| 单词 | burn the candle at both ends |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto burn the (or one's) candle at both ends b. In figurative phrases: to burn daylight: to burn candles in the daytime, also to waste or consume the daylight. So †to burn seasonable weather: to fail to turn it to advantage, consume, waste (obsolete). to burn the (or one's) candle at both ends; see candle n. ΘΠ the world > time > spending time > spend time [verb (intransitive)] > waste time prolong1449 protract1526 dally?1548 to burn daylight1597 lapse1667 to hinder time1712 niffle1775 to cut to waste1863 the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [verb (intransitive)] > burn in the daytime to burn daylight1597 the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (intransitive)] > fail to take advantage to burn seasonable weather1597 to miss of ——a1628 to make a balk of good ground1637 1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 43 Mer: We burne day light here. Rom: Nay thats not so. Mer: I meane sir in delay, We burne our lights by night, like Lampes by day. View more context for this quotation 1618 W. Raleigh Advice of Sonne in Remains (1661) 120 It is a strange piece of Art..to lie idely at the road, burning so seasonable weather. a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) i. ii. 8 Hear. Her nose the candle... Sha. Put out your nose good Lady You burn day-light. a1653 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 92 Why burne wee day light? wee have time and place. 1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin iii. 100 They burn the day in game, and sport the faster. 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 211 No Candles yet..don't let us burn Day-Light. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. xiii. 324 Burn not daylight about it—we have short time to spare. to light (also burn) the candle at both ends P7. to light (also burn) the candle at both ends: to consume or waste in two directions at once.Cf. Cotgrave ‘Brusler la chandelle par lex deux bouts’. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > relinquishing > squandering or prodigality > squander or be prodigal [verb (intransitive)] waste1390 lasha1560 squander1593 to play the prodigal1602 outlash1611 wanton1646 to light (also burn) the candle at both ends1736 extravagate1871 the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > using up, expending, or consuming > be used up or consumed [verb (intransitive)] > consume in two ways at once to light (also burn) the candle at both ends1736 1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) (at cited word) The Candle burns at both Ends. Said when Husband and Wife are both Spendthrifts. 1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea II. xlii. 281 Apt to light their candle at both ends; that is to say, they are apt to consume too much, and work too little. 1848 C. Kingsley Saint's Trag. iii. i. 140 To double all your griefs, and burn life's candle, As village gossips say, at either end. < as lemmas |
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