| 单词 | the least |
| 释义 | > as lemmasthe least Phrases P1. Uses of the noun following prepositions, forming adverbial phrases. a. at least (also at the least (now less common), † atte leste). (a) Modifying a designation of quantity or extent, indicating that the amount is the smallest admissible or is otherwise a minimum, e.g. at least two, at least once, at least double.at alderleast: see alderleast adv. at alder- prefix 1c. ΚΠ OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1049 Swegen eac sende of Denmarcon, & bæd Eadward cyng scypfultumes, þæt sceolde beon æt læstan l scypa. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 254 Of alle þulliche þing schriue hire euche wike eanes edþe leste [c1230 Corpus Cambr. ed te leaste, a1250 Titus at te leaste, a1250 Nero ette leste, a1300 Caius at þe leste]. c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) l. 46 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 494 Þis children..werede here here þrie a wyke oþer tueye atte leste. c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 22 (MED) This litel cercle shal be perced..in 360 holes yif it be possible, or in 180, or in 90 atte leste. c1480 (a1400) St. Nicholas 219 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 487 Þane askit he þame to sel vitale, a hundre medreiis at þe lest of ilke schipe. 1549 Forme & Maner consecratyng Archebishoppes sig. A.ijv .xxi. yeres of age at the least. ?1566–7 G. Buchanan Opinion Reformation Univ. St. Andros in Vernacular Writings (1892) 8 The nombre of the classis at the leist sex. 1611 Bible (King James) Luke xix. 42. If thou hadst knowen, euen thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong vnto thy peace! 1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 53 There are at the least in twenty thousand, five thousand unfit for work. 1712 Steele Spectator No. 498. ⁋3 As had disabled him from being a coachman for that day at least. 1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. i. ix. 347 Every cartway must be made eight feet wide at the least. 1771 L. Carter Diary 12 Aug. (1965) II. 611 I..ordered the feet or stoppers of the plows to be at least 4 inches broad and mould boards about 6 inches long. 1838 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. 1 52 The Democratic party was determined to explore at least that portion of the plan of their opponents which involved a present non-committalism on the question of a National Bank. 1844 Act 7 & 8 Victoria c. 84 Sched. (F) The Breast of every Chimney..must be at the least Four Inches in Thickness of sound Bricks. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 60 §4 A session of the Council shall be held once at least in every two years. 1901 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 194 61 The field of view must at the very least embrace considerably more than double this latter angle. 1943 A. E. van Vogt in Astounding Sci.-Fiction Oct. 19/1 I admit it is an appallingly sharp curve, but I feel that we should have at least that much leeway. 2013 M. Lawson Deaths ii. 57 Emily and Tom..earn at least double what the two of us do. (b) In wider use, characterizing a statement as certainly valid, even if one of a more comprehensive kind is not allowable: at any rate, at all events. ΚΠ ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 127 Hereð nu resuns. hwi me ach fleo þe world achte. ed þeleste. c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) l. 499 (MED) Ich þe wolde rede ate lest Þat þou horn knict makedest. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6774 And if i lent þe suilkin beist, þat ded be or spilt at leist..þou sal it quit wit iuiement. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) John xiv. f. cxlijv Att the leest beleve me for the very workes sake. 1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. 355 (margin) Man being indued with reason (or at least ought to bee), knowledge and understanding. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. v. 50 At least wee'l dye with Harnesse on our backe. View more context for this quotation 1639 J. Woodall Treat. Plague in Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) 360 Be carefull to provide them Wastcoates, Sleeves, or, at the least, the legges of old Hose. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 258 Here at least We shall be free. View more context for this quotation 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 105. ¶7 The Book-Pedant is much the most supportable; he has at least an exercised Understanding. 1738 A. Pope 6th Epist. 1st Bk. Horace Imitated 13 Adopt him Son, or Cozen at the least. 1772 W. Buchan Domest. Med. (ed. 2) x. 147 Love is perhaps the strongest of all the passions; at least, when it becomes violent, it is less subject to..controul. 1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 22 I hope..you'll at least tell me, that you do not really suspect me. 1834 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. (1837) I. iii. 44 Have you not power at least over the limbs of your body? 1873 Saturday Rev. 19 July 69/2 With a Government deserted..by friends and foes, nothing is too wild to gain the honours of an unexpected victory, or at the least of a narrow defeat. 1946 ‘J. Tey’ Miss Pym Disposes v. 49 If you had to have a face like a scone it was at least comforting that it was a smooth scone. 1994 H. Bloom Western Canon iii. xv. 367 That should teach us, at the least, to stop terming Peer Gynt a moral weakling. 2014 New Scientist 4 Jan. 3/2 Giving up alcohol for January? For many people, in the UK at least, it has become a ritual in recent years. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at least by the leastc1300 at (the) leastwise?c1425 at leastways?1529 with the least?1552 good1577 at least handa1586 c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 616 He sloȝ þer on haste On hundred bi þe laste [c1300 Laud at þe leste]. a1333 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 15 (MED) He made vulle wyth shyr water six cannes by þe leste. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. xiii. 29 Desist heirof, now at last, be the lest. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 117 The flode was so felle with fallyng of rayn Hit was like by the lest as our lord wold With water haue wastid all þe world efte. 1648 M. Prideaux & J. Prideaux Easy & Compend. Introd. Hist. 28 Uzziah... Had by the least 300700 Souldiers. c. in the least. (a) In the smallest or slightest degree. Frequently in not in the least. ΚΠ 1598 F. Meres tr. Luis de Granada Sinners Guyde ii. xxi. 516 We doe and speake all things with that warines, that we doe not stray in the least [Sp. en ninguna cosa] from the tract and path of vertue. a1616 W. Shakespeare King Lear (1623) ii. ii. 314 I cannot thinke my Sister in the least Would faile her Obligation. 1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. iii. §4 And is it possible..to imagine that the Scriptures do in the least ascribe the Origine of evill to God? ?1699 Dialogue Two Members East-India Companies (single sheet) (verso) To expect their Rights to be preserved, and not in the least to be Infringed upon. a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. ii. 461 I have been surprized to meet with a man in a Satire that I never in the least expected to find there. 1787 W. Beckford Portuguese Jrnl. 15 June (1954) 83 I pretended not to have been in the least tired. 1851 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice I. xx. 218 No sculptor can in the least imitate the peculiar character of accidental fracture. 1868 Stephen's New Comm. Laws Eng. (ed. 6) II. iv. i. vi. 531 So as to restrain or diminish in the least any of his rights or interests. 1882 Cent. Mag. July 448/1 ‘No, it isn't’, he returned, promptly. ‘Not in the least.’ 1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out iv. 60 One enormous question, which she did not in the least know how to put into words. 1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft iii. 61 Where the ground appears to be in the least unsafe, it should always be timbered. 2015 E. Wood My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend 246 It doesn't seem to be worrying him or anyone else in the least. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > in the least or the slightest degree the leastc1400 any whit1526 one whit1526 (not) a wink1596 in the least1608 in the smallesta1616 in the leastwise1676 tint1886 society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > [adverb] > at lowest in the least1608 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 181 What in the least will you require in present Dower with her. View more context for this quotation (a) Among the smallest or shortest. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) i. l. 281 She nas not with the leste of here stature. (b) At least; not by any means all. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at least by the leastc1300 at (the) leastwise?c1425 at leastways?1529 with the least?1552 good1577 at least handa1586 ?1552 Certayne Causes Decaye Eng. sig. B.ii It leseth ye kinges maiestye..v. thousande markes by the yeare with the lest. a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Prophetesse iii. i. in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 33/2 Get. How does your daughter? 4 Suit. Better your Worship thinks of her. Get. This is with the least. (c) to speak with the least: to say the least. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1565 A. Nowell Reproufe f. 117v Emongest whom if you finde one protestante, I can for hym finde one score of papistes (to speake with the least). 1693 R. Bynns Serm. 23 And when we are well enough (to speak with the least) we should be very sure of an Advantage, before we venture upon a Change. 1706 W. Beveridge Serm. preach'd before Lords Spiritual & Temporal 30 Jan. 31 We..who live..where the foresaid means of Grace are as..powerfully Administred, to speak with the least, as in any place. e. with least or most: at all, in any way. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > degree or relative amount of a quality, action, etc. > degree or relative amount [phrase] > in any degree or at all anything like1529 with least or most1575 with least or most1575 for any sake1824 1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle v. ii. sig. Eiiiv Bayly. Canst yu not say any thing to that diccon, with least or most? Diccon. Yea mary sir, thus much I can say wel, the nedle is lost. P2. the least (as adverb). a. In even the smallest or slightest degree; in the least. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > in the least or the slightest degree the leastc1400 any whit1526 one whit1526 (not) a wink1596 in the least1608 in the smallesta1616 in the leastwise1676 tint1886 c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. l. 282 (MED) I leue þat lawe nil nauȝte lete hym þe leest. 1648 Mercurius Psitacus No. 7. sig. A4v Let those Pulpit-cuffers..know that the L. Capell..&c, have pawned their Estates to the Townsmen, that they shall not be the least endammaged by this their necessitated fire. 1772 N. D. Falck Treat. Venereal Dis. i. i. 5 It is now sufficiently proved..that potency and vigour is not the least impaired by the possession of one [testicle] only. 1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack vi. 34 He wasn't the least groggy. 1881 J. A. Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. 351 I am not the least pretending that this has been the actual history of man in this planet. 1935 H. C. Bryson Gramophone Record vi. 147 The central hole has to be made perfectly true, for were it the least eccentric with the grooves, the records produced from it would be swingers. 2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) viii. 177 She said she did this to get away unharmed; the defence said it showed she was at the time not the least traumatised or in fear. b. To the smallest degree or extent; less than all others. ΚΠ 1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin v. 297 A great quantitie of corne, which they could not transport, either for the impediments that they of Rome gaue..or rather by the secret persuasion of the Pope, which was not the least credible [Fr. comme plusieurs le creurent]. 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 101 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors Drunkenness is a Vice they can the least of any be charged withal. 1702 J. Dennis Danger of Priestcraft to Relig. & Govt. 11 The most violent ought the least to be tolerated, because they are the most repugnant to Charity. 1810 R. Heber Let. 25 Dec. in Heber Lett. (1950) vii. 237 The part of your scheme which I like the least is making the library a partaker of your festivities. 1992 Amer. Scholar Autumn 578/1 The dogma of original sin is the one I care for the least. a. any (also one, any one) the least: even the very least, any at all. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 1310 Of here delyt, or Ioyes oon þe leste Were impossible to my wyt to seye. 1537 Inst. Christen Man f. 5v Neyther any man in the worlde, nor the dyuell hym selfe, coulde euer fynde in hym suspycion of any the leaste crime or offence that myght be deuysed. 1586 E. Hoby tr. M. Coignet Polit. Disc. Trueth xxxvi. 165 Without any one the least woorde that mought be offensiue to chast eares. a1591 H. Smith Gods Arrowe (1593) v. sig. Q3 One that breaketh any the least constitution of the Pope. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. viii. iii. 391/2 They dare not..to giue way or conniuence to any the least iniustice. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 150 Whether euer I..spake one, the least word that might Be to the preiudice of her present State. View more context for this quotation 1697 in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Colonial Church: Virginia (1870) I. 14 Without receiving any the least assistance from those Guns. 1738 Common Sense II. 204 Under solemn Ingagement never to have any the least correspondence with me. 1824 J. Bentham & P. Bingham Bk. Fallacies Introd. 4 Scarce in any instance will be discovered any the least danger of final deception. 1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country i. 27 You must be generous, strain point, and call Victory, any the least flush of pink Made prize of. b. every the least: even the very least, every single. Obsolete. ΚΠ ?1568 J. Old tr. T. de Bèze in Conf. Fayth sig. Dijv The doctrine of Saluation conteyned in Gods woorde, must be mainteyned safe & sounde, not onely in the whole substance but in euery the least and smalest parte therof without addition or diminution [L. sed..in singulis vel minutissimis partibus]. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso i. ii. 5 Every the least Trump, did take all the best Coat-Cards. 1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 109 Every the least appearance of a weed or root of grass is diligently picked off. 1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 359 That every the least permissible form and ordinance, which at different times it might be expedient for the Church to enact, are pre-enacted in the New Testament. 1841 Second Ann. Rep. Cambridge Board Educ. 10 Every the least streamlet of charity within my reach being then exhausted. c. no least: not even the least, not the slightest. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1572 Treat. Treasons against Q. Elizabeth i. 14v The whole world beareth witnesse with her, that no least signe nor token hath she geuen of any such intention. 1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies ii. xiii Hee..Whose milk-white Vellam did incurre No least suspition of a Blurre. 1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling ii. ii. §3 Therefore they must be nicely careful to give their husbands no color, no least umbrage for it [sc. jealousy]. 1713 E. Young Poem on Last Day iii. 62 What, no Reprieve, no least Indulgence giv'n. 1762 J. Duncan Ess. on Happiness i. 31 No least deformity, no lightest trace Of imperfection. P4. a. to say the least (of it): (as a comment on a preceding or following clause) saying only what is most certain about the matter, let alone other likely considerations. ΚΠ 1568 T. Harding Detection Sundrie Foule Errours To Rdr. sig. ******iij The taking of aduantage is vndue and ouer captious, or by some sleight of M. Iewel falsified and corrupted, or, to saie the least, by vntrue construction wrested to a sense by the Authour neuer intended. 1598 H. Jacob Treat. Sufferings & Victory Christ 76 This reason will seeme altogeather vnreasonable, and harshe in the eares of some, to say the least of it. 1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies iii. i. 3 Carnall worship therefore, and Ceremoniall observations are (to say the least) superfluous in Religion, and by consequence superstitious. 1689 H. Newcome Divine Goodness 19 Let Swearing be left out of your common Conversation, where, to say the least, it is Impertinent. 1750 S. Richardson Familiar Lett. xciv. 133 His Character is not equal, in any respect, to say the least..to that of your late good Spouse. 1791 H. Macleod Casus Principis xiv. 169 The two Royal Dukes were created by the King in Parliament; which, to say the least of it, was the mode of conferring nobility most honourable to those promoted. 1809 Deb. Congr. U.S. 20 Feb. (1853) 422 To say the least of it, the people will perceive..an uncommon coincidence. 1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) ii. ii. 203 We hold the moral law to be as much, to say the least of it, the appointment of God as any natural law. 1928 R. Campbell Wayzgoose i. 26 Muses Nine, Those strapping girls whose love, to say the least, Would make a rabid Mormon of a priest. 1974 D. Scannell Mother knew Best vi. 59 Mother said vanity was a besetting sin which Amy resented, to say the least of it. 2012 Independent 7 Sept. 31/1 The clinical benefits of the treatment are contentious, to say the least. b. least said, soonest mended: see mend v. 2. P5. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > at least by the leastc1300 at (the) leastwise?c1425 at leastways?1529 with the least?1552 good1577 at least handa1586 a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Ff6 Thy musique well assures me wee are at least-hand fellowe prentises to one vngracious master. b. at (the) least way: see leastway n. at (the) least ways: see leastways n. at (the) least wise: see leastwise n. P6. not least: in particular, notably. ΚΠ 1734 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 47 The Resolutions of the British Parliament..are of too great Moment not to be carefully attended to, and impatiently expected, by all, and not least by those, who will hope to take advantage from your Determinations. 1807 T. Dampier Charge Clergy Diocese of Rochester 23 The sufferings which during a long succession of ages it experienced all over Europe, and not least in this Kingdom. 1869 Spectator 9 Oct. 1186/2 Knowing what Europeans—and not least, Englishmen—are apt to be in such circumstances, in China and elsewhere. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 2/3 Largely owing to American usage, and not least that of Wall Street. 1986 ARTnews Dec. 54/3 Jackowski is a promising painter, through, not least because he has the serious intention of composing. 2015 J. Warren Nature of Crops viii. 141 This ‘vulcanized’ rubber..could have hundreds of applications, not least the pneumatic tyre. P7. law (also principle) of least action (Physics): the principle that the trajectory of a mechanical system between two points in time is always such that it minimizes or (in later use) maximizes the action (action n. 12a) of the system; also in extended use.The significance of the principle is that it enables the equations of motion of such a system to be obtained. [In principle of least action after French principe de la moindre quantité d'action, lit. ‘principle of the least amount of action’ (P. L. Moreau de Maupertuis 1748, in Hist. de l'Acad. R. des Sci. et des Belles Lettres de Berlin 1746, 286).] ΚΠ 1752 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 372/2 There is all the reason in the world to allow that in this principle of the least action is involv'd the most general law of nature. 1814 J. Toplis tr. P. S. de Laplace Treat. Analyt. Mech. ii. 47 Maupertuis..asserted, that in all the changes which take place in the situation of a body, the product of the mass of the body by its velocity and the space which it has passed over is a minimum. This he called the principle of the least action, and it was applied by him to the discovery of the laws of the refraction and the reflection of light,..the laws of equilibrium, &c. 1834 W. R. Hamilton in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 124 252 Although Lagrange and others, in treating of the motion of a system, have shown that the variation of this definite integral vanishes when the extreme coordinates and the constant H are given, they appear to have deduced from this result only the well known law of least action. 1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation ix. 149 The law of gravitation, the laws of mechanics, and the laws of the electromagnetic field have all been summed up in a single Principle of Least Action. 1960 W. V. Quine Word & Object i. 19 The deliberate scientist goes on in essentially the same way..and a law of least action remains prominent among his guiding principles. 1997 D. Park Fire within Eye vi. 184 The inventors of the science of mechanics sought and found principles of economy that govern the ball and other motions; they are generally called principles of least action (still suggesting some kind of economy), and all the great dynamical principles of modern physics are expressed in this way. 2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Oct. 53/1 The principle of least action says that nature arranges all processes so as to minimize a quantity called action, which is a measure of the effort required to bring the processes to completion. P8. method (also principle) of least squares n. a method of finding an equation that best fits some experimental or observed data, in which the sum of the squares of the differences between the data and the corresponding values of the equation are minimized. [In method of least squares n. after French méthode des moindres carrés ( A.-M. Legendre Nouvelles Méthodes pour la Détermination des Orbites des Comètes (1805) 74).] ΚΠ 1819 Philos. Mag. 53 435 The only use to which two or three results thus obtained by one observer can be legitimately applied, is to make them parts of a series obtained by different persons in different places, and reduce the whole to computation by the ‘method of least squares’. 1964 Math. Mag. 37 150 Let us apply the principle of least squares..to the consistent linear system. 2012 J. Stewart Single Variable Calculus (ed. 7) II. vi. 395 We use a graphing calculator with exponential regression capability to apply the method of least squares. < as lemmas |
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