| 释义 |
exactly, adv.|ɛgˈzæktlɪ|
[f. exact a. + -ly2.]
†1. In a perfect manner, perfectly; to a perfect degree, to perfection; completely. Obs.
a1533Frith Disput. Purgat. (1829) 85 The Scripture is for that intent left with us, that it may be understood of us exactly, and to the uttermost point. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 200 A figure like your Father, Arm'd at all points exactly, Cap a Pe, Appeares before them. 1639Fuller Holy War v. xxx. (1647) 283 His Frontier cities..are exactly fortified. 1663Boyle Consid. Exp. & Nat. Phil. i. 60 In the Life to come, when we shall questionless glorifie God exactliest, we shall have, etc. 1664Power Exp. Philos. ii. 88 Glass-Tubes..exactly closed; or Hermetically sealed at the one end. 1667Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. 32, I could not find it had any in places exactly darkened. 1680Burnet Rochester (1692) 7 He was exactly well bred. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 108 On the top of wch hill you see a vast prospect Exactly Round it. 1726W. R. Chetwood Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 357 They are..exactly proportion'd in their Features.
2. In an exact or accurate manner; with careful attention to detail; with strict conformity to rule; punctually; with propriety. Now somewhat rare.
1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. xxi (1627) 249 Learning to construe the Hebrew into the Latine exactly. 1644Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 66, I went to see more exactly the rooms of the fine Palace of Luxembourg. 1709Steele Tatler No. 5 ⁋2 He remembered he was to sup with a Friend, and went exactly to his Appointment. 1712Tickell Spect. No. 410 ⁋1 A Lady most exactly dressed from Head to Foot. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 87 Let it be quickly dried on the outside, and exactly weighed. 1774Chesterfield Lett. I. xlii. 135 We must..not pass a word which we do not understand..without exactly inquiring the meaning of it. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 682 The sixth part [of his revenues] had been exactly paid. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Vall. iv. 66 He paid for his lodging exactly and regularly.
†3. Precisely, as opposed to vaguely; in express terms. Obs.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. ix. 36, I adhere unto Archimedes who speaketh exactly, rather than the sacred Text which speaketh largely.
4. Of knowledge or statement: Accurately, with strict correctness.
1776Trial Nundocomar 23/1, I do not know his age exactly, he is a young man. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xi. (1878) 225, I could not repeat the words exactly to Old Rogers. 1879Lockyer Elem. Astron. vii. 240 The circumference..more exactly expressed..is 3·14159 times the diameter.
5. a. Of resemblance, agreement, adaptation, correlation: Precisely; without any discrepancy.
1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §2 Every event is not exactly correspondent to the prediction. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xi, I was of opinion, that two such places would fit our two daughters exactly. 1806Hutton Course Math. I. 145 Divide the numerators by each other, and the denominators by each other, if they will exactly divide. 1860Tyndall Glaciers i. x. 65 When this hail was squeezed together, it exactly resembled a mass of oolitic limestone.
b. Qualifying a predication of identity, a specified quantitative relation, position, manner, time, etc.: Precisely, ‘just’, as opposed to approximately.
1658F. Osborne Hist. Mem. Q. Eliz. A v, Good Books..running..so exactly the fate of Acorns. 1776Adam Smith W.N. I. i. i. 12 Every other workman being exactly in the same situation. 1809Roland Fencing 26 It is not a general rule to recover exactly in the same position of your sword. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 720 The seventh division falls exactly on the bend of the knee. 1823Lamb Elia (1867) 99 Had I twenty girls, they should be brought up exactly in this fashion. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain i. 56 The English will go exactly as if they were in England. 1858Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Heat 329 The difference..will be found to be exactly equal to the height of a column, etc. a1891Mod. Exactly at one o'clock Her Majesty arrived. You are exactly the man for the post.
c. ellipt. expressing entire approval of, or concurrence in, a suggested statement. colloq.
1869W. S. Gilbert Bab. Ball., ‘Nancy Bell’ xvi, ‘I'm boiled if I die, my friends’, quoth I, And ‘exactly so’, quoth he. a1891Mod. ‘Then you think the letter is a forgery?’ ‘Exactly’.
d. with expressed or implied negative, often used when the statement denied is to be replaced by another somewhat similar in effect.
a1891Mod. Without exactly denying it, he led me to believe it was not true. He is not exactly a scholar, but he has read a great deal.
e. not exactly: used ironically for ‘not at all; by no means’. colloq.
1893Yonge & Coleridge Strolling Players xxxii. 292, I wasn't exactly going to send in my checks this time. 1905A. Lang Adv. among Books 222 Though some of our modern novelists think it coarse and degrading, Hawthorne did not think so, and they are not exactly better artists than Hawthorne. 1949M. Muggeridge Affairs of Heart vii. 125 She was not exactly pretty even then. In fact, she was not pretty at all—which is what the use of the word ‘exactly’ usually signifies. 1964E. Ambler Kind of Anger vi. 169 ‘And you're not laughing?’ ‘I'm not exactly bursting my sides, no.’ 1968Win 15 Oct. 16/1 Yeah, I'm scared out of my mind. The thought of prison doesn't exactly excite me. |