| 释义 |
master-spring ? Obs.|ˈmɑːstəsprɪŋ|
[See master n.1 26 a.]
= mainspring 2 (fig.).
a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 257 b, Knowing them [his men] to be the..master-spring (as it were) which makes all the rest to stir. 1682Dryden & Lee Dk. Guise v. iii, You are the master-spring that moves our fabric. 1784Cowper Task iv. 203 The slope of faces,..(As if one master-spring controll'd them all) Relax'd into a universal grin. 1816F. H. Naylor Hist. Germany I. i. ix. 348 Religion undoubtedly formed the master-spring of all his actions. 1835J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. xxii. 331 The one master spring of their whole course of life for the future. |