amuse

Word family

a·muse /əˈmjuːz/ verb [transitiveT]

1 FUNNYto make someone laugh or smile 使开心，逗笑

He made funny faces to amuse the children.

他做鬼脸逗孩子们开心。

The question seemed to amuse him in some way.

这个问题似乎不知怎么把他给逗乐了。

it amuses somebody that/how/to do

It amused me to think back to my life in London.

回想起在伦敦的生活，我不禁笑了起来。

In everyday English, people usually say they think something is funny rather than say that it amuses them: 在日常英语中，人们一般说they think something is funny，而不说it amuses them

The joke really amused them. → They thought the joke was really funny. 他们觉得那笑话真是好笑。

2 ENJOY/LIKE DOING somethingto make time pass in an enjoyable way for someone, so that they do not get bored 给…提供娱乐[消遣] SYN entertain

Doing jigsaws would amuse Amy for hours on end.

拼图能让埃米连续玩上几个小时。

The kids amused themselves playing hide-and-seek.

孩子们玩捉迷藏玩。

Examples from the Corpus

amuse• In college she had liked his clipping service; now she seemed only amused by it.• She could go two days without sleep and was amused by the test she was undergoing.• Peering through steel-rimmed spectacles were chilly gray eyes that found little to be amused by.• Most ski resorts offer activities to amuse children and even non-skiers.• Something in the report had obviously amused him.• Adams first began drawing cartoons to amuse his coworkers.• It amuses me to see politicians so eager to please at election time.

it amuses somebody that/how/to do• I know how it amuses him to reward loyalty by handfuls; how he likes to make a test of friends.

amused themselves• And this was how the red people passed their time and amused themselves when they thought nobody was watching.• They also amused themselves with the speculation that their ancestor had escaped from the Titanic in women's clothing.

Origin amuse

(1400-1500) Old French amuser, from muser; → MUSE1

a·muse verb →REGISTER1

Chinese

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