释义 |
expedience|ɛkˈspiːdɪəns| [a. Fr. expédience, f. expédient: see expedient.] †1. a. Haste, speed, dispatch. b. That which requires speed; an enterprise, expedition. Obs. a.1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 287 Eight tall ships, three thousand men of warre Are making hither with all due expedience. 1599― Hen. V, iv. iii. 70 The French.. will with all expedience charge on vs. b.1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 33 In forwarding this deere expedience. 1606― Ant. & Cl. i. ii 185, I shall breake The cause of our Expedience to the Queene. 2. = expediency 1. ? Obs.
1619W. Sclater Exp. 1 Thess. (1630) 577 Those expediences, which the Lord hath reuealed himselfe willing to make knowne. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i vi. §50 The lawfulnesse and expedience of Latine Service. a1714Sharp Serm. vii. (1754) I. 184 The expedience of actions; that is to say, whether it be best and fittest for a man to do them or no. 1781Cowper Let. Johnson 27 Nov., I have doubts about the expedience of mentioning the subject on which that paragraph is written. 1804Wellington in Owen Disp. 432 The expedience of admitting the Peishwa to a participation in our late conquests. 3. = expediency 2. pl. Interested motives or considerations.
1608Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. i. 13 Justice is his [the honest man's] first guide, the second law of his actions is expedience. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 253 Expedience may operate to continue the privilege. 1834J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. xxiv. 365 They have sacrificed Truth to expedience. 1848Lytton Harold vi. v, Expediences began to dim to his conscience the healthful loveliness of truth. |