| 释义 |
evil eye, the evil eye1. The power believed by the superstitious to inflict harm, injury, or misfortune by a look or stare. They say that the old lady living in the house at the end of the road has an evil eye—if she catches you in her gaze, you'll be cursed with bad luck for a year!2. A hateful, malicious, or villainous look or stare that suggests or is thought to be capable of inflicting harm or misfortune. I saw him giving me the evil eye, so I turned around and walked the other way.See also: evil, eyeevil eyeThe power to cause injury or misfortune, as in The tomatoes died shortly after planting-I must have an evil eye. The source of this expression is the ancient superstitious belief that some individuals could inflict harm on others simply by looking at them. Today the term is generally used figuratively or ironically, as above, and also in the form give someone the evil eye, which means "glare malevolently at someone." For example, Helen gave his cat the evil eye, hoping it would stay out of her garden. [Late 1300s] See also: evil, eyethe evil eye The evil eye is a harmful magical force that is given by looking at someone. Some people said an evil eye had been put on her.See also: evil, eyethe evil eye a gaze or stare superstitiously believed to cause harm.See also: evil, eyeevil eye, theThe power of being able to inflict harm at a glance. This age-old superstition—the Roman poet Virgil speaks of it bewitching lambs—is in modern times expressed figuratively and sometimes ironically. Edward Bulwer-Lytton used it in The Last Days of Pompeii (1834): “‘He certainly possesses the gift of the evil eye,’ said Clodius of Arbaces the Egyptian.” As for a modern jocular example: “Where house plants are concerned, I seem to have the evil eye.”See also: evil |