词组 | approve |
释义 | approve 1. When used as an intransitive verb with the meaning "to take a favorable view," approve takes the preposition of: • ... she doesn't approve of fighting —Margaret Mead, And Keep Your Powder Dry, 1942 • ... does not mean that it favors it or even always approves of it —Roger Angell, Holiday, November 1953 • The New York critics generally approved of the way she handled the part —Current Biography, June 1964 When used as a transitive verb—usually in the sense of "to sanction officially"—it can take by to indicate the agent of approval: • ... magic hath been publicly professed in former times, ... maintained and excused, and so far approved by some princes —Robert Burton, The A natomy of Melancholy, 1621 • ... the plan must be approved by state legislators — Peter Janssen, Saturday Rev., 5 Feb. 1972 2. Foster 1968 discusses a British concern of the earlier 20th century to restrict the transitive verb to the "official sanction" sense, and the "favorable view" sense to the intransitive. The transitive verb, however, had been in use in the "favorable view" sense earlier than in the "official sanction" sense, so it is not surprising that the urged distinction failed to make much headway. These examples provide some evidence of its failure: • Jane secretly approved his discernment —Rose Macaulay, Potterism, 1920 • ... a friend, whom he liked, but whose conduct he could not approve —Osbert Sitwell, Noble Essences, 1950 • Along with George Orwell, whom he never knew and did not always approve, Lewis now looks like the finest British polemicist of the mid-century —George Watson, Times Literary Supp., 24 Sept. 1982 |
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