释义 |
▪ I. oppress, v.|əˈprɛs| Forms: α. 4–5 oppres(e, 4–6 opress(e, 4–7 oppresse, 4– oppress. β. 4 apresse, 5 appres, appress(e. [a. OF. oppresser, apresser (13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) = It. oppressare (Florio), ad. med.L. oppressāre, freq. of L. opprimĕre to press against, press or bear down; to put down, crush, overwhelm, check; to fall upon, take by surprise; to suppress, conceal; in late L., to force (a woman), f. ob- (ob- 1 b) + premĕre to press.] †1. trans. To press injuriously upon or against; to subject to pressure with hurtful or overpowering effect; to press down by force; to crush, trample down, smother, crowd. Obs.
1382Wyclif Mark iii. 9 Iesus seith to his disciplis, that the litil boot shulde serue hym, for the cumpanye of peple, lest thei oppressiden hym. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iii. 499 Yef euery kynde an order by hymselve, Lest myghty treen the smale adoun oppresse. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 266 He was sleyn at Caleys, oppressed betwix to fedir bedis. 1490[see oppression 1]. 1597Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 230 Brennus..when hee entred the citie so loaded her with gold, that hee couered and oppressed her therewith. 1642R. Carpenter Experience ii. vii. 162 The upper part of a Church fell..and..the women sitting in the body of the Church, many of them were oppressed. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. cii. 493 Fear to put on his hat, lest he should oppress his foretop. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxv. (1869) II. 298 The wounded king was oppressed in the general disorder, and trampled under the feet of his own cavalry. b. esp. To bear down or crush in battle; to overwhelm with numbers. Now rare.
c1400Destr. Troy 5889 [Thai] woundit hom wikkedly, walt hom to ground, Oppresset hom with pyne, put hom abake. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 130 The Englishe⁓men..beyng oppressed with so greate a multitude, thei wer compelled to flie into the Abbaye. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 86/2 Enclosed by the Enemy who exceeded them in number; they gave back and were in the end opprest, and all kill'd. 1713Addison Cato iv. iv, Opprest with multitudes, he greatly fell. 1827Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. i. viii. (1841) 29/2 He resolved to avoid fighting at that time, lest he should be oppressed by numbers. c. fig. Of sleep, etc.: To press upon, overpower, weigh down. (Chiefly poet.)
1582N. T. (Rhem.) Acts xx. 9 A certaine yong man..was oppressed with heauy sleepe. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 1045 Till dewie sleep Oppress'd them, wearied with thir amorous play. 1697Dryden Alexander's Feast v, With love and wine at once oppressed. 1715–20Pope Iliad xiv. 405 With love and sleep's soft power oppress'd. 1820Keats Eve St. Agnes xxvii, Until the poppied warmth of sleep oppress'd Her soothed limbs. 1820Shelley Witch of Atlas lxix, The grave Of such, when death oppressed the weary soul, Was as a green and over-arching bower. 2. To affect with a feeling of pressure, constraint, or distress; to lie heavy on, weigh down, burden, crush (the feelings, mind, spirits, etc.).
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 1040 (1089) Euery spirit his vigour yn knette, So þey a-stoned & oppressed were. c1477Caxton Jason 35 Hit semeth that he hath his herte oppressed with aspre dueil and sorowe. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xxii. 65 Hunger opressyd hym more than it dyde to them of gretter age. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 129 Knowledge is as food, and needs no less Her Temperance over Appetite,..Oppresses else with Surfet. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. vi, These Reflections oppress'd me for the second or third Day of my Distemper. 1783Crabbe Village i. 226 Thus groan the old, till by disease opprest They taste a final woe. 1822Lamb Elia Ser. i. Dist. Corresp., The Weary World of Waters between us oppresses the imagination. 1894Hall Caine Manxman iii. xix. 188 He was oppressed with a sense of meanness never felt before. †3. To put down, suppress; to crush, quell, subdue, overwhelm (a person); to check, extinguish, or put an end to (a thing or state of things, feeling, disposition, etc.). Obs.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 42 ‘Scrutator maiestatis opprimetur a gloria’..Raunsaker of þe myghte of Godd and of His Maieste..sall be ouerlayde and oppresside of Hym-selfe. c1386Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. Prol. 4 Ydelnesse..To eschue and by hire contrarie hire oppresse That is to seyn by leueful bisynesse. c1398― Fortune 60 (Camb. MS.) Whi sholdys thow my realte apresse [v.r. opresse]. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxxiv. 83 Stronge and myghty for to oppressen brybours and extorcioners. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 41 b, That the trueth should be oppressed, and the lyght of the Ghospell extinguisshed. 1579Fenton Guicciard. v, To areare a sufficient strength to oppressse the conspirators. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 745 He..determined..to passe over into Affricke,..in hope to oppresse that rebellion in the beginning. 1647A. Ross Mystag. Poet. viii. (1675) 167 He [Hercules] oppressed Cacus. 1709Tatler No. 32 ⁋6 An Enormity which has been revived (after being long oppressed) and is called Punning. 1829Mackintosh Case Donna Maria Wks. 1846 II. 412 England..who had the power of rapidly succouring Portugal, without the means of oppressing her independence. †b. To suppress, keep out of sight, conceal.
1538Starkey England i. i. 17 Man, yf he be brought vp in corrupt opynyon, hath no perceyueance of thys natural law, but suffryth hyt by neclygence to be oppressyd, as ther wer no such sedys plantyd in hym. 1539Tonstall Serm. Palm. Sund. (1823) 20 His godly nature coulde not be hydde, nor kepte vnder, nor oppressed by any humilitie. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 153 This is alwayes theyr facion, that..they wyll in suche maner of assemblies, oppresse Christ and his ueritie. †c. intr. To be crushed or overwhelmed. rare—1.
c1485Digby Myst. iii. 2111 Now I know well I xall not opprese. 4. To trample down or keep under by wrongful exercise of authority or superior power or strength; to load or burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; to tyrannize over.
1382Wyclif Exod. iii. 9 Y haue seen the affliccioun of hem, with the which thei ben oppressid of the Egipcyens. ― Jas. ii. 6 Wher riche men oppresen not ȝou bi power? c1430Goddis Compl. 201 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 181 Þe poore peple þou doist oppresse Wiþ sleitis and wilis. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 114 Thay ar frie of al custumes, with quhilkes ar opprest the subiectes of vthiris princes. 1620E. Blount Horæ Subs. 309 Euery great man..seuerally oppresseth the common people. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. i. i. 182 That Man divine whom Wisdom calls her own;..Rich ev'n when plunder'd, honour'd while oppress'd. 1844Thirlwall Greece lxii. VIII. 147 The powerful citizens oppressed the weak. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 180 She had been pillaged and oppressed by the party which preached an austere morality. absol.1611Bible Ps. x. 18 To judge the fatherless & the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. †5. Of an enemy, external circumstances, etc.: To press or bear heavily on; to reduce to straits; to molest, trouble, harass, distress. Obs.
1382Wyclif Judg. x. 12 Whether not the Egipciens, and Amorreis,..and Amalech, and Chanaan oppressiden ȝou? c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. iii. (1885) 115 The Scottes and the Pyctes, so bete and oppressid this lande, þat the peple therof sought helpe of the Romayns. 1555Eden Decades i. 20 Fewe of the inhabitantes..kepte theyr promyse, bycause they were sorer oppressed with famine then any of the other. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 37 b, The fury of the Turkes, and the Heresie of Luther oppresse us both at once. 1611Bible Num. x. 9 If ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets. †6. trans. To fall upon, come upon unexpectedly, take by surprise. Obs. (So L. opprimĕre.)
1382Wyclif Prov. xx. 13 Wile thou not looue slep, lest thee nedynesse opresse [Vulg. opprimat]. a1555Ridley Wks. (Parker Soc.) 145 Woe be unto us, if he can oppress us at unawares. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 673 Hoping..to steale into the campe undiscovered, and there so to oppresse Solyman sleeping in his tent. †7. To force, violate, ravish. Obs. (So L. opprimĕre.)
1382Wyclif 2 Sam. xiii. 32 Fro the day that he oppresside Thamar, his sister. c1386Chaucer Frankl. T. 657 She..Chees rather for to dye than assente To been oppressed of hir maydenhede. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 39 The abbote..was accusede..that he hade oppressede that woman callede Melancia. 1613Hayward Will. I in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 157 If a man oppressed any woman, he was deprived of his privy parts. †8. To press, force, urge; refl. to force or exert oneself. Obs. (So OF. oppresser, Godef.)
c1400Destr. Troy 3390, I shall appres me with pyne your prayer to here. Ibid. 9450 Oppresse the with payn, & present hym dethe! 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxxv. 162 If I wolde sore oppresse you I am sure ye wolde gladly pay x. thousand crownes. †9. To press close; to close, shut up. Obs. (Cf. L. opprimere ora, oculos.)
1583Exec. for Treason (1675) 46 Persons that have..stopped their ears against the sound of Justice, and oppressed their hearts against the force of reason. 10. Her. = debruise v. 2. Chiefly in pa. pple.: see oppressed ppl. a. 2. ▪ II. † oˈppress, n. Obs. Also 6 oppresse. [a. OF. oppresse, ad. L. oppressa, from oppressus, pa. pple. of opprimĕre: see prec.] = oppression 2.
c1470Henry Wallace vii. 144 The gret oppress off wer. 1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. xxix. 331 Suche oppresse of paynes and of temptacyon. 1577Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 399 He became in a great oppresse of mind to find us coupled with so ungodly a man. |