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单词 degenerate
释义 de·gen·er·ate
I. \-n(ə)rə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V\ adjective
Etymology: Middle English degenerat, from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare to degenerate, from de- + gener-, genus race, kind — more at kin
1. : having sunk to a lower class or standard or to a state below that normal to a type or to a thing:
 a.
  (1) : having declined markedly (as in vigor and stability or in racial or cultural character) from one's ancestors, predecessors, or one's former self
   < just as the last degenerate member of a noble family may be unattractive and uninspiring — W.E.Swinton >
  (2) : losing distinctive racial culture : retrograde
   < the Mayas were degenerate but they were stubborn — Time >
 b. : having deteriorated from a former level : devitalized, corrupted
  < Savonarola's ecclesiastical superior officer … was a monster of perfidy and immorality; and a despairing and degenerate world had sunk into servitude beneath him — W.L.Sullivan >
  < the modern and degenerate society, which had rejected the governance of religion — J.C.Ransom >
 c. : degraded or debased by loss of moral stability, aesthetic concord, or political integrity
  < the studies of notorious degenerate families prove nothing very significant about the inheritance of degeneracy — R.M.Lindner >
  < preferred to prop up an effete and degenerate dynasty rather than face a vigorous reformed China — G.F.Hudson >
  < the profession of painting … has esthetically, morally, and in certain quarters even politically become a thoroughly degenerate one — Huntington Hartford >
 d. : having deteriorated progressively (as in the process of evolution) especially through loss of structure or function — compare degeneration 3b
2. : characterized by lowered standards
 < the great wrought nails binding the clapboards are unknown in these degenerate days — Herman Melville >
3. : breaking up into a product of factors of lower degree — used of an algebraic curve or surface
4. of a gas : characterized by having atoms stripped of most if not all of their electrons as the result of extremely high pressure and temperature in the interior of a very dense star (as a white dwarf) and by being compressed to a density as high as a million times that of water so that the ordinary laws of a perfect gas do not apply
Synonyms: see vicious
II. \-nəˌrāt, usu -ād.+V\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Latin degeneratus
intransitive verb
1. obsolete
 a. : to show a decline from ancestral or earlier character and quality
 b. : to show variation from normal type
2. : to pass from a higher to a lower type or condition:
 a. : to descend to a markedly worse condition in kind or degree : worsen conspicuously
  < the road … degenerated to little more than a goat track — Michael Swan >
  < its fine houses one by one degenerating into rooming houses — Marcia Davenport >
  < her fixed mysterious smile degenerated into a fatuous stare — J.C.Powys >
 b. : to become unstable and sink to some discreditable, despicable, or disastrous state
  < unfortunately, in practice, rotation in office degenerated into the spoils system — E.M.Eriksson >
  < debate was degenerating into partisan squabbling >
  < lest this international crisis degenerate into world war >
 c. : to decline to an unworthy secondary status through impairment of essential quality or integrity
  < the phrase which they have reiterated ad nauseam has degenerated into a ponderous platitude — W.F.Hambly >
  < has not lost its dignity or degenerated into mere prettiness — O. Elfrida Saunders >
  < religion is tending to degenerate into a decent formula wherewith to embellish a comfortable life — A.N.Whitehead >
3. : to decline intellectually or morally or from one's peculiar character or former standards usually to a shameful or despicable level
 < mentally and physically the Indians degenerated with the taking on of the white men's vices — American Guide Series: Massachusetts >
 < of heroic stature but ultimately degenerating into a typical medieval dictator — R.A.Hall b.1911 >
4. : to decline from a former thriving state or from standards proper to a species or race : retrograde
 < dinosaurs degenerated and disappeared >
 < mallards are prone anyway to degenerate into the barnyard type — W.L.McAtee >
 < all through the evolution of life many forms have degenerated, losing their relative autonomy and becoming dependent parasites upon other creatures — Curt Stern >
5. : to decline in literary, aesthetic, or artistic quality and become altered to a debased substitute or poor imitation
 < denunciation of the rampant charlatanism into which the surrealist movement has apparently degenerated — Bernard Smith >
 < their metaphor degenerates into a series of isolated and barren conceits — C.D.Lewis >
6. biology : to undergo progressive deterioration : become of a lower type — see degeneration 3
transitive verb
: to cause to degenerate
 < the Etruscans were receptive to new ideas and applied them with energy, usually only to degenerate them in the end — A.L.Kroeber >
III. \like degenerate I\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: degenerate (I)
: a person declining conspicuously from the normal character or the standard set by his kind in the normal course of development: as
 a. : one who is degraded from the normal moral standard
  < they had rotted in the last two centuries into mere drunkards and dandy degenerates — G.K.Chesterton >
  < degenerates are usually about the same type as psychopathics, namely, individuals who intellectually and especially affectively react differently from the average — A.A.Brill >
 b. : one who is debased by a psychopathic tendency
  < he has an urge to kill and destroy women … he may be considered a sexual psychopath and degenerate — Fred Galvin >
 c. : a sexual pervert — not used technically
 d. : one showing signs of reversion to an earlier culture stage
  < it is possible that some of these are cultural degenerates; most ethnologists, however, prefer to regard the majority as culturally retarded — R.W.Murray >
IV. adjective
1. : being mathematically simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case
 < the graph of a second degree equation yielding two intersecting lines is a degenerate hyperbola >
2.
 a. : having two or more states or subdivisions especially of the same energy or frequency
  < degenerate orbital >
  < degenerate oscillation >
 b. of a semiconductor : having a sufficient concentration of impurities to conduct electricity as a semimetal
3. : having more than one codon representing an amino acid ; also : being such a codon
4. : consisting of degenerate matter
 < a degenerate star >
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更新时间:2024/12/23 15:03:47