| 释义 |
star·tle
I. \ˈstär]d.əl, -tȧ], ]təl\ verb
(startled ; startled ; startling \]d.əliŋ, ]t(ə)l-\ ; startles)
Etymology: Middle English stertlen, from sterten to start + -len -le — more at start
intransitive verb
1. chiefly Scotland : to run about wildly
2.
a. : to move or jump suddenly as in surprise, fear, or alarm
< babies who startle easily — Benjamin Spock >
< the nervous creature who startles at every sudden sound — J.H.Newman >
b. : to awake suddenly from sleep or a dormant state
transitive verb
1. : to excite or rouse by sudden alarm, surprise, fear, or shock : frighten or affect suddenly and usually not seriously : cause to start
< startled to see a ghostly silhouette of a submarine — Stewart Beach >
2. archaic : to make irresolute : cause to waver
< can discover nothing that may startle a discreet belief — Sir Thomas Browne >
3. : to bring into a specified state by or as if by startling
< ferns that the first rain startles to green life — Marjory S. Douglas >
< her blank face startled the end of his remark out of his mind — Ellen Glasgow >
Synonyms: see frighten
II. noun
(-s)
1. : a sudden mild shock as of surprise or alarm : start
2. : a marked tendency to display the startle pattern especially under conditions of apparently inadequate stimulation |