| 释义 |
zillion slang (chiefly U.S.).|ˈzɪljən|
[f. Z + million.]
A very large but indefinite number.
1944D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte (1946) 165, I love him a zillion dollars' worth. 1947Esquire May 40/2 Faithful to their zillions of fans. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 10 Jan. 10/4 A zillion or so years ago, while I was a student nurse. 1976J. Crosby Snake (1977) xvii. 93 She was going to break the story to her zillion readers. 1983Sunday Tel. 9 Oct. 20/2 Broken Hill Proprietary..is Australia's biggest company and a zillion times bigger than his own. 1984Guardian 29 Oct. 9/2 The whiff of news managers at work, rather than an urge to hear about British Telecom's zillion-pound share sale from the horse's mouth, took me to BT's big press conference on Friday.
Hence zillioˈnaire, a very rich person; ˈzillionth a., following very many others; ‘umpteenth’; n., a tiny fraction of anything.
1946D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte ix. 143 She plays the frost for all who are not well established as practically zillionaires. 1959I. Fleming Goldfinger iv. 50 He's a zillionaire himself... He's crawling with money. 1969Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 15 Aug. 21/3 A sprinkling of..Texas zillionaires, film stars, socialites and international playboys. 1972Good Housekeeping Apr. 69/1 ‘We have strict controls on television,’ said Mrs. Hamon [an American]. ‘We don't hear a zillionth of what you hear.’ 1975Listener 24 Apr. 554/3 Anchorman Peter Snow..said, for the zillionth time, ‘Well, there it is.’ 1983‘J. Gash’ Sleepers of Erin xviii. 141 The Heindricks' scam was so big that even zillionaires were keen on its successful execution. 1984Listener 6 Dec. 26/3 For the zillionth time, the hardback edition only is credited in reviews. |