shrew
shrew — 名詞
- shrewsingular
- shrewsplural
1. a very small wild animal that hunts insects at night, with a pointed nose and ex
尖鼠
像老鼠的小型哺乳動物，以昆蟲為食
a very small wild animal that hunts insects at night, with a pointed nose and extremely tiny eyes
Naoko spotted a tiny shrew darting across the garden path at dusk.
Naoko 在黃昏時看到一隻小尖鼠快速穿過花園小徑。
countable noun with 'a' for first mention
The shrew uses its long nose to sniff out insects hiding under fallen leaves.
尖鼠用長鼻子嗅出藏在落葉下的昆蟲。
uses + body part + infinitive to describe animal behaviour
Although it looks like a mouse, a shrew has a much longer pointed nose.
雖然第一眼看起來像老鼠，但尖鼠的鼻子比老鼠長很多。
Shrews must eat several times a day because their tiny bodies burn energy extremely fast.
尖鼠一天必須進食好幾次，因為牠們小小的身體消耗能量的速度非常快。
Kwame watched a shrew push aside a leaf with its nose to find a worm.
Kwame 看著一隻尖鼠用鼻子推開葉子找蟲吃。
常見錯誤
2. an insulting label for a woman regarded as quick-tempered and argumentative; dee
潑婦
辱罵性情暴躁、愛爭吵女性的用語
an insulting label for a woman regarded as quick-tempered and argumentative; deeply offensive in modern use
"Don't be such a shrew!" Erik shouted at his sister during their loud argument.
Erik 在激烈爭吵中對妹妹大喊：「別這麼潑婦！」
imperative + 'such a' + noun phrase used as insult
In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, the heroine is called a shrew by other characters.
在莎士比亞的《馴悍記》中，女主角被其他角色稱為潑婦。
literary reference: 'be called a shrew by someone'
Calling a woman a shrew in a workplace argument is deeply offensive.
在職場爭論中稱女性為潑婦是非常冒犯的行為。
Stephanie was hurt when her coworker called her a shrew for speaking up in a meeting.
Stephanie 在會議中發表意見後被同事稱為潑婦，她感到非常受傷。
Many modern readers find shrew offensive because it paints assertive women as bad-tempered.
許多現代讀者認為潑婦一詞帶有貶義，因為它把敢言的女性貼上壞脾氣的標籤。
- harridan
an older, now rare offensive word with similar meaning; less commonly used today
- termagant
a historical, literary word for a violent, overbearing woman; very dated in modern English
- nag
informal term for someone who constantly complains; less severe than shrew and not always considered offensive
文法句型
call + someone + a shrew
用法筆記
This word is now considered offensive and insulting when used to describe a woman. Avoid using it in everyday speech or writing. Most modern examples appear either in discussions of Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew or as commentary on the word's history.