| 释义 |
▪ I. caress, n.|kəˈrɛs|
Also 7 carresse, caresse, (charesse).
[a. F. caresse, 16th c. ad. It. carezza:—late L. *cāritia, f. cārus dear.]
An action of endearment, a fondling touch or action, a blandishment.
[1611Cotgr., Caresse, a cheering, cherishing..hugging..making much of.] 1651Jer. Taylor Holy Living x. xiv. (R.) All the caresses and sweetness of love. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 56 Solve high dispute With conjugal Caresses. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 52 The goat..easily attaches itself to man, and seems sensible of his caresses. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola ii. xxxii. (1880) I. 386 She felt his caress no more than if he had kissed a mask.
b. fig.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. ii. 98 The Scots made all the Caresses to many of the English. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch. Hen. V, cclxxi, 'T wer in vaine To frame Carresses of Discourse. 1750Johnson Rambl. No. 77 ⁋2 When the gifts and caresses of mankind shall recompense the toils of study. 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) V. lxx. 233 The caresses of faction, and the allurements of popularity.
▪ II. caress, v.|kəˈrɛs|
[a. F. caresse-r to caress, fondle, ad. It. carezzare, f. carezza; see prec.]
1. trans. To treat affectionately or blandishingly, to touch, stroke, or pat endearingly; to fondle.
1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 359 (heading) The natives caress them. 1716–8Lady M. W. Montague Lett. i. xiii. 46 She caressed me as if I had been her daughter. 1851Longfellow Gold. Leg. vi. Cott. Odenwald, My very hands seem to caress her. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 141 Isabell was caressing the fawn.
b. transf. and fig.
c1746Hervey Medit. (1818) 161 Fondly caressing this little flower. 1853C. Brontë Villette xiv. (1855) 128 Acacia-boughs caressed its panes. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. (1873) 195 Its prolonged echoes caress the ear.
2. fig. To treat with kindness of favour, pet, make much of. arch.
1658Milton Lett. State Wks. 1738 II. 230 For the Sweetness of his Disposition caress'd by all Men. 1682Addr. fr. Chester in Lond. Gaz. No. 1764/4 [We] do further resolve and promise not to Caress or Encourage any person who shall obstinately persist in courses disliked by Your Majesty. 1728Morgan Algiers II. iv. 287 Sultan Suliman highly caressed a Person, concerning whom he had heard so much. 1740Johnson Blake Wks. IV. 359 Without being much countenanced or caressed by his superiors. 1771R. Henry Hist. Gt. Brit. II. 5 The poets of the north were..greatly caressed by our Anglo-Saxon kings. 1804A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. II. 227. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 128 William was thus busy in half caressing, half coercing, his English subjects.
†b. fig. To ‘treat’. Obs.
1670Hobbes Behemoth (1840) 409 Lambert..caressed his soldiers with an entertainment at his own house. 1699T. Cockman Tully's Offices (1706) 199 Sums..daily thrown away to Caress the People.
3. absol.
1683D. A. Art of Converse 96 To treat with your Friend as a Serpent caressing with the Tail. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 200 ⁋15 Some..offend when they design to caress. 1875B. Taylor Faust I. v. 214 She slept while we were caressing. |