| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈlower, n. Obs.
Forms: 4–5 lower(e, 6 looer.
[ad. OF. louier reward.]
Reward, guerdon, recompense.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 372 (Kölbing) Þurch ous þou art in þi power: Ȝif ous now our lower! a1400–50Alexander 5368 Ser, if þou lessen my life na lowere þou wynnes. c1450Merlin 59 A knyght axed his body when he was deed vpon the seide crosse, and it was graunted hym of Pilate in lower of his servyse. a1550Image Ipocr. i. in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 415 Thoughe Christ be the doer, They force not of his looer, They sett therby no stoore.
▪ II. lower, a. (n.) and adv.|ˈləʊə(r)|
Forms: 3 laȝghere, lah(e)re, lahȝhre, 4 lagher, law(i)er, logher, 5 lougher, louȝer, lowyr, Sc. lavar, -war, 4, 7 Sc. lauer, 4– lower.
[f. low a. + -er3.]
A. adj. The comparative of low a.
1. As an ordinary comparative (capable of being followed by than): see the senses of low a.
c1200Ormin 2664 Þohh wass ȝho miccle lahre, Þann ure laffdiȝ Marȝe wass. Ibid. 3746 Lasse þann hiss enngell, & lahȝhre inoh. c1230Hali Meid. 36 Hwa-se, of engel, lihteð to iwurðen lahre, þen a beast..loki hu ha spede! a1300Cursor M. 9467 Sua hei na-thing was euer wroght, Þat..ne moght Fall dun in to lagher [Gött. lauer] state. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 58 Thai said, successioun of Kyngrik Was nocht to lawer feys lik. 1435Misyn Fire of Love ii. i. 69 Qwen tha ar far lawar. 1450–80tr. Secreta Secret. 39 Of whiche lougher men in degre mowe lerne gret..doctryne. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xv. (1885) 145 What lower man was þer sytinge in þat counsell, þat [etc.]. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxvi. 40 They wald with nobill men be nemmit, Syne laittandly to lawar leinde. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 76 And in the lowest deep a lower deep Still threatning to devour me opens wide. 1671― Samson 1246 Stalking with less unconsci'nable strides, And lower looks. 1740Ld. Baltimore in Gentl. Mag. X. 586 The Estimate of the Navy..is lower..than that which was laid before us the last Session. 1774T. Hutchinson Diary 7 Oct., The people of Norfolk are generally of a lower size, and very few tall. 1839J. Yeowell Anct. Brit. Ch. vii. (1847) 73 It seems difficult to place their origin at a lower period than the apostolic age. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 294 A small body of grenadier dragoons, who came from a lower class and received lower pay. 1862Trollope Orley F. I. xxxii. 254 Hush-sh-sh. For heaven's sake, Mr. Mason, do be a little lower. 1868Joynson Metals 115 The solder, of course, has a much lower fusion point than the metals to be joined. 1873Princess Alice in Mem. 26 July (1884) 308, I feel lower and sadder than ever. 1895Zangwill Master ii. ii. 139 Try and keep that lower in tone.
absol.1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 186 Can the lower create the higher? 1885Tennyson Locksley Hall 60 Yrs. After 124 So the Higher wields the Lower, while the Lower is the Higher.
2. a. Used in contradistinction to upper or higher, as the specific designation of an object, a class or group of objects, a part or parts of some whole (with reference either to local situation or to rank, dignity, or place in classification); occas. in partitive concord (= ‘the lower part of’), esp. in geographical names.
1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Proëme 16 All higher and lower Officers of Armies under the Generall. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. vi. 10 Lower Syria. 1611Bible Gen. vi. 16 With lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 1631Massinger Beleeve as you list ii. ii, This is the bodye of Antiochus, Kinge of the lower Asia. 1667Milton P.L. v. 410 Both contain Within them every lower facultie Of sense. 1702J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 3 The outward Muscles and Skins of the Lower-Belly. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 131 In the lower Ages the Legend on Medals did not often allude to a particular Fact. 1758J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 42 The Corner of the Lower-Lip. 1783Burke East India Bill Wks. IV. 72 The lower sort in the camp it seems could not be restrained. 1831R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 101 The Lower Wall or the Floor of the Orbit is nearly plain. 1840Macaulay Ess., Von Ranke (1843) III. 220 Merchants from the Lower Danube. 1852H. Martineau Let. 7 Apr. in R. K. Webb H. Martineau (1960) x. 301 Thinking men & women of the lower middle, & working classes. 1861Mill Repr. Govt. iii. 67 A benefit of the same kind..is produced on Englishmen of the lower middle class by their liability to be placed on juries and to serve parish offices. 1869Boutell Arms & Arm. x. 193 The sleeves of the hauberk sometimes were cut short about the middle of the lower arm. 1873Dawson Earth & Man iii. 36 The Huronian or Lower Cambrian. Ibid. iv. 56 The Lower Silurian is the Upper Cambrian of Sedgwick. 1873Helps Anim. & Mast. i. (1875) 5 The treatment of the lower animals by man. 1881Lady Monkswell Diary 26 Apr. in E. C. F. Collier Victorian Diarist (1944) 52 Presently an old lady, rather ‘lower middle class’, with grey hair & no cap, appeared and welcomed us. 1883Harper's Mag. Aug. 448/2 Strong lower-sail winds. 1889Pollock, etc. Fencing ii. (Badm. Libr.) 43 There are four lines in fencing; two upper and two lower. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise Cachalot iii. (1900) 23 An immense fourfold tackle from the main lowermast-head. 1930Archit. Rec. Feb. 113/1 The wages of the lower income groups will indeed have to be raised. 1937Daily Tel. 15 Oct. 22/5 ‘American Dream’ has many of the hall-marks of a lower-middlebrow best-seller. 1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 35/2 Kindly human thoughts such as keep ordinary men in the lower-income brackets. 1968D. Lawton Social Class, Lang. & Educ. ii. 7 The lower working class consists of groups traditionally outside the educational system. Ibid. v. 78 The typical lower working-class environment. 1971R. Roberts Classic Slum vii. 105 Before 1914..lower-working-class men did not generally shave themselves, but patronised a barber twice a week. 1972A. Davidson tr. Moravia's Two of Us i. 10, I was struck by his language, half courtly, half bureaucratic and, in any case, lower middle-class. 1973Guardian 19 Apr. 4/4 Mario Biaggi, probably the most popular candidate for Mayor of New York among the city's lower income white population.
b. Phrase. † to have the lower hand: to have lost the superiority; to be second best off.
1693Mem. Count Teckely iii. 72 When they have once the lower-hand,..they no longer distinguish what they do.
3. quasi-n.
a. One lower; an inferior.
c1200Ormin 10739 Whase laȝheþþ himm Bineþenn his lahȝhre. 1340Ayenb. 175 Þe zinne is gratter..ine ane prelat þanne ine ane loȝer. c1400Apol. Loll. 104 Þei are vnfeiþful to þer souereyns, vneuyn to þer lowar. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xxi. 89 Wheþir he suffre of his prelate or of his piere, or of his lower. 1921Chambers's Jrnl. 30 July 545/1 Appreciation of beauty..is that which most distinguishes the humans from their lowers. 1967Listener 21 Dec. 802/1 If a man spoke rather loudly..keeping his vowels open, then he was an Upper. If he attempted this and just failed, then he was a Middle. If..his voice carried the flavour of the area in which he was born, then he was a Lower.
†b. The lower part or parts of (something). Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter lxii. 9 Into þe lavgher of þe earth.
c. A lower plate of artifical teeth.
1878C. Hunter Mech. Dentistry i. 7 For edentulous uppers or lowers plaster is employed. 1939A. Thirkell Before Lunch vi. 162 ‘And how are the new lowers?’.. Mrs. Pucken smiled broadly with a slightly seasick motion of her lower teeth. 1963J. Osborne Dental Mech. (ed. 5) ix. 170 In function there is a tendency for upper dentures to be moved forwards and lowers backwards.
4. Special collocations: lower-boy, a boy in the lower school (see below); lower-case Printing (see case n.2 9); also attrib.; lower chamber = lower-house; lower classes, those below the middle rank in society; lower criticism, verbal or textual criticism (cf. higher criticism, s.v. criticism 2 b); lower critic, one who is occupied with lower criticism; lower deck, the deck immediately over the hold, orig. only of a ship with two decks; also attrib.; Lower Empire [= F. bas empire], the later Roman Empire (formerly, in numismatic use, from the reign of Gallienus; now usually, from the reign of Constantine, or some still later epoch); lower fourth, fifth, etc., the lower division of the fourth, fifth, etc. form in a public school; also attrib.; lower house, the inferior branch of a legislature consisting of two houses; also of the convocation of the Church of England; lower † order or orders = lower classes; lower school, in public schools, usually the forms below the fifth; also attrib.; (the lower world or this lower world) lower world, earth as opposed to heaven or the heavenly bodies.
1844Disraeli Coningsby I. i. viii. 92 The *lower boy or fag,..asked his master whether he had further need of him. 1857G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone i. 1 A mob of two hundred lower-boys.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xiv. ⁋1 The Stem, and other Fat Stroaks of *Lower-Case Roman. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 383/2 The letters of the lower case. 1890Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 251 The type is getting on: I have all the lower-case letters (26).
1885Lowe Bismarck I. 293 The *Lower Chamber would not yield an inch to the Crown and the Upper House. 1772(the *lower classes of the people), 1806 (the lower class) [see class n. 2]. 1849Thirlwall Rem. III. 346 Efforts..to elevate the intellectual condition of the lower classes.
1897Rendel Harris in Contemp. Rev. Sept. 342 Resch is not merely a ‘*lower critic’ busied with readings of the existing Gospels.
Ibid., The *Lower Criticism of the New Testament.
1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4521/2 We fired, with the utmost Vigour,..part of our *Lower-deck Guns. 1758J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 2 The ports of the said lower-deck to be grated on the inside. 1790Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. 246 The lower-deck ports were then opened. 1900Westm. Gaz. 12 Apr. 4/3 Lieutenant..is the highest step to which a lower-deck rating can attain.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VI. 573/2 (Empire) The *lower empire comprehends near 1200 years, reckoning [from 260] down to the destruction of Constantinople in 1453.
1857Hughes Tom Brown i. viii, The driving of this *lower-fourth must have been grievous work. Ibid., He and the other lower-fourth boys.
1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 50 He..placeth him in the *lower house. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 49 Exultation was heard through all the lower house. 1852Bp. Wilberforce Let. in R. G. Wilberforce Life (1881) II. iv. 140 Suppose that..the Lower House [of Convocation] elected another [Prolocutor]. 1862Acts Massach. 254 Lower House. 1869Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. i. 23 Ultimately, however, the Lower House [Commons] conceded the demands of the Upper. 1712(the *lower Order of Britons), 1749 [see order n. 2]. 1796G. M. Woodward Eccent. Excurs. 14 The adjoining skittle-ground is filled with people of the lower order (according to fashionable denomination). 1822Cobbett Weekly Reg. 27 Apr. 196, I will make your Aristocratic insolence bend before the superior mind of the ‘Lower Orders’.
1857T. Hughes Tom Brown i. v, There's nothing like candour for a *lower-school boy.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 38 The Globe that lights the *lower World. a1599Spenser Mutability vi. 14 Mean-while the lower World..was darkned quite. 1675South Serm. (1823) I. 301 All the light and influence that the heavens bestow upon this lower world.
5. Comb.
a. Forming comparatives to the combinations of low a. (see low a. IV).
1622H. Sydenham Serm. Sol. Occ. ii. (1637) 25 Apprehensions lower-roofed. 1851Kingsley Yeast xiii. 242 Smaller, clumsier, lower-brained, and weaker-jawed than their elders.
b. With duplication of lower: belonging in the lower reaches of a ‘lower’ class or grade.
1955T. H. Pear Eng. Social Differences iii. 89 There are few serious impersonations of the lower-lower class. 1970‘D. Craig’ Young Men may Die ix. 68 We languish at an almost unbelievable and entirely unspeakable lower-lower-middle Costa Blanca resort.
B. adv.
a. The comparative of low adv., q.v. lower down: the comparative of low down.
a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 209 The kynges shyp..descended lower, before a towne in Holland. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xiii. 10 Quha that wald the mater vnder⁓stand, He man luke lawer. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 120 She her selfe is hit lower. a1600Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 143 Come no lauer. a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 20 No Prince living..descended lower in presenting her person to the publique view. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 122 Let us continue on the story down lower still. 1648Fairfax, etc. Remonstrance 17 Then he fell to play lower. 1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 80 How it was performed, we shall teach lower in this Book. 1731P. Shaw Three Ess. Artif. Philos. 62 A viscous clammy..Mixture, scarce at all disposed to ferment, before 'tis let down lower with Water. 1771Junius Lett. liv. 288 The lower they are degraded..the more submissively they must depend upon his favour. 1782Cowper Truth 170 Your portion is with them,—nay, never frown, But, if you please, some fathoms lower down. 1838–9Hallam Lit. Europe ii. i. §48 We find not a few editions..:—Cicero de Officiis..1553; Virgil, 1570;..Horace and Juvenal, 1574. It is needless to proceed lower, when they become more frequent. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 64 Still farther north [the snow line] reaches yet lower.
b. Comb.
1960F. C. Stern Chalk Garden vii. 74 P[aeonia] obovata alba..is a lower-growing plant with rather smaller flowers. 1972Guardian 24 Nov. 10/1 Lower-paid hospital workers are resorting to a series of unofficial strikes. 1972Times 24 Nov. 2/7 Incomes standstill blow to lower-paid clergymen. 1975Times 3 Jan. 2/3 Teachers should be looking after their lower-paid colleagues. 1975Times 11 Jan. 7/6 Show a minimum by bidding Two Hearts or a near minimum by bidding Two Diamonds (a lower ranking suit).
▪ III. lower, v.|ˈləʊə(r)|
Also 7 loor, lour, lowre.
[f. lower a.]
1. a. trans. To cause or allow to descend, to let down gradually (e.g. a boat, a drawbridge, a thing or person suspended from above); to haul down (a sail, a flag). Also with away (Naut.), down.
1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 611 Being almost at my desired Port, I will strike and lower down my Fore-top-sail. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 17 Loure the Yard, and furl the Sail. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. 198 The Water..sustains these Particles..till.. its motion begins to remit,..when by degrees it lowers them. 1762–9Falconer Shipwr. ii. 384 Now down the mast the yard they lower away. 1795Southey Joan of Arc vii. 548 The foe advance to meet us..look! they lower The bridge! 1821Scott Pirate xxxvi, The sloop immediately lowered a boat. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §9. 562 A summons from Blake to lower the Dutch flag was met by the Dutch admiral..with a broadside. 1894S. Weyman My Lady Rotha xiv. 151 My lady..waved adieu to him, and he lowered his great plumed hat to his stirrup. 1895Manch. Guard. 14 Oct. 5/6 The workmen have to be lowered by ropes down the face of the cliff.
b. absol. (Naut.)
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Lower handsomely! and lower cheerly! are opposed to each other, the former being the order to lower gradually, and the latter to lower expeditiously. 1842Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Smuggler's Leap, Now lower away, come lower away! We must be far ere the dawn of the day. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise Cachalot iii. (1900) 21 We lowered and left the ship.
c. trans. To make lower, diminish the height of.
1858Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrostatics etc. 33 The water escapes..until the level of C has been lowered to that of B. 1870F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 103 The bell⁓cot..had been lowered to the porch.
d. Wood-engraving. To remove by cutting or scraping, or to depress (the surface of a block).
1839Chatto Wood Engraving ix. (1861) 586 The part which appears white in A [should be] lowered out. 1849Chambers's Inform. II. 723/1 If lowered, the designs will require to be re-sketched on the wood.
e. To drink (beer or other liquor); to empty (a bottle or glass of liquor) by drinking. colloq.
1895Punch 27 July 39/1 If you'd just seen me lower the beer. 1899C. Rook Hooligan Nights iv. 63 Out comes a bloke wiv a razzo like 'arf a boiled beetroot... Looked as if you wouldn't like to pay for the 'arf of what 'e could lower. 1920‘Sapper’ Bull-Dog Drummond ii. 64 During the time that he took to drink a mild nightcap, Mr. Benton succeeded in lowering three extremely strong glasses of spirit. 1933A. G. Macdonell England, their England vii. 113 The gallant Major..had already lowered a quart and a half of mild-and-bitter. 1962‘L. Grex’ Terror wears Smile ix. 143 He could lower a whole bottle of three-star brandy without batting an eye. 1974P. Lovesey Invitation to Dynamite Party v. 56 He's more accustomed to lowering pints than lifting weights.
f. to lower the boom: to inflict a physical defeat on (someone), to treat someone severely, to put a stop to an activity. N. Amer. slang.
1950Western Folklore Apr. 118 Lower the boom. In a fight, to knock out your adversary with one punch. ‘I sure lowered the boom on him. He had to take down his pants to blow his nose.’ 1951New Yorker 30 June 21/1 Just as they were about to pawn my studs.., my patience evaporated and I lowered the boom on them. 1963J. N. Harris Weird World Wes Beattie (1964) xv. 186 Wes had been borrowing from everybody and his brother, and the boys had lowered the boom on him. 1973Times 14 July 5 Senator Inouye asked if President Nixon's actions, after being told all by Mr Dean, could be considered as ‘lowering the boom’—the phrase used by the former Attorney General, Mr John Mitchell, in his testimony this week.
2. a. intr. To descend, sink (also fig.); † to cower, crouch (obs.). Often with down. Also Naut. of a yard: To admit of being let down.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 129 The present pleasure, By reuolution lowring, does become The opposite of it selfe. 1680Hickeringill Meroz Wks. 1716 I. 240 For the Crown to Veil and Lower to the Stool of Repentance, Oh abominable and Vile! 1720T. Gordon Humourist I. 92 The brute Part of the Creation are affected by the Turns of Weather; the Deer, we say, runs to Covert, the Bird lowers. 1727Philip Quarll (1816) 38 The main yard could not lower. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 323 When snow is falling..the shepherds drive their flocks..round the top of a hill in a circle, to keep them from lowring and being smothered. 1806H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow I. 146, I immediately lowered down and hid myself among some shrubs. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. i, Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots.
b. To slope downwards.
1813Southey Nelson II. 104 To the north of Helsinburg the shores are steep and rocky; they lower to the south. 1875Lyell Princ. Geol. I. ii. xxv. 638 The top of the escarpment where it lowers towards Ottajano.
†c. trans. To descend (a hill). Obs.
1780A. Young Tour Irel. I. 133 Lowering the hill the scenery is yet more agreeable.
3. a. trans. To diminish in amount, price, proportion, etc. b. intr. To become lower in price.
a.1690Child Disc. Trade Pref. (A) 7 b, Some People..may..not know it is for their Advantage to lower their Interest. 1729Swift Intelligencer No. 19 ⁋5 The Value of Guineas was lowered in England from 21s. 6d. to only 21s. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 172 The value of money is very considerably lowered since the bishop wrote. 1823Byron Age of Bronze xiv, Did the tyrant..lower wheat? 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike i. 3, I suppose your wages are lowered. 1886Earl Spencer Speech at Leeds 3 May, They lowered the rents.
b.1697First Cent. Hist. Springfield (1899) II. 347 Soe soon as that grain vizt Indian Corne lowers of the abovesaid price..then [etc.]. 1823Examiner 448/2 Meat will lower in price. 1891Daily News 13 June 5/5 Poultry is gradually lowering in price.
4. a. To make lower in quality or degree; to lessen the intensity or elevation of.
1780F. Burney Diary 6 Dec., My illness..alone never yet lowered my spirits as they are now lowered. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. vii. 623 The Mahratta government..might have been induced to lower its tone. 1834Lister Anne Grey xxvi. II. 115 Lowering his voice so that she alone could hear. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. vi. 46 The light of both is lowered in the same proportion. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. 193 In washing, the Chiaroscuro is lowered from the high lights..to the middle tones. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 629 Another time-honoured fashion of lowering intracranial tension is by purgatives.
†b. To reduce the strength or quality of (a liquid, the air); to dilute with (water, etc.). Obs.
1731P. Shaw Three Ess. Artif. Philos. 145 This Art of purifying Arracs with Milk, were tolerable, if they did not, at the same time, lower them with Water also. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Lowering a sample [of spirits] to the proof strength. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 8 June, Milk..lowered with hot water. 1793Beddoes Lett. Darwin 39 It would be more advantageous to lower the atmospheric air with hydrogene than with azotic air. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ii. i. ⁋5 [She made] him take a good draught of wine, a little lowered at proper intervals. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. ix, Wot do you go a lowerin' the table-beer for then?
c. Mus. To depress in pitch, to flatten.
1889E. Prout Harmony (ed. 10) xvii. §448 If we take the second inversion of a chord of the seventh..and lower the bass note a chromatic semitone, we shall obtain a new combination.
d. intr. To become lower in intensity.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. vii, The lurid light, which had filled the apartment, lowered and died away.
e. Phonetics. To replace (a sound) with an allophone or phoneme of lower tongue position (Webster).
1888H. Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds 21 In diphthongs of the (ij)-type there is a tendency to make the cleaving more distinct to the ear by divergence, the first element being lowered and retracted. 1927E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse iv. ii. 255 Neither i nor u was lowered if i or j stood in the next syllable. 1959A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. 122, œ̄̆ had been unrounded to ē̆, and ȳ̆ unrounded and lowered to ē̆.
5. a. trans. To bring down in rank, station, or estimation; to degrade, dishonour. Const. to.
1771Junius Lett. liv. 282 His letter has lowered him in my opinion. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. II. 65 The history of Persius had been greatly misapplied and lowered, by being inserted among the fables of Greece. 1827Lytton Pelham iv, In marriage a man lowers a woman to his own rank. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 75 What had passed must have had the effect of raising his own Church in his esteem, and of lowering the Church of England. 1859Tennyson Enid 347 Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel and lower the proud. 1882J. L. Watson Life A. Thomson iii. 44 Lowering his character as a minister of the Gospel.
b. intr. for refl.
1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 45 Thou shalt lower to his level day by day.
6. trans. To bring down to a lower position on a graduated scale.
1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xxi. 344 To lower the melting point of the Montanvert ice. 1871B. Stewart Heat §98 It is possible to lower the freezing point by various means.
Sense 1 f. in Dict. becomes 1 g. Add: [c indigo][1.] f.[/c] To direct (one's eyes or gaze) downwards, as after looking at something in a higher position; to allow (one's head, eyelids, etc.) to droop, esp. as a gesture of humility, evasion, etc.
1826J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. viii. 116 ‘Go, generous young man,’ Cora continued, lowering her eyes under the gaze of the Mohican, with an intuitive consciousness of her power. 1843A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 134 The sudden jerk..brought the shaft horse, who was a powerful animal, still nearer to that side of the road, while it made both him and the tracer lower their heads. 1915Conrad Victory ii. v. 114 Schomberg lowered his eyes, for the sight of these two men intimidated him. 1928E. O'Neill Strange Interlude ix. 350 Nina. [Finally lowering her eyes—confusedly]. 1960C. Day Lewis Buried Day iii. 47 He would at the slightest provocation lower his eyelids rebukingly. 1987D. Wigoder Images of Destruction vi. 229 She looked at me, and I tried not to lower my eyes.
[5.] [a.] Freq. refl., esp. without const.
1816J. Austen Emma III. xiii. 238 She supposed she must say more before she were entitled to his clemency; but it was a hard case to be obliged still to lower herself in his opinion. 1849C. Brontë Shirley I. vi. 130, I never wish you to lower yourself. 1907G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island iv. 103 God knows I dont grudge you me money! But to lower meself to the level of common people—. 1919Wodehouse Coming of Bill (1920) i. iv. 40 He knew no artists, but he had..gathered a general impression that they were..shock-headed, unwashed persons of no social standing whatever... And his sister had lowered herself by association with one of these. 1937R. Narayan Bachelor of Arts ix. 139 We have a status and a prestige to keep. We can't lower ourselves unduly. 1990C. Brayfield Prince xii. 252 She felt she would be lowering herself if she quizzed him about Lady Katriona, or Lady Annabel.
▪ IV. lower
see lour v.; obs. form of louver. |