gild

Word family

gild /ɡɪld/ verb [transitiveT] → guild

1 AVPto cover something with a thin layer of gold or with something that looks like gold 给…镀金，给…涂上金色

a gilded frame

镀金框

2 literaryAL to make something look as if it is covered in gold 把…染成金色

The autumn sun gilded the lake.

秋天的阳光把湖面染成了金色。

3. gild the lily IMPROVEto spoil something by trying to improve it when it is already good enough 画蛇添足，弄巧成拙

Examples from the Corpus

gild the lily• To dress up humour would be the ultimate in gilding the lily.• Instead of gilding the lily the photographs added atmosphere - a sense of history.

Examples from the Corpus

gild• The skulls were gilded and taken out for yearly veneration.• If it was a time of science and silks and gilded barges, it was also a time of pox.• There was the altar, with its gilded borders and red sheen that absorbed the glazed white bowls and cups.• Wind and sun had gilded her arms and legs honey-brown, hiding the last of the fading bruises.• Now, naked, simmering with annoyance, the deepening light gilding him, he was no less imposing.• She simply knows that icons, even the most gilded of them, are made to be hung on a wall.• When Joe inquired about these details, the duke said that gilded window frames were economical because they required no repainting.• Even the horn was of a much lighter colour than usual, although it had been gilded with silver.

Origin gild

Old English gyldan

Chinese

Corpus