meritorious; demeaning VS degrading;

用法学习: 1. beckon I. If you beckon to someone, you signal to them to come to you. He beckoned to the waiter. I beckoned her over. Hughes beckoned him to sit down on a sofa. beckon to: He beckoned to the waiter to ask for another bottle of wine. beckon (to) someone to do something 招手, 示意: She beckoned me to join her. II. If something beckons, it is so attractive to someone that they feel they must become involved in it. if something beckons to you, it is very attractive and you feel you have to do something to get it For many young people, the bright lights of the city beckon, though a lot of them end up sleeping on the streets. A bright future beckoned. All the attractions of the peninsula beckon. The bright lights of Hollywood beckon many. III. If something beckons for someone, it is very likely to happen to them. If an event or achievement beckons, it is likely to happen: She's an excellent student, for whom a wonderful future beckons. The big time beckons for him. Old age beckons. Before tonight the Liberal party held just three seats in Melbourne. Deakin, held by the shadow minister for housing and government services, Michael Sukkar, and Menzies, held by Keith Wolahan, were won on even thinner margins than Tudge's 2022 victory. They're sweating now, because wipeout 血洗 beckons for the Liberal party. peculiar [pɪˈkjuljər] I. If you describe someone or something as peculiar, you think that they are strange or unusual, sometimes in an unpleasant way. a peculiar smell. He told me a most peculiar story. I felt a little bit peculiar (=sick) and had to lie down. Mr Kennet has a rather peculiar sense of humour. Rachel thought it tasted peculiar. His face had become peculiarly expressionless. II. If something is peculiar to a particular thing, person, or situation 专属的, 特有的, it belongs or relates only to that thing, person, or situation. Each person's handwriting has its own peculiar characteristics. Water holds a peculiar fascination for children. We shared an excitement peculiar to bird watchers. The problem is by no means peculiar to America. Cricket is so peculiarly English. The party's problems are not peculiar to Victoria, despite how Dutton tried to spin the result that way in the aftermath. III. If you say that you feel peculiar, you mean that you feel slightly ill or unsteady. All this has made me feel quite peculiar. 2. Liberal Lost Byelection: But out of Liberal disaster, there is also an opportunity. Better to get a shock to the system now while there is a year or two still in this term of parliament for the party to correct course 拨乱反正, 纠偏. Dutton's judgment to offer minimal bipartisanship on a few issues like the national anti-corruption commission and maximum negativity must now be radically revised. In parliament Albanese has hammered the Liberal party for opposing jobs to be created by the national reconstruction fund, the housing Australia future fund, the emissions reduction targets and the safeguard mechanism to achieve them. The Coalition even voted against power price relief. On the Indigenous voice, Labor begged for bipartisanship by arguing that it was an opportunity to elevate both Albanese and Dutton in a moment of national unity. Instead, Dutton has conducted a shadow campaign nitpicking about detail and driving the vote down through cheap scares about legal consequences. Dutton won the leadership uncontested because the other contender, Josh Frydenberg, was taken out by voters. His leadership seemed secure because he is the most senior conservative in a party with a much-reduced moderate faction. Labor has succeeded in turning the byelection into a referendum on Dutton, not on Albanese. Over on Sky News, Tony Abbott's former chief of staff Peta Credlin argued the result was driven by cranky conservatives not turning up to vote. It's true that poor turnout was a factor. But the party must avoid the seductive ( I. sexually attractive.  ...a seductive woman. I love dressing up to look seductive. She was looking seductively over her shoulder. Her mouth is seductively large and full. Greg's voice was smoky and seductive. II. Something that is seductive is very attractive or makes you want to do something that you would not otherwise do.  It's a seductive argument. ...his seductively simple assertion. The film opens seductively. III. 有诱惑力的. attractive and likely to persuade you to do something that may be harmful or wrong. The arguments seem seductive at first. ) logic that this is an aberration 个别现象. Metro areas have now swung away from the Liberals at too many elections, state and federal, to write off the result like that. They need to listen to the issues of concern to the seats they need to win, not just the rump they still hold in Queensland and the regions. Sensible emissions reduction policy and a rejection of culture war issues must be top of the list. On the ABC, Wolahan extended a hand to regional members to meet with metro MPs to reconsider how to win. After a result this poor, the conversation must encompass not just fiddling around the edges of one or two issues, it must include the leadership as well. 3. sombre = somber [sɒmbər] I. If someone is sombre, they are serious or sad. serious, sad, and without humour or entertainment: a sombre atmosphere/voice/face. The funeral was a sombre occasion. I left them in a sombre mood. The pair were in sombre mood. His expression became increasingly sombre. Unfortunately, this happy story finishes on a more sombre note. 'All the same, I wish he'd come back,' Martha said sombrely. She felt more sympathy for Neil's sombrely stolid manner than she ever had before. air, atmosphere, moment, mood, occasion, scene, tone 肃穆的, 凝重的, 沉重的. The death of Queen Victoria cast a sombre mood over the nation. This is a somber moment in American history, the first time a ex President is indicted. II. Sombre colours and places are dark and dull. ...a worried official in sombre black. It was a beautiful house, but it was dark and sombre and dead. captive audience a person or people who are unable to leave a place and are thus forced to listen to what is being said. The passengers on the plane were a captive audience. meritorious [ˌmerɪˈtɔriəs] 值得赞赏的 I. deserving great praise. deserving admiration and praise. The award is presented for meritorious achievement in the field of applied aerodynamics. an award for meritorious service. II. legal if a claim or case is meritorious then a court considers it good enough to be heard Some critics say the new reforms may actually prevent some claimants [ˈkleɪmənt] from making meritorious claims. In short supply 供应不足, 缺席, 欠缺 欠奉 not easily obtainable; scarce. If something is in short supply, there is very little of it available and it is difficult to find or obtain. Food is in short supply all over the country. Nowadays that sort of innocence is in short supply. "he meant to go, but time and petrol were in short supply". 4. prickly I. Something that is prickly feels rough and uncomfortable, as if it has a lot of prickles. The bunk mattress was hard, the blankets prickly and slightly damp. The grass was prickly and cold. II. Someone who is prickly loses their temper or gets upset very easily. tending to become angry very quickly He's always been very prickly about criticism. You know how prickly she is. III. A prickly issue or subject is one that is rather complicated and difficult to discuss or resolve. making people disagree and argue with each other a prickly issue/subject. The issue is likely to prove a prickly one. uncharted territory/waters 未知领域 a new and unknown area. an activity or subject that people do not know anything about or have not experienced before Genetic engineers are entering uncharted territory. The discussion moved into uncharted territory/waters. detail [ˈdiːteɪl] noun I. an individual fact or item. a single piece of information or fact about something: She insisted on telling me every single detail of what they did to her in hospital. We don't know the full/precise details of the story yet. She refused to disclose/divulge any details about/of the plan. "we shall consider every detail of the Bill". II. a small detachment of troops or police officers given a special duty. a group of people who have been given a particular task. "the governor's security detail 护卫队". III. information about someone or something: A police officer took down the details of what happened. IV. the small features of something that you only notice when you look carefully: I was just admiring the detail in the doll's house - even the tins of food have labels on them. It's his eye for (= ability to notice) detail that distinguishes him as a painter. in detail including or considering all the information about something or every part of something: We haven't discussed the matter in detail yet. go into detail to tell or include all the facts about something: I won't go into detail over the phone, but I've been having a few health problems recently. V. a part of something that does not seem important: Tony says, he's going to get the car, and finding the money to pay for it is just a minor detail. verb [ˈdiːteɪl]. I. to order someone, often a small group of soldiers or workers, to perform a particular task: Four soldiers were detailed to check the road for troops. II. to clean the inside and outside of a vehicle very carefully: You can skip the car wash; Rogers has all the equipment to wash and detail your car in your own driveway. a car detailing company. the devil is in the detail[s] used for saying that something may seem simple, but in fact the details are complicated and likely to cause problems. The Irish economy is performing strongly, but the devil is in the detail. 5. order in [sth] 点外卖 = order out (for something) American to order food from a restaurant and ask for it to be delivered to you. to order food that is ready to eat to be brought to your home or to the place where you work: We are ordering in tonight, what do you want to eat? I think I'll stay home tonight, order in a pizza, and watch my new box set. We were too tired to cook, so we ordered in. I ordered in pizza for dinner. We stayed home, ordered out for pizza, and watched a movie on demand. to order food from a restaurant and ask for it to be delivered to you We got back late and decided to order out. clusterfuck VULGAR SLANG US a disastrously mishandled situation or undertaking. an extremely offensive word meaning a number of very large errors all happening at the same time and caused by incompetence Be sure to check out Tuchman’s The March of Folly for some insight into today’s clusterfuck. The civil war was a gigantic clusterfuck of religious and sectarian identities. utility [juːˈtɪləti] I. The utility of something is its usefulness. the state of being useful Tests have proved the utility of this material. Belief in the utility of higher education 用处, 好处 is shared by students nationwide. He inwardly 私下里, 内心里 questioned the utility of his work. Laura has ultimately paid the heaviest price for the desire for commodity – she has lost her utility and identity that a human being requires most. What are we gonna do about Maddie? We need to figure out exactly what she and Arrington know, what they believe. I'll ride shotgun on Arrington's debrief. You talk to your daughter. Figure out where her head's at. Okay. We'll regroup 会面 and figure out the best way forward 下一步. Open lines of communication between the three of us lock-fucking-step. If Diane can't keep POTUS in check, then she's lost all utility. II. A utility is an important service such as water, electricity, or gas that is provided for everyone, and that everyone pays for. ...public utilities such as gas, electricity and phones. a public service such as gas, water, or electricity that is used by everyone utility companies. public/privatized utilities: the regulation of privatized utilities. III. countable A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system or application software. I've bought a new disk utility that can recover deleted files. a utility program. a data-compression utility. IV. countable ​Australian a pickup truck. disutility uselessness, a lack of utility. inutility I. uselessness. II. a useless thing or person. inward adj. I. Your inward thoughts or feelings 内心想法, 内心的感受 are the ones that you do not express or show to other people. felt or experienced in your own mind but not expressed to other people. a feeling of inward satisfaction. inward panic. I sighed with inward relief. ...a glow of inward satisfaction. Chantal smiled inwardly. Sara, while remaining outwardly amiable toward all concerned, was inwardly furious. II. An inward movement is one towards the inside or centre of something. ...a sharp, inward breath like a gasp. The athlete takes off from one leg from an inward twist. III. relating to money coming into a country rather than leaving it: Inward foreign investment helped India achieve strong annual growth rates. inwards adv. towards the inside: After the accident, her thoughts began to turn inwards (= to her own interests or problems). Fold the outside edges inwards. regroup 碰面, 会面, 碰头 When people, especially soldiers, regroup, or when someone regroups them, they form an organized group again, in order to continue fighting. Now the rebel army has regrouped and reorganised. The rebels may simply be using the truce to regroup their forces. lockstep I. a way of marching with each person as close as possible to the one in front. (especially of a group of soldiers) marching very close together, with each person moving the same leg at the same time and in the same way as the person in front: Hundreds of guerrillas marching in lockstep formed a guard of honour for the freed rebels. "the trio marched in lockstep". II. close adherence to and emulation of another's actions. in complete agreement with someone or something: "they raised prices in lockstep 共进退 with those of foreign competitors". Usually Republicans are in lockstep with their party's candidate, with 85% or 90% support. 队列: A file is a military term for a number of troops drawn up in line ahead, i.e. one behind the other in a column. The number of files is the measure of the width of a column of troops in several ranks one behind the other. Files are useful when troops don't know where the enemy is, since there are overlapping fields of fire from each soldier, and cover from a possible flanking attack. Files are at a disadvantage when there are heavy weapons nearby, supported by infantry, especially machine guns and tanks. In the United States, lockstep marching or simply lockstep is marching in a very close single file in such a way that the leg of each person in the file moves in the same way and at the same time as the corresponding leg of the person immediately in front of him, so that their legs stay very close all the time. The goose step 正步 is a special marching step which is performed during formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison off the ground while keeping each leg rigidly straight. The term "goose step" originally referred to balance stepping, an obsolete formalized slow march. The term is nowadays heavily associated with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in many English-speaking countries. As a result, the term has acquired a pejorative meaning in some English-speaking countries. 6. make headway 进展 If you make headway, you progress towards achieving something. to make progress with something that you are trying to achieve He is not disappointed at the failure to make headway towards resolving their differences. There was concern in the city that police were making little headway in the investigation. They have made some headway toward resolving the dispute. Director Willett, any headway on Hawkins or Campbell murders? Nothing. Between those two cases and Maddie's, the whole agency's running on empty. Now I gotta pull people to analyze this video. That's a priority? This Worley guy sounds delusional. Colin Worley was on a long list of suspects in the metro bombing before we thought he died. Seriously? running on empty 弹尽粮绝 I. (of an engine or vehicle) having almost no fuel left: His diesel engine was running on empty. The spacecraft was running on empty; it had very little hydrazine, the fuel used to adjust position during navigation. II. having almost reached a point where you are unable to continue, because you have almost no energy, money, etc. left: His campaign treasury is running on empty. People are working double shifts, their stress levels are getting higher, they are just running on empty. running order the order in which the parts of an event, meeting, etc. have been arranged to happen: We sat down with the show's producer to go through the running order. run out the clock to use all the time that is still available: He was supposed to fall on the ball, allowing San Jose to run out the clock. The quarterback could run out the clock because they had no timeouts left. 7. attuned adj. I. If you are attuned to something, you can understand and appreciate it. I have become attuned to Carlisle's industrial past. He seemed unusually attuned to people's feelings. II. If your ears are attuned 习惯, 习以为然 to a sound, you can hear it and recognize it quickly. Their ears were still attuned to the sounds of the London suburb. reductive [formal, disapproval (now frequently derogatory)] If you describe something such as a theory or a work of art as reductive, you disapprove of it because it reduces complex things to simple elements. describing or explaining something in such a simple way that you miss important details. That reduces an argument, issue etc. to its most basic terms; simplistic, reductionist. ...a cynical, reductive interpretation. demeaning 失去尊严的, 没尊严的 adj. causing someone to lose their dignity and the respect of others. "the poster was not demeaning to women". degrading 失去价值的, 不值钱的 causing people to feel that they have no value: It is so degrading to have to ask for money. No one should have to suffer such degrading treatment. 8. 印度的计划生育: A demographic dividend [ˈdɪvɪˌdend] 人口红利 ( the liar's dividend the way in which an environment where it is unclear what is real and what is fake can benefit those who create and spread fakes. The liar's dividend grows in proportion to public awareness of deep fakes and runs with the grain of larger trends in truth scepticism. The Liar's Dividend suggests that in addition to fuelling the flames of falsehoods, the debunking efforts actually legitimize the debate over the veracity. pay dividends to bring you a lot of benefit Thorough lesson planning always pays dividends. ) that, if harnessed ( harness I. to get control of something in order to use it for a particular purpose. Humans first harnessed the power of electricity over 200 years ago. We aim to do better at harnessing the skills and talents of our workforce. If you harness something 笼络 such as an emotion or natural source of energy, you bring it under your control and use it. We need to find new ways of harnessing that enthusiasm and commitment. Turkey plans to harness the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for big hydro-electric power projects. II. to put a harness on a person or animal. If a horse or other animal is harnessed, a harness is put on it, especially so that it can pull a carriage, cart, or plough. On Sunday the horses were harnessed to a heavy wagon for a day-long ride over the Border. be harnessed to to be closely involved with someone or something These countries are harnessed to a market economy. in harness People or things who are working in harness are working together in order to achieve a particular aim. noun. I. A harness is a set of straps which fit under a person's arms and fasten round their body in order to keep a piece of equipment in place or to prevent the person moving from a place. II. A harness is a set of leather straps and metal links fastened round a horse's head or body so that the horse can have a carriage, cart, or plough fastened to it.  ), could see India become one of the most powerful nations on the globe. Demographers say the proliferation of family planning 计划生育 and contraception 节育, 避孕 in these southern states is the main reason for dropping fertility rates. Across India, about a third of married women of child-bearing age don't use any contraception at all. Among the majority who do, the predominant method is permanent — 60 per cent of those actively trying to prevent pregnancy have opted for a surgical procedure. All sterilisation [ˈsterəˌlaɪz] surgeries (I. If you sterilize a thing or a place, you make it completely clean and free from germs. Sulphur is also used to sterilize 消毒 equipment. The milk was sterilized and sealed in bottles. ...the pasteurization and sterilization of milk. II. If a person or an animal is sterilized, they have a medical operation that makes it impossible for them to have or produce babies. My wife was sterilized after the birth of her fourth child. In some cases, a sterilization is performed through the vaginal wall.) are considered similarly effective at preventing pregnancy, but the operations for female reproductive organs are more complex. Vasectomies, which cut the tube that carries sperm from the testes to the penis, are generally carried out under local anaesthetic 局部麻醉. Patients are usually allowed to go home straight afterwards. Tubal ligations, where fallopian tubes are sealed to prevent an egg from reaching the uterus, and hysterectomies, where the entire uterus is removed, require general anaesthesia 全身麻醉. Recovery time can vary depending on the procedure. So why are so many women choosing sterilisation surgeries 绝育手术? Many are encouraged by regional health workers employed by the Indian government and enticed by cash incentives. As the morning fog billows through the air, workers in maroon uniforms knock on every door in the village of Mandura, north of Delhi. Indian women who receive compensation for their sterilisation are less likely to feel regret about 后悔 the decision than those who are not compensated, according to a 2022 study. But researchers warn that incentive-driven family planning, which often targets poorer communities, is not as safe or effective as education-based models. "It was a huge setback, even though our planners recognise the need for family planning, it became politically inconvenient," Ms Muttreja says. "There was a fear of talking about family planning or focusing on contraception, because … the government in part lost elections because of forced family planning. In a democracy, you cannot coerce 威逼 people to accept a method, or accept family planning at all. We should have had greater trust in people given the secular [ˈsekjələ] decline ( You use secular to describe things that have no connection with religion. not religious, or not connected with religion He was the first of the country's secular rulers. religious and secular matters. He spoke about preserving the country as a secular state. ...secular and religious education. ) in families and the number of children people were having." And there are concerns that the offer of cash and appliances may coerce people into having unnecessary and invasive procedures. "As someone who dealt with infertility and nine miscarriages before finally having my three kids, I find this extremely distasteful," said a third. 9. in principle 原则上的 I. If you agree with something in principle, you agree in general terms to the idea of it, although you do not yet know the details or know if it will be possible.  if something is possible in principle, there is no good reason why it should not happen, but it has not actually happened yet In principle, the new software should make the accounting system a lot simpler. I agree with it in principle but I doubt if it will happen in practice. II. if you agree to something in principle, you agree about a general plan or idea but have not yet considered the details. They have accepted the idea in principle. The government has agreed in principle to a referendum. agreement in principle (idiomatic, law) A legally enforceable, but incompletely specified, agreement between parties that identifies the fundamental terms that are intended to be or are agreed upon. waddle (usually of a person or animal with short legs and a fat body) to walk with short steps, moving the body from one side to the other: The ducks waddled down to the river. A short, fat waiter waddled over. To waddle somewhere means to walk there with short, quick steps, swinging slightly from side to side. A person or animal that waddles usually has short legs and a fat body. McGinnis pushed himself laboriously out of the chair and waddled to the window. In the evenings, ducks waddle up to the front door to be fed. In a text message, the alleged rape victim told Mr Matters: "What did you do to me, you were too rough. I am literally waddling around." inure = enure [ɪˈnjʊə] 习惯, 接受 I. to cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate. To inure; to make accustomed or desensitized to something unpleasant due to constant exposure. II. (esp of a law, etc) to come into operation; take effect. III. to serve the benefit of a person This Deed will be binding upon and enure to the benefit of each party hereto. She said the sport, vigoro, was a cross 结合体, 杂交 between tennis and cricket, played with overarm bowling. 10. comeuppance [ˌkʌmˈʌpəns] 报应, 下场 [informal, approval] If you say that someone has got their comeuppance 得到报应, you approve of the fact that they have been punished or have suffered for something wrong that they have done. punishment that someone deserves for having done something wrong or unfair The central character is a bad man who shoots people and gets his comeuppance. locus [loʊkəs] The locus of something is the place where it happens or the most important area or point with which it is associated. the particular place or situation in which something exists or takes place. A place or locality, especially a centre of activity or the scene of a crime. The cafeteria was the locus of activity. the locus of political power. Barcelona is the locus of Spanish industry. Thereafter, the military remained the locus of real power. in the offing 可能发生 likely to happen or appear soon. "there are several initiatives in the offing". going to happen soon. If you say that something is in the offing, you mean that it is likely to happen soon. A general amnesty for political prisoners may be in the offing.  With an election in the offing, the mayor is getting nervous. 11. 密西西比州议会驱逐国会成员: The Republican super-majority in the house declined ( decline I. intransitive to become less or worse. The number of people buying their own homes has declined. In many cases living standards are declining. decline steadily/sharply/rapidly/dramatically: Stock prices declined sharply last week. II. intransitive/transitive to say politely that you will not accept something or do something. They offered to fly him to Brussels, but he declined. decline an offer/invitation: We asked her to the reception, but she declined the invitation. III. intransitive ​linguistics 单词变形(单复数, 性别时态等等的变形 declension [dɪˈklenʃən] ) if a noun, adjective, or pronoun declines, its form changes depending on its relationship to other words in a sentence. noun. a reduction in the amount or quality of something. decline in: There has been a steady decline in public services over recent years. a sharp/steep/dramatic decline: a sharp decline 走低 in the Nasdaq. economic/moral decline 退步: an effort to halt the economic decline of the region. fall/go/slip into a decline: The industry has now fallen into a decline. in decline: Agriculture is in decline in many Third World countries. on the decline 衰弱, 衰落, 减弱: Thankfully, this is a disease that is now on the decline. ) by a single vote to expel a third Democrat, Representative Gloria Johnson. Ms Johnson joined with Mr Jones and Mr Pearson last week as hundreds of protesters packed the state capitol in Nashville, to call for passage of gun-control measures. While demonstrators filled galleries, the three Democrats approached the front of the house chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant. Any expelled members would be eligible for appointment back to their seats. They would also be eligible to run in the special election. And, under the Tennessee Constitution, representatives cannot be expelled for the same offence twice. Republican Representative Sabi Kumar advised Mr Jones, who is black, to be more collegial [kəˈlidʒəl] ( I. relaxed, friendly and cooperative, as is typical among a group of close colleagues. If re-elected, my first priority will be to foster a collegial relationship on the new Board. II. a collegial atmosphere or environment is relaxed, friendly and cooperative. ) and less-focused on race. "You have a lot to offer, but offer it in a vein ( along/in a similar vein 同样的 continuing with something similar to what came before. Dallas had dominated the game throughout the first half, and the second half began in a similar vein with another touchdown after only five minutes. Whether you like it or not, Warner Bros. is still developing a new Gremlins movie. Once rumored to be a remake of the original 1984 horror comedy, recent details have pegged the film as more of a reboot/sequel in the same vein as Jurassic World. In addition to wearing repellent, it can be helpful to wear a hat, which will prevent black flies from crawling into your hair and biting your scalp. Glasses or sunglasses are also a good choice, as they will shield your eyes, which black flies tend to be drawn to. Along the same vein, clothing can help protect you from black flies. Vein is in the bloodline of Latin vēna, meaning "blood vessel" or "channel," senses that the English word still carries along with extended meanings. In particular, vein designates the anatomical tube that carries blood from the body back to the heart, the lines on the surface of a leaf or an insect's wing, or a streak in some material (as "the greenish veins running through the marble" or "veins of coal in the mine"). Figuratively, it denotes a strain of distinctive style or particular quality as well as a line of thought or action ("his stories are in the Gothic vein"; "ideas in the same vein"). note: "In" or "Along" the Same Vein - This orthographic dilemma inevitably occurs with the idiomatic prepositional phrase in the same vein and its variant form, along the same vein, which doesn't exactly line up with the original but is generally accepted. The phrases imply sameness or similarity. Vain is an adjective denoting being too proud or being conceited ("he is vain about his appearance") or being unsuccessful or useless ("a vain attempt at catching up with the bus"). As a noun, it is fossilized in the adverbial phrase "in vain," which means "without success or without producing a good or desired result" ("they searched in vain for the missing earring"). It also appears in the idiom "to take someone's name in vain," meaning "to use (a name, especially the name of God) in a way that does not show proper respect." "If you want to cross a river over some troubled waters, you build bridge, you don't blow one up," said Klobuchar, arguing that Sanders's Medicare-for-all plans amounted to destruction of Obamacare. ... "She took my name in vain," replied Sanders, somewhat lightheartedly, before defending his plan. In vain also suggests, often in negative constructions, that something is pointless or useless 没有意义, 没有价值 ("heroes who did not die in vain 死得其所"). This vain is from Latin vānus, meaning "lacking content," "empty," or "marked by foolish or empty pride." Its Middle English forebearer is veyn, a borrowing of Anglo-French vain and vein of similar meaning. along the same line To apply, you need identification, something along the lines of a driver's license. She said she was too busy to help, or something along those lines. Additionally, being in line suggests following someone or something else and being in line with or being brought into line implies agreement. And along the line connotes proximity in being part of a process or series of events, as in "He picked up an interest in jazz somewhere along the line." These extended uses of line and the fact that vein refers to internal lines and has earlier figurative use referring to sameness and closeness seem to have influenced the formation of the variant along the same vein.  ) where people are accepting of your ideas," Mr Kumar said. Mr Jones said he did not intend to assimilate [əˈsɪmɪˌleɪt] ( I. transitive to help someone feel that they are part of a community or culture rather than feeling foreign. to begin to consider yourself part of a community or culture rather than being foreign. When people such as immigrants assimilate into a community or when that community assimilates them, they become an accepted part of it. There is every sign that new Asian-Americans are just as willing to assimilate. His family tried to assimilate into the White and Hispanic communities. The Vietnamese are trying to assimilate themselves and become Americans. French Jews generally had been assimilated into the nation's culture. They promote social integration and assimilation of minority ethnic groups into the culture. II. transitive 吸收知识. to take in an idea or information and make it part of your knowledge so that you can use it effectively. If you assimilate new ideas, techniques, or information, you learn them or adopt them. I was speechless, still trying to assimilate the enormity of what he'd told me. This technique brings life to instruction and eases assimilation of knowledge. III. transitive to take in and use food or other nutrients. ) in order to be accepted. "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make a change for my community," he replied. Outrage over the expulsions underscored not only the ability of the Republican super-majority to silence opponents, but its increasing willingness to do so.