| 释义 |
cor·rupt
I. \kəˈrəpt\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English corrupten, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, from com- + rumpere to break — more at reave
transitive verb
1.
a. : to change from good to bad in morals, manners, or actions : make base : pervert
< there is an opposite error … and that is the belief that children are naturally virtuous, and are only corrupted by … their elders' vices — Bertrand Russell >
b. : bribe
< large corporations made an unsuccessful effort to corrupt federal auditors >
c. : to degrade with unsound principles or moral values
< enslave America with machines … and corrupt it with materialism — Brooks Atkinson >
: weaken, pervert
< such behavior corrupts party discipline >
: spoil, ruin
< that fevered imagination which corrupted everything that touched me — W.H.Hudson >
2. : to spoil or make putrid by decomposition or rotting : taint or infect with infectious or putrefying matter
< a city corrupted with the plague >
3. : to subject (a person) to corruption of blood
4.
a. : to change (a language) in such a way that standard forms become different from earlier forms regarded as better or purer — not used technically
b. : to change (as a word) often by substitution of the familiar for the unfamiliar or by adaptation to the sound system of a language
< Dutch koolsla was corrupted to English coldslaw >
— not used technically
5. : to alter from the original or correct form or version (as by error, omission, or addition)
< the text was corrupted by careless copyists >
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to become tainted, rotten, or putrid
< leaving the bodies to corrupt on the field >
b. : to become morally debased, perverted from right principles, weakened, or unsound
< power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely — J.E.E.Dalberg-Acton >
2. : to cause disintegration, spoiling, or ruin
< lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt — Mt 6:19 (Authorized Version) >
Synonyms: see debase
II. adjective
(sometimes -er/-est)
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin corruptus
1.
a. : depraved, evil : perverted into a state of moral weakness or wickedness
< humanity they knew to be corrupt and incompetent from the day of Adam's creation — Henry Adams >
b. : of debased political morality : characterized by bribery, the selling of political favors, or other improper political or legal transactions or arrangements
< corrupt judges >
< corrupt and incompetent city government >
2. archaic : tainted by decomposition or rotting : putrid
3.
a. : adulterated or debased by change from an original condition of purity or excellence : debased or contaminated by the addition of undesirable elements
< forsook classic … plays for … melodramas that culminated in the corrupt … imitations known as thrillers and tearjerkers — American Guide Series: New Jersey >
specifically : altered from the original or correct condition (as by error)
< many of the original Scarlatti … notations have been deleted … by editors … simply because they were copying an edition already corrupt — D.D.Boyden >
b. of a language : changed from an earlier form regarded as better or purer — not used technically
c. of a word or other linguistic form : characterized by having undergone linguistic change — not used technically
4. : affected by corruption of blood
Synonyms: see vicious |