| 释义 |
ˈprayerless, a.
[f. prayer1 + -less.]
Without prayer; not having the habit of prayer.
a1631Donne To C'tess Bedford Poems (1654) 160 Who prayer-lesse labours, or, without this prayes, Doth but one half, that's none. 1653Baxter Chr. Concord 26 Those that..live ungodly, with untaught, ungoverned prayerless families. 1734Watts Reliq. Juv. lii. (1789) 163 God forbid that any house, among Christians, should be prayerless. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt xxxiv, Helpless and prayerless..not thinking of God's anger or mercy, but of her son's.
b. transf. (Of times, places, states, etc.)
1816J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 28, I could believe That many a Sabbath had pass'd prayerless on Within its holy solitude. 1826Milman A. Boleyn (1827) 13 Scarce a lamp Burnt on the prayerless shrines. 1855Fraser's Mag. LI. 526 The usual connexion between prayerless pride and abundance of bread.
Hence ˈprayerlessly adv., ˈprayerlessness.
a1828T. H. Skinner (cited in Webster), Prayerlessness. 1847Webster, Prayerlessly. 1861J. Stephen Utterances Ps. cxix. iv. 81 A Saviour whose Spirit can lead from prayerlessness to godliness. 1891Home Missionary (N.Y.) Dec. 378 Such enthusiasts may be said to have grasped the rope carelessly and prayerlessly. 1892Dr. Pierson in Daily News 1 Feb., In this apostate day—this day of unbelief and comparative prayerlessness. |