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外刊例句
- Mr Hamilton’s ascent has ignited debate over whether he is F1’s best driver ever.
汉密尔顿的崛起引发了他是不是F1史上最佳车手的争论。
——《经济学人》 - Muslim groups and scholars in France and elsewhere voiced concerns on Tuesday that a satirical newspaper’s first cover since the attack on its journalists last week could ignite dangerous new passions in a debate pitting free speech against religious doctrine.
周二,法国及其他地方的穆斯林团体和学者表示,他们担心一家讽刺性报纸在该报记者上周遭袭后发布的首期封面可能会在一场言论自由与宗教教义相较量的争论中激起新的危险情绪。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] catch fire or cause to catch fire
[动词] 着火或引起着火
深入解读
Ignite 是一个与单词 lignite (褐煤)十分形似的单词,该词源自拉丁语 ignis (火),17世纪60年代经拉丁语 ignire (放火烧、烧红)的过去分词 ignitus 进入英语,即用作及物动词表示“点燃、使燃烧”,并到了1818后也开始用作不及物动词表示“着火、发火”。
相较于日常使用, ignite 更常用于科技文本,有时意味着将物质加热到发光或白炽状态,也就是“(使)灼热、发光”,比如使灯泡内的钨丝灼热发光(ignite the tungsten filaments in the bulb)。但更多时候意味着通过放置一个小火焰或者电火花,来直接或间接接触汽油、燃气、火药等易燃物质并使之燃烧。
而在日常使用时, ignite 与小站(微信公众号:田间小站)之前推送过的 kindle 区别很小,只是 ignite 更常用于点燃高度易燃的物质,比如:
- 火焰熔化了一段铅管,燃着了漏出来的煤气。
Flames melted a lead pipe and ignited leaking gas.
从这个概念出发, ignite 很自然地就被用来喻指“激起、使激动”,也就是像点燃易燃物那般激起或激怒情绪或某个情况,比如:
- 他的话引发了他们的盛怒。
His words ignited their wrath. - 曾经有一位出色的老师真正激起了我对文字的兴趣。
There was an eminent teacher who really ignited my interest in words.
名著用例
Letters from men at the front complained constantly of shoes that wore out in a week, gunpowder that would not ignite, harness that snapped at any strain, meat that was rotten and flour that was full of weevils.
来自前方的信件常常抱怨说,鞋穿不到一星期就坏了,弹药点不起火,缰绳一拉紧就断,肉是腐臭的,面粉里满是虫子,等等。
出自美国作家玛格丽特·米切尔(Margaret Mitchell)创作的长篇小说《飘》(Gone with the Wind)。参见:名著下载 | 飘(Gone with the Wind)
同近义词
- kindle: set (something) on fire
- light: make (something) start burning; ignite
- arouse: evoke or awaken (a feeling, emotion, or response)