| 释义 |
▪ I. verbicide1|ˈvɜːbɪsaɪd|
[f. L. verbi-, verbum word + -cide 1.]
One who mutilates or destroys a word.
1867Independent (N.Y.) 2 May (Cent.), These clownish verbicides have carried their antics to the point of disgust. 1894Let. in Melbourne Argus 10 Jan., It is this laziness in speaking which makes them [the Australians] grow up habitual verbicides.
▪ II. ˈverbicide2
[f. as prec. + -cide 2.]
The act of destroying the sense or value of a word; the perversion of a word from its proper meaning.
1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. i. (1859) 10 Homicide and verbicide—that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning..—are alike forbidden. 1886Q. Rev. Jan. 177 It is ‘verbicide’ in a higher sense than that in which Oliver Wendell Holmes applied the term to punning.
Hence ˈverbicidal a., tending or liable to destroy the sense or value of a word.
1978Forum on Med. Apr. 85/1 Other verbicidal entertainers who were school dropouts have also received ‘honorary’ degrees. 1985Times 27 Mar. 12/8 The verbicidal impulses of Pentagonese. |