| 释义 |
taste
I. \ˈtāst\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English tasten to touch, examine by touch, test, feel, taste, from Old French taster, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin tastare, alteration of taxitare, freq. of Latin taxare to touch — more at tax
transitive verb
1. obsolete
a. : touch
b. : test
2. : to become acquainted with by experience : gain firsthand knowledge of : feel, undergo
< taste … the privations of modern warfare — Earle Birney >
< tasted the sweet delights of office — J.H.Plumb >
3.
a. : to ascertain the flavor of by taking a small quantity into the mouth
< tasted the tea and then added more sugar >
specifically : to test the quality of (a food or drink) by the taste
< taste wine >
b. : to test the quality of as if by tasting
< the rare ability to taste a sentence before he writes or utters it — E.R.Murrow >
4.
a.
(1) : to eat or drink especially in small quantities
< the first food he has tasted since yesterday morning >
(2) : to experience to a slight extent
< having at least tasted these evils — J.C.Powys >
b. : to consume a sample of (food or drink prepared for another) in order to test whether poison is present
5. : to perceive, recognize, or experience by or as if by the sense of taste
6. : to impart a flavor to : flavor
7. chiefly dialect : to make a pleasant taste in (the mouth) : please (a person) by an agreeable taste
8. archaic : like, appreciate, enjoy
9. obsolete : to copulate with
10. : smell 1a
intransitive verb
1. : to exercise the sense of taste : distinguish flavors
2.
a.
(1) : to eat or drink a part : eat or drink a little : eat or drink even a little — often used with of
< taste of these conserves — Shakespeare >
< food whereof we wretched seldom taste — John Milton >
(2) : to have a limited experience or portion — often used with of
< age but tastes of pleasures, youth devours — John Dryden >
b. : to consume a sample of food or drink prepared for another and thereby test whether poison is present
3. : to ascertain the flavor or quality of something by or as if by taking a small quantity into the mouth — often used with of
4. : to have perception, experience, or enjoyment : partake — often used with of
< taste of nature's bounty >
< the valiant never taste of death but once — Shakespeare >
5.
a. : to have a certain flavor when applied to the taste organs : excite a particular sensation by which the specific quality or flavor is distinguished
< the milk tastes sour >
< a liquid that tastes like vinegar >
< the salad tastes of garlic >
b. : to have a particular quality that is perceived as if by taste
< when will life taste clean again — Laurence Binyon >
•
- taste blood
II. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English tast touch, action of touching, testing, tasting, taste, from Old French, from taster
1. obsolete : test
2.
a. obsolete : the act of tasting with or as if with the mouth
b. : a small amount tasted or eaten
c. : a small or tiny amount : bit, sample; especially : a small sample of an experience
< a taste of high life — Robert Westerby >
3.
a. : the power of perceiving flavor : gustatory sensation or the capacity for it
b. : the one of the special senses that is concerned with the perception and distinguishing of the sweet, sour, bitter, or salty quality of a dissolved substance, is mediated by the taste buds of the tongue, is conducted centrally by the glossopharyngeal and lingual nerves, and is coordinated especially by centers in the posteroventral nuclei of the thalamus
4. : the objective sweet, sour, bitter, or salty quality of a dissolved substance as perceived by the sense of taste
5.
a. : a sensation produced by the stimulation of the sense of taste : the total blend of sensations that is obtained from a substance in the mouth and that typically consists not only of sensations produced by stimulating the sense of taste but also of sensations produced by stimulating the sense of touch and especially the sense of smell : flavor
< the taste of an orange >
b. : the distinctive quality of an experience especially with reference to the emotion that it consists of or arouses
< the flat taste of another disillusionment — C.J.Rolo >
— often used with in one's mouth
< his attempt to cheat me left a bad taste in my mouth >
6.
a. : individual preference : liking, relish, fondness, inclination
< a taste for music >
< the note of sadness … which the poets were to find so much more to their taste than the note of gladness — Henry Adams >
< expensive tastes >
< walking too fast for my taste >
< all tastes are legitimate, and it is not necessary to account for them — Virgil Thomson >
< not a historian by training or taste — D.W.Brogan >
b. : preference or liking in food or drink
< a taste for rare beef >
< season to taste >
7.
a. : the power or practice of discerning and enjoying whatever constitutes excellence especially in the fine arts and belles lettres : critical judgment, discernment, or appreciation
< taste is nothing but sensibility to the different degrees and kinds of excellence in the works of art or nature — William Hazlitt >
< establishing sound canons of literary taste — Encyc. Americana >
< the laws of taste differ … widely in different nations — W.H.Prescott >
< well developed and cultivated … musical taste — P.H.Lang >
b. : manner indicative of such discernment or appreciation : aesthetic quality : style of artistic production or of any behavior capable of being judged on an aesthetic basis
< a pleasant room upstairs, Victorian in its taste — R.M.Stern >
< the chapters on … courtship and conquest are thoroughly engrossing and written with taste — J.M.Flagler >
< her book is a minor miracle of … good taste — Lon Tinkle >
< people who mock educational deficiencies of others show bad taste — David Minsberg >
Synonyms:
taste, sapidity, flavor, savor, tang, relish, and smack can signify in common that property of a substance that makes it perceptible to the gustatory sense; taste merely indicates the property
< the taste of cherries >
< the taste of castor oil >
< there was the cold taste of fear in his mouth — Gordon Merrick >
sapidity implies a highly perceptible taste as opposed to blandness
< cook all sapidity out of the food >
flavor suggests both taste and smell acting together
< the flavor of coffee >
< the tart flavor of quinces >
< the strong flavor of ripe muskmelons >
savor usually stresses a sensitivity of palate in detection of flavor, especially delicate or pervasive
< the savor of roast pheasant and a good dry wine >
< the savor of aristocracy about a man >
tang applies chiefly to a sharp, penetrating, often pungent, savor, flavor, or odor
< the tang of outdoor cooking >
< the tang of saltwater spray — Frank Waters >
relish and smack are close to savor and usually connote enjoyment, smack often suggesting a flavor that is added to or different from one characteristic of a substance
< the relish of wine — David Hume †1776 >
< a smack of pepper in a stew >
III. noun
(-s)
Etymology: origin unknown
: a narrow thin silk ribbon |