| 单词 | motive |
| 释义 | mo·tive I. 1. a. < ordinarily his motive is a wish to … avoid unfavorable notice and comment — Thorstein Veblen > b. < the principal motive of American policy — C.E.Black & E.C.Helmreich > < the motive for the crime > 2. obsolete < nature, whose motive in this case should stir me most — Shakespeare > < am I the motive of these tears — Shakespeare > 3. obsolete < her wanton spirits look out at every joint and motive of her body — Shakespeare > 4. a. b. 5. Synonyms: < the habit so prevalent with us of always seeking the motive of everyone's speech or behavior — W.C.Brownell > < shielding her husband's murderer, from whatever motives of pity or friendship — Rose Macaulay > < it was the deepest motive of her soul, this self mistrust — D.H.Lawrence > spring, usually in the plural, is usually interchangeable with motive, possibly more frequently applying to a hidden or not fully recognized stimulus to action < the springs and consequences of international policy — David Mitrany > < the mysteriously working emotional springs of human action > impulse stresses impetus or driving power rather than an effect; in a general sense, it can apply to any strong incitement to activity, especially one deriving from personal temperament or constitution < the religious impulse and the scientific impulse — Havelock Ellis > < one strong impulse that bound them together — their common love of fine horses — Sherwood Anderson > < the extraordinary vitality of the critical impulse in American letters — C.I.Glicksberg > < the impulse that led to the evolution of man — Joshua Whatmough > but in a more special use it applies to a spontaneous, often irrational urge to do something < the first impulse of a child in a garden is to pick every attractive flower — Bertrand Russell > < suffered an odd impulse to get up and kick his chair over — Mary Austin > incentive applies chiefly to a cause inciting or encouraging to action, applying commonly to some external reward < his love for the family was a strong incentive to continued effort in their behalf > < money is not the only incentive to work, nor the strongest — G.B.Shaw > < the only incentive to travel … was the luxury of the accommodation — O.S.Nock > inducement implies an external influence and often a purposeful attempt to entice to action < the chief inducements to serve were the pension and the right of citizenship which awaited a soldier on his discharge — John Buchan > < a community that … holds young people and offers inducements to them to stay and help build a greater home town — J.C.Penney > < free gas was offered to factories as an inducement for locating in towns — American Guide Series: Ind. > spur applies to any impetus which can stir to action or increase energy or ardor in an action already undertaken < fear or despair may be a temporary spur to action — Saturday Review > < under the spur of his annoyance — Hamilton Basso > < Russia with its drive for warm water ports, China with its inexorable pressure of population — they, too, have a physical spur to expansive policies — Barbara Ward > goad can apply to anything that strongly incites to action or keeps one in action against one's will or desire < the threat of … aggression was a standing goad to the defense effort — New York Times > < was … a goad for an indolent writer — Van Wyck Brooks > II. 1. < motive arguments > 2. < the motive nerves > 3. < motive energy > III. |
| 随便看 |
|
英语词典包含332784条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。