| 释义 |
wordless, a.|ˈwɜːdlɪs|
[f. word n. + -less.]
1. Inexpressible in words; unspeakable, unutterable. Obs. or merged in 2.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 113 Wordles song is þe herte michele blisse, þe heo haueð of heuenliche ðinge, and ne mai þeroffe be stille ne mid worde hem atellen. 1647Trapp Comm. 1 Cor. xv. 51 (1656) 701 This, likely was one of those wordless words [ἄρρητα ῥήµατα: 1611 unspeakable words] that Paul heard in his rapture, 2 Cor. 12. 4. 1683E. Hooker Pref. Pordage's Mystic Div. 66 Hee was caught up into the third Heaven..where Hee heard wordless Words (so the Græc most emphaticly) Words unutterabl, unexpressibl.
2. Not expressed in words; unspoken, unuttered.
a1500Chaucer's Dreme 889 So thought I..That word⁓lesse answere in no toun Was tane for obligacioun. 1633P. Fletcher Elisa ii. iv, So sat she joylesse down in wordlesse grief complaining. 1820Byron Juan iii. lviii, The stern,..deep, and wordless ire Of a strong human heart. 1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 189 Some wordless prayer of agony. 1871Tylor Prim. Cult. I. viii. 270 The deaf-and-dumb..work out..such analogies..in their wordless thought. 1884‘Edna Lyall’ We Two xix, Love of the deepest sort is wordless.
3. Not uttering a word; not speaking, silent, speechless. Also transf. of action or feeling (cf. 2).
a1500Chaucer's Dreme 516 Wordlesse he was, and semed sicke. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 112 Her ioie with heaued-vp hand she doth expresse, And wordlesse so greetes heauen for his successe. 1852Bailey Festus (ed. 5) 522 She, wordless, went, But looked her thanks. 1881C. Rossetti Later Life iii. Poems (1904) 298 Our wordless tearless numbness of distress. 1890Brit. Med. Jrnl. 8 Feb. 300/2 The patient was quite speechless, or, at least, wordless. 1904G. Watson Sunshine & Sentim. 188, I was unable to follow her, and stood dumfounded and wordless.
b. Lacking the faculty or power of speech.
1648J. Quarles Fons Lachrym. 52 The wordless tongues of thirsty children cleave To their unliquid mouths. 1846Chambers's Jrnl. 16 May 312 A Word for the Wordless.
c. Lacking words for expression.
1881Poynter Among the Hills I. 282 Her mind was too uncultivated, too wordless. 1896Howells Impressions & Exp. 104 The innocence of wordless infancy.
4. Not accompanied by words; (of a play) acted without words.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 333 The winged quiers,..Their sound want sense; their notes are word-lesse still. 1855Bailey Mystic 137 No wordless murmurs of expectant joy. 1882J. Hawthorne Fort. Fool xxx, The little wordless song which his..mother had sung. 1897Westm. Gaz. 9 Jan. 3/2 The history of wordless plays on the modern London stage. 1922G. K. Chesterton Man who knew 258 The man..cast it down with a wordless sound more shocking than a curse.
Hence ˈwordlessly adv., ˈwordlessness.
1852Bailey Festus (ed. 5) 250 The eagle they petitioned to preside,..The bird of curvéd beak and radiant eye Bowed wordlessly, and swept down from the sky. 1891M. M. Dowie Girl in Karp. xiii. 178 We were left..wordlessly grateful. 1895Westm. Gaz. 8 June 3/1 The momentary wordlessness that is certain to fall occasionally to the lot of everyone. |