| 单词 | what a pity |
| 释义 | > as lemmaswhat a pity a. Originally: cause for pity, matter for sorrow or regret. In later use chiefly as a count noun: a ground or cause for pity; a subject of condolence or (more usually) regret; a regrettable fact or circumstance. Frequently in phrases with that-clause or infinitive, as pity (it) is, the pity is, what a pity, etc. Now also in elliptical use. a thousand pities: a matter of extreme regret. See also (the) more's the pity at more adj. 1f. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > regret > [noun] > a matter for regret scathec1300 sinc1300 pityc1325 damagec1385 spitec1400 pity?c1450 remorse1548 tragedy1873 the mind > emotion > compassion > quality of exciting pity > [noun] > cause or ground for pity pityc1325 harmc1430 c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 11730 (MED) Reuþe it was ido þat sir simon..de membred was so, vor sir willam..Carf him of fet & honde & is limes manion, & þat mest pite was. c1390 Charter Abbey Holy Ghost (Laud) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 345 (MED) Adam..fel seke & died, & his wyf boþe, & here soules wenten to helle, & þat was grete pyte. c1440 (a1400) Sir Eglamour (Thornton) (1965) 36 (MED) He loued na mare þan þat lady so free..It was þe more pete! a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 561 That were grete pyte..that so good a knyght as he is sholde be slayne so cowardly. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxii. 22 A waye with soche a felowe from the erth! Yt is pitie thet he shulde live. 1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Trueth of Discipline x. 52 It is a pitie to see howe farre the office of a bishop is degenerated from. 1625 C. Burges New Discouery Personal Tithes 67 It is a thousand pitties they should want blowes who will doe nothing without them. 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 59 It is great Pity we should not be..Friends. 1746 H. Walpole Let. 24 Oct. in Corr. (1974) XXXVII What a pity it is I was not born in the golden age of Louis the Fourteenth. 1797 R. M. Roche Children of Abbey (ed. 2) III. iii. 26 Poor thing, she is going fast indeed, and the more's the pity, for she is a sweet creature. 1848 J. Ruskin Let. 22 Sept. in M. Lutyens Ruskins & Grays (1972) xvii. 158 You and my mother must be left at least tranquil as you are to be left—more's the pity—now so much alone. 1853 R. C. Trench On Lessons in Proverbs 140 Lessons which it would be an infinite pity to lose. 1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux I. xxv. 204 ‘It is a pity you did not take the coronet when I offered it you.’ ‘Nay, duke, it was no pity.’ 1901 R. Kipling Kim ii. 58 ‘Pity it is that these and such as these could not be freed from the Wheel of Things,’ said the lama. 1907 G. B. Shaw Major Barbara ii. in John Bull's Other Island 240 Pity you didn't rub some [snow] off with your knees, Bill! That would have done you a lot of good. 1932 H. Walpole Fortress ii. 272 Westaways had been created by an artist, and it was a thousand pities that in the autumn of 1836 it was pulled down. 1988 Jrnl. Theol. Stud. 39 552 It is a pity that this collection of essays was not published about 30 years ago. 2000 A. Morus Green Trees by River in J. Thomas Catwomen from Hell 191 Oh, but you should have seen it. Pity you missed it. < as lemmas |
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