喜樂美語

Picture a thought that keeps biting at you — you can't put it down, it at your mind and leaves you . That is the core of worry: a trouble that grips and won't let go. (The old, literal sense survives where a dog 'worries' sheep — grabs and shakes them.)

可以想成：有個念頭一直在咬著你——你放不下它，它在你心裡反覆啃，讓你不安。這就是 worry 的核心畫面：一件事抓住你、不肯鬆口。它最古老的字面意思，其實保留在「狗去追咬羊」那個用法裡，後來才轉成心裡被一件事咬住的那種煩。

From the word’s history

Worry comes from Old English 'wyrgan', to strangle or seize by the throat. The sense narrowed from the physical 'a dog seizing and shaking prey' to the mental 'a trouble that grips and gnaws at you', which is why the dog-and-sheep sense still survives alongside the modern feeling.

worry 來自古英語 wyrgan，原意是「掐住喉嚨、勒咬」。它從具體的「狗咬住獵物甩動」慢慢縮窄成抽象的「一件事一直咬著你、啃著你的心」，所以「狗追咬牲畜」這個老意思才會和現代「擔心」的感覺並存。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), entry 'worry'

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

同家族的字

v過去式 worried過去分詞 worried-ing worrying三單 worries

n複數 worries

意思相近

be anxioustroublechasefretbotherattackbe worriedconcernbite atdisturbproblemanxiety+1

意思相反

relaxreassurechill outcomfortreliefcalmpeace of mind

原始詞典資料9 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

worryverb/ˈwʌ.ɹi/

  • 1

    To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt.

    • So you go along for a long time / And nothing seems to worry your mind / But what it adds up to / It's the side effect / That finally gets to you
  • 2

    Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress; to exercise.

    • Your tone of voice worries me.
    • That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition.
  • 3

    To harass; to irritate or distress.

    • The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.
  • 4

    To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.

    • Your dog’s been worrying sheep again.
    • This is the Dog, that worried the Cat, that killed the Rat, that ate the Malt, that lay in the Houſe that Jack built.
  • 5

    To touch repeatedly; to fiddle with.

    • Christian paced the caravan, worrying his beard.
    • So what if I wanted to touch my nose to the windshield? Who was it hurting? Why was it that he could repeatedly worry his change and bite his lower lip without the threat of punishment?
  • 6

    obsoleteTo strangle.

    • We read (Law's Memor. Pref. lix.) that "one John Brugh, a notorious warlock (wizard) in the parochin of Fossoquhy, by the space of thirty-six years, was worried at a stake and burned, 1643."

worrynoun/ˈwʌ.ɹi/

  • 1

    A strong feeling of anxiety.

    • I'm afflicted by worry throughout the night.
    • "Worry never solved any problems. Only gives you ulcers."
  • 2

    An instance or cause of such a feeling.

    • My main worry is that I'll miss the train.
  • 3

    A person who causes worry.

    • They could never make him speak a word, although he was old enough, in short, he was a perfect worry night and day.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。