SAT GRE
外刊例句
- Five years later the currency was plunging and banks’ bad loans were surging. It took a bail-out from the International Monetary Fund to douse the fire.
五年后,货币汇率大跌,银行坏账激增,要依靠国际货币基金组织救火方才脱离险情。
——《经济学人》 - Of course, we douse them with chemicals and bury them.
当然,我们会把它们浸入化学溶液里,还要把它们埋起来。
——《纽约时报》
基本含义
[verb] pour a liquid over; drench
[动词] 浇上液体;使湿透
深入解读
第一眼看到上面《经济学人》的例句,就会意识到 douse 是一个与灭火相关的单词。说起有关灭火的表达,除了常见的 extinguish a fire 和 put out a fire 以外,还有小站(微信公众号:田间小站)之前在小词详解栏目提到过的 smother 这种“把(火)闷熄”的表达。
不过发生火灾时,相比把火闷熄,往往更容易想到的操作是用水“把火浇灭”,而这就可以用今天推送的 douse 专门表示,比如:
- 大雨倾盆,浇灭了大火。然而,我们只从火灾中抢救出一箱微型人像画框。
Rain poured down and doused the fire. However, we only managed to salvage a box of portrait miniature frames from the fire.
Douse 的这个含义词源不详,但其根本概念是指“把水等液体浇、洒、泼在……上”以及“把……浸在液体里”,比如:
- 一辆崭新的豪华轿车沿着车道缓缓驶来,停在一个斜坡上。但不久它就被浇上汽油点燃了。
A pristine limousine oozed up the drive and parked on a slant. But it was soon doused in petrol and set alight.
我们也可以用 douse 来引申表示“熄灭”灯以及“平息、压抑”,就像用水把火浇灭了那般,比如:
- 我灭了车前灯后下了车,却发现我搞错了日期,早到了一个星期。
I doused the headlights and got out, only to find that I muddled the dates and arrived a week early. - 这位情绪无常的女演员抑制住了抽噎,平息了怒火。
The volatile actress strangled a sob and doused her outrage.
除此之外,douse 同小站之前推过的 spell, egg, stale 等一样也是个同形异义词。还有一个不常用的含义源自中古荷兰语 dossen (用力地打)或类似的低地德语单词,于16世纪中期进入英语后表示“重打、重击”,等到了17世纪20年代后, douse 开始在航海领域发展出“急降、快拆”帆、桅等一义,而这个概念引申在口语中则可以表示“脱掉”鞋、帽、衣服等,比如:
- 我一进屋就把帽脱了。然后我静静地坐着,沉思一天中所发生的事。
I doused my hat on entering the house. Then, I sat quietly, musing on the events of the day.
值得注意的是,douse 也常拼作 dowse ,只是 dowse 单独还可以另行表示“用探测杆探寻(地下水或矿藏)”。
名著用例
Dread doused Harry’s jubilation: Ron was saying exactly what he had suspected and feared him to be thinking.
恐惧浇灭了哈利的欢乐:罗恩说的正是哈利怀疑并害怕他会有的想法。
出自英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第七本《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)。《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》是整个小说系列的终结篇,交代了所有重要人物的最终命运。
常见短语
“douse” 通常用来表示浸湿、熄灭等意思。以下是与这个词相关的 50 个短语,附带中文解释:
- douse with water – 用水浸湿
- douse a fire – 熄灭火源
- douse the lights – 关灯
- douse in oil – 浸泡在油中
- douse with gasoline – 用汽油浸湿
- douse the flames – 扑灭火焰
- douse the torch – 熄灭火炬
- douse a cigarette – 熄灭香烟
- douse with a hose – 用水管冲洗
- douse the campfire – 熄灭营火
- douse the candle – 吹灭蜡烛
- douse with a bucket of water – 用一桶水浇灭
- douse the spark – 扑灭火花
- douse a match – 熄灭火柴
- douse the bonfire – 扑灭篝火
- douse in cold water – 浸泡在冷水中
- douse the burning wood – 熄灭燃烧的木材
- douse the smoldering embers – 扑灭冒烟的余烬
- douse the flare – 熄灭闪光灯
- douse the cooking fire – 扑灭烹饪用火
- douse the fuse – 切断保险丝
- douse the lantern – 熄灭灯笼
- douse the pilot light – 关闭点火
- douse the incense – 熄灭香
- douse a small blaze – 扑灭小火
- douse the cigarette butt – 熄灭烟蒂
- douse the burning paper – 熄灭燃烧的纸张
- douse the camp lantern – 关闭露营灯
- douse the hearth fire – 扑灭炉火
- douse with a fire extinguisher – 使用灭火器熄灭
- douse the torch flames – 扑灭火炬火焰
- douse the grill coals – 熄灭烧烤炭火
- douse the oil lamp – 熄灭油灯
- douse the camp stove – 关闭露营炉
- douse the candle flame – 熄灭蜡烛火焰
- douse the bonfire embers – 扑灭篝火余烬
- douse the engine fire – 熄灭发动机火灾
- douse the electrical fire – 切断电火灾
- douse the rooftop fire – 扑灭屋顶火灾
- douse a small fire – 扑灭小火灾
- douse the torchlight – 关闭火炬光
- douse the sparklers – 熄灭烟花棒
- douse a burning stick – 扑灭燃烧的木棍
- douse the candlewick – 熄灭蜡烛芯
- douse the wildfire – 扑灭野火
- douse the outdoor fire – 熄灭户外火源
- douse the grill flames – 熄灭烧烤火焰
- douse the firecrackers – 熄灭鞭炮
- douse the smoking logs – 扑灭冒烟的木材
- douse the barbecue coals – 熄灭烧烤炭火
同近义词
- drench: wet thoroughly; soak
- soak: make or allow (something) to become thoroughly wet by immersing it in liquid
- saturate: cause (something) to become thoroughly soaked with water or other liquid so that no more can be absorbed