| 释义 |
offensive, a. (n.)|əˈfɛnsɪv|
Also 6 -syve, 7 -cive, -siff.
[ad. med.L. offensīv-us, f. ppl. stem of offendĕre to offend (see -ive); in F. offensif, -ive (1538 in Godef. Compl.).]
A. adj.
1. Pertaining or tending to offence or attack; attacking; aggressive; adapted or used for purposes of attack; characterized by attacking. Opposed to defensive.
1547–64Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) 119 They beare armour defensiue to defend their owne euils, and armour offensiue to assayle the good manners of others. 1581Savile Tacitus, Hist. iii. xi. (1591) 147 A power..sufficient..to make warre offensiue, not onely to stande vppon their defence. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 3 A whole armorie of weapons, both offensiue and defensiue. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 322 A long muzzle, her teeth sharp, and offensive. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 16 Conjunction with them in a league Offensive and Defensive against their common enemies. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 143 The four magazines and manufactures of offensive and defensive arms. 1838Thirlwall Greece III. 229 Ducetius now felt himself strong enough to attempt some offensive movements against the Greeks. 1847T. N. Savage in Boston Jrnl. Nat. Hist., They [Gorillas] are exceedingly ferocious, and always offensive in their habits.
†2. Hurtful, harmful, injurious. Obs.
a1548in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. III. 237 All customys, usages, and maners..that hath byn offensyve to Godds pepyll. a1592Greene Jas. IV, v. i, Beware in taking air Your walks grow not offensive to your wounds. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. viii. §10 Thunder and Lightening are very offensive and spoil the Angler's sport. 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 289 Water Fowl are offensive to the Stomach sometimes by reason of their Oiliness. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 219 A number of chemical substances which are very offensive and even deadly to insects.
3. Giving, or of a nature to give, offence; displeasing; annoying; insulting.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 114 Neither will I commit any thing, which might seeme scrupulous and offensive [orig. quod displiceat]. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 210 Like an offensiue wife, That hath enrag'd him on, to offer strokes. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. xxx. 298 When by long custome the order is once made knowne, it will be no more offensive. 1703De Foe in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 76, I would do nothing..that should be offensive to my benefactors. 1815J. W. Croker in C. Papers (1884) I. iii. 62 The Prussians are very insolent, and hardly less offensive to the English than to the French. 1875Whitney Life Lang. ix. 156 The nursery..has its dialect, offensive to the ears of old bachelors.
4. Causing painful or unpleasant sensations; now in reference to taste or smell, or to the moral feelings: disgusting, nauseous, repulsive.
1594Plat New sorts Soyle 6 Such springes as be offensive in smel. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 213 They [bats] sqweake and call one the other, in most offensive cryes. 1784Cowper Task ii. 96 The rivers die into offensive pools. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne i. 9 The offensive details..could persuade us of the extreme corruption of manners. 1819J. W. Croker in C. Papers (1884) I. v. 145, I am agreeably disappointed at finding ‘Don Juan’ very little offensive. 1886Law Times LXXXI. 59/2 Permitting offensive smells to emanate from certain drains.
†5. Having the quality of transgressing or committing offence; of the nature of a transgression.
1607Norden Surv. Dial. I. 31 The most offensiue will speake most of theyr wrong. 1609Tourneur Fun. Poeme Sir F. Vere 242 Offensive minds were more discouraged By mercie than by justice. 1621R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie (1877) 133 When thy offensiue life mispent shall grieue thee. 1649Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 219 Some things are forbidden because they are justly offensive; and some other things are onely therefore offensive because they are forbidden.
†6. Causing offence (sense 1, fig.); that is an occasion of stumbling. Obs.
a1640J. Ball Answ. Canne (1642) i. 110 In a false church..to continue a member..may be scandalous and offencive, an appearance of evill.
7. In sports, of or pertaining to the offence (offence n. 9). N. Amer.
1912C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch vi. 124 Offensive coaching means the handling of base runners, and requires quick and accurate judgment. 1928G. H. Ruth Babe Ruth's Own Bk. Baseball ii. 23 The change from defensive to offensive play came gradually. 1969Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard 3 Dec. id/2 They picked Oregon's Bob Moore as the outstanding sophomore offensive back, and he more than lived up to expectations. 1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 18/6 Argos had to keep an extra offensive lineman right from the start. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 18 Apr. 6C/1 In 1972, Heard was voted most valuable defensive player and in '73 he was picked most valuable offensive player. 1978Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 6E/2 He mentions the offensive linemen simply because they caught such hell for past Lions failures.
B. n.
1. [Absolute use of A. 1.] the offensive: the position or attitude of attack; aggressive action. Phrase, to act on the offensive.
1720Waterland Eight Serm. Pref. 2 In my Vindication..I was chiefly upon the Offensive, against the Adversaries of our common Faith. 1838Thirlwall Greece IV. 163 We do not know whether..the council now..felt itself strong enough to act on the offensive against him. 1851Gallenga Italy 319 He showed no disposition to shut himself up in Mantua, or even to give up the offensive. 1879A. Forbes in Daily News 13 June 5/6 Haphazard offensive is one thing; judicious offensive quite another thing.
2. fig. Forceful action or movement directed towards a particular end; a sustained campaign or effort; esp. in peace offensive.
1918in S. Sassoon Siegfried's Journey (1945) vii. 72 There are indications that the enemies' peace offensive is creating the danger which is its object. 1919G. B. Shaw Peace Conf. Hints ii. 18 Even when Germany capitulated they [sc. the Jingos] were still under such a terror of peace that they called her collapse ‘a peace offensive’. Ibid. 29 There was only one really valid word in England about peace; and that was that those who preached it were the enemies of their country. Peace proposals were called peace offensives. 1939War Illustr. 21 Oct. 192/1 Mr. Chamberlain stated in the House of Commons that nothing in the German ‘peace offensive’ could modify the attitude which Great Britain had felt it right to take. 1943J. D. Wilson Fortunes of Falstaff i. 1 An excursus on Falstaff published in 1927 is, for instance, one of the more powerful offensives in the perennial campaign which Professor Stoll wages against the romantic school of Shakespearian criticism. 1952Ann. Reg. 1951 321 China..publicly supported the various manifestations of the Soviet ‘peace offensive’. 1970R. Lowell Notebk. 189 You mean our National Peace Offensive? |