| 释义 |
vitals, n. pl.|ˈvaɪtəlz|
[ad. L. vītālia, neut. pl. of vītālis, or directly f. vital a.]
1. Those parts or organs of the body, esp. the human body, essential to life, or upon which life depends; the vital parts.
Usually as a vague or general term, but sometimes applied specifically to the brain, heart, lungs, and liver.
For the phr. stop my vitals, see stap v. and stop v. 9 c.
a1610Healey Cebes (1636) 134 Now hee.. purgeth away the causes and nutriment of the maladie, and then corroborates the vitals. 1641Tatham Distracted State iv. i. (1651) 24, I feel my vitals fail me. 1690C. Nesse O. & N. Test. I. 52 Like the wound in the heel, far from the vitals, the head or heart. 1708Swift Sacram. Tests Wks. 1755 II. i. 125 If..you think a poultice made of our vitals will give it any ease, speak the word. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 117 The weapon has missed your vitals. 1791Cowper Odyss. ix. 347 Me, then, my courage prompted to approach The monster..And to transfix him where the vitals wrap The liver. 1861Paley Aeschylus (ed. 2) Choeph. 264 note, The notion in the mind of the speaker is that of a cold chill at the vitals. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 246 A miscellaneous collection of bits of broken iron pots and lumps of lead frisking among their vitals.
b. fig. or in fig. context.
1641Milton Reform. ii. 64 Now heare how they [i.e. the prelates] strike at the very heart and vitals [of monarchy]. 1671Trenchfield Cap Gray Hairs (1688) 32 The dainty Tooths of some corroding so far into their estates, as to reach the very vitals. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 56 The truest Sign of our Vitals not being tainted, and that we are not wounded in any Noble Part, but go on increasing in Trade. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 350 Such immense sums, drawn from the vitals of all France. 1802–12in Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) V. 536 The very life and vitals of the cause lies in secreting the evidence. 1853Merivale Rom. Rep. i. (1867) 7 Tiberius..continued to brood over the plague-spot he had discovered in the vitals of his country. 1868Farrar Seekers i. iii. (1875) 37 To have fastened upon the very vitals of the national existence.
2. transf. Parts or features essentially necessary to something; essential points, essentials.
1657J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 30 So long as the vitals and fundamentals of faith and truth abide. 1657–8in Burton's Diary (1828) II. 433 If the vitals were preserved, I should not differ for the rest. 1689Myst. Iniq. 9 Tho all English Protestants have ever been at an Accord in all the Essentials and Vitals of Religion. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. ii. xxviii. (1852) 504 Of pernicious consequence to the very vitals of religion. 1887Pall Mall G. 4 May 11/1 When the Parnellite leaders approached the vitals of the issue.
b. The vital parts of a ship. Cf. vital a. 3 b.
1884Pall Mall G. 13 Nov. 5/1 Riachuelo... Speed 17 knots; 6,200 tons; 8½ in. armour over vitals. 1894C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 288 The armour..shielding the gun, the machinery, and ‘vitals’ of the vessel. |