| 单词 | asleep at the switch |
| 释义 | > as lemmasasleep at the switch d. figurative or in figurative contexts, esp. with reference to railway or electrical switches; asleep at the switch, etc. (U.S. colloquial), negligent of or oblivious to one's responsibility, off guard. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > off one's guard [phrase] out of (one's) guarda1616 off one's guard1683 asleep at the switch1898 1898 G. B. Shaw Let. 16 Mar. (1972) II. 16 I am very cross and incommoded..by having to adapt myself [to a new secretary]... For three sentences, I feel resentful..and quite put out. At the fourth the switch operates and I am on to the new line as if I had never dictated to anybody else. 1906 H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 368 Snow..awoke the startled Williams, asleep at the switch. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August viii. 161 Mind and body as if on the same switch, believing that he had seen a movement among the shadows. 1958 Observer 19 Oct. 18/4 [The television play], though a bit slow off the switch, scored well over half-marks for sincerity and realism. 1966 C. Achebe Man of People iv. 51 We must not let up. We just must not be caught sleeping on the switch again. < as lemmas |
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