| 释义 |
▪ I. headlong, adv. and a.|ˈhɛdlɒŋ|
Also 5–6 hedlong.
[Alteration of the earlier headling, by erroneous assimilation to -long: cf. sidelong.]
A. adv.
1. Head foremost, in falling or plunging; head downmost.
1482Monk of Evesham xli. (Arb.) 85 Oftyn times he fylle down hedlong. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iv. 32 To cast a man hedlong into the ryver. 1594Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xxiv. (ed. 7) 330 Capricornus..riseth right up, and goeth downe headlong. 1658J. Jones Ovid's Ibis 36 Achæus whom his subjects took And hang'd him headlong in the golden brook. 1725Pope Odyss. viii. 556 To plunge it headlong in the whelming wave. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid v. 176 Headlong into the waters the laggard helmsman he threw.
fig.1602T. Fitzherbert Apol. 28 a, He casts him selfe head-long to hel. 1652Sir C. Cotterell Cassandra iii. (1676) 34 He plunged himself headlong into his grief.
2. Head foremost, as in rushing forward; with ungoverned speed; with blind impetuosity.
1576Gascoigne Philomene (Arb.) 117 The harbrainde colte Which headlong runnes and for no bridle bydes. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 140 He bears his Rider headlong on the Foe. 1719Young Revenge i. i, Darting headlong to thy arms, I left The promis'd fight. 1884Chr. World 11 Sept. 678/4 A train ran off the line, and went headlong into a morass.
b. fig. With unrestrained course; without regard to where one is going; precipitately.
1530Tindale Answ. More i. xxix, They..runne headlong vnto al mischief. 1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 129 This cast the Duke head-long upon Counsels, dangerous, and full of desperation. 1721Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. 1871 III. 205 To see their country run headlong into all those luxurious follies. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 362 He among us who would be divine..should not rush headlong into pleasures.
B. adj.
1. Of heights, etc.: Such as one might fall headlong from; precipitous. Now rare.
c1550Cheke Matt. viii. 32 Bi an hedlong place in to y⊇ see. 1692E. Walker Epictetus' Mor. (1737) lx, You tumble down a headlong Precipice. 1816Byron Ch. Har. iii. xli, Like a tower upon a headlong rock. 1854Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) I. 890 Such a headlong hill.
2. Plunging downwards head foremost, as when one falls or dives:
a. of actions.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxiii. v, They fell with headlong fall. 1608–11Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §60 The descent..[is] easie and headlong. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 617 Headlong leaps of waters. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 612 Taking a headlong dive into the deep Atlantic.
b. poet. of a person, etc.
1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 870 The Friendly Rug preserv'd the ground, And headlong Knight from bruise or wound. 1855Longfellow Hiaw. viii. 124 Down..Plunged the headlong Hiawatha.
c. Hanging head downmost. rare.
1710Pope Windsor For. 210 Oft in her glass the musing shepherd spies The headlong mountains and the downward skies.
3. Rushing forward impetuously; wildly impetuous. Of actions or agents.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 18 Nor bounds nor banks his headlong ruine may sustayne. 1613J. Dennis Secr. Angl. i. in Arb. Garner I. 158 The rivers making way..With headlong course into the sea profound. 1715–20Pope Iliad xii. 120 The moving legions speed their headlong way. 1718Freethinker No. 88 ⁋4 At her Call, he plunged into the headlong Stream. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 122 They saw a brigade of their countrymen..drive before it in headlong rout the finest infantry of Spain. Ibid. 540 Wild mountain passes..torn by headlong torrents.
4. fig. Characterized by unrestrainable or ungoverned haste; precipitate, madly impetuous; rash, reckless. Of persons, their actions, etc.
1566T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iv. 58 Of most high wickednes or of hedlonge arrogancie. 1586J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 89/2 The lord Thomas being youthfull, rash, and headlong. 1640Yorke Union Hon. 29 The headlong crew of London favour the rebelles. 1791Cowper Odyss. ii. 322 Injurious Mentor! headlong orator! 1810Scott Lady of L. i. xxi. The sparkling glance..Of hasty love, or headlong ire. 1884Manch. Exam. 7 Oct. 5/1 Rash and headlong leaders.
Hence † ˈheadlongwise adv., in a headlong way, precipitately. Obs.
1600Holland Livy 29 Should still run on end, and head⁓longwise fall unto such base varlets.
▪ II. † ˈheadlong, v. Obs.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To cast headlong; to precipitate.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxii. ii, To headlong him their thoughtes devise. 1622H. Sydenham Serm. Sol. Occ. ii. (1637) 170 That place from which he was headlonged. a1655T. Adams Wks. (1861–2) III. 93 (D.) Our own sinful ignorance that headlongs us to confusion.
2. intr. To proceed in a headlong fashion.
1654Trapp Comm. Esther vi. 14 [They] hurried and head⁓longed in a turbulent manner. |