| 单词 | precipice |
| 释义 | precipice (once / 481 pages) n Cartoon characters often end up on a precipice, the edge of a steep cliff, where their chubby toes curl and cling as they totter and eventually fall, making a hole in the ground below and getting up again. Most real people avoid precipices. Unless you're a skilled climber or mountain-sport enthusiast, a precipice is a scary thing. Some imagine falling off and making the sharp drop, while others get dizzy just thinking about looking down. This makes sense, considering that the 17th-century English word precipice comes, through French, from Latin words meaning "headlong" and even "abrupt descent." In modern use, precipice also describes how it feels to fall, or fail, in areas of life that don't involve mountains, such as being "on the precipice of losing everything." WORD FAMILYprecipice: precipices, precipitous+/precipitous: precipitously, precipitousness USAGE EXAMPLESHe thought the Trojans were on the precipice. Los Angeles Times(Jan 02, 2017) Goldberg predicts we are on the precipice of an ’80s-style anti-feminist backlash, and reminds readers of how dark those times were. Salon(Dec 29, 2016) The country was on the precipice of seismic change. Time(Dec 15, 2016) n a very steep cliff Hyper cliff, drop, drop-off a steep high face of rock |
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