sense
/sens; sɛns/
n
1 [C] any of the five powers of the body by which a person, an animal, etc receives knowledge of things in the world around, ie sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch 感觉官能; 视觉; 听觉; 嗅觉; 味觉; 触觉
*the five senses 五种感觉官能
* have a keen sense of hearing 听觉灵敏.
2 [U, sing]
(a) appreciation or understanding of the value or worth of sth (对价值的)辨别, 理解, 领悟
*a sense of the (ie the ability to know what is) absurd, ridiculous, etc 对荒唐、可笑等事物的识别力
* not have much sense of humour, ie a liking for jokes, funny situations, etc 没什么幽默感
* a person with no sense of direction, ie who cannot find his way easily 无方向感的人.
(b) consciousness of sth; awareness 觉察; 觉悟
*a sense of one's own importance, worth, etc 对自身的重要性、价值等的觉察
* have no sense of shame, guilt, etc 无羞耻心、无罪恶感
* feel a sense of security in her arms 在她怀里感到安全.
3 [U] ability to make reasonable judgements; practical wisdom 识别力; 常识; 见识
*have the sense to come in out of the rain 懂得进来避雨
* There's a lot of sense in what she says. 她说的话很有见地.
4 senses [pl] normal state of mind; ability to think 健全的心智; 思维的能力
*lose/regain one's senses 失去[恢复]理智.
5 [U] reason; purpose 道理; 目的
*What's the sense of doing that? 为什么要做那件事呢?
* There's no sense in going alone, ie It would be better not to. 一个人去没有好处.
6 [C]
(a) meaning of a word, phrase, etc (词语等的)意义
*a word with several senses 有几个意思的词
* The sense of the word is not clear. 这个词的意思不清楚.
(b) way in which a word, sentence, etc is to be understood (词句等)被理解的意义
*in the strict/literal/figurative sense of the expression 按照严格的[字面的/比喻的]意义来说
* I am a worker only in the sense that I work; I don't get paid for what I do. 我是工作人员, 这是仅就我做工作而言的; 我并无报酬.
7 [sing] the ~ of sth (fml 文) general feeling or opinion among a group of people (集体的)普遍感觉或意见
*The sense of the meeting was (ie Most people present thought) that he should resign. 与会者普遍认为他应该辞职.
8 (idm 习语) beat, knock, drive, etc (some) sense into sb (infml 口) change sb's behaviour, views, etc by severe or sometimes violent methods 改变某人的行为、看法等(用严厉的, 有时为粗暴的方式)
*She's a wild uncontrollable girl, but that new school should knock some sense into her. 她是个很不听话的女孩儿, 那所新学校应该能管管她了. bring sb to his/come to one's `senses
(a) (make sb) stop behaving foolishly or irrationally (使某人)不再做傻事或不理智的事
*He was finally brought to his senses and agreed to let the hostages go. 他最後恢复些理智, 同意释放人质.
(b) wake (sb) up from unconsciousness 使(某人)苏醒
*When I came to my senses, I was lying on the floor. 我苏醒过来的时候是在地板上躺着呢. in a `sense if the statement, etc is understood in a particular way 在某种意义上
*What you say is true in a sense. 你的话在某种意义上属实. in one's `senses in one's normal state of mind; sensible 头脑健全; 神志清醒
*No one in their right senses would let a small child go out alone. 凡是有理智的人, 谁都不会让那么小的孩子独自出门. make `sense
(a) have an understandable meaning 有意义; 有道理; 讲得通
*What you say makes no sense. 你说的话没有道理.
* These words are jumbled up and don't make sense. 这些词藻堆砌在一起讲不通.
(b) be sensible 是明智的; 是合情理的
*It doesn't make sense to buy that expensive coat when these cheaper ones are just as good. 这些便宜的大衣也很好, 何必非买那件贵的不可.
* It would make sense to leave early. 还是早点儿走好. make sense of sth understand sth difficult or apparently meaningless 理解或弄懂困难的或似无法理解的事物
*Can you make sense of this poem? 你看得懂这首诗吗? out of one's `senses not in one's normal state of mind; foolish 精神不正常; 愚蠢
*You sold it? You must be out of your senses! 你把它卖了? 你简直是疯了! see `sense start to be sensible 明白事理
*I hope she soon sees sense and stops fighting a battle she cannot win. 我希望她能很快明白过来, 别再打这场打不赢的仗了. a sense of occasion special feeling produced in sb by a special event, etc 遇到某种情况而产生的某种感觉. a sixth sense awareness of things one cannot actually see, hear, etc 第六感觉; 第六感官
*A sixth sense told her that he would be waiting for her when she got home. 她有一种第六感觉, 就是她到家时他一定在那儿等候她呢. take leave of one's senses => leave2. talk sense =>talk2.
v
1 [Tn, Tf, Tw] become aware of (sth); feel 意识到(某事物); 感觉到
*sense sb's sorrow, hostility, etc 感觉到某人的忧愁、敌意等
* Although she didn't say anything, I sensed (that) she didn't like the idea. 她虽然什么也没说, 但我已意识到她不喜欢这个主意.
2 [Tn] (of a machine, etc) detect (sth) (指机器等)检测出(某事物)
*an apparatus that senses the presence of toxic gases 能检测出有毒气体存在的仪器.
NOTE ON USAGE 用法
*The noun sense can mean
1 `the way the body experiences its surroundings'
*the sense of touch, sight, etc, or
2 `reason, good judgement'
*She talks a lot of good sense. *sense作名词时可指1`身体感受周围事物的方式'
*the sense of touch, sight, etc(触觉、视觉等), 也可指2`道理、识别力'
*She talks a lot of good sense. (她说得很有道理.) The adjective sensitive usually relates to meaning
1 与这个词有关的形容词sensitive含上述第1义
*She's got very sensitive hearing, skin, etc. 她的听觉、触觉等很灵敏.
* Don't laugh at him; he's very sensitive. 千万别笑他, 他很敏感. Sensible relates to meaning
2 另一个形容词sensible含上述第2义
*She gave me some sensible advice. 她给我提的建议很有道理.
* You must try to be more sensible. 你得懂点儿好歹.