| 释义 |
acuteness|əˈkjuːtnɪs|
[f. acute a. + -ness.]
The quality of being acute; hence
1. Of things material: Sharpness of point or edge.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 84 Glasse..by reason of its acutenesse and angularity, commonly excoriates the parts through which it passeth. 1798Greville in Phil. Trans. LXXXVIII. 441 The hexaedral pyramids are usually incomplete in their apex, and they vary in acuteness. 1869Daily News 14 May, To appreciate for himself the poisonous odours of Barnwell Pool, the acuteness of Chesterton Corner, and the perils of the bridge.
2. Of a disease or pain: Sharpness, keenness.
1661R. Lovell Anim. & Min. 438 The acutenesse of the diseases, and signes of concoction. 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 353 If the Patient survives three Days, the Acuteness of the Pain abates.
3. Of sounds: Shrillness, high pitch.
a1691Boyle (J.) This acuteness of sound will shew, that whilst, to the eye, the bell seems to be at rest, yet the minute parts of it continue in a very brisk motion. 1760Phil. Trans. LI. 768 All this seems plainly to put the difference of the tones only in the acuteness or gravity of the whole.
4. Of the senses or feelings: Keenness, quickness, sensitiveness.
a1704Locke (J.) If eyes so framed could not view at once the hand and the hour-plate, the owner could not be benefited by that acuteness. 1764Reid Inq. Hum. Mind ii. §1. 104 The acuteness of smell in some animals, shews us, that these effluvia spread far. 1823Lamb Elia i. 14 (1865) 115 A constitutional acuteness to this class of sufferings. 1872Darwin Emotions xiii. 342 When we direct our whole attention to any one sense, its acuteness is increased.
5. Of the mental faculties: Readiness of apprehension, keenness of penetration, shrewdness.
1627Bp. Hall Epistles iv. iii. 341 To finde wit in poetry, in philosophy profoundnesse, in mathematicks acuteness. 1755Young Centaur i. Wks. 1757 IV. 109 The boasted acuteness of his superior understanding. 1847Hallam Lit. Eur. II. 235 It cannot be reckoned a proof of his acuteness in Zoology, that he placed the hippopotamus among aquatic animals. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede 166 The father and mother exchanged a significant glance of amusement at their eldest-born's acuteness. |