| 释义 |
vulnerable, a.|ˈvʌlnərəb(ə)l|
[ad. late L. vulnerābilis wounding, f. vulnerāre (see vuln v.), but taken passively in accordance with the more usual sense of -able: cf. invulnerable and F. vulnérable, Sp. vulnerable, Pg. -avel, It. -abile.]
†1. Having power to wound; wounding. Obs.—1
1609Ambassy Sir R. Sherley 13 The male children practise to ride greate horses, to throw the Vulnerable and Ineuitable darte.
2. a. That may be wounded; susceptible of receiving wounds or physical injury.
1605Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 11 Let fall thy blade on vulnerable Crests, I beare a charmed Life. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), Vulnerable, that may be wounded. 1791Cowper Iliad iv. 606 Turn, turn, ye Trojans! face your Grecian foes. They, like yourselves, are vulnerable flesh, Not adamant or steel. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 217 [Alligators having] plates or scales, said to be impenetrable..except about their heads and just behind their fore legs, where they are vulnerable. 1810Southey Kehama ix. xii, Thrice through the vulnerable shade The Glendoveer impels the griding blade, The wicked Shade flies howling from his foe. 1867J. B. Rose tr. Virgil's æneid 151 The vulnerable heel Of dread æacides.
b. fig. Open to attack or injury of a non-physical nature; esp., offering an opening to the attacks of raillery, criticism, calumny, etc.
1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. Pref., We had further Observed it, to have been the Method of our Modern Atheists, to make their First Assault against Christianity, as thinking that to be the most Vulnerable. 1769Junius Lett. vii. (1788) 59 Reproaches and inquiries have no power to afflict either the man of unblemished integrity, or the abandoned profligate. It is the middle compound character which alone is vulnerable. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vii. iii, There, alone, is he vulnerable. 1824Scott St. Ronan's vi, ‘How delighted I am,’ she said, ‘that I have found out where you are vulnerable!’ 1863M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer's Greece II. xvi. 147 His witty tongue was too keen for the easily vulnerable gods of Delphi. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1873) I. i. 5 Modern society, growing more and more vulnerable.., is made to tremble by the mere rumour of an appeal to arms.
c. Similarly with part, point, portion.
1776Gibbon Decl. & F. xiii. I. 357 Yet even calumny is sagacious enough to discover and to attack the most vulnerable part. 1789Belsham Ess. II. xxxvi. 290 In this vulnerable part, only, can the shaft of the Satirist find an entrance. 1836Thirlwall Greece III. xviii. 85 His private life presented some vulnerable points, through which his adversaries were able to strike more dangerous blows. 1847H. Miller Test. Rocks ix. (1857) 358 Now this physical department has ever proved the vulnerable portion of false religions. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. x. 290 There is a human sub-species..to a certain extent penetrative... It has an instinct which guides it to the vulnerable parts of the victim on which it fastens.
d. Contract Bridge. Of or pertaining to the liability of one side to be awarded increased penalties or increased bonuses as result of having won a game.
[1925Work-Whitehead Auction Bridge Bull. Oct. 5 In circles where high play predominates, there was introduced a variation of the above count, called ‘Le Vulnerable’.] 1927[see danger-zone s.v. danger n. c]. 1965Listener 23 Sept. 474/3 Playing the Two Club system, my partner, the dealer, opened a vulnerable No Trump (strong). 1977M. Kenyon Rapist i. 10 Five no trumps! Don't get vulnerable!
3. a. Of places, etc.: Open to attack or assault by armed forces; liable to be taken or entered in this way.
1790Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 104 The immense expence the Spaniards have since been at, to fortify the city on that side, shews it to have been vulnerable then. 1797St. Vincent 16 Aug. in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1845) II. 434 note, The Tower of Santa Cruz in the Island of Teneriffe, which, from a variety of intelligence, I conceived was vulnerable. 1809Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) IV. 331 In the action of yesterday, our position was vulnerable only on the right. 1860Motley Netherl. iii. (1868) I. 65 She felt herself vulnerable in Ireland, and on the Scottish border. 1884Manch. Exam. 27 May 5/1 We should find it easier to hold [Russia] in check in the far East if she had vulnerable possessions nearer home.
b. Similarly with part, point, side.
1798Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 8 A vulnerable part of the frontiers of the Company's territory. 1800Colquhoun Comm. Thames v. 210 Every vulnerable point was guarded. 1851Gallenga Italy 52 Even within those limits her Lombard subjects had discovered her vulnerable side. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. viii. 277 Charles..was looking for the most vulnerable point at which to strike.
Hence ˈvulnerableness; ˈvulnerably adv.
1727Bailey (vol. II), Vulnerableness, Capableness of being wounded. 1837Foreign Q. Rev. XIX. 39 We do not think a passage can be quoted to which criticism can be vulnerably attached. 1842Manning Serm. v. (1848) I. 69 There comes over us what I may call a vulnerableness of mind. 1894Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. 166 The inner vulnerableness, the inner need of her affection and of peace with her. |