| 释义 |
▪ I. veto, n.|ˈviːtəʊ|
[a. L. veto I forbid (1st pers. sing. pres. ind. of vetāre), the word by which the Roman tribunes of the people opposed measures of the Senate or actions of the magistrates. Hence also F., Sp., Pg., It. veto.]
1. A prohibition having for its object or result the prevention of a proposed or intended act; the power of thus preventing or checking action by prohibition. Freq. in phr. to put (also place, set) a veto on or upon (something).
1629Sir W. Mure True Crucifix 1108 Hee who doth exalt Himselfe to raigne,..Dare gainst this Law most impudently stand, And God's great Veto boldly counter-mand. 1654Trapp Comm., Zach. ii. 13 God..refraineth the remainder of mans wrath... If he do but..interpose his Veto. 1788H. Walpole Remin. in Lett. (1857) I. p. cxviii, They persuaded her to demand of the new King an earl's coronet for Lord Bathurst. She did—the Queen put in her veto, and Swift..returned to Ireland [etc.]. 1794U. Price Ess. Picturesque I. 43 note, Had I not advanced too far to think of retreating, I might possibly have been deterred by so absolute a veto from such authority. 1809Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 139/1 It is not the practice with destroyers of vermin to allow the little victims a veto upon the weapons used against them. 1837Lockhart Scott III. x. 323 Upon this ingenious proposition Scott at once set his veto. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt xxiv, The Rector had beforehand put a veto on any Dissenting chairman. 1867Baker Nile Tribut. xv. (1872) 255 They were much displeased at my immediately placing a veto upon their bloody intentions.
transf.1865Mozley Mirac. iii. 73 Confounding the resistance of impression to a miracle with the veto of reason.
2. spec. The act, on the part of a competent person or body, of preventing or checking legislative or other political action by the exercise of a prohibitory power; the right or power to interpose prohibition against the passing, or putting in force, of an enactment or measure. liberum veto [L. liber free], a power of veto possessed by every member of a legislative body, spec. that which existed under the later Polish monarchy. Also transf.
[1759E. W. Montagu Anc. Republics 372 The Carthaginian constitution, where the single, Veto, of one discontented senator, referr'd the decision of the most important affair to a wrong-headed, ungovernable populace.] 1792A. Young Trav. France 127, I was..answered, that the King of France must have no veto on the will of the nation. 1792W. Coxe Trav. Poland I. i. v. 96 In all state-matters of the highest importance no resolution of the diet is valid, unless ratified by the unanimous assent of every nuntio; each of whom is able to suspend all proceedings by his exertion of the Liberum Veto. 1806Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) p. xxviii, In fact, though the king possessed no veto, yet..nothing could come before parliament which could require his negative. 1831J. Fletcher Hist. Poland iii. 89 It was in this King's reign [sc. 1648–68] that the liberum veto, or privilege of the deputies to stop all proceedings in the diet, by a simple dissent, first assumed the form of a legal custom. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 87 He deprived the plebeian tribunes of every prerogative except the veto, which he restricted to certain cases. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) II. xii. 112 It could neither enact its own decrees nor interpose a veto on the decrees of the Governor. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. xvi. 232 The President's veto kills off some vicious measures. 1931E. Howell Mizh (1979) x. 96 What he had in mind was the liberum veto which any young hot head could exercise by the use of his rifle. 1938H. V. Hodson Slump & Recovery viii. 245 Her [sc. Bolivia's] liberum veto thus stood in the way of any increase of quota allowances. 1952–4Proc. Brit. Acad. XXXVIII. 217 In Jan. 1831 the opposition of a single Cabinet Minister to the proposed grant to Queen Adelaide for an outfit, compelled the Cabinet to abandon it: an example of the liberum veto.
b. Without article.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. vii. i, Journalism is busy, France rings with Veto. 1879M. Arnold Mixed Ess., Irish Cathol. 124 The bishops claimed..the right of veto on the appointment of professors.
3. attrib., as veto power, veto proposition, etc.; veto-free, veto-proof adjs.
Veto Act, an act of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, passed in 1834, providing that no minister should be presented to a parish against the wish of the congregation.
1838Edinb. Christian Instructor Jan. 47 Cases of Tain and Strathbogie.—Veto Act. 1840in Acts Gen. Assembly (1843) 1103 The act anent calls, called the Veto Act. 1861W. J. Fitzpatrick Life Doyle (1880) I. 163 The friends of the Catholic claims had abandoned the old veto propositions. 1883Harper's Mag. Nov. 941/2 While it did not give them actual control, [it] allowed the exercise of a veto power somewhat akin to it. 1959Daily Tel. 27 Apr. 10 The Prime Minister..proposed breaking the existing deadlock over a control system by a ‘quota’ plan limiting the number of veto-free inspections per year. 1972National Observer (U.S.) 16 Sept. 2/5 The debt-limit extension, veto-proof because of its importance, could become a Christmas tree of Democratic proposals. 1973San Francisco Examiner 20 Sept. 9/2 The American Federation of Teachers..reacted to the vote by calling for the election of a ‘veto-proof Congress..no longer intimidated by the big stick of a Nixon veto’.
▪ II. veto, v.|ˈviːtəʊ|
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To put a veto on, to refuse consent to; to stop or block by this means:
a. With reference to legislative measures or similar matters.
1706Hearne Collect. 1 Apr. (O.H.S.) I. 213 Letters for degrees..vetoed by the Proctors. 1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 210 Mr. Monroe vetoed the bill authorising the collection of tolls for the repair of the Cumberland road. 1861May Const. Hist. (1863) III. xvii. 572 Measures passed by the assembly were refused by the council, or vetoed by the governor. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. i. vi. 74 Washington vetoed (to use the popular expression) two bills only. Ibid. App. 563 The President is permitted to veto any particular item.
b. In general use.
1879E. K. Bates Egypt. Bonds I. vii. 146 Fred's common sense vetoes this suggestion at once. 1886H. F. Lester Under Two Fig Trees 7 The area garden plan was unanimously vetoed. 1902Buchan Watcher by Threshold 182, I proposed shooting, which he promptly vetoed.
transf.1871E. F. Burr Ad Fidem iv. 66 [God] will be hampered by no necessity of general laws. The nature of free moral agents will not veto His activity.
2. To refuse to admit or accept (a person).
1885Graphic 24 Jan. 74/2 The right of vetoing persons whom they deemed ineligible. 1891Spectator 21 Mar., The power of choosing their own Prime Minister, and..the power of immediately vetoing and removing him.
Hence ˈvetoed ppl. a.; ˈvetoing vbl. n. and ppl. a. Also ˈvetoer, one who vetoes.
1893Sir A. Gordon Earl of Aberdeen vi. 144 Another *vetoed minister..applied to the Court of Session to issue a similar decree..on his behalf.
1888New York Weekly Tribune 24 Oct. 1 (Cent.), *Vetoer. 1892Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 27 Sept., Cleveland's record as a vetoer of pension bills.
1867Latham Black & White 72 The President..used his pardoning and his *vetoing powers. 1890Daily News 12 July 5/5 A total of 433 Presidential vetoings in the century 1789–1889. 1892Pall Mall G. 18 Feb. 2/2 The committee suggested the establishment of a controlling and vetoing body. |