| 释义 |
inextricable, a.|ɪnˈɛkstrɪkəb(ə)l|
[ad. L. inextrīcābilis that cannot be disentangled or disengaged, from which one cannot disengage oneself, inexplicable (f. in- (in-3) + extrīcāre to extricate); perh. immed. a. F. inextricable (15th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. From which one cannot extricate oneself; esp. so intricate or complicated that no means of exit can be discovered.
a. Of places, esp. a labyrinth or maze. Also fig.
1555Eden Decades 260 It causeth marysshes and quamyres inextricable and dangerous both for horse and man. 1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 49 Of the Labyrynthe, or of th' obscure and inextricable buyldinge which Minos..caused Dedalus..to make. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 95 The cuts and channels..winding in and out with a thousand inextricable twinings, inclosed them. 1720Waterland Eight Serm. 268 Lest..we..lose our selves in inextricable Mazes. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. i. 54 A road among the woods which they would have found inextricable.
b. Of a state or condition: That cannot be escaped or got free from.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 161 [They] cast themselves..into millions of..daungers in manner inextricable. 1626Jackson Creed viii. viii. §2 The crooked by-paths which tend to death, and inextricable misery. 1667Milton P.L. v. 528 God..ordaind thy will By nature free, not overrul'd by Fate Inextricable, or strict necessity. 1712E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 241 That he should run himself into inextricable Danger by going on. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 136 The Laocoön..is such a type of human beings, struggling with an inextricable trouble.
2. Of a knot, coil, etc.: That cannot be unravelled, disentangled, or untied. Also transf.
1610B. Jonson Alch. v. ii, To deceive him..that would break Such an inextricable tie as ours was. 1728Veneer Sincere Penit. Pref. 7 Compassed about by the strongest and most inextricable bonds of iniquity. 1829Scott Guy M. Introd., The knot of the accursed sophistry became more inextricable in appearance, at least to the prey whom its meshes surrounded.
b. Of a grasp: That cannot be loosened or detached.
1847J. Wilson Chr. North (1857) I. 138 Catching an inextricable hold of every wall they can reach.
†3. Of a problem: Incapable of being solved.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 147 The Scribes..in certaine niceties, and scrupulous questions, sometimes inextricable. 1660Willsford Scales Comm. 138 An exact proportion betwixt the Diameter and Circumference is inextricable to Art. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 215 A Problem too curious to enquire into, but not altogether inextricable.
4. Intricately involved, confused, or perplexed; incapable of being cleared up or put straight.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. v. §3 In this Story there is an inextricable Errour in point of Chronology. 1675Baxter Cath. Theol. ii. i. 157 If this be Nature with you, you cast your self into inextricable difficulties to know what you say. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. ix. 394 To embroil his Commodore in an inextricable squabble with the Chinese Government. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 159 The ecclesiastical polity of the realm was in inextricable confusion.
5. Intricate, elaborate, exquisitely wrought. rare.
1691Ray Creation ii. (1692) 93 What force and strength was requisite, there being in them such inextricable Perfection [a transl. of Pliny's phrase, inextricabilis perfectio]. 1799H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 34 A net of such exquisite art and inextricable workmanship. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. 328 The inextricable richness of the fully developed Gothic jamb and arch.
Hence inˈextricableness.
1624Donne Devotions 122 There is no perplexity in thee, my God, no inextricablenesse in thee. 1727in Bailey vol. II. |