每日一词：delve（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接

原文链接


Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for September 18, 2020 is:

delve • \DELV\  • verb

1 :  to dig or labor with or as if with a spade

2 a : to make a careful or detailed search for information

b : to examine a subject in detail

Examples:

“‘My brother and I,’ said he, ‘were, as you may imagine, much excited as to the treasure which my father had spoken of. For weeks and for months we dug and delved in every part of the garden, without discovering its whereabouts.'” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four, 1890

“They’ll soon release a second short, Climate Crisis, and Why We Should Panic. It will be voiced by Kiera Knightley, and delves into the cause of climate change and why governments must enter crisis mode to handle the issue.” — Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2020

Did you know?

We must dig deep into the English language’s past to find the origins of delve. The verb traces to the early Old English word delfan and is related to the Old High German word telban, meaning “to dig.” For centuries, there was only delving—no digging—because dig didn’t exist until much later; it appears in early Middle English. Is the phrase “dig and delve” (as in the line “eleven, twelve, dig and delve,” from the nursery rhyme that begins “one, two, buckle my shoe”) redundant? Not necessarily. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in some local uses, dig was the term for working with a mattock (a tool similar to an adze or a pick), while delve was reserved for work done using a spade.

Lake桑

September 18, 2020 at 01:00PM


评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

每日一词：olfactory（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for September 9, 2019 is: olfactory • \ahl-FAK-tuh-ree\  • adjective : of or relating to the sense of smell Examples: “The glands located between the cat’s toes secrete a scent whenever he scratches on objects such as a tree or a scratching post. This activity provides an olfactory territory mark in addition to the visual.” — Pam Johnson-Bennett, Think Like a Cat , 2011 “Young male anglerfish face the challenge of finding a mate in the ocean’s vastness. They have large olfactory organs, which suggests that suitors follow a trail of pheromones .” — William J. Broad, The New York Times , 29 July 2019 Did you know? Olfactory derives from the past participle of the Latin olfacere (“to smell”), which was formed from the verb olēre (“to give off a smell”) and facere (“to do”). Olfactory is a word that often appears in scientific contexts (as in “olfactory nerves,” the nerves that pass from the nose to the brain and contain the r
阅读全文

每日一词：farrago（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for July 1, 2020 is: farrago • \fuh-RAH-goh\  • noun : a confused mixture : hodgepodge Examples: “Combining these plots is a terrible idea for multiple reasons. One is simply logistical; the fusion turns two improbable but engaging stories into a ludicrous farrago .” — Laura Miller, Slate , 8 Nov. 2019 “Although it’s hard to know anything for sure about North Korea, the fertilizer-plant photo suggests the reporting about Kim over the past few weeks was a farrago of misinformation, non-information, half speculation and outright guessing.” — Paul Farhi, The Washington Post , 5 May 2020 Did you know? Farrago might seem an unlikely relative of farina (the name for the mealy breakfast cereal), but the two terms have their roots in the same Latin noun. Both derive from far , the Latin name for spelt (a type of grain). In Latin, farrago meant “mixed fodder”—cattle feed, that is. It was also used more generally to mean “mixture.” Wh
阅读全文

每日一词：pamphleteer（转自 韦氏词典）

原文链接 原文链接 Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for October 27, 2018 is: pamphleteer • \pam-fluh-TEER\  • verb 1 : to write and publish pamphlets 2 : to engage in partisan arguments indirectly in writings Examples: Though he is remembered today for his novels and essays, George Orwell was also known to pamphleteer for causes important to him. “After the pamphlet wars between supporters of Louis XIII and Marie de Medicis, in 1618-19, several pamphleteers were sentenced to death, and the attempt to arrest unlicensed booksellers led many to flee the country. More broadly, the political chaos brought about by pamphleteering in France contributed to the absolutism of Louis XIV, who used the printing press as a tool of state control.” — Stephen Marche, The New Yorker , 23 Apr. 2018 Did you know? Pamphlets—unbound printed publications with no covers or with paper covers—are published about all kinds of subjects, but our word pamphlet traces back to one particular document. It de
阅读全文