| 释义 |
coldness|ˈkəʊldnɪs|
[f. cold a. + -ness.]
1. lit. The condition of being cold, cold quality.
1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §21 Ȝif a planete be colde, thanne amenuseth his coldnesse, by-cause of the hote signe. c1400Beryn 2730 Coldnes of a stoon. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. i. i. (Arb.) 65 Neyther the coldenesse of wynter is sharpe vnto them. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. 51 Redness, and coldness, and the like, are only idea's and vital passions in us that see and feel. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. iii. 247 The comparative coldness of the upper regions of the atmosphere.
b. In old Physiology: see cold a. 6.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. i. (1495) 76 Two of thyse qualytees ben callyd active, able to werke, hote and coldnesse; that other two, drye and wetenes, ben callid passive, able to suffre. 1528Paynel Salerne's Regim. F iiij b, Suche wynes..amende the coldenesse of complection. a1668Denham (J.), While dryness moisture, coldness heat resists.
2. fig. Want of warmth of feeling or cordiality; indifference, apathy.
1557Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 247 So hath your coldnesse caused me To burne in my desire. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxvi. §8 Coldness in affection and..backwardness in duties of service. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 393 Dull not Deuice, by coldnesse, and delay. 1709Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxi. 100, I cannot bear to be accused of coldness by one whom I shall love all my life. 1770Wesley Wks. (1872) XIII. 47 Continue in private prayer, in spite of all coldness. 1880McCarthy Own Time III. xxx. 7 The proposal was received with coldness.
†3. Coolness, deliberateness. Obs.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xv. 84 He might make the constancye and coldnes of the straunge woman more maruelous.
4. Of colouring; cf. cold a. 15.
1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 225 Blue alone possesses entirely the quality technically called coldness in painting: yellows and reds partaking more or less of the opposite quality of warmth. |