| 释义 |
irretrievable, a.|ɪrɪˈtriːvəb(ə)l|
[ir-2.]
That cannot be retrieved; irrecoverable; irreparable.
1695[implied in irretrievably]. 1702De Foe Shortest Way w. Dissenters Misc. (1703) 423 With an absolute, and, as they suppose, irretrievable Victory. 1712Steele Spect. No. 423 ⁋5 The Condition of Gloriana, I am afraid, is irretrievable. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. xlviii. (1869) III. 49 He perceived the irretrievable decline of his brother's health. 1821Wellington Disp., etc. Oct. (1867) I. 195 Whether we shall.. give up the government to the Whigs and Radicals, or, in other words, the country in all its relations, to irretrievable ruin? 1871H. Ainsworth Tower Hill ii. vii, The time approached when the irretrievable step must be taken.
Hence irretrievaˈbility, irreˈtrievableness, the quality of being irretrievable.
1727Bailey vol. II, Irretrievableness. 1847De Quincey Secr. Soc. Wks. 1857 VII. 269 The fatal irretrievability of errors in early life. 1882A. Thomas Allerton Towers I. viii. 137 The boldness and irretrievability of the step he has taken. |