| 释义 |
grant no quarter grant (someone) no quarterTo offer (someone) no mercy, concession, indulgence, or leeway. This match determines if we're heading to the finals of the tournament, so go out there and grant them no quarter! Our boss grants no quarter when it comes to the standards of our projects.See also: grant, no, quartergrant someone no quarter and give someone no quarterFig. not to allow someone any mercy or indulgence. (Originally meant to refuse to imprison and simply to kill one's prisoner.) The professor was harsh on lazy students. During class, he granted them no quarter.See also: grant, no, quartergrant no quarterShow no mercy. This term comes from the ancient practice of sparing the life of an enemy who has come into one’s power, which was described as giving or granting quarter. Granting no quarter meant they were killed. The meaning of “quarter” has been disputed. The most likely explanation lies in “quarters” in the sense of “barracks,” a use of the word since the late sixteenth century. To grant no quarter thus meant to provide no housing for prisoners, who of course would not need it if they were dead. Wrote Nathan Bailey in 1725 (trans. Erasmus’ Colloquies), “It is grown into a proverb, I’ll give you no more quarter than a dog does a wolf.”See also: grant, no, quarter |