| 释义 |
sinuosity|sɪnjuːˈɒsɪtɪ|
[ad. F. sinuosité or med.L. *sinuōsitas: see prec. and -ity.]
1. The character, condition, or quality of being sinuous or winding in and out.
1598Drayton Heroical Ep. Wks. (1810) 58/2 Meander is a river..famous for the sinuosity and often returning thereof. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., 'Tis the Sinuosity of the Sea Coasts that forms Bays, Ports, Capes, &c. 1774Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772 33 The multitude of pretty bays that give such an elegant sinuosity to its shores. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 170 The extreme sinuosity of the river has caused it to return for a brief space in a contrary direction to its main course. 1873G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere xiii. 100 Owing to the sinuosity of the brook, the pools..are yet not within fish sight.
fig.1857M. Pattison Ess. (1889) II. 212 The natural difficulty of the German language,..enhanced by the elaborate sinuosity of the period. 1885Society in London 251 Something of the sinuosity of the Oriental.
2. (Chiefly pl.) A curve or bend, esp. one of a series.
1720S. Parker Biblioth. Bibl. I. 235 There was no need..of..so much as of a Helm for steering, or indeed of any Sinuosity or Protuberance whatsoever. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Leaves, The Sinuosities or Circuits, which are found throughout the whole Structure [of the leaf]. 1766Smollett Trav. xxvii. II. 46 So delicately cut, as to shew..all the swellings and sinuosities of the muscles. 1831R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 679 It exactly accompanies the phrenic nerve, forming several sinuosities. 1855Ramsbotham Obst. Med. & Surg. 3 A considerable sinuosity or arch, forming, when the bone is joined to the sacrum, a very long notch. 1876Bartholow Mat. Med. (1879) 88 Care being taken to penetrate to all the sinuosities of the sore.
b. A curve, bend, or winding in a road, river, valley, etc.
a1774Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 334 The fewer the sinuosities of the rivers, the farther was he removed from the sea. 1774J. Campbell Polit. Surv. Britain I. 274 The very irregular indented Line, which forms its Shore, comprehends, allowing for those Sinuosities, at least eight hundred Marine Leagues. 1829Scott Anne of G. i, Winding by a narrow path along the sinuosities of the valley. 1835Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. xxix. 406 The further point of this sinuosity. 1882B. Harte Flip ii, She..watched Lance's figure as it vanished..in the shadows and sinuosities of the ascent.
c. fig. A complexity or intricacy.
1827Miss Sedgwick H. Leslie (1872) II. 180 One accustomed to all the sinuosities of the human mind. 1849Bright Sp., Ireland 2 Apr. (1876) 171, I certainly never heard the right hon. gentleman steer through so many sinuosities in a case. 1864Burton Scot Abroad I. i. 28 The sinuosities of the discussion.
3. A sinuous movement.
a1892Tennyson in Mem. (1897) I. 41, I kept a tame snake... I liked to watch his wonderful sinuosities on the carpet. |