| 释义 |
starvation|stɑːˈveɪʃən|
[f. starve v. + -ation. Except flirtation (1718), this is the oldest of the many ns. in -ation formed on native Eng. vbs.
App. first used with reference to the bill of 1775 ‘for restraining Trade and Commerce with the New England Colonies’, which the Opposition denounced as intended to combat the rebellion by producing a famine in which the innocent would suffer equally with the guilty. The remark of Mr. Dundas (Hansard's Deb., 6 Mar. 1775), that he was ‘afraid’ that the famine spoken of ‘would not be produced by this Act’, excited great indignation, and in 1781–2 Walpole and Mason call him by the nicknames ‘Starvation Dundas’ and ‘Starvation’. The statement of Mitford (Corr. Walpole & Mason, 1851, II. 396) that Dundas himself used the word is in itself not improbable, but appears to lack confirmation. The verb starve occurs several times in the reports of speeches on the bill, but the n. does not appear.]
1. The action of starving or subjecting to famine.
1778Lady Craven in Ann. Reg., Characters etc. 204 Behold, our ministers..Who talk of peace, of taxes, and starvation. 1782W. Mason in Corr. Walpole & Mason (1851) II. 310 If it be true that Jenkinson has been closeted..and if..he comes into any ostensible office, I shall not wait for the advent of Starvation from Edinburgh to settle my judgment. 1791–3in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1799) I. 260 Starvation. A curious experiment, which, after being tried in America and France, has succeeded tolerably well at home. 1854Milman Lat. Chr. II. 395 Somewhat later he alludes to the starvation of Rome.
attrib.1802in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. VI. 371, I have a long catalogue to offer to your choice... 7. The Starvation War. 8. The Financial War [etc.].
2. a. The condition of being starved or having too little food to sustain life or health.
1802Sporting Mag. XX. 292 Here are no symptoms of starvation, the hounds are well fed. 1813Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) X. 367 The French..live in countries in Spain, in which the Spaniards starve; and..the starvation of the Spanish armies is more burthensome to the country than the plentiful mode of living of the French. 1822Sporting Mag. IX. 218 The parish horses must otherwise actually have perished by starvation. 1866Mrs. Oliphant Agnes I. xvii. 213 But then was not a married curate the emblem of starvation all the world over? 1867H. Latham Black & White 37 When Lee surrendered, we had come to simple starvation.
b. attrib., as starvation diet, starvation line, starvation point, starvation rations, etc.
1848Mill Pol. Econ. I. ii. xii. 433 Wages may fall below starvation point. 1867J. Campbell Balmerino iii. i. 166 The minister was placed on a starvation allowance. 1869J. Greenwood Seven Curses of London iii. 46 The child is welcome to live on starvation diet just as long as it may. 1886Besant Childr. Gibeon ii. xxiii, In allowing an employer to pay starvation wages to girls. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 313 The two or three Kruboys on a starvation beach can fairly well fend for themselves. 1915Mrs. Belloc Lowndes Diary 3 Mar. (1971) 56 British prisoners..have one cup of coffee with no milk or sugar..a 2 lb. loaf of bread for two days..Practically starvation rations. 1925Joyce Let. 25 Mar. (1966) III. 117, I have now been put on a starvation diet by way of adding to my present pleasures. 1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier v. 80 A man and wife on twenty-three shillings a week are not far from the starvation line. 1957P. Worsley Trumpets shall Sound 15 This does not mean that Melanesians always live near the starvation-line. 1977D. Williams Treasure by Degrees i. 16 The production of pure food..unadulterated by mechanical or chemical intervention..would have put the nation on a starvation diet. 1977D. Francis Risk v. 56 If he caught me..he'd..leave me in the dark on starvation rations.
c. quasi-advb. So as to cause starvation. colloq.
1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, Tommy 18 Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.
d. transf. Deprivation or insufficient supply of something necessary to life.
1866Huxley Physiol. iv. §31. 103 Two deadly influences..are co-operating; one is the deprivation of oxygen, the other is the excessive accumulation of carbonic acid in the blood. Oxygen starvation and carbonic acid poisoning..are at work together. Ibid. vi. §7. 142 Whether an animal be herbivorous or carnivorous, it begins to starve from the moment its vital food-stuffs consist of pure amyloids or fats, or any mixture of them. It suffers from what may be called nitrogen starvation. 1891G. S. Woodhead Bacteria 117 In one case the yeast-cells die of starvation, although large quantities of sugar are present.
3. starvation (cold), very cold. dial. and colloq.
1893Wiltsh. Gloss. Add., Starvation cold, extremely cold. 1899N.W. Linc. Gloss., Starvation, suffering from cold. 1967E. Grierson Crime of One's Own xi. 89 Queer day to leave it open. It's starvation. 1977Lancashire Life Mar. 68/3 They mostly had open top decks and open staircases, and it was starvation in the winter. |