| 释义 |
spurn
I. \ˈspərn, -pə̄n, -pəin\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English spurnen, from Old English spurnan; akin to Old Frisian spurna to kick, Old Saxon & Old High German spurnan, Old Norse sporna to kick, Latin spernere to despise, spurn, Greek spairein to quiver, Sanskrit sphurati he kicks
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to hit something with the foot : stumble
2. obsolete : to strike something with the foot : kick — often used with at
< spurn not at stone walls >
3. : to speak out or act against something in disdainful or contemptuous fashion — usually used with at
< spurning fearlessly at danger and all enemies >
transitive verb
1. : to tread heavily upon (something) : kick, trample
< then the creature was off, silver hoofs spurning the ground — Elizabeth Goudge >
< would have spurned him with her foot save that she did not want to rouse him — C.S.Forester >
— often used with away
< spurning away those who had helped him to power >
2. : to reject (something) with disdain or contempt : scorn
< used certain resources and spurned others — Lewis Mumford >
< spurned a suggestion that he carry a gun — N.Y.Times >
< the spurned lover assuaged his grief in violent activity — Saxe Commins >
Synonyms: see decline
II. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from spurnen, v.
1. : a blow delivered with the foot : kick
2. : the act of spurning or kicking
3. : disdainful rejection : contemptuous treatment
< the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes — Shakespeare >
III. noun
(-s)
Etymology: alteration of spurn (I)
1. archaic : the main root of a tree
2. archaic : a projecting part : spur
3. : a small short pillar of coal left within the seam to support the coal above during holing |