| 释义 |
nebulous, a.|ˈnɛbjʊləs|
Also 4 -us.
[ad. L. nebulōs-us, f. nebula: see nebula and -ous, and cf. F. nébuleux (1509).]
1. Cloudy, foggy, misty, dank. rare.
c1386Almanack (1812) 8 A thyk tyme, þat es for to say nebulus and cloudy. 1597Lowe Chirurg. (1634) 40 Evill Ayre..is that which is..nebulous and commeth from stinking breaths. 1656Blount Glossogr., Nebulosous [1658 Phillips, Nebulous], cloudy, misty, foggy; full of clouds.
2. Astron.
a. nebulous star, a small cluster of indistinct stars, or a star which is surrounded by a luminous haze.
1679Moxon Math. Dict. 95 Nebulous..Stars, are certain Fixed Stars of a dull, pale, and obscurish Light. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §24 Like lacteous or nebulous stars, little taken notice of, or dim in their generations. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Stars, Those not reduced to classes or magnitudes are called nebulous stars. 1775Chron. in Ann. Reg. 116/2 A meteor, representing a nebulous star, appeared just above the moon. 1801Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 297/1 Through a moderate telescope, these nebulous stars plainly appear to be congeries or clusters of several little stars. 1854Brewster More Worlds xi. 173 Nebulous stars, or luminous points, surrounded with an immense visible atmosphere. 1892A. Taylor in Photogr. Ann. II. 116 Mr. Roberts in a photograph of this region..has failed to find any nebulosity or nebulous star.
b. Of the nature of a nebula or nebulæ; consisting of, abounding in, nebulæ.
1784Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXIV. 438 The interior construction of the heavens, and its various nebulous and sidereal strata. 1826Good Bk. Nat. (1834) I. 101 The nebulosity will be broken into different nebulæ, or smaller nebulous clouds. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxv. (1856) 318 A floating, waving band of nebulous illumination. 1876P. E. Chase in Philos. Mag. Ser. v. I. 316 The position of Saturn.., its low density, and its nebulous rings.
Comb.1869Dunkin Midn. Sky 136 A small nebulous-looking object in the Crab's body.
c. = nebular a. 1. rare— 1.
1860Ld. Lytton Lucile ii. ii. §1. 134 Some mention Of the nebulous theory demands your attention; And so on.
3. Cloud-like; resembling a cloud or clouds.
1805Weaver tr. Werner's Fossils 71 Nebulous—Large and irregular spots, forming with the ground colour mixed colours, resembling clouds. 1838Economy of Vegetation 155 Some lichens..display concentric circles, and others exhibit nebulous images. 1857Longfellow Sandalphon viii, Sandalphon the angel, expanding His pinions in nebulous bars.
b. fig. Hazy, vague, indistinct, formless.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. ix, Nebulous disquisitions on Religion. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) I. 24 The new-risen republic remained for a season nebulous. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xi. 150 A sort of nebulous faith in the Crown and Constitution.
4. Clouded in colour; turbid.
1820W. Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 177 A little of this snow, dissolved in a wine glass, appeared perfectly nebulous. 1869G. Lawson Dis. Eye (1874) 37 There are two forms of superficial ulcers of the cornea: the nebulous and the transparent ulcer.
Hence ˈnebulously adv.
1882A. Beresford-Hope Brandreths III. xlii. 147 The ladies were nebulously suspecting a coming match. |