| 释义 |
nerveless, a.|ˈnɜːvlɪs|
[f. nerve n. + -less.]
1. Wanting in nerve, incapable of effort, weak, inert.
a. Of persons, their wills, etc.
1742Pope Dunc. iv. 41 There sunk Thalia, nerveless, cold, and dead. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 687 Other concurrent causes have rendered them corrupt and nerveless. 1858Merivale Rom. Emp. lvi. (1865) VII. 69 As an old soldier he despised the nerveless mob of the streets. 1885L'pool Daily Post 7 Mar. 4/6 A nerveless diplomatist who has only to be menaced and he will yield.
b. Of the body or its parts.
1744Akenside Pleas. Imag. i. 519 His keen tempestuous arm Hung nerveless. 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 53 His high heroic spirit bleeds, And from his nerveless frame indignantly recedes. a1821Keats Hyperion i. 18 His old right hand lay nerveless, listless, dead, Unsceptred. 1878B. Taylor Deukalion i. v. 43 He seems to slumber, head on nerveless knees.
2. Of actions, conditions, etc.: Characterized by lack of vigour or energy.
1735Thomson Liberty iii. 448 Sad o'er all, profound dejection sat, And nerveless fear. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. i. 15 Sinking into nerveless rest.., incapable of advance or change. 1888L. Spender Kept Secret III. viii. 136 A spiritless and nerveless life had been his.
b. Of style in writing, drawing, etc.
1763Warburton Doct. Grace i. ix, The Western Eloquence..appeared nerveless and effeminate. 1822Blackw. Mag. XII. 719/1 Lord Byron retains the same nerveless and pointless kind of blank verse. 1899Daily News 20 Feb. 8/4 His nerveless drawing, his awkwardness in the grouping.
3. a. Bot. and Ent. Having no nervures.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 881 Leaves nerveless, cloven, points acute. 1841E. Newman Insects iv. vi. 271 The fore and hind wings are alike,..generally nerveless. 1870Hooker Stud. Flora 329 Euphorbia paralias:..leaves..nerveless.
b. Anat. and Zool. Having no nerves.
1862Syd. Soc. Year-bk. 18 The nerveless spots of the..muscle. 1880Bastian Brain 9 The nerveless Amœba.
Hence ˈnervelessly adv.
1850Hawthorne Scarlet L. xxiii, A man..that tottered on his path so nervelessly. 1894M. Dyan Man's Keeping (1899) 339 Her hand..fell nervelessly to her side. |