| 释义 |
cautious, a.|ˈkɔːʃəs|
[f. caution (as if from L. *cautiōs-us, not used): see -tious.]
Distinguished or marked by caution; heedful, wary, careful, circumspect: said of persons, their conduct, and acts. (In quot. 1640 perh. ‘Fearful, over-prudent, timorous’.)
a1640Massinger (W.) You shall be received at a postern door, if you be not cautious, by one whose touch would make old Nestor young. 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. 52 Where deep and enquiring spirits differ, I judge I have reason to be cautious. 1671Milton Samson 757 With more cautious and instructed skill. 1718Free-thinker No. 20. 137 Our old cautious English Proverb allows us to Trust every Man so far as we can see Him. 1795Southey Joan of Arc iii. 18 Urging on their way with cautious speed. 1833–48H. Coleridge N. Worthies (1852) I. 9 He seems to have been a much more cautious man. 1842H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Works 1842 I. 22 Further than a cautious policy would warrant. 1872Morley Voltaire (1886) 67 Patient and cautious interrogation of experience.
b. Const. of (obs.), how, lest, to with inf. (Cautious to was formerly used where cautious not to is now in use: cf. careful.)
1667Milton P.L. ix. 59 By Night he fled, and at Midnight return'd..cautious of day. 1709Hearne Collect. (1886) II. 241 The late Opposition..has made me cautious how I enter upon new Experiments. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 207 Cautious to let the gushing grief appear, His purple garment veil'd the falling tear. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 208 ⁋9 Cautious lest this offence should be..committed. 1772Hist. Rochester 28 Cautious not to exceed it. 1779Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 71, I was very cautious of touching upon what had happened that morning. 1820Hoyle's Games Impr. 5 Be cautious how you trump out. 1821J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 119 The act..is cautious not to tie them down to too close a measure. |