| 释义 |
top-heavy, a.|ˌtɒpˈhɛvɪ|
a. Disproportionately heavy at the top; having the upper part so heavy as to overbalance the lower; hence, unstable and inclined to topple. Also transf. and fig.
a1533Frith Answ. More (1829) 184 They have made it so top-heavy, that it is surely like to have a fall. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 36 That they make theire loades broade, and large, but not over high and toppe-heavy, for feare of throwinge over..the waine. 1647H. More Song Soul i. ii. lxxvii, Top heavy was his head with earthly policy. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 81 If your Trees grow too top heavy, you must abate the Head to lighten them. 1862T. A. Trollope Lenten Journ. xvi. 259 We were top-heavy with eight or nine great sacks of letters on the roof [of the vehicle]. 1889Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 118 Do not make your picture topheavy with clouds. 1895K. Grahame Gold. Age (1904) 20 Harold,..top-heavy with eagerness of possession, had fallen into the pond.
b. Said of an intoxicated person: tipsy.
1687in Dk. Buckhm.'s Wks. (1705) II. 120 Jack was too top-heavy to escape undiscovered. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Top-heavy, Drunk. 1823T. W. L. in Hone Everyday Bk. (1827) II. 859 Being top-heavy with liquor, he..lost his balance.
c. fig. Of a business, organization, etc.: (a) overcapitalized; (b) having a disproportionately large number of people in senior administrative positions.
1934in Webster. 1945A. Huxley Let. 8 Aug. (1969) 531 A country with a decentralized..economy could not compete as a military power with countries having a top⁓heavy capital goods industry. 1962Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 Some witnesses alleged..that the BBC was ‘top-heavy’: that is, it spent too much on administration at the expense of programme production. 1963Listener 7 Mar. 417/1 Petty officials multiplied till the administration became top-heavy. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline vi. 71 Even now his firm was top-heavy on distribution and transportation.
Hence ˈtop-ˈheavily adv.; ˈtop-ˈheaviness; ˈtop-ˈheavyish a.
1843H. James Let. 11 May in R. B. Perry Tht. & Char. W. James (1935) I. 46 Thought heaped up to top⁓heaviness and inevitable lopsidedness. 1853G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 204 A noble top-heavyish Gothic tower. 1869E. J. Reed Iron-Clad Ships vii. 137 To the unprofessional eye there does appear to be a ‘top-heaviness’ in armoured ships. 1889Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. iii. 63 The mistaken view..that ‘top-heaviness’ was the cause of the excessive rolling. 1926Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage 504/2 What reads well & what reads..jerkily, lopsidedly, topheavily, or otherwise badly. 1947Penguin New Writing XXXI. 172 In the cottage gardens the crumpled, bunchy flowers of double daffodils waved top⁓heavily in the wind.
▸ colloq. Of a woman: having a (disproportionately) large bust.
1934Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 12 Nov. 7/4 (advt.) Are you Top-heavy—and very small at the hipline? 1989Bella 29 Apr. 33/4 Since I'm only 5ft 2in tall and I'd always been a top heavy 36C I said I'd like to be smaller. 1991P. Theroux Chicago Loop ix. 123 She looked so stout and top-heavy. 2000Front Oct. 26/1 A top-heavy priestess of helium-filled funbags. |