| 释义 |
levitate, v.|ˈlɛvɪteɪt|
[f. L. levi-s light, after gravitate v.]
1. intr. To rise by virtue of lightness; opposed to gravitate 2 b. Now only with reference to ‘spiritualism’.
1673Marvell Reh. Transp. II. 186 A Lecture..upon the Centers of Knowledge and Ignorance, and how and when they Gravitate and Levitate. 1685Boyle Enq. Notion Nature vi. 183 When 'tis there, it ceases either to gravitate, or, as some schoolmen speak, to levitate. 1879Whitehall Rev. 13 Sept. 412/2, I have a stepson who levitates. 1887Huxley in 19th Cent. Feb. 201 It is asserted that a man or a woman ‘levitated’ to the ceiling, floated about there, and finally sailed out by the window. 1971Daily Tel. 19 Nov. 14/4 The demonstrators linked arms in a great circle..and repeated the invocation in the hope that the entire building would levitate.
2. trans.
†a. To make lighter or of less weight. Obs.
b. Chiefly in the language of ‘spiritualists’: To cause to rise in the air in consequence of lightness, or by reversing the action of gravity. Also in scientific use: To cause (something heavier than the surrounding fluid) to rise or remain suspended without visible means (e.g. using magnetic forces).
1686Goad Celest. Bodies ii. v. 221 The Air being of a sudden levitated to such a measure. 1875Q. Jrnl. Sci. XII. 54 Many were levitated only in these unconscious states. 1884Longm. Mag. V. 167 Tables turn, furniture dances, men are ‘levitated’. 1892W. S. Lilly Gt. Enigma 114 No reasonable man would receive Mrs. Guppy as an ambassadress from the Infinite and Eternal, merely because she was levitated. 1894Century Mag. Apr. 834/1 The extra amount of gas required to levitate my person to the clouds. 1952Jrnl. Electrochem. Soc. XCIX. 206/2 Slugs of any shape of various conductive metals could be levitated in the space between the coils. 1961Ann. Reg. 1960 398 Sceptre 4..was to be rebuilt with an aluminium ring ‘levitated’ inside its ring-shaped chamber. 1971Daily Tel. 5 Apr. 7/2 Superconducting magnets are now being investigated to levitate fast-moving trains into the air above the rails. 1973Nature 9 Feb. 359/2 It is now feasible both to levitate and to propel a hovertrain using only a linear induction motor.
fig.1954C. P. Snow New Men xxxiv. 240 The touch of the metal..levitated me to the forgotten happiness of a joyous summer night.
Hence ˈlevitated, ˈlevitating ppl. adjs. Also ˈlevitative a., adapted for or capable of levitation. ˈlevitator, one who believes in levitation or professes ability to practise it.
1859Herschel Fam. Lect. Sci. Subj. iii. §45 (1866) 131 The levitating portion of it being hurried off—the gravitating remaining behind. 1875Q. Jrnl. Sci. XII. 52 At least one Christian and one heathen case of levitated persons are recorded. 1887Huxley in 19th Cent. Feb. 202 Our reply to the levitators is just the same. Why should not your friend ‘levitate’? 1890Edinb. Rev. July 109 It had not indeed altogether escaped notice that bodies gain in weight through combustion; but the difficulty..was evaded by attributing to phlogiston a ‘levitative’ power. 1892A. M. Clerke Fam. Stud. Homer x. 263 The dream of a levitative art lurked nowhere within the Homeric field of view. 1893A. Lang in Contemp. Rev. Sept. 380 The levitated boy..flew over a garden. |