释义 |
indulge, v.|ɪnˈdʌldʒ| Also 8 endulge. [ad. L. indulgē-re (intr. with dative) to be courteous or complaisant, to be kind or indulgent, to yield, give oneself up (to), indulge in; (with acc. and dat.) to bestow as a favour, to concede, grant, allow. The verb was adopted in 17th c. in several of the L. senses, the way having been prepared by the earlier use of indulgence, indulgent.] I. Transitive. 1. a. To treat (a person) with such favour, kindness, or complaisance as he has no claim to, but desires or likes; to gratify by compliance, or by absence of restraint or strictness; to humour by yielding to the wishes of. (The personal obj. represents L. dative.) Const. in.
1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 116 King Charles had not the same Reason of State to indulge the House of Commons. 1661Marvell Corr. xxi. Wks. 1872–5 II. 55 In the matter of your two companyes..he is willing to indulge you. 1749Wesley Hymn, ‘Jesu, thou Sovereign Lord’, Indulge us, Lord, in this request. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvi, The fact is, St. Clare indulges every creature under this roof but his own wife. b. refl. To give free course to one's inclination or liking; to gratify oneself, take one's pleasure. Const. in († in first quot. to: cf. 7).
1659Hammond On Ps. ciii. 14 [They] do not indulge themselves to any deliberate sin. 1736Butler Anal. Introd., Wks. 1874 I. 7 There are some, who..indulge themselves in vain and idle speculations. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xviii. 147 Pleasing anticipations in which he indulged himself. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid ii. 776 Why so fain to indulge thee in this wild passion of woe? c. To favour or gratify (a person) with something given or granted.
1790W. Wrighte Grotesque Archit. 9 The author hopes he may be indulged with observing, that he hath..seen a fine piece of water in the park. 1800Asiat. Ann. Reg., Proc. E. Ind. Ho. 146/1 Mr. Henchman gave notice of a motion..to indulge Mr. Dundas, during his life, with the house in Downing Street. d. fig.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 320 Indulge his Growth, and his gaunt Sides supply. 1710Steele Tatler No. 175 ⁋1, I have allowed Tale-Bearers to indulge the Intervals of my Female Patients. 1752Young Brothers i. i, The sword by both too much indulg'd in blood. 1951Auden Nones (1952) 39 How jocular the bells as They Indulge the peccant shore. 2. To grant an indulgence, privilege, or dispensation to: see indulgence II.
1662Gunning Lent Fast 57 In holy Lent the Lord hath indulged these two weekly daies [Saturday, and Lord's day]. 1673Sir W. Coventry Sp. Ho. Commons 14 Feb. in Grey's Debates 1667–94 II. 30 Some are for indulging Protestant Subjects only, and some for extending it to Catholic subjects. 1682–1816 [see indulged 2]. a1832Mackintosh Revol. of 1688, Wks. 1846 II. 161 A Declaration for indulging Nonconformists in matters ecclesiastical. 3. To gratify (a desire or inclination); to give free course to, give way to, yield to, give oneself up to. Sometimes in weaker sense: To entertain, cherish, foster.
1656Blount Glossogr. Pref. 3 To indulge my own fancy, I began to compile this work. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 408 Saylors..crown their Vessels, then indulge their Ease. 1777Watson Philip II (1839) 465 Delusive hopes which he had long fondly indulged. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxiii. (1869) II. 252 He indulged the sterner passions of anger and revenge. 1874Green Short Hist. iii. §5. 140 The fall of Hubert de Burgh enabled him to indulge his preference for aliens. 4. To bestow or grant (something) as a favour, or as a matter of free grace; to allow or concede as an indulgence. Const. unto, to, indirect obj. Now rare. In passive, something must be indulged to = some indulgence must be shown to.
1638F. Junius Paint. of Ancients 164 He indulged unto you, O Lysippe, to conceive him great. Ibid. 337 Somthing must be indulged unto the wits of great Masters..onely that we doe excuse small mistakes in them. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §32 In this the Duke resumed the same impetuosity he had so much indulged to Himself in the debate of the journey. 1648E. Sparke in J. Shute's Sarah & Hagar a iv a, Scarce indulging himself necessary Relaxations. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. v. 126 On Benhadads feigned submission he indulged life unto him. 1709Strype Ann. Ref. (1824) I. xviii. 338 In the conclusion of the Queen's letters patents, where she indulged the Colleges that liberty. 1774S. Hallifax Anal. Rom. Civ. Law Pref. (1795) 11 A Valuable privilege is likewise indulged to Graduates in this faculty. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. i. (1873) 182 In the utterance of great passions, something must be indulged to the extravagance of Nature. 5. Comm. To grant an indulgence on (a bill); to allow (a person) an extension of the time within which a bill is to be met. Cf. indulgence 5.
1766W. Gordon Gen. Counting-ho. 341 An inland bill may be indulged before protesting. 1827Chitty Bills of Exchange (ed. 7) 298 Though the giving time to an acceptor or indorser, will thus in general discharge all subsequent indorsers, who would be entitled to resort to the party indulged, the giving time to a subsequent indorser, will not discharge a prior indorser. II. Intransitive. †6. indulge to: to grant indulgence to, to give free course to, give way to, gratify (a propensity, etc. = 3; rarely, a person = 1). Orig. = L. intr. use with dative; but in later use coinciding in sense with indulge in (7). Also with indirect passive. Obs.
1646H. Lawrence Comm. Angells 124 By a soft and delicate life, by indulgeing to bodily things. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §130 He indulged still too much to those importunate and insatiate appetites. 1674Govt. Tongue vi. §5. 124 There lies sure no obligations upon any man, to wrong himself, to indulge to another. 1738–41Warburton Div. Legat. (1758–65) III. 334 By indulging too much to abstract speculation. 1790G. Walker Serm. II. xxii. 149 Indulging to a worldly spirit at the throne of grace. 7. indulge in (ellipt. for indulge oneself in, 1 b): To give free course to one's inclination for; to gratify one's desire or appetite for; to take one's pleasure freely in (an action, course of conduct, etc., or a material luxury). † In first quot., to dwell with pleasure on. Also with indirect passive.
1706Estcourt Fair Examp. v. i. 58 While my transported Soul indulges on the Thought. 1763F. Brooke Lady J. Mandeville (1782) II. 189 The tears we shed are charming, we even indulge in them. a1784Johnson (Webster 1828), Most men are more willing to indulge in easy vices, than to practice laborious virtues. 1837Dickens Pickw. xlv, Any little amusement in which he could indulge. 1842A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 210 Bodily exercise and exposure to the open air are more indulged in. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. ii. xiv. I. 268 Some of the gentlemen strolled a little and indulged in a cigar. 1883C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 96 Card-playing..is only indulged in by the less reputable of the community. 8. To gratify a desire, appetite, etc.; to take one's pleasure; spec. to ‘partake’, i.e. (too) freely of intoxicants (colloq.).
a1718T. Parnell Poems on Several Occasions (1722) 125 Wretch that I was! I might have warn'd the Dame, Yet sat indulging as the Danger came. 1953P. C. Berg Dict. New Words 96/2 Indulge, to take alcoholic liquors without restraint. 1973P. O'Donnell Silver Mistress xv. 250 Tarrant..took out his cigar case. He had not indulged all night. Hence indulgeable |ɪnˈdʌldʒəb(ə)l| a., fit to be indulged; † inˈdulgement = indulgence.
1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 381 Giving himself the liberty of too frequent indulgments. 1791Gentl. Mag. 20/2 He was qualified by law, as well as indulgeable in reason and equity, for non-residence. a1846Penny Mag. cited in Worcester for Indulgment. |