| 单词 | to let down gently, softly or eas y |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto let (a person) down gently, softly or eas(il)y 7. to let (a person) down gently, softly or eas(il)y: to treat considerately so as to spare (his) self-respect. colloquial. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > treat kindly [verb (transitive)] > treat considerately > to preserve self-respect to let (a person) down gently, softly or eas(il)y1753 1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison VI. xxii. 120 It will give him consequence in the eye of the world, and be a gentle method of letting his pride down easy. 1836 M. Scott Cruise of Midge xvi. 280 By way of letting him down gently, I said nothing. 1843 H. Gavin Feigned & Factitious Dis. 32 It is always a prudent measure to afford a malingerer an opportunity of giving in..or in the language of the hospital, to let him softly down. 1863 Country Gentleman 2 Apr. 227/3 The object of these ambiguous expressions is to ‘let the applicant down easy’. 1866 Harper's Mag. Sept. 537/1 How to have the Colonel transferred, or ‘let down easy’,..was the question. 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius vi She would let him down easily, so to speak, that there might be no over-tender recollections on his part. 1907 H. Lawson in W. Murdoch & H. Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 85 I s'pose the fact of the matter was that she didn't cotton on to me, and wanted to let me down easy. 1928 G. B. Shaw Intell. Woman's Guide Socialism lvii. 274 The State..must let the loser down easily; and there is no other way of doing this except the way of purchase and compensation. < as lemmas |
| 随便看 |
英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。