| 释义 |
unˈveil, v.
[un-2 4 and 4 b.]
1. trans. To free (the eyes, etc.) from a veil so as to give clearer sight. Also in fig. context.
1599Warn. Faire Wom. ii. 872 Now she unvailes their sight, and lets them see The horror of their foule immanity. 1650T. Hubbert Pill Formality 109 Hereby the understanding is unvailed. 1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 1085 Truth no more unvail'd your Eyes, Than Maggots are convinc'd to Flies.
2. To disclose, display, allow to appear, by removing a veil or covering.
1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 43 Daphnis..could not be merry, because he had seen..her beauty which before was not unvailed. 1692Dryden Don Sebastian i. i, Unveil the Woman; I wou'd view the Face That warm'd our Mufti's Zeal. 1754Gray Progr. Poesy 86 What time..To him the mighty Mother did unveil Her awful face. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xxvii, I claim the privilege..awarded me, and bid you unveil your countenance. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam i. xx, She unveiled her bosom. 1820― Witch Atlas Ded. vi, If you unveil my Witch, no priest nor primate Can shrive you of that sin.
fig.1667Milton P.L. iv. 608 Till the Moon Rising in clouded Majestie, at length Apparent Queen unvaild her peerless light. 1725Pope Odyssey vi. 36 When the gay morn unveils her smiling ray. 1747Hervey Contempl. Night (1748) II. 81 She unveils her peerless Light, and becomes ‘the Beauty of Heaven’.
b. absol. and refl. Also fig.
1770Glover Leonidas (ed. 5) x. 170 She unveils, Then with a voice, a countenance compos'd, Go, Medon [etc.]. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxxvii, The Grand Master commanded Rebecca to unveil herself. 1862J. H. Newman Two Worlds i, Unveil, O Lord, and on us shine In glory and in grace.
c. spec. To remove the covering from (a statue, etc.) so as to display it for the first time in public.
1865Punch 23 Sept. 17 Paulina (Britannia) unveils the Statue. 1884American VII. 218 The statue..was unveiled recently at Utrecht.
3. fig. To uncover, disclose, display, reveal.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 200 The prouidence..Keepes place with thought; and almost like the gods, Doe thoughts vnuaile in their dumbe cradles. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. Ded. §3 The lustre of this blessed Doctrine I have here endeavoured to uncloud and unveile. 1700Dryden tr. Ovid, Pythagorean Philos. 212 For I will..Dark Oracles unveil, and open all the Skies. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. p. ix, Hitherto its treasures have been unveiled only to my eyes. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 421 Man veils foul deeds under fair words; God, in His word, unveils the foulness. 1885Mrs. Alexander At Bay viii, What secrets would that meeting unveil?
b. To display to the sight; to make visible.
1656Cowley Davideis iv. 804 When the new Ebb of Night Did the moist world unvail to humane sight. 1740Dyer Ruins Rome 36 While the vine-mantled brows The pendent goats unveil. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, Un⁓veiling the whole face of Nature. 1821Shelley Hellas 624 The splendour of the moon, When as the wandering clouds unveiled or hid Her boundless light. 1872Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 115 The summit is gained, and an exquisite prospect is unveiled.
4. intr. To become free from a veil or covering.
1655H. Vaughan Silex Scint. i. 73 When first thy Eies unveil, give thy Soul leave To do the like. 1849Longfellow Lighthouse vii, Eager faces, as the light unveils, Gaze at the tower.
Hence unˈveiler; unˈveiling vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1674Boyle Excell. Theol. i. i. 44 Much better encomiasts of the Divine mysteries..than *unvailers.
1611Florio, Disuelamento, an *vnualing. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 421 Lest they should esteem the very unveiling of mystery indiscreet. 1854Gosse (title), The Aquarium; an Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea. 1885Harper's Mag. March 644/2 The unveiling of Fielding's bust at Taunton.
1802J. Baillie 1st Pt. Ethwald i. ii, Th' *unveiling moon Which calls the advent'rer forth. |