| 释义 |
silver bullet, n.
Brit. |ˌsɪlvə ˈbʊlɪt|, U.S. |ˌsɪlvər ˈbʊlət|
[‹ silver adj. + bullet n.1]
1.
a. A bullet made of silver. Freq. with reference to the folk tradition that such a bullet can harm a werewolf (or other supernatural being) whereas an ordinary bullet cannot.
1678Trials Ireland 23 They had Silver Bullets to shoot with, and Grove would have had the Bullets to be Champt, for fear that if he should Shoot, if the Bullets were Round, the Wound that might be given might be Cured. 1772J. Trumbull Progr. Dulness iii, in Poet. Wks. (1820) II. 84 So witches, hunters say, confound 'em, For silver bullets only wound 'em. 1808Scott in Lockhart (1869) III. xviii. 159, I..have only hopes that he may be shot with a silver bullet. 1895Atlantic Monthly Jan. 139/1, I found him engaged in the task of moulding a silver bullet out of a half dollar. 1915Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 45 52 Abu-Bakar tells me that he saw the Chief of the Damaraghu fighting against the French..and that several bullets hit him, but rebounded and fell to the ground. Only a silver bullet could have wounded him. 1991R. R. McCammon Boy's Life i. i. 8 My silver bullet, forged by the Lone Ranger for a werewolf hunter.
b. fig. A simple, miraculous solution to a complex and difficult problem. Also (Med.): = magic bullet n.
1951Bedford (Pa.) Gaz. 19 Sept. 1/3 There are those who warn against viewing the atom as a magic weapon... I agree. This is not a silver bullet which can deliver itself or otherwise work military miracles. 1971Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 18 Mar. 18/4 Drug abuse, as virtually every other major problem, is multicausative and not given to simplistic silver bullet solutions. 1994Equinox June 55/1 The modern approach to controlling disease—..wiping out pathogens with silver-bullet drugs—has sometimes backfired..because it has created drug resistance in the organisms. 2003Independent 27 Dec. i. 8/6 We do not consider any one fraud detection system in isolation to be a ‘silver bullet’.
2. In pl. Originally: civilian money invested in a war effort; war securities. In later use chiefly: money used to achieve military aims, as an alternative or adjunct to direct military action. Now rare.
1914D. Lloyd George Speech Treasury in Times 9 Sept. 9/6 We have won with the silver bullets before. 1916Times 18 Feb. 3/2 Invest the savings in buying ‘Silver Bullets’ in the form most suitable and convenient—Exchequer bonds, scrip, or through the Post Office Savings Bank. 1917Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 11 Oct. 18/2 Liberty Bond slogans, the appeal of young America to their elders for ‘silver bullets’ to fight the battle of liberty, will be prominently displayed. 1938Pacific Affairs 11 116 Thirty Nanking Planes bombed the railways station at Weinan... ‘Silver bullets’ were used simultaneously, for the venerable Chairman of the Control Yuan..rushed to Shensi..to present General Feng Ching-tsai..with a million Chinese dollars. 1942N.Y. Times 21 Jan. 1/7 Thailand capitulated with scarcely a shot fired... Air bases and supply depots sprang up so quickly that many observers suspected the conquest was made with ‘silver bullets’.
3. slang. Any of various cocktails made with gin or vodka; (now) spec. a martini.
1930H. Craddock Savoy Cocktail Bk. 148 Silver bullet cocktail. ½ Gin. {oneon4} Lemon Juice. {oneon4} Kummel. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. 1980G. V. Higgins Kennedy for Defense xiv. 123 ‘'Nother dose of them silver bullets..’ Lurieen said, waving her martini glass. 1996J. Lanchester Debt to Pleasure (1997) 41 The absence of ice means that the Auden martini is not diluted in any way, and thus truly earns the drink its sobriquet ‘the silver bullet’. 2004N.Y. Times Mag. 25 Apr. 28/2 And when Richard Nixon said, ‘How about a silver bullet?’ he was offering you a very cold, dry martini. |