| 单词 | over a person's head |
| 释义 | > as lemmasover a person's head k. over a person's head. extracted from headn.1 (a) (i) literal. = overhead adv. 2a.a roof over one's head: see roof n. Phrases 1. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > high position > [adverb] > overhead over a person's headOE abovea1225 overheada1398 above-head1548 overtop1776 the world > space > relative position > high position > in a high position [phrase] > over one's head over a person's headOE OE tr. Vitas Patrum in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 198 He cwæð, þæt he geseage up on heahnesse þære heofonan ane culfran flyceriende ofer his heafod. c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 2217 (MED) ‘Abyde,’ quoþ on, on þe bonke abouen ouer his hede. 1573 D. P. Certaine Rules Geogr. sig. Aiv Imagine a poynt or pricke directly ouer your head, which is called Zenith. 1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. ii. sig. Aa4v Larks..hovering and singing a while over our Heads. 1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 421 We have the wild goose flying over our heads..in vast flocks. 1833 S. Smith Life & Writings Major Jack Downing 17 The balls were whistling over our heads. 1883 M. W. Hungerford Rossmoyne III. v. 156 You will have the roof burned over your head one of these dark nights. 1893 O. Schreiner Story Afr. Farm ii. i. 132 Some pale-green, hairy-leaved bushes..meet over our head. 1954 Coast to Coast 1953–4 1 He heard the chattering of blue jays and wattle-birds over his head. 1998 Skydiving Mar. 47 (advt.) Over my head was the most beautiful rainbow colored Raven IV Reserve [parachute] you ever saw. 2008 J. Franzen in New Yorker 21 Apr. 96/3 I saw a tracer round cross the sky over our heads. (ii) Of an impending event, or an overwhelming or oppressive force: so as to constitute a threat or danger; (also) so as to be a source of dread or anxiety. Chiefly and earliest in to hang over (one's) head at hang v. 12b.Often as part of an extended metaphor referring to something (notionally) located physically overhead. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > occurrence > future events > [phrase] > in store (for) over a person's headc1390 in store for1657 in for1773 c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 146 (MED) Þer nis non so stif ne stronge..Bi-hold what ouer hor hed con honge. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xiii. l. 393 He preyde hem..That Neuere non of hem ne scholden fle, What Aventure that henge Ouer here hed. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 2 The daungers hangyng ouer theyr heades. a1677 T. Manton Serm. (1678) I. ii. 23 As long as this black Storm hangs over your head, and you know not how soon it will drop upon you, you cannot be accounted happy Men. 1710 Medley 6 Nov. The Marquis d'Ancre frighted with the Storm that was gathering over his Head, often press'd his Wife to go back with him to Italy. 1763 O. Goldsmith Martial Rev. 128 His Prussian Majesty, all this while, had the terrible junction of the Russians with the Austrians and Imperialists hanging over his head. 1823 H. Lee Kruitzner 60 Such was the enemy that hung over the head of the unhappy Siegendorf! 1848 C. Brontë Let. 28 Feb. (2000) II. 35 Years are heavy on him, the sword of Damocles has long been hanging over his head. 1887 R. F. Burton tr. Arabian Nights' Entertainm.: Suppl. Nights III. dxlii. 100 Present Death hovereth over my head except I win my will. 1917 United Mine Workers Jrnl. 25 Oct. 6/2 [The coal miner] is today the most important factor in the great commercial and military crisis hovering over our head. 1992 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 21 Jan. d3 After Mattox retired in 1957 as a newspaper editor..he moved to West Palm Beach... ‘I didn't have a deadline over my head all the time,’ he said. 1994 Entertainm. Weekly 29 Apr. 42 The specter of the show entering syndication next fall looms over his head. (b) (i) In such a way as to ignore or discount the authority, prior claim, etc., of the person concerned; without consulting or informing the person affected.Used esp. with reference to promotion to a higher position, better job, etc., or (in early use) to commercial transactions (cf. to buy over a person's head at buy v. Phrases 3). ΘΚΠ society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > improperly [phrase] > by unwarranted claim or appropriation > passing over one having prior claim over a person's heada1500 a1500 Consail & Teiching Vys Man (Cambr. Kk.1.5) in R. Girvan Ratis Raving & Other Early Scots Poems (1939) 77 A levand mannys benefyce,..Na our his hed to tak his land Desyr nocht. 1551 T. Lever Serm. xiiii. December (new ed.) sig. H.iii They take one anothers ferme ouer their heades. 1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth i. 74 [He] deuorcing his first wife, marryed ouer her head in her life time. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) i. 18 The Younger being often brought over the head of the elder to be Principal. 1800 ‘Homo’ Considerations Present High Price Corn 20 Those frightful apprehensions, of having his farm purchased over his head, by some speculative character. 1822 M. Graham Jrnl. 25 Nov. in Captain's Wife (1993) 139 My house is let over my head to some persons who..have bribed the landlord to let it to them. 1887 Times 31 Oct. 9/3 It is no compliment..that an ex-diplomatist should be chosen for promotion over their heads. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 716/2 The traveller..finds himself called upon..to soften and explain away amenities which have been unwisely transmitted by letter, exchanged, as it were ‘over his head’. 1955 A. L. Rowse Diary 13 June (2003) 241 I wasn't best pleased when it was arranged over my head that I should drive her back. 1988 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 6 July 1 Not only was it not done over my head, it was done with my complete co-operation. 2005 Independent 28 Nov. (.media section) 3/1 [He] finally drove Newland nuts by bringing in senior staff over his head. (ii) Originally U.S. colloquial. to go over a person's head: to approach or consult a higher authority than the person affected, generally without consulting or informing him or her. ΚΠ 1909 Sat. Evening Post 2 Oct. 10/1 I put myself in Dutch by trying to go over your head. 1916 Rotarian July 47/2 That will make it meet the approval of Ned's directors and it will not look as if he is going over the head of his cashier. 1970 P. Berton National Dream v. i. 195 With Edgar thus disposed of, Walkem meant to go over Mackenzie's head to the Crown itself. 2006 C. Murray Murder in Samarkand x. 152 I even copied in Michael Jay on the correspondence. In fact, I seem to recall you complained I was going over your head. (c) Of a period of time or an (esp. unpleasant) experience: so as to elapse or pass by; finished with, endured; over, past. Cf. to pass over head at overhead adv. 4. Now chiefly North American regional. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the past > past [phrase] over a person's head1578 1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 63v Appelles..would lette no day passe ouer his heade without a lyne, without some labour. 1675 Rutherford's Lett. (new ed.) iii. 56 When all these strokes are over your head, what will you say, to see your welbeloved. 1686 G. Burnet Lett. Present State Italy iii. 118 I have now another Month over my head since I writ last to you. 1755 A. Ramsay Epist. to J. Clerk 69 Now seventy years are o'er my head. 1832 C. Willard & W. Willard Let. 26 Aug. in Eng. Immigrant Voices (2000) 40 There was not a day went over our heads but what there was a quarrelling or a fighting. 1866 Every Sat. 27 Jan. 95/2 I could even now narrate the substance of the book, although at least fifteen years must have passed over my head since I read it. 1886 H. Smart Outsider I. ii. 26 Ere many more days were over her head! a1908 E. Carpenter in Intermediate Sex (1908) App. 152 Years of the most racking mental agony have gone over my head without killing me. 1944 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 2. 34 The worst day and night I ever put over my head. 1971 Idaho State Jrnl. 28 Nov. d3/1 All the years that have passed over my head since then do not seem to have changed me much. (d) (i) To such a depth of water, etc., that the head is submerged; so as to be completely submerged or immersed. Also figurative: deeply immersed or involved in something. Also over the head. See also over head and ears at Phrases 3e(a). Cf. overhead adv. 2b. ΚΠ ?1610 J. Fletcher Faithfull Shepheardesse ii. sig. D4v This holy well..Hath power to change the forme of any creature, Being thrice dipt ouer the head, into [etc.]. 1654 E. Leigh Syst. Divinity viii. viii. 665 Many in hotter climates at some times of the year cannot be plunged over the head in cold water without hazard of life or health. 1766 App. to 5th Edition of Dr. Brookes's Gen. Pract. Physic 79 The Patient is soon suffocated; as effectually, though more slowly, as if he was immersed over the Head in it. 1777 T. Campbell Philos. Surv. S. Ireland xxvii. 259 What artillery in all the magazines of wisdom can make any impression on ignorance, intrenched over the head in prejudice. 1829 H. L. Maw Jrnl. Passage from Pacific to Atlantic ix. 248 The boat having paid-off on striking the bank, he went over his head in the water. 1866 All Year Round 17 Nov. 448/2 The three men despaired of reaching the rope. The first was twice plunged over his head in the water. 1890 J. Martine Reminisc. 14 Parishes County of Haddington 124 The tub ‘couped’, and both lads were over the head in the water. 1920 Harper's Mag. Aug. 363/1 We have plunged over our heads into a sea of religious and spiritual curiosity. 1975 Field & Stream June 76/3 The next thing I knew I was in water over my head. 2010 E. Lockhart Real Live Boyfriends ix. 96 Then I was over my head in the bitter water, and Gideon was steering the boat around to pick me up. (ii) colloquial (originally U.S.). to be in over one's head: to be involved in something that is beyond one's capacity, or too difficult for one to deal with. Cf. out of one's depth at depth n. Phrases. ΚΠ 1888 H. Clews Twenty-eight Years Wall Street lix. 680 It was a Waterloo..for Jerome and his fellow bulls. They were in over their heads... They immediately threw up the sponge and the stock came down with a crash. 1900 M. G. Morrison Sea-farers 107 ‘I will give you five thousand dollars to start in an honest business.’.. ‘I'm in too deep. I'm in over my head... Can't you understand?’ 1965 L. Roman P.S. I love You i. 30 You see, all through our marriage I'd been wondering if maybe I was in over my head. 2008 Vanity Fair Feb. 123/2 Indiana Jones gets in over his head and he can't handle it. It's only by sheer, last-second skill, or luck,..that he actually gets himself out of it. (e) Beyond a person's comprehension or intellectual capacity. Cf. above one's head at above adv., prep., n., and adj. Phrases 7.Originally as part of an extended metaphor of flight. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > [adverb] > beyond understanding beyond or out of one's depth1623 over a person's heada1626 the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [adverb] inscrutably1597 unknownly1611 inaccessibly1621 over a person's heada1626 unconceivably1630 indiscernibly1636 unintelligibly1664 unimaginably1666 unsearchably1706 impenetrably1759 unfathomablya1822 unrecognizably1836 incomprehensibly1863 untraceably1875 indigestibly1977 a1626 F. Bacon Advt. Holy Warre in Certaine Misc. Wks. (1629) 86 That Worke..flies too high ouer Mens Heads. 1791 W. Maxwell in J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1770 I. 341 He [sc. Johnson] observed, that..polished periods and glittering sentences flew over the heads of the common people, without any impression upon their hearts. 1836 C. MacFarlane Bk. Table-talk I. lix. 297 He knew the danger of talking over the heads of his popular congregations, and thence arose his fondness for common sayings and proverbs. 1886 H. Smart Outsider II. ii. 20 Welstead quickly became cognizant that his wife was over his head. 1922 Industr. Managem. Sept. 139/1 The book-keeping system we use is quite over my head. 1977 Ebony Dec. 34 The academic material was completely over his head. 2006 K. Montgomery How Doctors Think vii. 118 The neuro stuff on scans was way over my head back then. < as lemmas |
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