| 释义 |
invulnerable, a. (n.)|ɪnˈvʌlnərəb(ə)l|
[ad. L. invulnerābil-is, f. in- (in-3) + vulnerābilis vulnerable: cf. F. invulnerable (15–16th c. in Hatz.).]
A. adj.
1. Incapable of being wounded; not liable to be physically hurt or damaged.
1595Shakes. John ii. i. 252 Our Cannons malice vainly shall be spent Against th'involnerable clouds of heauen. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iv. 4 From his mothers wombe, which him did beare, He was invulnerable made by Magicke leare. 1693Shadwell Volunteers i. i, As fearless as if he were invulnerable. a1704T. Brown Observ. Homer Wks. 1730 I. 72 Homer..makes Achilles invulnerable everywhere but in his heel. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 223/2 Ships..whose decks, even in iron-clads, are rarely invulnerable. 1962Listener 29 Mar. 540/1 It is essential, isn't it, to have what are called ‘invulnerable strategic forces’? Ibid. 554/1 The speediest possible development of ‘invulnerable’ nuclear retaliatory power. Ibid., The ‘increasingly invulnerable’ missile.
2. fig. Incapable of being damaged or injuriously affected by attack; not effectively assailable.
1663Cowley Verses & Ess., Death Mrs. Philips (1669) 34 Never did Spirit of the Manly make..A temper more invulnerable take. 1713Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 489 Vanessa, though by Pallas taught, By Love invulnerable thought. 1814D'Israeli Quarrels Auth. (1867) 470 The genius of Hobbes was invulnerable to mere human opposition. 1876Gladstone Homeric Synchr. 44 A general proposition, not less important, and I think invulnerable.
B. n. An invulnerable person.
1825Gentl. Mag. XCV. i. 358 Some hundreds assume the title of Invulnerables.
Hence inˈvulnerableness = invulnerability; inˈvulnerably adv., so as to be invulnerable.
1655Bp. Prideaux Euchol. i. vi. (1656) 92 Powers..most dangerous..For their invulnerablenesse, they being Spirits. 1847A. Bennie Disc. iv. 67 Faith in Christ renders his life invulnerably secure. 1865Cornh. Mag. XI. 476 The invulnerableness of their skin was yet more extraordinary. |