| 释义 |
flexible, a. (n.)|ˈflɛksɪb(ə)l|
Also 6 flexable, -ibil(l.
[a. F. flexible, f. L. flexibil-is, f. flex- ppl. stem of flectĕre to bend.]
A. adj.
1. a. Capable of being bent, admitting of change in figure without breaking; yielding to pressure, pliable, pliant.
1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 212 Like a rede with every wind is agitable and flexible. 1562W. Bullein Bk. Sicke Men 81 a, Feele also the pacient..whither the partes be pained, or flexable, or haue loste their strength and are stiffe. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 50 When the splitting winde Makes flexible the knees of knotted Oakes. 1626Bacon Sylva §796 And you shall finde..the Stalke harder and less Flexible, than it was. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 42 It hath a Cartilaginous flexible Tube or Channel. 1731Arbuthnot Aliments ii. (1735) 40 An Animal, in order to be moveable, must be flexible. 1802Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) II. 373 These parts, with the tail, are covered by a strong flexible skin. 1823W. Phillips Introd. Min. Introd. 9 A flexible granular quartz is found in Brazil. 1874Boutell Arms & Arm. ii. 17 The long, flexible and pointless weapons that are described by the Roman historians.
b. In modern mechanical and electrical usage (see quots.).
1859W. J. M. Rankine Man. Steam Engine iv. 126 (caption) Flexible tube and diaphragm valves. a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 882/1 Thirion's flexible coupling is used for conveying power from one shaft to another when they are not in line. 1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 144 Flexible crank shaft, a crank shaft in which the strains due to the rigidity of an unyielding mass compelled to revolve under conditions of strain due to the want of alignment of its bearings, are reduced and minimised by the introduction of flexible joints in its length. 1909Install. News II. 186/1 Flexible cord surface wiring. 1909Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 7/5 Another advantage of the ‘flexible’ engine..is the power it gives the driver to avoid accidents and collisions. 1918E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms, Flexible, a term applied to a dirigible balloon in which a flexible gas container is held in shape only by the pressure of gas within and to which the load is hung. This characterizes the whole non-rigid system of airships. 1965Economist 27 Mar. 1412/3 Flexible or ‘black top’ road design is also being studied. 1967Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 28 Flexible joint, a joint which permits some movement of the jointed parts out of their original alignment or which permits the jointing of parts which are not truly aligned. 1970A. Byers Home Lighting i. 22 Floor standards, table lamps,..and permanent lighting may all be supplied from plugs and socket outlets using a flexible cord.
†2. Of a fluid: Not rigid, yielding. Of winds: Variable in direction, shifting. Obs.
1612Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. iv. v. 145 The quicke and flexible windes cooling the heat of Summer. 1612Brerewood Lang. & Relig. 115 Water being..heavy and flexible, will slide away at any inequalitie. 1692Locke Educ. §1 A gentle application of the hand turns the flexible Waters into Channels.
3.
†a. That can be ‘bent’, inclined, or rendered favourable to (obs.)
b. Willing or disposed to yield to influence or persuasion; capable of being guided, easily led, impressionable, manageable, tractable.
a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3358 To mercy were her hertes ay flexible. 1533Frith Answ. Fisher (1829) 189 Our judge, therefore, must not be partial, flexible, nor ignorant. 1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 199 b, If he sawe hym flexible to his purpose. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 141. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. v. (1632) 38 They saw both heauen and earth flexible to their deliuerance. 1642Newcomen Serm. bef. Ho. Com. 5 Nov. (1643) 6 The tender and flexible age of her son. 1667Decay Chr. Piety xvi. ⁋2 The vulgar, who are commonly flexible to any new impression. 1727Philip Quarll 139 Quarll..was soon made flexible by her Tears. 1769Junius Lett. xxxv. 160 Can you conceive that the people..will long submit to be governed by so flexible a house of Commons? 1863E. V. Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 99 A directing reason, easy to be entreated, and flexible.
absol.1772Johnson Argt. Hastie in Boswell App. ii. (1848) 814/1 The flexible will be reformed by gentle discipline.
4. a. Susceptible of modification or adaptation to various purposes or uses; pliant, supple.
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. Pref., There are many things [in the book] to be taken in a soft and flexible sense. 1769Robertson Chas. V, III. 238 His flexible genius was capable of accommodating itself to every situation. 1837–9Hallam Hist. Lit. I. iii. i. §116. 227 In his Latin style..he is less flexible and elegant. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §10. 38 To proclaim a more flexible rule of judgement. 1882A. W. Ward Dickens iii. 55 Never was his inventive force more flexible and more at his command. 1886Lowell Democr. 226 A language at once so precise and so flexible as the Greek.
b. Of the voice: (see quot. 1825).
1712Hughes Spect. No. 541 ⁋7 Sorrow and complaint demand a voice quite different, flexible, slow, interrupted. 1825Danneley Encycl. Mus., Flexible, a voice is said to be flexible when it can swell and diminish its tones, with such grace and power, as to give every shade of expression to the melody it executes. 1831Lytton Godolph. 30 His voice was so deep and flexible.
c. In depreciatory sense: Supple, complaisant.
1826Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 118 But some have been selected for flexible politics.
d. flexible response: see quot. 1966. Cf. controlled response (controlled ppl. a. 2).
1963Time (Internat. ed.) 26 July 15/3 Pentagon planning now puts relatively more emphasis than it did a few years ago on ‘graduated’ or ‘flexible’ responses. 1966Schwarz & Hadik Strategic Terminol. 71 Flexible response, strategy based on the capability of reacting appropriately across the entire spectrum of possible challenge from atomic war to infiltration and subversion. 1967Punch 26 Apr. 597/2 Both parties will have embarked on a policy of manufacturing anti-ballistic missiles on a scale which will cause defence costs to escalate out of all proportion, and possibly even to destroy the philosophy of flexible response, owing to the necessity to saturate enemy defences at the first stroke. 1968Economist 10 Feb. 14/2 Last year Nato at long last adopted a strategy of flexible response in place of massive retaliation.
5. quasi-adv. = flexibly.
1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 115 The sword should be held flexible.
B. ellipt. as n. = flex n.2
1896H. J. Dowsing Griffin's Electr. Engin. Price-Bk. (ed. 2) 254 In factories, mills, etc., where mechanical strength is of importance, a pendant fitting is made with iron armoured wire in place of the concentric flexible. 1907Install. News May 11/1 Conductors (excepting flexibles) may be enclosed in steel conduits. 1925G.E.C. Publications: Wires & Cables 77 Motor car ignition flexibles. 1942Meares & Neale Electr. Engin. Pract. (ed. 5) II. xxii. 277 The flexible often gets caught as the sweeper is rolled along. 1971Engineering Apr. 104/1 (Advt.), Braided flexibles. |