| 释义 |
strong man
1. A man of great physical strength; spec., one who displays his strength professionally, as in a circus.
1699Flying Post 14–16 Nov. 2/1 The strong Kentish Man, gave three Proofs of his extraordinary Strength before his Majesty. 1734Desaguliers Course Exper. Phil. I. 259, I have observ'd the pretended Strong Man sometimes to have a short strong Stick [etc.]. 1734in Fairholt Eccentric Char. (1849) I. 50 The strong man of Islington. 1745Ibid. 54 Thomas Topham, Commonly called the Strong Man. 1841Thackeray Loose Sk. ii, in Britannia 15 May 315/3 A vast number of booths and exhibitions..no less than four companies of strongmen..‘the Indian strong men’; ‘the strong men with the fairy pony’, &c. 1872Browning Fifine 23 The Strong Man, whom..by-and-by You shall behold do feats. 1908Variety 16 May 15 Blocksom and Burns, the ‘strong’ men,..have bookings at hand which, if accepted, will keep them busily playing in the west all summer. 1954[see beefcake s.v. beef n. 5]. 1977C. Wood James Bond xii. 99 He was..the product of a union between the strong man of a travelling circus and the Chief Wardress at the Women's Prison.
2. A dominating man; the man who exercises effective control of an organization; spec., one who exercises absolute political power.
1859Mill Liberty iii. 119, I am not countenancing the sort of ‘hero-worship’ which applauds the strong man of genius for forcibly seizing on the government of the world and making it do his bidding in spite of itself. 1879Nation XXX. 1 (Cent.) He wants to show the party that he too can be a ‘Strong Man’ on a pinch. 1886Kipling Plain Tales from Hills (1888) 89 He called on the biggest and strongest man that the Government owned, and explained that he wanted an appointment at Simla on a good salary. The compound insolence of this amused the Strong Man. 1924A. D. Sedgwick Little French Girl ii. ix. 165 They were both agreed on the necessity of a strong man for France and on many lopped heads. 1943E. A. Peers Spain in Eclipse i. ii. 39 The erstwhile ‘strong man’, President Azaña, emerged out of his silence. 1961P. Kemp Alms for Oblivion ii. 29 Pluto had been nominated Minister Without Portfolio; Marshal Phibul, the ‘Strong Man’ of the country,..was under arrest. 1969D. Acheson Present at Creation (1970) xxi. 187 Colonel Juan Perón, the President and ‘strong man’ of Argentina. 1977Westindian World 3–9 June 12/1 The other is Major General Ziaur Rahman, who became President of Bangladesh only a few weeks ago (though he had been the country's strongman for some time).
3. attrib.
1962C. Walsh From Utopia to Nightmare ix. 122 A strong-man government. 1977Times 12 July 14/3 Strongman rule has provided the region with comparative stability..and, in the case of South Korea and Singapore, phenomenal economic growth. |