| 释义 |
credibility|krɛdɪˈbɪlɪtɪ|
[ad. med.L. crēdibilitās, f. crēdibilis credible: cf. F. credibilité (Academy's Dict. 1694).]
a. The quality of being credible; an instance or case of this.
1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. iv. §1 (1845) Sith the ground of credit is the credibility of things credited; and things are made credible either by the known condition and quality of the utterer, or by the manifest likelihood of truth which they have in themselves. 1659Pearson Creed (1839) 4 The credibility of objects..is distinguishable..according to the different authority of the testimony on which it depends. 1663Jer. Taylor Fun. Serm. Abp. Bramhall, If this be not sufficient credibility in a matter of fact..then we can have no story credibly transmitted..Then we may be as sure that Christ..is already risen as all these credibilities can make us. 1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. p. x, The extraordinary powers of the gizzard would exceed all credibility. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. iv. 220 Christianity..rests on the credibility of the Gospel history.
b. spec. In contexts of a defence policy based on the theory of the effectiveness of a nuclear deterrent.
1960Times 11 Feb. 11/6 There would be no gain in the credibility of the deterrent if N.A.T.O. became an atomic Power. 1962Listener 2 Aug. 161/2 Worry about the credibility of massive retaliation so long as America alone has the power to start it has been racking Nato for several years.
c. credibility gap (orig. U.S.), a disinclination to believe a person, a statement, etc., used esp. of the non-acceptance at face-value of official statements; a disparity between facts and what is said or written about them.
1966Guardian 28 Dec. 6/1 Official American statements are no longer taken on trust... The phenomenon..is called the ‘credibility gap’. 1967M. McCarthy in Observer 30 Apr. 12 We do not recognise them, helmeted, in a bomber aiming cans of napalm at a thatched village. We have a credibility gap. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 June 23/8 Don't look now, but I'm afraid my credibility gap was showing a bit in a column I wrote the other day. |