| 释义 |
▪ I. callous, a.|ˈkæləs|
[ad. L. callōsus (cf. F. calleux) hard-skinned, callous, f. callum (callus) hardened skin: see -ous.]
1. (Chiefly Phys. & Zool.) Hardened, indurated: as parts of the skin exposed to constant pressure or friction, or the cicatrized surfaces of ulcers. Also applied to parts which are naturally hard.
1578Banister Hist. Man i. 4 b, With gowmes, which flesh is made so callous, and indurated. 1605Timme Quersit. iii. 180 Callous and hollow ulcers. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. vi. §7 The flesh of beasts grows callous by stripes and the pressure of the yoke. 1695Congreve Love for L. iv. xv, With labouring callous hands. 1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 337 A callous conical protuberance. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 134 Hard and callous skins under their feet.
b. Bot.
1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. 180 The tips of the leaves being callous. 1884Bower & Scott Phaner. & Ferns 174 The condition termed by Hanstein callous..consists in the thickening of the bands of membrane in all directions.
2. fig. Of the mind, feelings, conscience, etc., and of persons: Hardened, unfeeling, insensible.
1679Goodman Penitent Pardoned i. iv. (1713) 109 The frequent injuries done to it [conscience] render it callous and insensible. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 85 Totally hard and callous to impressions of religion. 1776Hume My own Life 18 Apr. in Hist. Eng. (1825) Introd. 4 Callous against the impressions of public folly. 1833Arnold Let. in Life & Corr. (1844) I. vii. 343 It is an immense blessing to be perfectly callous to ridicule. 1844Disraeli Coningsby i. ix. 35 The callous bustle of fashionable saloons.
▪ II. callous n.
erroneous spelling of callus n.
▪ III. ˈcallous, v.
[f. prec. adj.]
trans. To make callous, to harden. lit. and fig. Only in pple. (and ppl. adj.) ˈcalloused, hardened.
1834Fraser's Mag. X. 658 The whole English mind calloused against its efforts to make an impression. 1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xx. 204 On the back and shoulders of the child, great welts and calloused spots. 1880E. H. Arr New Engl. Bygones 108 Hands calloused by toil. |