| 释义 |
hesitation|hɛzɪˈteɪʃən|
Also 7–8 hæs-.
[ad. L. hæsitātiōn-em, n. of action f. hæsitāre to hesitate. Cf. F. hésitation (c 1400 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. a. The action of hesitating; a pausing or delaying in deciding or acting, due to irresolution; the condition of doubt in relation to action.
1622Bacon Hen. VII, Wks. 1825 III. 297 He did sadly and constantly, without hesitation or varying..stand to that he had said. 1683Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 90 Without the least demur or haesitation. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. I. v. 378 She rejected it without hesitation. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 33 We have no hesitation in determining what is right and wrong.
b. with pl. An instance of this.
1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth Pref., The Difficulties and Hæsitations of every one.
2. a. Embarrassed halting in utterance; stammering.
1709Steele Tatler No. 5 ⁋2, I heard him send his Man of an Errand Yesterday without any Manner of Hæsitation. 1720Swift Wks. (1778) X. 15 Many clergymen..write in so diminutive a manner..that they are hardly able to go on without perpetual hesitations or extemporary expletives.
b. hesitation-form, a sound or form, e.g. |ɜː|, used deliberately or accidentally when faltering or stammering in speech. So hesitation-vowel, etc. (Cf. er.)
1933Bloomfield Lang. xii. 186 When a speaker hesitates, English and some other languages offer special parenthetic hesitation-forms, as [ə:] or [ε] in Mr. —ah—Sniffen. 1957S. Potter Mod. Ling. v. 122 He may even inflict indeterminate hesitation-forms [ə:] or [ɑ:] upon his suffering hearers. 1965Canad. Jrnl. Ling. XI. i. 36 This is often called the ‘hesitation vowel’ although it is not a vowel qua vowel at all.
3. In full hesitation waltz or hesitation valse: a variety of waltz, characterized by the hesitation step (see quot. 1919). Also fig. So hesitation-valse (nonce-wd.) v. intr.
1914V. Castle Mod. Dancing iv. 71 It is the Hesitation Waltz. 1918J. M. Grider Diary 29 Jan. (1927) 71 It's a long jump from the Boston and the hesitation to the giant swing, but we had them all fox-trotting in no time. 1919E. Scott All about Latest Dances 86 As you lift the left foot..from the floor, count a short one, two; and on three drag the other foot along the floor, bringing it over in front of the first foot, which is by this time on the floor... That is the hesitation step. 1920A. M. Cree Ball-Room Dancing 41 The Hesitation Valse is a variety of the true valse that can very easily be performed once the valse is known. 1924‘L. Malet’ Dogs of Want v. §2 For over four hours a mixed multitude..had one-stepped, two-stepped, hesitation-valsed, and fox-trotted. 1927Daily Express 31 Oct. 11/6 The foxtrot, tango, and the hesitation. 1959Chambers's Encycl. IV. 364/1 During the first world war..the occasional waltzes..were danced with a slight hesitation movement. 1972R. Mayne Europeans v. 136 Britain's slow hesitation waltz with European unity. |