| 释义 |
DictionarySeebeggarbeggar description
beggar (all) descriptionTo defy attempts at description; to be difficult or impossible to describe or explain. My mother loves decorating for Christmas, so during the holidays, her house is fit for Santa himself. It truly beggars description. My boss's incompetence is astounding. It truly beggars all description.See also: beggar, descriptionbeggar (all) descriptionto defy description; to be unable to be described. The house was a horrible mess. The place beggared description. Our reaction to the proposal beggars description. We were deeply disturbed for days.See also: beggar, descriptionbeggar descriptionDefy or outdo any possible description, as in The stage set was so elaborate, it beggared description. This term, alluding to the idea that words are insufficient to do something justice, was already used by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra (2:2), "For her own person It beggared all description." See also: beggar, descriptionbeggar beˈlief/deˈscription be too strange and unusual to be believed/described: It beggars belief that no one knew she was stealing money for so long. ♢ The sight of him completely covered with mud and oil beggared description.See also: beggar, belief, descriptionbeggar description, toImpossible to describe accurately because mere words are not enough. The phrase is Shakespeare’s, who used it in referring to Cleopatra’s beauty: “For her own person, it beggar’d all description” (Antony and Cleopatra, 2.2). It not only entered the language but was, by the late eighteenth century (according to Eric Partridge), a cliché.See also: beggarEncyclopediaSeeBeggar |