| 释义 |
unˈsinew, v.
[un-2 6 b and 4.]
1. trans. To weaken the sinews of; to render weak or feeble; to enervate.
1598Florio, Sneruare, to vnsinew, to weaken ones bodie. 1639Fuller Holy War v. xv. 255 It is not so much the climate, as bad and unwholesome diet,..which unsineweth those Northern nations when they come into the South. 1645Wither Vox Pacif. 119 This imprudencie will..Your bones unsinnew, and your joynts untie. 1693Dryden Persius vi. 89 Now Toys and Trifles from their Athens come, And Dates and Pepper have unsinnew'd Rome. 1845Blackw. Mag. LVII. 781 Death unsinews the hand that held her against the world.
b. fig. To weaken, enfeeble.
1599Daniel Musoph. Wks. (1602) B iiij b, This skill..Vnsinewes all your powres, vnmans you quite. 1609G. Benson Serm. 7 May 57 The want of this knowledge vnsinewes the powers of a man. 1697Dryden æneis Ded. ⁋84 The affected purity of the French has unsinnewed their heroic verse. 1744Akenside Epistle to Curio 160 What spells unsinew'd thy determin'd soul? 1866Lytton Lost Tales Miletus, Secret Way 16 The hold Of a strong phantasy, which, night and day,..unsinews life.
2. (See quot.)
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sinew, To unsinew a horse,..is to cut the two tendons on the side of the head, about five inches under the eyes. |