| 释义 |
▪ I. squander, n.|ˈskwɒndə(r)|
[f. next.]
The act of squandering; extravagant expenditure; an instance of this. Also fig.
1709Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1736) I. 27 Will he one Day set it all at Stake upon a Royal Cast, an Imperial Squander? Or descend to his Grave, choak'd with greediness of Gain? Ibid. IV. 136 He..did not care to make an ostentatious Squander of his own Person and Valour, and therefore would be manag'd. 1806Inq. St. Nation 92 (Todd), The waste of our resources, and the squander of our opportunities. 1859Cornwallis New World I. 27 He is a prodigal paymaster, and in the school of squander, completely takes the shine out of the ‘Britishers’. 1893F. F. Moore Gray Eye or So II. 118 There's not much of a squander in the deal when I get value for it.
▪ II. squander, v.|ˈskwɒndə(r)|
[Of obscure origin.]
1. trans. In pa. pple.a. Of things: To be scattered over a comparatively wide surface or area.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 22 He hath a third [ship] at Mexico, a fourth for England, and other ventures hee hath, squandred abroad. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 267 The present condition of the Jews,..now grown contemptible, and strangely squandered up and down the world. Ibid. II. 20 In many thousand Islands that lye squandred in the vast Ocean. 1847Halliwell s.v., ‘His family are all grown up, and squandered about the country,’ i.e. settled in different places. 1882C. Elton Orig. Eng. Hist. ix. 223 The fallen timber obstructed the streams, the rivers were squandered in the reedy morasses.
b. Brought to disintegration or dissolution.
1610Gaultier's Rodomontados D j b, She shall no sooner be falne downe there, but she shall be squandered into dust & pow[d]er. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. vii. §4 And so they would rot upon the Ground before they be spent, or be squander'd away in a moment of Time.
2. To drive off in various directions; to cause to scatter or disperse.
1657Sanderson Serm. (1674) 37 To tend his Forces..against the strongest Troops of the enemy; and to squander and break through the thickest ranks. 1666Dryden Ann. Mirab. lxvii, They charge, recharge, and all along the sea They drive and squander the huge Belgian fleet. 1697― æneid ii. 571 The troops we squander'd first, again appear From sev'ral quarters, and inclose the rear. 1818Wilbraham Chesh. Gloss. s.v., To squander a covey of partridges. 1891Atkinson Last of Giant-killers 96 The stones that had been laid in course, had been squandered about anyhow.
b. Mining. (See quot.)
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 233 Squander, to beat or kill (extinguish) an underground fire.
3. To spend (money, goods, etc.) recklessly, prodigally, or lavishly; to expend extravagantly, profusely, or wastefully. Also const. on.
The most common usage. Freq. since 1810.
1593Nashe Christ's T. 45 Fooles shall squander in an houre, all the auarice of their ambitious wise Auncesters. 1623Cockeram i, Squander, lauishly to consume ones estate. 1727–46Thomson Summer 1638 The cruel wretch, Who..has squandered vile, Upon his scoundrel train, what might have cheered A drooping family of modest worth. 1783Burke Rep. Aff. India Wks. 1842 II. 33 The cultivators..would squander part of the money, and not be able to complete their engagements to the full. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 323 Of the great sums..part had been embezzled by cunning politicians, and part squandered on buffoons and foreign courtesans. 1881W. G. Marshall Through Amer. i. 10 Millions of dollars..have been squandered over the work.
absol.1710Swift Change in Queen Anne's Ministry Wks. 1841 I. 283 He was grown needy by squandering upon his vices. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola ix, To squander with one hand till they have been fain to beg with the other.
b. With away.
1611Cotgr., Fricasser,..to spend, or squander all away. 1661Verney Mem. (1907) II. 170, I have noe great mind to squander away {pstlg}100. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 264 Don Philippo..soon squandered away two or three Thousand Crowns, that were lent him. a1763W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 17 The public money is squandered away in pensions. 1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 204 Our schemes..will..squander away the public money upon unnecessary projects. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 489 Neale,..after squandering away two fortunes, had been glad to become groom porter at the palace. 1885M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird I. i. 19 He squandered every shilling of his small patrimony away.
4. To spend or employ (time) wastefully; to waste. Also with away.
1693Stillingfl. Serm. (1698) III. x. 409 How much time is squandred away in Vanity and Folly? a1721Prior Vicar of Bray & Sir T. Moor 232 Alas how we squander away our Days without doing our Duty. 1757Chesterfield Lett. cccxxiii. (1792) IV. 99 Have I employed my time, or have I squandered it? 1842Borrow Bible in Spain i, They considered the time occupied in learning as so much squandered away. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. 110 Such time I've squandered o'er the history.
5. To spend profusely, without securing adequate return; to use in a wasteful manner.
1716–7Bentley Serm. xi. 389 If he squander his Talents in Luxury. 1758Johnson Idler No. 1 ⁋11 No words are to be squandered in declaration of esteem, or confessions of inability. 1795Burke Regic. Peace (1892) 89 If they were to send us far from the aid of our King,..to squander us away in the most pestilential climates. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xlvii, The extraordinary capers Tom cut on the occasion, and the unheard-of lies he squandered. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 625 The resources of the country were squandered to an unprecedented extent. 1900G. T. Stokes Worthies Irish Church xii. 232 Much valuable enthusiasm was squandered.
6. intr. To roam about; to wander.
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. i. 131/2 But at last (I squandring vp and downe)..I happened into a Caue. 1850Bentley's Misc. Jan. 37 The way they squander about in pairs and single ones is edifying.
7. To disperse in various directions; to scatter.
1823Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 367 Each shifted for him⁓self, and left his brethren to squander and do the same as they could. 1827Scott in Croker Papers (1884) I. xi. 319 The disposition seems as if some Yankee general had given the command, ‘Split and Squander’. 1861Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland 156 His reverence continues his mad career among the horses, who squander right and left in alarm. |