释义 |
itsits /ɪts/ ●●● S1 W1 determiner [possessive form of ‘it’] ► its own The hotel has its own pool. ► ahead of your/its time (=very advanced or new, and not understood or accepted) Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time. ► a bird flaps its wings (=it moves its wings up and down)· The baby birds were trying to flap their wings. ► a bird lays its eggs· The bird lays a single egg on the ground. ► something loses its charm· He was getting older, and travel was losing its charm. ► something takes/runs its course (=develops in the usual or natural way)· There was nothing we could do except watch the illness run its course. ► reached its crescendo The campaign reached its crescendo in the week of the election. ► in its death throes The peace pact seems to be in its death throes. ► deliver on its promises The company will deliver on its promises. ► a dog wags its tail (=moves its tail from side to side to show pleasure)· The dog stood up and wagged his tail. ► enter its third week/sixth day/second year etc The talks have now entered their third week. ► lose its importance· The island lost its importance when trade routes changed. ► in its infancy Genetic engineering is still in its infancy. ► judge something on its merits (=according to what you see when you look at it, rather than what people tell you)· The arguments should be judged on their merits. ► of its/their kind· It is the biggest centre of its kind. ► a tree loses/sheds its leaves (=the leaves come off the tree)· Most trees shed their leaves in the autumn. ► shed its load The lorry had shed its load (=the load had fallen off). ► have its merits (=have some good qualities)· Each idea has its merits. ► break free of/slip its moorings The great ship slipped her moorings and slid out into the Atlantic. ► by its very nature Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. ► opened its doors The centre has been a great success since it opened its doors a year ago. ► have its origin in something (=begin to exist)· The ceremony has its origins in medieval times. ► trace its origins to something (=used to say that something can find evidence that it began to exist at a particular time or in a particular place)· The Roman Catholic Church traces its origins back to the 4th century. ► owe its origins to something (=used to explain how something began to exist)· a government which owes its origins to revolution ► be at its peak· The strawberry season is now at its peak. ► fulfil your/its promise (also live up to your/its promise) (=be as good as expected)· This young player has begun to fulfil his promise.· The rest of this movie never quite lives up to the promise of that opening moment. ► live up to its reputation (=be as good as people say it is)· New York certainly lived up to its reputation as an exciting city. ► restored to its former glory a Victorian fireplace restored to its former glory ► its rightful owner I’ll return the money to its rightful owner. ► has its roots in Jazz has its roots in the folk songs of the southern states of the US. ► lost its savour Life seemed to have lost its savour for him. ► snaking its way The train was snaking its way through the mountains. ► a dog wags its tail/its tail wags· Domino rushed to meet her, tail wagging with excitement. ► a cow/cat etc swishes its tail (=quickly moves it from side to side)· The cow wandered off, swishing her tail. ► something holds its value (=its value does not fall over time)· Good quality furniture should hold its value. ► flap its wings (=move them)· The ducks woke up and flapped their wings. ► beat its wings (=move them in a regular way while flying)· The female beats her wings as fast as 500 times a second. ► flutter its wings (=move them quickly)· I heard some birds fluttering their wings outside the window. ► spread/open its wings· The dragon spread its wings and gave an experimental flap. ► stretch its wings (=open them completely)· The cage was so small the birds could not even stretch their wings. ► fold its wings· Gannets fold their wings and plummet like an arrow into the sea to catch their prey. ► wing its/their way to/across etc something planes winging their way to exotic destinations ► work (its way) loose One of the screws must have worked loose. ► reach its zenith/be at its zenith The Roman Empire reached its zenith around the year 100. ► burst its banks- Denied its usual egress, the river had burst its banks and was pouring down the fire-ravaged streets.
- Residents were evacuated from the town as the waters rose and the Ouse threatened to burst its banks.
- The River Deben had burst its banks and people's homes were getting flooded.
- The River Frome had burst its banks after torrential rain and the Rovers' ground was absolutely waterlogged.
► be conspicuous by your/its absence- If I have any qualification, it is that contemporary work is conspicuous by its absence.
► every dog has its/his day► earn your/its keep- As the illustration above shows, even if you just use the Family Rail Card once, it will earn its keep.
► in its/their entirety- The speech will published in its entirety in tomorrow's paper.
- He withdrew it when it was agreed to omit the paragraph in its entirety.
- It is even possible that this residue could be used in its entirety to make heat shields.
- Of the sections I read in their entirety the coverage is somewhat variable.
- On 30 November the Decree on Missionary Activity was voted through chapter by chapter, and then approved in its entirety.
- Only by offering the play in its entirety, blemishes and all, does its content makes sense.
- Or survive the pain of remembering the past in its entirety?
- Such models of sites and structures have the advantage of giving a three-dimensional view and show the site in its entirety.
- The completed cycle was screened in its entirety for the first time at the Venice Festival this autumn.
► find its way somewhere► find its mark/target- But now their enmity found its target in the flesh.
- I doubt whether it could have found its target but the very shape of it in my hands was reassuring.
- It found its mark; one of the suitors fell dying to the floor.
► turn/stand something on its head- "You stand logic on its head when you use arms control as an argument for a larger defense budget," Aspin said.
- Another basic political problem here is that the Dole message turns history on its head.
- In fact, it would turn Beveridge on its head and use the national insurance system as a tax system.
- It turns time on its head.
- Many of these taboos derive from patriarchal societies taking the power of women and turning it on its head.
- Rather than ignore Philips's cherished necessity principle, the Government turned it on its head.
- Resist that temptation by turning it on its head.
- That, of course, is to stand reality on its head, since the industrialised nations are manifestly the real environmental villains.
- The next step was to turn reality on its head.
► don’t judge a book by its cover► on its last legs- Your car sounds like it's on its last legs.
- It's an old established set-up, but I reckon it's on its last legs now.
- The battery, like the torch's owner, was on its last legs.
- Without some fresh thinking the G8 is probably on its last legs as an effective body.
► a leopard can’t change its spots► a life of its own- He still wears a sailor suit, the cowlick at his hairline gives his forelock a life of its own.
- His hands windmill in a frenetic semaphore and his body shifts in ceaseless motion, with a life of its own.
- Its Studio Theatre has a life of its own at the forefront of creative theatre.
- Now the Vaccines for Children program has become a new bureaucratic monster with a life of its own.
- She watched it with mild curiosity; it seemed to have a life of its own.
- Tamriel is a self-sufficient world abuzz with a life of its own.
- The ball seemed to have acquired a life of its own.
- The Negro Plot took on a life of its own.
► leave/make its mark on somebody/something- Being on a Kindertransport was, in itself, a traumatic experience that left its mark on otherwise balanced and healthy children.
- Growing up in the shadow of Olivier had already left its mark on Richard professionally.
- History is what you live and it leaves its mark on how you die.
- I was only a boy of ten at the time, but it left its mark on me too.
- It's bound to leave its mark on a man.
- So Hackney has left its mark on the history of madness.
► judge/consider etc something on its (own) merits► have its/your moments- The Saints had their moments, but they still lost.
- Because, Ishmael says, all men have their moments of greatness.
- But I can assure you I have my moments.
- Even a railway journey with a missed connection can have its moments.
- Those observations made, it should be said that the Herioter did have his moments in the lineout.
- Yet, the show does have its moments.
► let nature take its course- Just relax and let nature take its course.
- With a cold, it's better to just let nature take its course.
- I meant that, in the case of any other industry, we probably would have let nature take its course.
- I think we should let nature take its course.
- Should I just let nature take its course or stop it now?
- Stay calm and let nature take its course.
- The best is to obtain juveniles from a number of sources, rear them together and let nature take its course.
► outlive its/your usefulness- And when they have outlived their usefulness, they are slaughtered or sold cheaply for lab experiments.
- By contrast, the over-hyped Times Guide to 1992 now seems to have outlived its usefulness.
- Daniels said a number of programs that were being recommended for elimination had outlived their usefulness while others had never been successful.
- Even the message on the answering machine has outlived its usefulness, providing no current or future information.
- I question, personally, whether these inspectors have not outlived their usefulness.
- In his view peace conferences were a waste of time; the old elm had outlived its usefulness.
- In order to enhance his credibility Fedora was allowed to expose John Vassall who by then had outlived his usefulness.
- It also includes discouraging cultural traits that have outlived their usefulness and may be otherwise harmful to society.
► prick (up) its ears► serve its purpose- The midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew has served its purpose of restoring order to the city.
- I felt that after two and a half years, the therapy had served its purpose.
- If not a particularly eloquent or clever contribution, I thought it served its purpose.
- It replicates a course of action that has seemingly served its purposes in the past.
- Opening the front door, he placed the message on the doorstep, praying that it would serve its purpose.
- The handkerchief, having apparently served its purpose, was forgotten.
- This star system has served its purpose.
- Yet somehow that spurious report served its purpose in terms of giving labor unions a weapon to wield against business.
► raise its (ugly) head- And here's where the question of spec lists raises its head.
- Another problem will begin to raise its ugly head, in the form of parasites.
► rear its ugly head- At Hubbard Woods Elementary an even more graphic example of the troubled world our children face reared its ugly head.
- Clubs lost their authority and control of players when money reared its ugly head.
- Hence the double bind attached to being appropriately feminine rears its ugly head again.
- In addition, politics has reared its ugly head, all institutional efforts not withstanding.
- It rears its ugly head every time a similar shooting occurs at another school.
- One which is likely to rear its ugly head continually during this piece.
- The spectre of restraint of trade rears its ugly head.
- Unfortunately the same could not be said of the bad weather ruling which reared its ugly head too often.
► run its course- Greenspan suggested the recession might run its course by midyear.
- Once the disease has run its course, it's not likely to return.
- But meiosis in eggs may take half a century to run its course.
- Her academic job had run its course.
- Indeed, the recent pickup in some measures of wages suggests that the transition may already be running its course.
- It is by no means clear that the process of financial innovation has run its course.
- Now, as the debilitating treatment runs its course, Vivian's intellectual skills no longer serve her.
- One useful source was the huge number of glossy magazines about money that had proliferated as the yuppy decade ran its course.
- That agency opted to let nature run its course.
- We would let his interest run its course.
► for its own sake- Weber says he is interested in writing for its own sake - an uncommon attitude in Hollywood these days.
- Are you on the side of progress, or just plain old protest for its own sake?
- But Rothermere and Beaverbrook were not principally interested in the issue for its own sake.
- But Victor Amadeus seems to have had little interest in scholarship for its own sake.
- I can still aim at goodness for its own sake.
- Our mission is three-fold: To undertake basic research to advance knowledge for its own sake.
- Remember what Edward Abbey wrote about growth for its own sake.
- The content of education must therefore be that which men would wish to know for its own sake.
- This is an uneven show, driven by a concept that puts too much value on the different for its own sake.
► be stood on its head► greater/more/better etc than the sum of its parts- Or is the organisation more than the sum of its parts?
► ahead of your/its time- Considered 33 years later, that ad was light-years ahead of its time.
- Hyde Park was a school way ahead of its time.
- It was about 70 years ahead of its time in its feminism and its poetics, so this is its time.
- Of course, Pollock's historicism can he misleading, particularly when it implies that art can be ahead of its time.
- Sketchpad was not only the first drawing program, but was arguably the best, absurdly ahead of its time.
- The idea was way ahead of its time.
- The musical was ahead of its time in several ways.
- Well ahead of its time, Adamson's first album remains his best.
► bring something in its train- The rapid growth of the cities brings in its train huge health and crime problems.
- They had learned that every sin causes fresh sin; every wrong brings another in its train.
► be/become a victim of its own success- The helpline is a victim of its own success with so many people calling that no one can get through.
- Moreover, to a great extent the health service is a victim of its own success.
► on the/your/its way- A University is not some great machine which trundles on its way, going blindly about its purposes.
- Litchfield got up and patted his arm on the way to the closet.
- One member of the team must drink a pint of beer at the start and consume another four on the way.
- She looked at Bill questioningly, as though expecting him to confess on the way to the cemetery.
- The Community is now on the way to solving these problems on the following lines.
- The second went beyond this: it focused on the way archaeologists explain things, on the procedures used in archaeological reasoning.
- There is turbulence on the way back.
- They did not talk any more on the way to the hospital.
► what’s his/her/its name- What about your commitment to - what's his name?
► wing its/their way- His resignation was winging its way to Sheppards yesterday afternoon.
- If it slips then, as it probably will, the Hingston fortune will wing its way elsewhere.
- Out of a group of trees near by a rook flew, winging its way leisurely across the Park towards him.
- Photographs had winged their way across, and presents at Christmas and Easter, with Mammy's birthday a speciality.
- Readers' original gardening tips Another batch of £50 cash prizes are winging their way to this month's top tipsters.
- Small but dangerously exciting trickles of pleasure were still winging their way through her virtually defenceless body.
- Within seventy minutes each plane has been unloaded, reloaded and winging its way to destination cities.
► worth your/its etc weight in gold used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with a thing, animal, baby etc that has already been mentioned: Salzburg is famous for its beautiful buildings. The hotel has its own pool. ► Do not confuse with it's (=‘it is’ or ‘it has’). |