| 释义 |
▪ I. Titanic, a.1|taɪˈtænɪk|
[ad. Gr. τιτανικ-ός, f. τιτᾶν-ες the Titans: see -ic.]
†1. Of or pertaining to the sun. Obs. rare—0.
1656Blount Glossogr., Titanic,..of or belonging to the Sun. 1658in Phillips.
2. Pertaining to, resembling, or characteristic of the Titans of mythology; gigantic, colossal; also, of the nature or character of the Titans.
1709J. Clarke tr. Grotius' Chr. Relig. v. ix. (1818) 226 note, Some wicked Daemons and (as I may call them) Titanic or Gigantic ones who were rebellious against the true God. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. xlvi, We pass The skeleton of her [Rome's] Titanic form. 1852Kelly tr. Cambrensis Eversus III. 483 He has assailed heaven itself with titanic audacity. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. i. i. (1872) I. 6 The figure of Napoleon was titanic.
▪ II. Titanic, n.
[f. Titanic a.1]
The name of a giant British liner which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 after collision with an iceberg; used allusively or as a metaphor for a vast and supposedly indestructible organization fated to disaster. Also Titanic clause (see quot. 1915).
1915N.Y. World 3 Aug. 5/4 When he executed his will on March 16, 1914, Joseph E. Greenfield inserted what is known as a ‘Titanic’ clause, which anticipated the possibility of the testator and his wife meeting death together in a catastrophe. 1975S. Lauder Killing Time on Corvo x. 91 It was some horrifying Titanic disaster. 1975Times 3 Sept. 10/6 The implications of the final song, that England is a Titanic with a crew composed only of vagabonds and privileged yachtsmen. 1976Times 13 May 1/3 The hapless President's campaign manager..sounded..fatalistic... ‘I'm not going to do anything to re-arrange the furniture on the deck of the Titanic,’ he said. 1980K. Hagenbach Fox Potential vi. 57, I wanted to leave England... I did not intend to be aboard when that particular Titanic finally foundered in a sea of bureaucracy. |