释义 |
square /skwɛː /noun1A plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles: a grid of ruled squares...- He arranges thin rectangles, squares, triangles and trapezoids in complex patterns on the wall.
- The 2 X 0.5 m board was divided into four equal sections, with each section divided into 25 squares of equal size.
- In all the pieces, the 12 squares are subdivided into four equal sections by painted lines that stop short of the middle.
1.1A thing that is square or approximately square in shape: she tore a bit of cloth into a four-inch square...- The walls were lined in mirrored squares and there were even small spotlights reflecting off everything.
- Over breakfast he got a Weetabix carton and cut out two squares and glued them together.
- We selected a small square of sand bordered by several logs and overhung with a leafy screen and set our bags to the ground.
1.2A thing having the shape or approximate shape of a cube: a small square of chocolate...- He peeled his orange and ate some squares of chocolate.
- I ration myself to two squares of chocolate a day.
- A sauce was made by boiling down the marinade and adding a square of dark chocolate.
1.3A small square area on the board used in a game: move the white king’s pawn forward two squares...- Each player in her turn chooses one of the squares of the board and writes a number from 1 to 6 in the square with her colored pen.
- This game is superior in complexity to English draughts by virtue of the fact that it is played on a board ten squares by ten squares and that capturing moves have an extended scope.
- Elaborating on the Braille chessboard, he said, the black squares on the board were slightly more raised than the white ones.
1.4 historical A body of infantry drawn up in rectangular form.Then for about 90 minutes the French made a series of fruitless attacks with unsupported cavalry on unbroken allied infantry squares....- The background of a raging battle with canons and cavalry assaulting squares of infantry soldiers left little doubt that this man had served under the Duke of Wellington.
1.5A unit of 100 square ft used as a measure of flooring, roofing, etc. 1.6A square scarf.She pulled on a pair of string-backed driving gloves and wound a silk square over her springy hair. 1.7British A mortar board.An undergraduate in academical dress may nowadays dispense with the square. 1.8The portion of the cover of a bound book which projects beyond the pages. 2An open, typically four-sided, area surrounded by buildings in a village, town, or city: a market square [in place names]: Leicester Square...- The next morning, I head out early and stop first at Plaza Mayor, a huge square surrounded by some of the oldest buildings in the city.
- The center of town was a tree-lined square, surrounded by quaint-looking stores and antique shops.
- There will be free performances in the square every day next week, around lunch and tea-time.
Synonyms marketplace, close, quadrangle, quad, courtyard; arcade, mall, galleria, precinct, forum; in Spain plaza; in Italy piazza 2.1An open area at the meeting of streets.The Barri Gotic, en route, is full of good cheap restaurants as well as being a quaint area of narrow streets and small squares which are a delight to stroll through....- The Bloomsbury Conservation Area is characterised by a planned pattern of streets and squares developed mainly during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
- Near the port area is compact Ladadika, a cluster of squares and streets which formerly comprised olive oil warehouses and markets.
2.2 Cricket A closer-cut area at the centre of a ground, any strip of which may be prepared as a wicket.The umpires called off the game at 3 in the afternoon, with parts of the square patently unfit for play....- We played a one-day game at Edgbaston less than three weeks ago and the entire square was bone dry.
- You could see how good he was then, but he couldn't get the ball off the square.
2.3An area within a military barracks or camp used for drill.Senior Army officers tell us that these camps are little more than squares for drills and target practices....- They filled the parade square of Howe Barracks as the soldiers arrived by coach from nearby Manston Airport where they had touched down a couple of hours earlier.
- I recall ‘unflattering remarks’ aimed at me on the drill square.
2.4US A block of buildings bounded by four streets.Security was tight in the US capital and 100 square blocks were sealed to traffic....- Los Angeles has the largest skid row in the nation, stretching across 50 square blocks.
- There are roughly 9,000 junkies in 30 square blocks in Vancouver's downtown eastside.
3The product of a number multiplied by itself: a circle’s area is proportional to the square of its radius...- Consider, for example, the Pythagorean theorem that the square on the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.
- After giving further results of this type he gives his famous result that the distance that a body moves from rest under uniform acceleration is proportional to the square of the time taken.
- In other words, the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the triangle's two legs.
4An L-shaped or T-shaped instrument used for obtaining or testing right angles: a carpenter’s square...- Hold a carpenter's square with the long tongue against the back wall and slide it into the corner.
- Be sure, therefore, that each line is running exactly along each arm of the square.
- Then mark the ends of the joists at this point and draw a line across them with a combination square.
4.1 [mass noun] Astrology An aspect of 90° (one quarter of a circle): Venus in square to Jupiter...- Yet he actually had Neptune in square to Jupiter!
- Sirius was in square to the Moon and also to Mercury in the 8th house, while Procyon was in square to Venus in the 8th.
- His Venus was in square from Gemini, sign of plurality, or at least duality.
5 informal A person considered to be old-fashioned or boringly conventional in attitude or behaviour: Reg is such a square...- He's a plodding, conventional square, she's a get-ahead, modern girl who doesn't need to cling to conventional wisdom.
- Come on Maggie: don't be such a square.
- She called me so many things
she said I was old-fashioned, stubborn and a square for not allowing her to go.
Synonyms (old) fogey, conservative, traditionalist, conventionalist, diehard, conformist, bourgeois, museum piece, fossil, dinosaur, troglodyte informal stick-in-the-mud, fuddy-duddy, back number, stuffed shirt North American informal sobersides 6North American informal A square meal: three squares a day...- Mine was a lousy job. There must be a better way of making three squares a day.
- The concept of three squares a day is obsolete: the new theory calls for several smaller meals to keep your metabolism churning.
- My crew is pretty lucky, though - I like to see they get three squares a day.
adjective1Having the shape or approximate shape of a square: a square table...- There are both round and square tables with excellent access for wheelchairs and walking frames.
- He sat down at the small, square table across from her, chuckling a little.
- In the middle of the room was a large square table.
Synonyms quadrilateral, rectangular, oblong, right-angled, at right angles, perpendicular; straight, straight on, level, parallel, horizontal, upright, vertical, true, plane; cubic 1.1Having the shape or approximate shape of a cube: a square block of flats...- He handed me a square flat black box with a white ribbon.
- With a light shake of his head, Michael laughed and drained the last of his Coke, square ice cubes clinking against the clear glass.
- There was at least one other pocket watch that he could see, and several wristwatches, and square jeweler's boxes in worn blue and green velvet.
1.2Having or in the form of two right angles: a suitable length of wood with square ends...- Failing to make your foundation square is the easiest way to have an awful time building a greenhouse.
- No angle is square, so it's more time consuming and is much more expensive.
- Take the optical cable that came with your MD Recorder and plug the square end into your sound card.
1.3Having an outline resembling two corners of a square: his square jaw...- You can see the determination in the square outline of his jaw, the jutting staunchness of his features.
- Certainly, with his impressive build and square jaw, McConaughey looks like he could take on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck simultaneously without breaking a sweat.
- He has a square jaw, a scar above his top lip and a gold stud in his left nostril.
1.4Broad and solid in shape: he was short and square...- She had a square face and long broad facial features.
- His solid, square face is red from the cold air outside, and when he bends down to kiss Cynthia she pulls back from his cold lips, laughing.
- The warden was a tall, square woman with broad shoulders and a horsey face.
2Denoting a unit of measurement equal to the area of a square whose side is of the unit specified: 30,000 square feet of new gallery space...- It has been estimated that an individual polar bear will cover an area equal to 259,000 square kilometres during its lifetime.
- Real estate agents said the four units have a total floor area of about 5,700 square feet.
- The two-storey Victorian property has 242 square metres of living space.
2.1 [postpositive] Denoting the length of each side of a square shape or object: the office was fifteen feet square...- They were clinging to a rock about 4 metres square and barely one metre above the sea.
- He had begun work on a small cabin, approximately twelve to thirteen feet square.
- At present our sports hall is tiny - about nine metres square.
3At right angles; perpendicular: these lines must be square to the top and bottom marked edges...- Tack the lower two boards directly to your workbench to help hold the jig square.
- Nail a temporary brace diagonally across the unit to keep it square and stable.
- The doorframe must be as square as possible, so that the door seals tightly to the jamb and swings properly.
3.1 Cricket & Soccer In a direction transversely across the field or pitch: Keen’s square pass was rammed home first time by Bishop...- When he eventually tries a square pass to van Persie, some defender makes a desperate sliding clearance.
- Hogg then outpaced the Beckwithshaw defence during a swift break and his square pass into the penalty-area was gleefully blasted home by Braithwaite from 12 yards.
- There were 12 minutes left on the watch when he received a square pass from Yorke 20 yards inside the Tottenham half.
3.2 Astrology Having or denoting an aspect of 90°: Jupiter is square to the Sun...- The main significators, Sun and Saturn, are beginning to separate from a square aspect.
- It is in square aspect to the Sun and Mercury in Scorpio, which occupy the ninth house.
- Your Mars also receives a square aspect from your Moon, which is important.
4Level or parallel: place two pieces of wood one on top of the other, ensuring that they are exactly square...- Keep your hips square to the ceiling, and try to avoid letting your pelvis rotate.
- Use the 3-4 - 5 triangle technique to check that your lines are perfectly square.
4.1Properly arranged; in good order: we should get everything square before we leave...- You can't omit people and then act like we'll just start like everything is square and even when, in fact, it was not and is not.
4.2Compatible or in agreement: he wanted to make sure we were square with the court’s decision and not subject to a lawsuit 4.3Fair and honest: she’d been as square with him as anybody could be...- I guess that I should be square with you too.
- We don't know who she is, she's got no reason to be square with us.
- It's the beginning of an attempt to be straight and square with the American people.
Synonyms fair, honest, just, equitable, straight, true, upright, above board, ethical, decent, proper, right and proper, honourable, genuine informal on the level 5(Of two people) owing nothing to each other: an acknowledgement that we are square...- So in my eyes, we're square. All debts settled.
- ‘I need you to do one more thing for me,’ Xavier said. ‘Then we're square.’
5.1With both players or sides having equal scores in a game: the goal brought the match all square once again...- It seems to have escaped the attention of certain parts of the BBC that we are all square with two tests still to play.
- Andy Day had given them the lead with a 40-yard shot into the top corner, but by the half-time whistle it was all square as the Swans replied with a Scott strike.
- Wilsden then equalised from a corner to make it all square at the break.
Synonyms level, even, drawn, equal, all square, tied, balanced, on a level, in a position of equality; close together, neck and neck, level pegging, nip and tuck, side by side, on a par, evenly matched, with nothing to choose between them informal even-steven(s) 6 informal Old-fashioned or boringly conventional: Elvis was anything but square...- From now on, he would no longer be boring old Harry the square Republican.
- I was reminded of a study that suggests children who develop a fascination with celebrities are likely to be more popular and better adjusted than their squarer peers.
- I think he was either too square or too hip to even know who Mike Read was.
Synonyms old-fashioned, behind the times, out of date, conservative, traditionalist, conventional, diehard, conformist, bourgeois, strait-laced, fogeyish, stuffy, unadventurous, boring informal stick-in-the-mud, fuddy-duddy 7(Of rhythm) simple and straightforward.The opening sinfonia for strings and trombones is remarkably like several opera overtures of the time, with square rhythms....- At a time when recordings are showing the virtues of an airy, singer-centered style in Handel, the old square rhythm is hard to support.
adverb1Directly; straight: the ball hit me square in the forehead...- Sheldon grabbed a piece of wood, twisted her body around and hit the man square in the face.
- I punched him square in the face, but he did not let go.
- He turns around and kicks the photographer square in the forehead.
1.1 informal Fairly; honestly: I’d acted square with him...- He had a couple of thousands to invest, and would give me a good commission if I acted square with him.
2 Cricket & Soccer In a direction transversely across the field or pitch: the ball bounced almost square to the left...- He hit the right post with a penalty kick and the ball bounced almost square to the left.
- Ponting cracked 25 runs square on the leg side, and another 26 in the arc between midwicket and long on.
- In the 42nd minute, he blasted a free hit from the right into the circle, where Gordon Moore deflected square to give Western the lead.
verb [with object]1Make square or rectangular; give a square or rectangular cross section to: you can square off the other edge...- The island is particularly well known for its whaling boats, pointed at both ends (most Caribbean boats have squared keels) and up to about thirty feet long.
- The trigger is gently curved and smooth, as all good double action triggers should be, and the front of the trigger guard is squared slightly and grooved.
- Cut the roll into six equal pieces and square off the ends.
1.1 (usually as adjective squared) Mark out in squares: a sheet of squared paper...- One-third of the island's population converges daily into Fort-de-France, whose narrow symmetrically squared streets are as congested during the day as they are empty at night.
- Try to copy one of the designs on squared paper in such a way that each unit square has only one colour.
2Multiply (a number) by itself: 5 squared equals 25...- If you square the radius times the pi, you will get the circle's space.
- Such a sequence consists of the remainders, or residues, after squaring consecutive whole numbers, then dividing them by a given prime number.
- ‘When air traffic doubles, the risk of collision is squared,’ he said.
2.1 [usually as postpositive adjective] ( squared) Convert (a linear unit of measurement) to a unit of area equal to a square whose side is of the unit specified: there were only three people per kilometre squared...- It occupies a continental surface area of 27,791,810 km squared.
- The average heat loss from a single glazed window is 5 watts per metre squared.
- Surface gravity is just under nine meters per second squared.
3Make compatible; reconcile: I’m able to square my profession with my religious beliefs...- How will she square this with her conscience?
- All this and yet no one had the nerve to stand up and publicly ask the deceitful politician how he squared his public policy positions with his private life?
- He is asked how he can square the bellicose God of the Old Testament with his ideas on peace and love.
3.1 [no object] Be compatible: do those announcements really square with the facts?...- Although the losses have been severe, the charge that those jobs were eliminated by foreign competition simply doesn't square with the facts.
- Sometimes well-corroborated theories have had to be rejected because they failed to square with newly available evidence.
- Somehow that doesn't square with his kinship with Martin Luther King.
Synonyms agree, tally, be in agreement, be consistent, match up, correspond, fit, coincide, accord, conform, be in harmony, harmonize, be consonant, be compatible, be congruous 4Balance (an account): institutions are anxious to square their books before the election...- Austin promised Telenor a consultancy invoice to square their accounts.
- Punishment was meted out to suit the offense; once it had been administered, the account was squared, and no wise clan lord or war leader continued to hold the past against his followers.
- If the other pitcher threw at one of your players, then you had to square the account.
4.1Settle or pay (a bill or debt): would you square up the bill?...- Unfortunately for Peregrine, investors' interest in the bonds disappeared when the financial crisis broke and it was unable to square its position.
- Although it did recover its poise for a time, it fell away towards the close as traders decided to square any outstanding positions.
- Later, as we enjoyed a complimentary drink back at the cabin while we squared up the bill, he attempted his first bit of chitchat with me.
Synonyms pay, pay in full, settle, settle up, discharge, clear; defray, liquidate, satisfy, meet, account for, make good 4.2Make the score of (a match or game) even: [with object and complement]: his goal squared the match 1-1...- The Swede, one of the top putters on the European tour, missed another four-foot birdie on the 12th that would have squared the match.
- Twist, the number one seed, missed a great chance to square the match at 8-8.
- By his own standards, Bowe struggled at times but he did produce a magnificent birdie when most needed at the testing 17th to square the match.
Synonyms 5Bring (one’s shoulders) into a position in which they appear square and broad, typically to prepare oneself for a difficult task or event: chin up, shoulders squared, she stepped into the room...- At the mention of such a grown-up task, Alex squared his shoulders and assented that yes, he had protected his mother from all sorts of dangers while his father was away.
- Sighing, I squared my shoulders and prepared myself for the nightmare soon to commence.
- At first Lydia was uncomfortable, but then she seemed to square her shoulders and prepare herself.
6 informal Secure the help or acquiescence of (someone), especially by offering an inducement: trying to square the press...- It is an attempt to square their own backbenchers, but they have failed to satisfy them and we are now set for a battle royal.
- There was a time that, when a French president spoke - as long as the Germans were squared (and they usually were by the Franco-German axis) - he could presume to speak for the EU.
- Reynaud therefore decided that it would be necessary to get rid of both men, and he spent the following weeks squaring political heavyweights so as to isolate Daladier.
Synonyms bribe, buy off, buy, corrupt, suborn, give an inducement to informal grease someone's palm, give a backhander to, give a sweetener to 7 Soccer Pass (a ball) across the field, especially towards the centre.The Norwegian midfielder squared the ball to Viduka, who simply side-footed home what proved to be the winner....- Giggs was never going to be caught and he squared a ball into the centre at speed.
- A minute later Kendal's new recruit Simon Garner missed his tackle on the left and Craig Hopkins raced to the byline before squaring the ball to Taylor.
8 Sailing Set (a yard or other part of a ship) at right angles to the keel or other point of reference. 9 Astrology (Of a planet) have a square aspect with (another planet or position): Saturn squares the Sun on the 17th...- Most of the charts had a square to the Moon and the planet squaring the Moon was Pluto or Uranus.
- It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
- As it squares your natal moon in Scorpio, anything that affects your moon-ruled Cancer placements - sun, Mercury and Saturn - will hit you rather hard.
Phrasesback to (or at) square one on the square out of square square accounts with square the circle a square deal a square peg in a round hole Phrasal verbssquare something away square off square someone off square up Derivativessquareness /ˈskwɛːnəs/ noun ...- His career went into a tailspin as the children of the '60s rejected squareness.
- Although Nadia has a wide forehead and a slightly pointed chin, because her face narrows around her cheekbones her face shape would be most likely classified as heart-shaped with a touch of squareness.
- The problem is that Ross often misinterprets the appeal of retro entertainment, ignoring the sophistication of the classics while exaggerating their squareness.
squarish adjective ...- Grill rashers of smoked streaky bacon until crisp and cut into small squarish pieces.
- The site is squarish, sloping from north to south, on a corner of two roads in an area where nineteenth- and twentieth-century villas are scattered lightly through the woods.
- The canvas is covered with squarish patches of paint, a lot of them light blue but also greens, yellows, oranges and reds.
OriginMiddle English: shortening of Old French esquare (noun), esquarre (past participle, used as an adjective), esquarrer (verb), based on Latin quadra 'square'. A word that comes via Old French esquare from Latin quadra ‘square’. Squad (mid 17th century) and squadron (mid 16th century), which originally meant a group of soldiers in square formation, come via French from the Italian form squadra. The rather odd term a square meal is sometimes said to derive from the square wooden platters on which meals were served on board ship. More likely, though, is that (as with ‘square deal’ and ‘fair and square’) square simply suggests something that is ‘honest’, ‘straightforward’, or ‘right’, with the additional idea that it has been solidly or properly constructed. The word was used since the 17th century to mean ‘honourable, upright’, which gave us the square person who is old-fashioned or boringly conventional. To square the circle is to do something impossible. The phrase refers to the mathematical problem of constructing a square equal in area to a given circle, a problem which cannot be solved by purely geometrical means, though this has not stopped mathematicians from the ancient Greeks onwards from trying to solve the puzzle. The use of square up in reference to a person about to fight comes from the typical posture adopted, with the shoulders back and the fists held out at right angles. It is first found in the 1820s.
Rhymesaffair, affaire, air, Altair, Althusser, Anvers, Apollinaire, Astaire, aware, Ayer, Ayr, bare, bear, bêche-de-mer, beware, billionaire, Blair, blare, Bonaire, cafetière, care, chair, chargé d'affaires, chemin de fer, Cher, Clair, Claire, Clare, commissionaire, compare, concessionaire, cordon sanitaire, couvert, Daguerre, dare, debonair, declare, derrière, despair, doctrinaire, éclair, e'er, elsewhere, ensnare, ere, extraordinaire, Eyre, fair, fare, fayre, Finisterre, flair, flare, Folies-Bergère, forbear, forswear, foursquare, glair, glare, hair, hare, heir, Herr, impair, jardinière, Khmer, Kildare, La Bruyère, lair, laissez-faire, legionnaire, luminaire, mal de mer, mare, mayor, meunière, mid-air, millionaire, misère, Mon-Khmer, multimillionaire, ne'er, Niger, nom de guerre, outstare, outwear, pair, pare, parterre, pear, père, pied-à-terre, Pierre, plein-air, prayer, questionnaire, rare, ready-to-wear, rivière, Rosslare, Santander, savoir faire, scare, secretaire, share, snare, solitaire, Soufrière, spare, stair, stare, surface-to-air, swear, Tailleferre, tare, tear, their, there, they're, vin ordinaire, Voltaire, ware, wear, Weston-super-Mare, where, yeah |