| 释义 |
preponderance|prɪˈpɒndərəns|
[f. preponderant a.: see -ance, and cf. F. prépondérance (18th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. The fact of exceeding in weight; greater heaviness.
1681Grew Musæum i. v. ii. 106 Little light Boats..To the side whereof, this Fish [remora] fastening her self, might easily make it swag, as the least preponderance on either side will do. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 1499 Close with the side where one grain turns the scale; What vast preponderance is here! 1831Lardner Pneumat. iv. 259 The preponderance of the iron ball assists the atmospheric pressure in sustaining the column.
b. Gunnery. The excess of weight of that part of a gun which is to the rear of the trunnions over that in front of them. (So F. prépondérance, Littré.)
It is measured by the force (expressed in pounds) which must be applied under the rear end of the base-ring or neck of the cascabel in order to balance the gun with the axis of the bore horizontal, when supported freely on knife-edges placed under the trunnions.
1864in Webster. 1871C. H. Owen Mod. Artillery (1873) 2 The excess of weight in rear of the trunnions is termed the preponderance. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1783/2 The preponderance of a gun is usually 1/20 of its weight. 1887Text Bk. Gunnery 81 The trunnions..are generally placed a very little way in front of the centre of gravity to allow of elevating with ease; this causes a statical pressure on the elevating gear called preponderance, which is necessary for steadiness.
2. Superiority or excess in moral weight, power, influence, or importance.
1780Bentham Princ. Legisl. xiv. §3 The good would have an incontestible preponderance over the evil. 1808Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) IV. 55 It would give Great Britain the preponderance in the conduct of the war in the Peninsula. 1883Sir T. Martin Ld. Lyndhurst xi. 299 The Ministry had the great preponderance of popular opinion at their back.
3. Superiority in number or amount.
1845McCulloch Taxation i. i. (1852) 158 A consequence..of their immense preponderance in point of numbers. 1862Dana Man. Geol. 516 The collection of animals has a strikingly Oriental character, except in the preponderance of Ungulates. 1894H. Drummond Ascent Man 305 The more social animals are in overwhelming preponderance over the unsocial. |