Per aspera ad astra.

                       🔖 这是我的第1,724篇原创

 ebb /eb/ 在古英语时期就有”退潮”的意思,名词和动词两种词性。

We decided to leave on the ebb at six the next morning.

我们决定在第二天早上6点趁退潮时离开。(n.)

When the tide ebbs, you can paddle out for a mile and barely get your ankles wet.

退潮时,你可以蹚着水走出一英里远而几乎湿不到脚踝。(v.)

到了14世纪,ebb 又有了引申义:衰退,减退,常与 away 搭配。

The pain was ebbing.

疼痛逐渐减轻了。

As the night fell, our enthusiasm began to ebb away.

随着夜幕降临,我们的热情渐渐低落。

That was a time when everyone was tired and at a low ebb.

那是一个大家都处于疲惫和低潮的时期。

ebb 的反义词为 flow, ebb and flow 用来比喻事物的盛衰,消长,起伏。

the ebb and flow of the seasons:四季更迭 (n.)

Life’s complicated. Emotions ebb and flow.

人生很复杂,感情起伏不定。(v.)



📝 ebb 的近义词:

说完地上的 ebb,就不得不提天上的wane /weɪn/

wane 也是两种词性和两层含义,一指月亮的亏缺:

The moon is waning and rises later every day.

月亮渐亏,每天出现的时间也越来越晚。

另一个指减弱和衰败:

Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly.

她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡下来。

Her popularity has been on the wane over the years.

这几年她的人气江河日下。


wane 与其反义词搭配:wax and wane,也类似 ebb and flow 的含义,指盈亏,兴衰,成败。

* 其它相关表达:潮起潮落

As the moon waxes and wanes, the height of the tide changes.

随着月亮的盈亏,潮汐高度也发生着变化。

As they spoke, his attention seems to wax and wane.

他们说话时,他的注意力时而在线,时而掉线。

📝 电影里的 ebb:


图片截自2018年第90届奥斯卡最佳影片 《三块广告牌》(Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri),片名中的 Ebbing 并非今天聊的 ebb,而是影片中位于密苏里州的虚构地名。




📖 名著中的 ebb:


He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry felt his anger ebb away in spite of himself.

– Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

他用他的鼻子朝他身上那脏兮兮哦枕套一角吹了吹气。他看起来那么可怜,以致于哈利觉得他的怒气一下全消失了。

– J.K.罗琳《哈利·波特与密室》

  • △电影场景

  • △书籍封面


They looked out across the endless acres of Gerald O’Hara’s newly plowed cotton fields toward the red horizon. Now that the sun was setting in a welter of crimson behind the hills across the Flint River, the warmth of the April day was ebbing into a faint but balmy chill.

– Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

他们都朝着杰拉德·奥哈拉那片延伸到天边的新开垦棉田望去,一直望到那红彤彤的地平线。太阳落在弗林特河那边的群山后,映得一片深红,暖洋洋的四月天渐渐有点儿淡淡的凉意了。

– 玛格丽特·米切尔《飘》

△书籍封面


△电影海报


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