| 释义 |
inevitable, a. (and n.)|ɪnˈɛvɪtəb(ə)l|
[ad. L. inēvītābilis unavoidable, f. in- (in-3) + ēvītābilis evitable, f. ēvītāre to avoid. Cf. F. inévitable (1549 in R. Estienne).]
a. That cannot be avoided; not admitting of escape or evasion; unavoidable. In extended use: that cannot fail or is bound to occur, appear, be used, etc.; that is inherent (in) or naturally belongs to (see also quot. 1893).
c1430Life St. Kath. (1884) 52 My body whyche aftur þe ineuitable lawe of nature abydeth to be resolued in to deþ. c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) D iv, What should he dreade of deathe? it is ineuitable, The generall duetie and tribute of nature. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 65 When I should see behinde me Th' ineuitable prosecution of disgrace and horror. 1676W. Row Contn. Blair's Autobiog. x. (1848) 212 There was an inevitable necessity laid upon them. 1750Gray Elegy 35 All..Await alike th' inevitable hour. 1795Southey Joan of Arc x. 508 [He] then beholds the inevitable shark Close on him open-mouthed. 1838Thirlwall Greece V. xl. 122 A battle became inevitable. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 10 The conclusion seems inevitable that the mountain is sinking by its own weight. 1879F. W. Farrar Life St. Paul Pref., The English version..only requires the removal of errors which were inevitable to the age in which it was executed. 1893Funk's Stand. Dict., Inevitable..jocularly, customary; usual; as, the inevitable row with the cabman; the inevitable hash for breakfast. 1932N. & Q. 6 Feb. 107/1 Illustrations of French wit;..of the ‘inevitable’ phrase, that gift to the world past all praise. 1932H. Read in H. J. & H. Massingham Great Victorians 400 Patmore, at this stage of his inspiration, was no inevitable poet. 1974Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 4 Jan. 19/3 Walter Harris was awarded a light diet of prunes, apricots, grapefruit, broth, and the inevitable yoghurt.
b. absol. and as n. the inevitable, that which is inevitable, what cannot be avoided or escaped. Also (with an or pl.), an inevitable fact, event, truth, etc.; a person who, or thing which, is necessarily chosen or employed.
1850Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. iv. 16 Our one interest in such Government is, that it would be kind enough to cease and go its ways, before the inevitable arrive. 1887Lowell Democr. 16 There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. 1888W. Whitman in Century Mag. (1911) Dec. 255/1 Grant was one of the inevitables: he always arrived; he was as invincible as a law. 1901Westm. Gaz. 24 Apr. 4/2 Here at length are some true inevitables. 1903Ibid. 28 Aug. 3/2 After the Canadian Arch it was only an ‘inevitable’ that there should be a rush to the Dominion. 1927Observer 17 July 9/4 A further twenty volumes of Everyman's Library... The ‘Areopagitica’ was another of the inevitables. 1936L. C. Douglas White Banners viii. 167 Paul greeted them amiably, exchanged the inevitables with the comely Mrs. Edmunds [etc.]. 1965Listener 22 July 112/2 It seemed that it was only a matter of time before..the United States would bow gracefully to the inevitable. |