| 单词 | to defeat the purpose |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto defeat the purpose (also object, etc.) b. transitive. to defeat the purpose (also object, etc.): (of an action, etc.) to negate or have a contrary effect to what is intended or desired. ΚΠ 1790 World 20 Dec. 2/4 We have no doubt of the writer's good intentions, but..we conceive that the means might probably defeat the purpose. 1825 1st Ann. Rep. Amer. Sunday-school Union 13 A transition too sudden and bold from the silly stories, the very titles of which disgrace the annals of education, to such books as the ‘Four Seasons’..and ‘Anna Ross’ might have defeated the whole object. 1889 Daily News (Goshen, Indiana) 10 Aug. 6/3 The brisk demand for them [sc. low-cost suburban houses] usually induces the builder to ask high prices for them, and that defeats the purpose. 1909 Manch. Guardian 1 Oct. 4/4 ‘Forcible feeding’..is decidedly a misnomer, for force would cause reflex vomiting, and defeat the purpose. 1984 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 20 July Petersen..telling us about the liberating power of the imagination but never really showing us. Of course, to show us would be to spoon feed the audience, thereby blunting the message and defeating the point. 1995 J. Miller Voxpop i. 16 You don't dress up to be grunge—it defeats the object really! 2014 Cairns (Austral.) Post (Nexis) 19 Sept. 21 People are always texting each other ‘let's hang out!’..but then when you do, they spend a lot of their time texting someone else. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? < as lemmas |
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