give up the ghost

英语

词源

字面意思为死亡时从体内释出灵魂。来自中古英语 "gaf up þe gost"，"ʒave up þe gost"，来自古英语短语如"hēo āġeaf hire gāst"（字面意思为她放弃了她的灵魂），"þæt iċ gāst mīnne āġifan mōte"（字面意思为我必须放弃我的灵魂）等。对比德语 den Geist aufgeben和荷兰语 de geest geven。

发音

音讯（澳洲）： (档案)

动词

give up the ghost (第三人称单数简单现在时 gives up the ghost，现在分词 giving up the ghost，过去式 gave up the ghost，过去分词 given up the ghost)

(不及物，俗语) 死；断气；见阎王
近义词：yield up the ghost、yield the ghost；亦参见Thesaurus:die
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 15:37:
  And Ieſus cryed with a loude voice, and gaue vp the ghoſt.
  耶稣大声喊叫，气就断了。
(不及物，俗语，比喻义) 坏了，不能运作
My old computer finally gave up the ghost the other day.
前几天我的旧电脑终于坏了。
(不及物，后接of) 放弃对……的希望
- 1993年2月8日, “A Magical History Tour”, 出自 Time:
  But McCartney, 50, is hardly ready to give up the ghost of his creative past.
  （请为本引文添加中文翻译）
- 1995, Bad Boys
  Burnett holds the door while Lowrey holds Francine. She's broken, crying, and giving up the ghost of her past.
- 2000年1月14日, Kevin Maney, “Gates closes an era Microsoft prepares to lay out a road map”, 出自 USA Today:
  Its Windows CE, ostensibly for consumer electronics, is flailing, largely because Microsoft has taken a PC mentality to develop CE, unable to give up the ghost of its heritage.
  （请为本引文添加中文翻译）

另见