| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈoutˌwit, n. Obs.
[out- 3.]
The faculty of observation or perception; an external sense.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 289 A lyer in soule; With Inwit and with outwitt ymagenen and studye, As best for his body be. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 291 Sum good iugement is of mennes out-wittis, as þei iugen whiche mete is good & whiche mete is yuel, and sum men iugement is of mennes witt wiþinne, as men iugen how þei schal do, by lawe of consience.
▪ II. outwit, v.|aʊtˈwɪt|
[out- 21.]
1. trans. To excel in wit; to surpass in wisdom or knowledge. arch.
1659Gauden Tears Ch. ii. xxxi. 253 What arts did Church⁓men in former times use, when they did so much out-wit and out-wealth us. 1694Howe Princ. Oracles God xvii, A thing whereon the wisdom of the Creator hath infinitely outwitted us, and gone beyond us. 1847Emerson Poems (1857) 138 Thou..Shalt outsee seers, and outwit sages.
2. To overreach or get the better of by superior craft or ingenuity; to prove too clever for.
1652Kirkman Clerio & Lozia 114 Her Uncle was out⁓witted. 1705Hickeringill Priest-cr. iii. Wks. 1716 III. 164 Rebekkah that club'd with her beloved Son Jacob..to cheat or, rather (as the Quakers word it) to Outwit his own Father and Brother. 1846Trench Mirac. v. (1862) 178 There reveals itself here the very essence and truest character of evil, which evermore outwits and defeats itself. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. iv. 197 Every commercial treaty was an attempt made by one nation to outwit another.
Hence outˈwitted ppl. a.; outˈwitting vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also outˈwittal (nonce-wd.), the fact of outwitting; outˈwitter, one who outwits.
1705Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. viii. 78 Their Cheating,..Outwitting, and Over-reaching, in Shops and Exchange. 1775Langhorne Country Justice ii. 20 The worship'd Calves of their outwitting Knaves. 1862Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. IV. iv. §2. 96 If he can outwit the great outwitter. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 11 The outwitted beast. 1875Contemp. Rev. XXV. 750 The tricks of Sir Robert..and their outwittal by Matilda. 1891Athenæum 9 May 599/3 This perpetual outwitting of examiners. |