| 释义 |
downfall|ˈdaʊnfɔːl|
1. The act of falling down; sudden descent.
1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 298 The sonne knowyng no downe falle. 1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 493 Those that..runne on swiftly whither they please, without feare of downe falles. 1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. ii. (1677) 213 If she [the hawk] miss at the first down-fall and kill not. 1710Addison Whig Exam. No. 2 (Seager), I never met so sudden a downfal in so promising a sentence. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 108 'Tween the spring and down⁓fall of the light.
b. A fall (of water, rain, snow, etc.).
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 31 The riuer Melas..in Winter or any other great downefall of water..right suddenly ouerfloweth his bankes. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Downfalls, the descending waters of rivers and creeks. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 17 The weatherwise..said there would soon be ‘downfall’; but no rain came.
†2. A steep descent, precipice; an abyss, gulf, pit. Obs.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. (1877) 151 Rockes of a down⁓right pitche, or a stiepe down fall. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1589) 231 Beware thou tumble not into some downefall. 1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits v. (1596) 67 These..delight to walke..thorow dangerous and high places, and to approch neere steepe down-fals. 1691Dryden K. Arthur ii. i. Wks. 1884 VIII. 153 Dreadfull downfalls of unheeded rocks. 1822Hogg Perils of Man I. 63 A bit downfa' to the south.
3. Fall from high estate, ruin. (The current use.)
a1300Cursor M. 11362 (Cott.) Þis child..sal be to fel men in dun fall, And to fell in vprising. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. vi. 64 Those that wish the downfall of our house. 1667Milton P.L. i. 116 That were an ignominy and shame beneath This downfall. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 60 ⁋2 Histories of the downfal of kingdoms. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. II. 3 The downfall of his great expectations.
†b. concr. (pl.) Ruins, débris. Obs.
1602Warner Alb. Eng. xii. lxxiii. (1612) 301 On Auentine the down-fals are of Temples store to see.
4. Something constructed on purpose to fall down.
1856C. J. Andersson Lake Ngami 528 To destroy the hippopotamus..by means of the downfall..consisting of a log of wood.
5. attrib. Falling down, descending.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. §275 Protecting it..from the entrance of the downfall spray. 1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 285 By these drains the downfall waters would immediately escape. |