| 单词 | to let slip through one's fingers |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto let (a thing, person, etc.) slip through one's fingers a. To glide or pass easily out of (or from) one's hand or grasp, through (or between) one's fingers , etc., so as to escape or be lost. In later use chiefly transferred. Frequently in to let (a thing, person, etc.) slip through one's fingers: to let go one's hold of (literal and figurative). ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > loss > be lost [verb (intransitive)] adrillc1350 slip1390 to carry away1604 to go (etc.) down the drain1930 the world > action or operation > safety > escape > escape from [verb (transitive)] > escape from the clutches of slip1390 to clap, put, or keep the thumb on1481 to make a loose from1669 slip1898 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 72 In liknesse of an Eddre he slipte Out of his hond, and forth he skipte. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. ix. f. 44v They slypped owte of their handes. 1606 W. Middleton Papisto-mastix xxiii. 152 Many things worthy to be [retracted], slipt through his fingers. a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Prophetesse iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Eeee2/1 Hold her fast, she'll slip thorow your fingers like an Eel else. 1650 Bp. J. Taylor Funerall Serm. Countesse of Carbery 8 We throw away our lives as if they were unprofitable,..we let our years slip through our fingers like water. 1668 Bp. E. Hopkins Serm. Vanity (1685) 85 All our treasures are like quicksilver, which strangely slips between our fingers, when we think we hold it fastest. 1746 Rep. Conduct of Sir J. Cope 110 How this Person..slip'd out of his Hands. 1767 Hist. Harriot Fitzroy & Emilia Spencer II. 233 You have the man at present, and will take care not to let him slip through your fingers. a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) I. 132 Wealth by various means slips from the possessor's hands. 1807 Salmagundi 18 Apr. 146 So, between them both, the lady generally slipped through their fingers. 1853 G. P. R. James Agnes Sorel I. ii. 39 To exercise the authority in the land which slips from the grasp of the monarch. 1868 Scattered Nation Jan. 4/1 A Schlemiel always drops his bread on the buttered side, lets slip through his fingers any favourable chance. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xcviii. 379 Not only has the direction of politics slipped in great measure from their hands [etc.]. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xlvii. 236 He was mad to have let such an adventure slip through his fingers. 1967 J. Stranack in Playwrights for Tomorrow ii. i. 198 Dorinda: And let him slip through my fingers? Not a chance. 1970 J. A. T. Robinson Christian Freedom in Permissive Society p. ix Try to net it [sc. the concept of freedom] in the categories of discursive knowledge,..it slips through your fingers, and you end up..by concluding that it does not exist. 2015 Sun (Nexis) 5 July 69 He let the chance to win slip through his fingers. < as lemmas |
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