does not break in upon him. 1825–9Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor IV. xxvii. 282 That sort of unguardedness which consists in supposing all around one to be well-intentioned. 1887Women's Union Jrnl. 15 Dec. 94 A moment of optical unguardedness, when..eve-glasses lay on a table before him. |