| 释义 |
speechless, a.|ˈspiːtʃlɪs|
Also 1 spæcleas, 3–5 specheles (5 -less, 6 -lesse), 6–7 speech(e)les(se.
[OE. spǽcléas (f. spǽc speech n.1), = older Flem. spraeckeloos (Du. sprakeloos), MLG. (and LG.) sprâkelôs, OHG. sprâhhalôs (MHG. sprâche-, G. sprachlos).]
1. a. Destitute of, unendowed with, or lacking the faculty of speech; naturally or permanently mute or dumb.
a1000Gloss. in Germania (1878) XI. 398/72 Spæclease vel dume, elinguia. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 36 Þanne am I spirit specheles and spiritus þanne ich hatte. 1530Palsgr. 325/2 Spechelesse, that can nat speke, muet. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxv. iii, They mouthes, but speechlesse, have: Eyes sightlesse. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iii. ii. 39 Speechlesse complayne[r], I will learne thy thought: In thy dumb action, will I be as perfect As begging Hermits in their holy prayers. 1669W. Holder Elem. Speech 115 He that never hears a word spoken, nor can be told what it signifies, it is no wonder if such an one remain speechless. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Sat. i. iii. 134 When the first Mortals crawling rose to Birth, Speechless and wretched, from their Mother-Earth. 1815Shelley Alastor 123 He lingered,..through the long burning day Gazed on those speechless shapes. 1889Mivart Orig. Hum. Reason 287 Speaking of his hypothetical speechless-man.
b. Of a state or condition: Characterized by the lack of speech.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 172 What is thy sentence then, but speechlesse death, Which robs my tongue from breathing natiue breath? 1819Shelley Cenci v. ii. 69 She is as pure as speechless infancy!
2. a. Unable to speak on account of illness, injury, or extreme exhaustion.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 67 Wel longue he lai speche-les þene dethþ forto a-bide. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. iii. 39 Thenne he fyll passynge sore seke, so that thre dayes & thre nyghtes he was specheles. 1484in Cely Papers (Camden) 155 Old Henley ys wyddowe hath beyn specheless thys daye & a hallfe. 1591Troub. Raigne K. John i. 378 Some powere strike me speechless for a time! 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 255 He fell downe in the Market-place, and foam'd at mouth, and was speechlesse. 1675Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 66 All his body swell'd was: and in fine Speechless and breathless was he, like one dead. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 408/1 He lay a long time speechless. 1797S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. (1799) I. 393 The criminal himself..sank pale, and speechless, into the arms of those nearest. 1857Longfellow Santa Filomena vii, Slow..The speechless sufferer turns to kiss Her shadow.
fig.1611Shakes. Cymb. i. v. 52 His Fortunes all lye speechlesse, and his name Is at last gaspe.
b. Deprived for the time being of the power of speech through astonishment, fear, or other emotion; temporarily dumb; unable to answer. Also (dial.) as adv.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 370 And specheles thus ben thise ilke tweye, That neither myght a word for sorwe seye. 1526Tindale Matt. xxii. 12 Howe camyst thou in..and hast not on a weddyng garment? and he was even spechlesse. 1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 68 Heere with I was daunted, my hear stard, and speechles I stutted. 1608Day Hum. out of Breath iii. ii, If speech-bereaving love will let thee speak, Then, speechless man, speak with the tongue of love. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 894 Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length First to himself he inward silence broke. 1711Steele Spect. No. 113 ⁋4, I at last came towards her with such Awe as made me Speechless. 1778F. Burney Evelina lxxviii, Speechless, motionless myself, I attempted not to stop him. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. iii. viii, An astonished Parlement sits convoked; listens speechless to the speech of D'Espréménil. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xlvi, Acte was almost speechless with surprise. 1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow i. 34 The woman's not speechless dumb. She's not clutterin' at the nipple. She's got the right to please herself.
c. Deprived of speech through excessive drinking. Hence colloq., dead drunk.
1881Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 158 Those evenings of riot from which Sir Miles was so often carried home speechless.
3. Refraining from speech; keeping or observing silence; silent. Also, reticent, taciturn.
1390Gower Conf. I. 85 Thanne is my cause fully schent, For specheles may noman spede. 1530Palsgr. 325/2 Spechelesse, of fewe wordes, musart. 1592Kyd Sp. Trag. ii. ii, Bel. Why stands Horatio speecheles all this while? Hor. The lesse I speak, the more I meditate. a1771Gray Dante 53 On my Children's Eyes Speechless my Sight I fix'd. 1848Dickens Dombey xxxvi, A bony and speechless female with a fan.
transf.1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 507 A silence in the Heauens,..The bold windes speechlesse. 1607― Cor. v. i. 67 Twas very faintly he said Rise: dismist me Thus with his speechlesse hand.
†4. Not uttered or expressed in speech. Obs.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 164 Sometimes from her eyes I did receiue faire speechlesse messages. c1600― Sonn. viii. 13 [The strings] Whose speechlesse song..Sings this to thee. 1603― Meas. for M. i. ii. 188 For in her youth There is a prone and speechlesse dialect, Such as moue men.
5. Of an emotion, etc.: Of such a nature as to deprive one temporarily of the power of speech; characterized by loss of speech.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 1674 Which speechless woe of his poor she attendeth, And his untimely frenzy thus awaketh. 1738Glover Leonidas i. 364 In speechless anguish on the hero's breast She sinks. 1761Gray Odin 75 What virgins these, in speechless woe, That bend to earth their solemn brow? 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiii, She gave herself up to speechless joy. 1848Dickens Dombey lxii, Mr. Dombey nods at the Captain, who shines more and more with speechless gratification. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xviii. v. (1872) VII. 164 He surveyed with speechless feeling the small remnant of his Lifeguard of Foot.
6. Marked or characterized by absence of speech; free from, unaccompanied or undisturbed by, speech.
1726Pope Odyss. xix. 251 A speechless interval of grief ensues. 1738Wesley Ps. cxxxvii. i, Her we bewail'd in speechless Groans. 1765Walpole Otranto iv, [Her mother] seeing Matilda fall at her feet with a flood of speechless tears. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam v. liii, As o'er that speechless calm delight and wonder grew. 1855Longfellow Hiawatha xiv. 17 In the great, mysterious darkness Of the speechless days that shall be! 1874Spurgeon Treas. David Ps. xciv. 17 He..would have been wrapped in speechless silence.
7. poet. Incapable of expression in or by speech.
1813Shelley Q. Mab v. 138 Stifling the speechless longings of his heart, In unremitting drudgery and care! 1817― Rev. Islam i. xlii, At night, methought in dream A shape of speechless beauty did appear. 1851Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 90 As the veil withdrawn 'Twixt the artist's soul and works had left them heirs Of speechless thoughts.
Hence ˈspeechlessly adv., without speech or speaking; silently.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, The placable and soft-hearted Briggs speechlessly pushed out her hand at this appeal. 1857W. Collins Dead Secret (1861) 238 She stood..looking steadfastly, speechlessly, breathlessly, at her blind husband. 1895Scully Kafir Stories 126 He glared speechlessly at Kondwana and Senzanga. |