| 单词 | to put on the spot |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto put (a person) on the spot Phrases P1. man on the spot n. a local official, agent, or informant of a government, company, news agency, etc., esp. in a foreign country; a person with immediate responsibility or authority; (also) a local eyewitness. ΚΠ 1746 Laws, Ordin. & Inst. Admirality Great Brit. II. x. 98 If there be no Consul, nor any other English Man on the Spot, in that case the said Goods and Effects shall be committed to the Custody of the Cadi of the said Place. 1793 Parl. Reg. 1781–96 XXXIV. 115 We shall have a man on the spot, cloathed with the character of an Ambassador, that we might be in a situation to treat with France. 1837 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 31 65 I also conversed with a man on the spot, for many years a resident here. 1897 I. Malcolm in R. S. Churchill W. S. Churchill (1967) I. Compan. ii. xii. 848 I write like the ‘man on the spot’ The most inconceivable rot. 1955 G. Greene Quiet Amer. i. ii. 21 I always like to know what the man on the spot has to say. 1973 D. J. Boorstin Americans: Democratic Experience xliii. 390 By the late twentieth century the man on the spot, the viewer of the experience where it actually happened, began to feel confined and limited. 2008 C. Robbins Apples are from Kazakhstan viii. 246 These were not the first words I expected to hear from the BBC's man on the spot. P2. to put (a person) on the spot. a. U.S. Criminals' slang. To target (a person) for murder. Now rare (historical in later use). ΚΠ 1927Put on the spot [see sense A. 6a]. 1931 E. Wallace On Spot viii. 103 They never gave you a chance, Shaun. They put you on the spot, didn't they? 1961 Spectator 8 Sept. 318/2 When a rival gangster was put on the spot, the objective was making sure that he was very dead. b. colloquial (originally U.S.). To prove or establish that (a person) was present at the scene of a particular event, esp. a crime. ΚΠ 1928 Detective Fiction Weekly 11 Aug. 735/2 The banker did not dare identify us for fear that we would expose his part in the plot, but we learned that the State still had one reliable witness, who could ‘put us on the spot’. 1956 ‘E. Ferrars’ Murder moves In x. 99 I can put him on the spot at the time of the murder—right—on—the—spot! 2013 National Public Radio (transcript of radio programme) (Nexis) 8 July He can put him on the spot of some of the most violent episodes that these jurors will ever hear. c. colloquial (originally U.S.). To put (a person) into a difficult or awkward situation; to present (a person) with a difficult decision or question, esp. one that requires immediate action or response. ΚΠ 1929Put-on-the-spot [see sense A. 6b]. 1934 G. Ade Let. 24 June (1973) 184 The Democrats have put every independent voter on the spot by nominating [Sherman] Minton at the dictation of Paul McNutt. 1960 H. Innes Doomed Oasis ii. iii. 145 I couldn't exactly say it in my report of the search. It would have put the Company on the spot, if you see what I mean. 2003 T. Richards & E. Blehm P3 175 Someone tried to put him on the spot by asking what the ‘X’ stood for. < as lemmas |
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