| 释义 |
▪ I. weakly, a.|ˈwiːklɪ|
[f. weak a. + -ly1.]
1. Weak in constitution, not strong or robust, delicate.
1577tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. viii. 203 Not to suppresse such a fellowe as this, is to put a sword in a madde mans hand, to kill vnwise and weakelie men. 1582T. Watson Centurie of Love xcii, Litle of stature, and in apparence weakelie. 1678W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 329 Anne Coke is brought to bed of a son,..a very weakly one. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. (1900) 248 Neither objected he against my weakly Looks, nor against my Feeble Mind. 1753J. Collier Art Torment. ii. iv. (1811) 171 Hermia is far from being of a weakly constitution. 1832H. Martineau Manch. Strike ix. 103 The more weakly of the labourers lie down and die. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xii. 133 From the weakly habit of the patient,..he thought it advisable to let her have some weak chicken broth and light negus. 1877Conder Basis of Faith v. 225 The swiftest hare may be run down by the dogs, weaklier ones meanwhile lurking in safe covert. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 857 In weakly children the syrup of the phosphate of iron..is of advantage.
absol.1621T. Granger Expos. Eccles. i. 3. 6 The sicke and weakly, thinketh the strong and healthfull happy. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton viii, She, the weakly, was left behind, while the strong man was taken. 1865Kingsley Herew. Prel. 1 In the civilised state..the weakliest and the silliest..have their chance likewise.
b. of a plant, tree, etc.
1775J. Tait Land of Liberty ii. xxxv. 47 She cuts him off like some poor weakly flow'r. 1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 364 It would be ridiculous to lay the same quantity of wood into a weakly tree as into a tree in full vigour. 1887Field 15 Oct. 603/2 A weakly grower [sc. a rose-tree].
2. Characterized by moral weakness.
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xxiv, Of no avail are weakly condolences or mild assenting pity. 1900Month Aug. 135 A sort of cruel kindness and weakly indulgence.
3. Of a laugh: Feeble, faint, half-hearted.
1883R. Broughton Belinda iii. iii, ‘Are they?’ she says, with a weakly laugh.
▪ II. weakly, adv.|ˈwiːklɪ|
[f. weak a. + -ly2.]
In a weak manner.
1. a. With little energy, force, or strength; † with gentle action, softly (obs.).
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xxvii. (1495) 429 A kite is weke in flyghte and in strengthe and is callyd Miluus as it were weekely fleenge [L. molliter volans]. a1400Morte Arth. 697 Waynour waykly wepande hym kyssiz. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 155 b, By more easy meanes commeth to perfeccyon, whiche they slowly & weykly or fayntly desyre. 1600Surflet Country Farm iii. ix. 441 For the yong plant which can attract & draw but weakly, & at hand any substance for it selfe, will hardly [etc.]. a1626Bacon Sylva §33 It is very probable that the Motion of Grauitie worketh weakly, both farre from the Earth, and also within the Earth. 1641Symonds Serm. bef. Ho. of Comm. B iiij b, An arrow weakly shot, will fall short of the mark. 1657Baxter Present Th. 12 Grace may act weaklier than it did before. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 11 Upon account of their distance from the Fire, they are but very weakly reflected. 1876T. L. Papillon Man. Comp. Philol. 69 Final m [in Latin]..must have been weakly pronounced.
b. In a weak or enfeebled condition. Also transf.
c1400Destr. Troy 10151 Philmen..the gome hit,..gert hym to stoupe, Þat he wauerit þerwith, & weikly he sete. 1470–85Malory Arthur xix. xii. 794 Thenne the wounded knyghte syr Vrre sette hym vp weykely. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xl. (Percy Soc.) 202 In his hand he hadde A croked staffe; he wente full wekely. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 45 As one out of a deadly dreame affright, She weakely started, yet she nothing drad. 1606Sir E. Coke in True & Perf. Relat. T 3 b, This paper of his Retractation, which hee had weakely and dyingly subscribed. 1844Mrs. Browning Lost Bower lxix, By this couch I weakly lie on, While I count my memories.
†2.
a. Insecurely, unsubstantially. Obs.
1522Bp. Foxe in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 8 Also my Lord, I have not soo sklenderly buylded my selve, nor soo weykly estableshed my house in thies parties, that I can honestely or conveniently so sodenly depart hens. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 123 That supposition is but weakly founded, at least in my apprehension. 1784Cook's 3rd Voy. I. Introd. 12 The visits were..so transient, that it was scarcely possible to build upon a foundation, so weakly laid, any information that could even gratify idle curiosity.
b. With weakness of constitution.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 40 Old Lady. Haue you limbs To beare that load of Title? Anne Bullen. No in truth. Old Lady. Then you are weakly made.
3. With slight defensive strength.
1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 60 Our state eke and persons may not thus weaklye be shielded. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. i. 74 'Tis sure they found some place, But weakely guarded, where the breach was made. 1593― Lucr. 28 Honour and Beautie in the owners armes, Are weaklie fortrest from a world of harmes. 1680Cotton Gamester (ed. 2) 52 When you find your adversaries King any way weakly guarded. 1705Addison Italy, Pesaro 145 Some have wonder'd that the Turk never attacks this Treasury, since it..is so weakly guarded. 1921Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Feb. 67/3 Haig..was quite right to hold the southern end of his line..more weakly than the rest.
4. a. With deficiency of numbers or amount; sparsely, meagrely. ? Obs.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xiii. §7. 52 If a shooemaker should haue no shooes in his shoppe, but onely worke, as hee is bespoken, hee should bee weakely customed. a1649Winthrop Hist. N. Eng. (1853) II. 232 Here came a pinnace..for procuring powder..but we were weakly provided ourselves. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. i. 112 The capstan was so weakly manned, that it was near four hours before we hove the cable right up and down.
b. In a slight degree; to a small extent or amount.
1775Phil. Trans. LXVI. 204 A battery so weakly electrified that its shock will not pass through a chain. 1789–96Morse Amer. Geog. I. 617 The waters weakly mineralized. 1805W. Saunders Min. Waters 557 The ochre..is, when dry, weakly magnetic. 1805T. Weaver Werner's Ext. Charact. Fossils 191 Solid fossils that stain..either strongly or weakly. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. xvii. (1842) 450 This may be done..by bringing the body, if weakly electrified, into contact with the cap.
5. With weakness of mind or character; with lack of mental grasp or firmness of will.
1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 188, I will not aduenture my discretion so weakly. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. iv. §1 The meaning is not that all mankind was made of the same uniform matter, as the authour of the Præ-Adamites weakly imagined. 1671Milton Samson 50 Who this high gift of strength committed to me,..Under the Seal of silence could not keep, But weakly to a woman must reveal it. 1705S. Clarke Disc. Nat. Relig. vi. Wks. 1738 II. 661 Plato, after having delivered very noble..Truths concerning the Nature and Attributes of the Supreme God, weakly advises Men to worship likewise Inferiour Gods. 1864Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 208 What may strike you as weakly fanciful in my desire. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay vii, He was weakly credulous. 1892Lady F. Verney Verney Mem. I. 267 She was not at all inclined to be weakly indulgent.
6. With little vigour of action, inefficiently.
1663Jer. Taylor Serm. Funeral Abp. Armagh 1 The Condition of Man in this World is so limited..that the best things he does he does weakly. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 162 ⁋4 We please our pride with the effects of our influence thus weakly exerted. 1853Dickens Bleak Ho. xiii, Mr. Boythorn, who interested himself strongly in the subject—though I need not say that, for he could do nothing weakly. 1905Ld. E. Fitzmaurice Ld. Granville I. xv. 430 Mr. Lowe considered that he had been but weakly defended by some of his colleagues in the House of Commons.
7. With little force of argument; unconvincingly.
1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. i. §7 Now I appeal to the reason of any Person..Whether either of these two Hypotheses..be not far more weakly proved, then the existence of a Deity is. 1855Pusey Doctr. Real Presence in Fathers Note F 73 He is blamed by others, as exposing the doctrine which he defends weakly. 1870Emerson Soc. & Solit. i. 9 He spoke weakly, and from the point, like a flighty girl.
8. Math. In a way that implies less or that satisfies fewer conditions (cf. weak a. 12 f (b)).
1955M. Loève Probability Theory ix. 443 If all sequences TnX are weakly compact, then it is easily proved that sup ‖ Tn‖ ‹ ∞ . 1972R. J. Wilson Introd. Graph Theory vii. 102 A digraph D is said to be connected (or weakly-connected) if it cannot be expressed as the union of two disjoint digraphs. |