| 释义 |
afterthought|ˈɑːftəθɔːt, æ-|
[after- 6, 8.]
1. A subsequent or second thought.
a1661B. Holyday Juv. 10 To write but on one side of the leaf, leaving the other for any after-thoughts. 1710Palmer Proverbs 157 Ill nature, the afterthoughts of which strike horror and regret. 1846Grote Greece I. xxi. 551 Forced into unity..by the afterthought of a subsequent age.
2. Reflection after the act; a thought which did not occur at the time when the matter to which it refers was under consideration: hence a later expedient, explanation, or device.
1684Charnock Attrib. God (1834) I. 749 He cannot discover anything afterwards that may move him to take up after-thoughts. 1751Young Night Th. vii. 889 Annihilation is an after-thought, A monstrous wish, unborn till virtue dies. 1760Raper in Phil. Trans. LI. 799 The portico was an after⁓thought. 1846Mill Logic ii. iii. §3 (1868) 211 If any reasons were assigned, it would be necessarily an afterthought.
3. colloq. The youngest child in a family, esp. one born considerably later than the other children.
1914G. B. Shaw Misalliance 3 Have you ever considered the fact that I was an afterthought?.. My father was 44 when I was born. My mother was 41. There was twelve years between me and the next eldest. 1965G. McInnes Road to Gundagai iii. 48 Terence was the youngest child... (‘I'm a little afterthought.’) 1985Sunday Tel. 3 Mar. 14/8 Christopher, afterthought son of the founder member,..is allowed to sit in on the ladies' discussions. |