| 释义 |
soft-boiled, a.
[f. soft-boil vb. s.v. soft a. 32.]
1. Of an egg: boiled but not hard-boiled. Also transf.
1889Kipling in Macmillan's Mag. Dec. 153/1 You niver had a head worth a soft-boiled egg. 1906Woman's Home Companion Nov. 5/3, I have plenty of towels and soap and soft-boiled eggs. 1948W. Stevens Let. 2 Apr. (1967) 582 How good grated Parmesan is on soft-boiled eggs. 1954― Let. 23 July (1967) 841 The weather has been all sparkle with a hot day and soft-boiled night thrown in now and then. 1975J. McClure Snake iii. 37 His big, soft-boiled eyes, with pouches beneath them like black egg-cups.
2. Of a person: mild, easy-going; naïve, impractical; opp. hard-boiled a. 2.
a1930D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 258 O you hard-boiled conservatives and you soft-boiled liberals Don't you see how you make bolshevism inevitable? 1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags iii. 191 Father's friends were all hard-boiled and rich... And then I met Cedric who was poor and very, very soft-boiled. 1963Times 26 Feb. 16/4 But, say the T.V.A. enthusiasts, there is a psychological stimulus in receiving a rebate as opposed to merely not paying tax from the start. Is the British businessman really so soft-boiled? 1978D. Grylls Guardians & Angels iv. 142 Dickens['s]..pantheon is crammed with a soft-boiled array of credulous infantile adults. |