释义 |
▪ I. verbal, a. and n.|ˈvɜːbəl| Also 6–7 verbale, -all(e. [a. OF. (also mod.F.) verbal (= Sp. and Pg. verbal, It. verbale), or ad. L. verbālis consisting of words, pertaining to verbs, f. verbum word, verb.] A. adj. 1. Of persons: a. Dealing in or with words, esp. with mere words in contrast to things or realities.
1484Caxton Curiall 4 We be verbal or ful of wordes and desyre more the wordes than the thynges. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 38 Henoch himselfe is made, not a verball but a reall Preacher. 1648Milton Tenure Kings (1650) 58 While they are onely verbal against the punishing of Tyrants, all the Scripture they bring is direct to inferr it altogether lawful. 1677in Hubbard Indian Wars (1865) II. 275, I am perswaded if Mars and Minerva go Hand in Hand, they will effect more Good in an Hour than those verbal Mercurians in their Lives. 1770Beattie Ess. on Truth Introd. (1776) 4 A verbal disputant! what claim can he have to the title of Philosopher? b. Using many words; talkative, verbose; ready to use words; articulate. Now rare.
1611Shakes. Cymb. ii. iii. 111, I am much sorry (Sir) You put me to forget a Ladies manners By being so verball. 1620Middleton Chaste Maid i. i, He's growne too verball, this Learning is a great Witch. 1647Lilly Chr. Astrol. i. xiii. 78 A meer verball fellow, frothy,..constant in nothing but idle words and bragging. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 12 June 15/2 It's made a difference... She's more confident and verbal. c. Interested in, attending to, the mere words of a literary composition.
1709Pope Ess. Crit. 264 Neglect the rules each verbal critic lays, For not to know some trifles, is a praise. 1782V. Knox Ess. xxxiii. (1819) I. 180 It is from the labours of verbal critics, that our language will receive the only excellencies it wanted. 1855Paley æschylus Pref. (1861) p. xxviii, Hermann, the leader of the verbal-critics. 2. a. Consisting or composed of words; also, of or pertaining to, manifested in, words. verbal inspiration: see inspiration 3 a.
1530Palsgr. 327/2 Verball, full of wordes, verbal, verballe. 1589Cooper Admon. 60 As he and other of his crewe babbling in their verbale sermons vse to doe. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 831 All the neighbour caves, as seeming troubled, Make verbal repetition of her moans. 1620W. Folkingham Brachigraphy i, Short-writing is either of the bare Letter, or of Words composed of Letters. That I call Literall or Elementall, this Dictionall or Verball. 1662Hibbert Body Divinity i. 253 There is a threefold lie... 1. Verbal, when a man tells a false tale. 1677Govt. Venice 163 The Council of Ten having stretched their Law against Treason, to Verbal Expressions. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. i. 9 Now..what has a meaning, may be either true or false; which is as much as can be said of any verbal sentence. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 140 ⁋11 Samson's complaint of the inconveniences of imprisonment is not wholly without verbal quaintness. 1791Gentl. Mag. 26/2 Several pages of his sermons consisting of a series of verbal quibbles and jingles. 1820Hazlitt Table-T. Ser. ii. iii. (1869) 72 We cannot by a little verbal sophistry confound the qualities of different minds. 1868Peard Water-farm. vi. 67 Instead of a verbal description, we will give a rough sketch of the nursery. 1874Green Short Hist. vii. §7. 424 The young playwright quizzes the verbal wit and high-flown extravagance of thought and phrase which Euphues had made fashionable. b. Of the nature of, or denoting, a word.
1605Tryall Chev. iii. iii, Bourbon! who names him? that same verball sound Is like a thunderclap to Philips eares. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xi. §8 These verbal signs they [sc. children] sometimes borrow from others, and sometimes make themselves. 1701Grew Cosmol. Sacra ii. vi. 68 Observing by degrees, that all Words consist of a certain Number of Simple Sounds; they..brought them [sc. marks], from many Thousands of Verbal Marks, to Two or Four and twenty Literal ones. †c. verbal process (also process verbal), a detailed account or report. [After F. procès-verbal.]
1682Burnet Rights Princes viii. 263 In the Process Verbal of the Assembly General of the Clergy of France. 1688Lond. Gaz. No. 2330/2 But the Nuncio and Clergy..have drawn up a Verbal Process of all that passed, which they have transmitted to Rome. 1749Smollett Gil Blas vii. xv, I took an inventory of the particulars, of which I formed in my pocket-book a small verbal process. 1756–9A. Butler Lives of Saints, St. Jane Frances, He left an authentic verbal process of this vision, but as of a third person. 1762Ann. Reg. i. 129 The next day, what is called the verbal process, was taken at the town-house... This verbal process is somewhat like our coroner's inquest. d. verbal note, in diplomacy, an unsigned note or memorandum sent as a mere reminder of some matter not of immediate importance.
1860Wharton Law-Lex. (ed. 2). e. verbal diarrhœa (colloq.), a tendency to talk too much; extreme verbosity. Cf. diarrhœa 2.
1823London Mag. Sept. 281/1 All our modern tragedists indulge in..the talking-principle... A verbal diarrhoea is the epidemic disease which afflicts the whole tribe. 1938N. Marsh Death in White Tie xiii. 146 Her chief complaint is..acute verbal diarrhoea. 1981N. J. Crisp Festival vi. 142 This fathead suffers from verbal diarrhoea. f. verbal conditioning (Psychol.), the reinforcing of certain verbal responses with the object of establishing the use of particular words or ways of speaking.
1954Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. XLVIII. 355 (title) Influence of awareness of reinforcement on verbal conditioning. 1967M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour vii. 131 People may embark on all kinds of self-improvement,..including the modification of styles of interaction as in operant verbal conditioning. 1971Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. Apr. 267 Verb impression value..was an important variable influencing response tendencies in verbal⁓conditioning and sentence-making tasks. 1979J. P. Houston et al. Invitation to Psychol. v. 177 Verbal conditioning is another example of reward training in which a particular response is rewarded if it occurs. 3. a. Concerned with, affecting or involving, words only, without touching things or realities.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. 36 Socrates..separated Philosophy and Rhetoricke, whereupon Rhetorick became an emptie and verball Art. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋16 Wee might iustly feare hard censure, if generally wee should make verball and vnnecessary changings. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. xi. §7 Whether the greatest part of the Disputes in the World, are not meerly Verbal, and about the Signification of Words. a1761Law Comf. Weary Pilgr. (1809) 122 Men fallen from the..truth of the Christian life under the power of natural reason, and verbal learning. 1785T. Reid Powers Hum. Mind iv. 369 If all the general words of a language had a precise meaning,..all verbal disputes would be at an end. 1807Knox & Jebb's Corr. I. 372 If our liturgy..had been cast..in a vulgar mould; subsequent alterations, not only verbal but radical, would have been indispensable. c1820Whately Logic in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 224/1 A definition of the term..; viz. a verbal, not necessarily a real definition. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 121 The opposition between these two modes of speaking is rather verbal than real. b. Finding expression in words only, without being manifested in action.
1622Rowlands Good Newes & B. 32 Telling him that her selfe, and her estate Is not to be obtain'd with verball prate Of loue, and fancie. 1639Massinger Unnat. Combat iv. i, Nor shall you find A verbal friendship in me, but an active. 1690C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N.T. I. 68 They put not God off with empty complements, and verbal acknowledgments. a1718Prior Knowledge 706 My Prophets, and my Sophists finish'd here Their Civil Efforts of the Verbal War. 1741Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 256 These merely verbal professions..were thought the proper language for the public ear. 1838Thirlwall Greece xli. V. 173 Some solid and extraordinary benefit, something..beyond a mere verbal recognition of its independence. c. Consisting merely in words or speech.
1618Bolton Florus (1636) 301 How true is that speech..That vertue was only a verbal thing, and not a real. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. vii. v, Of these great monarchies..Onely a fading verball memorie, And empty name in writ is left behinde. 1653Milton Hirelings Wks. 1851 V. 349 But our Ministers..for the verbal labor of a seventh days Preachment..exact as due the tenth..of our..Labors. 4. a. Expressed or conveyed by speech instead of writing; stated or delivered by word of mouth; oral.
1591Horsey Trav. (Hakluyt Soc.) 241 His Majestys verball answer to those two points conteyned within her Majestys letters. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 193 The Chamber of the Pallace where verball appeales are decided, is called, the Golden Chamber. 1646Hamilton Papers (Camden) 131 The gentleman..carried nothing from hence in writing; but I belieue he had a verbal commission. 1667Pepys Diary 14 June, He did it by verbal order from Sir W. Coventry. 1727Swift Poisoning of E. Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 150 Mr. Curll..immediately proceeded to make a verbal will. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., A Verbal Contract, is that made merely by Word of Mouth; in opposition to that made in Writing. 1776Trial Nundocomar 61/2 Did you send a verbal or a written message? 1807J. Landseer Lect. Engraving Pref. 8 The verbal communications of Sir Henry Englefield, and Mr. Douce; the printed researches of Raspe, Hayley,..and various other authors. 1834Marryat P. Simple xiv, Sending a polite verbal refusal to the commissioner, upon the plea of there being no paper or pens on board. 1877Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. iii. 37 The archbishop believed that a verbal agreement was all which would be demanded of him. b. Of persons: Using uttered words.
1822Scott Nigel i, The verbal proclaimers of the excellence of their commodities, had this advantage over those who..use the public papers for the same purpose. 5. a. Corresponding word for word; = verbatim a.
1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. 238, I take the very same help of translations, either Verball or Grammaticall, to be the most speedy furtherances. 1656Cowley Pindar. Odes Pref., When he that understands not the Original [of Pindar] reads the verbal Traduction of him into Latin Prose. 1712Addison Spect. No. 464 ⁋1 Of this kind is a beautiful saying in Theognis;.. to give it in the Verbal Translation, Among Men [etc.]. 1786Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 46 You will perceive that it is almost a verbal Copy. 1909R. Law Tests of Life ii. 29 We have what may be supposed to be almost verbal quotations of current forms of Gnostic profession. b. In respect of each single word.
1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. 4 In close and verbal conformity with the account..preserved by St. Luke. 1882Farrar Early Chr. I. 443 note, The sacred writers never aim at verbal accuracy in their quotations. 6. Of, pertaining to, or derived from a verb.
1530Palsgr. 37 They come of latyn nownes verballes endyng in tio. Ibid. 154 All nownes verballes endyng in eur be of the masculyne gendre. 1636B. Jonson Eng. Gram. xvi. Wks. (Rtldg.) 780/1 A person is the special difference of a verbal number, whereof the present, and the time past, have in every number three. 1648Hexham ii. Gramm. (1658) V u 4 b/2 All Substantives derived from Verbals are called Verball words. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Verbals or Verbal Nouns, those Nouns that are derived from Verbs; as Considerable,..from the Verb, To consider. 1755Johnson, Abandoning. (A verbal noun from abandon.) c1818Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 54/2 Verbal adjectives (commonly so called), which express the conception in the form of an attribute, as the Latin verbals in bilis, &c. 1843Proc. Philol. Soc. I. 31 The Grammar proceeds to describe other verbal derivatives. 1875Whitney Life Lang. iii. 38 The plural verbal inflection. 7. Forming compound adjs. with the sense ‘verbal and —’, as verbal-acoustic, verbal-metrical, verbal-visual, etc.
1901E. B. Titchener Exper. Psychol. I. xii. 393 The verbal-motor type stands, in the author's experience, next in order of frequency to the visual. 1911S. S. Colvin Learning Processes vii. 107 If I recall the name as written or printed on a page, I have a verbal-visual image; if I recall the name as spoken by some one, I have a verbal-acoustic image; if I recall the name in terms of the movements of my throat in speaking, I have a verbal-motor image. 1948L. Spitzer Linguistics & Lit. Hist. 201 The verbal-metrical scheme of the strophe. 1972R. E. Ornstein Psychol. of Consciousness ii. 39 The scientist, the writer, the mathematician are examples of the culturally ‘dominant’ verbal-rational mode. Ibid. x. 225 Modern Science is primarily verbal-logical. B. n. 1. Gram. A noun, or other part of speech, derived from a verb.
1530Palsgr. 154 Broderésse, a woman brodurar,..tenceresse, a woman chyder; and so of all other verballes. 1570Levins Manip. 89 Some verbals in bilis. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict. B 4 b, Verbals in or, are of the masculine gender. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 19 [Words] that we derive from latin verbales in tio, sould also be wrytten with t. 1665R. Johnson Scholars Guide 6 The Latine tongue loves Verbals, Participials, Gerundives, and Participles of the future in rus. 1726S. Lowe Lat. Gram. 12 Verbals are wanting, for the most part in Impersonals. a1800Lett. on Eng. & Fr. Nation I. 293 (Jod.), The rules of etymology and formation of Greek verbals evince that it must be so. 1836J. R. Major Guide Grk. Trag. 105 A is long before µα in verbals derived from the first person of the preterite passive. 1882F. W. Newman Libyan Vocab. 38 Kabail Verbs and Verbals, including Adjectives. †2. [After med.L. verbale.] A collection of words; a vocabulary or dictionary. Obs. rare.
1599Bk. Preserv. K. Hen. VII, i, Untill I have set forth a Verball or little Dictionarie. 1623T. Spicer in Cockeram Eng. Dict. A vij b, To the Reader on this Verball of his esteemed friend, Master Henry Cockeram of Exeter. 3. Gram. A word or group of words performing the function of a verb.
1935[see particle n. 3]. 1965Amer. Speech XL. 206 Adverbials which serve purely as modifiers of sentences and verbals. 1978Language LIV. 88 Some support for the status of the items listed as verbals is that they are considered predicates in generative-semantic treatments of syntax. 4. colloq. A verbal statement, spec. a damaging admission, alleged to have been made by a suspected criminal and offered in evidence against him at a trial. Freq. pl.
1963Times 22 Feb. 6/5 Who will believe you after I said I wasn't going to make a verbal? 1974‘M. Underwood’ Pinch of Snuff xxi. 171 ‘Have a look through the police evidence.’.. ‘At least, they haven't put in any verbals.’ 1980Daily Mirror 24 June 19 Opponents of ‘verbals’ (alleged admissions of arrested persons to police which are not signed but are admitted in evidence) could see the meeting as a chance to further their campaign. 5. slang. Insult or abuse. Esp. in phr. to give (someone) the verbal and varr.
1973Time Out 2–8 Mar. 13/2 We faced them, and gave them a load of verbal across the street. 1977Times Educ. Suppl. 21 Oct. 43/2 Insulting and humiliating rivals—‘giving them the verbal’. 1982Observer 10 Oct. 40/7 Each ‘ball’ consisted of a distinctly lethargic head-high bouncer.., followed by a rousing collection of verbals (money will be paid to lip-reading viewers for translation). ▪ II. ˈverbal, v. colloq. [f. verbal n. 4.] trans. To attribute a damaging statement to (an accused or suspected person). Also const. up.
1963Times 22 Feb. 6/5 Those chaps were about and they won't be able to verbal me. 1970P. Laurie Scotland Yard vi. 146 The aggravation of it. He verbals up my villain and then says he'll let him off. 1973Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 17 Oct. 10/4 Finch has claimed that detectives ‘verballed’ him—fabricated a confession to arrest him. 1981C. Ross Scaffold 145 ‘He's made no statement yet either.’ ‘But you verballed him?’.. The police officer said nothing. Hence ˈverballing vbl. n.
1973Observer 11 Nov. 15/2 ‘Verballing’—putting damaging remarks or ‘verbals’ into suspects' mouths—has existed as long as detectives have been dealing with criminals. 1977‘C. Aird’ Parting Breath iv. 47 It wasn't, the policeman consoled himself, really and truly verballing. Verballing was putting words into a man's mouth—and statement. |