the dawn of civilization/time etc• Once, long ago, at the dawn of time, he had persuaded man to disobey in a garden.• Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion humanbeings have walked the planetEarth.
3a false dawnHOPEsomething that seems positive or hopeful but really is not 虚幻的希望
There was talk of share prices recovering, but that was just a false dawn.
有人说股价会回升,但那不过是镜花水月而已。
Examples from the Corpus
a false dawn• That proved to be a false dawn, as Moravcik's replacement, McNamara, was the one who scored.• Tracers lit up the fog like a false dawn.• It was a false dawn, replaced soon after by a now starless night that was blacker than the previous hours.
Examples from the Corpus
dawn• But even at 6: 30 at night, there can be a dawn.• The cowbird lays her egg at dawn.• One morning she rose at dawn and climbed Ballymacadoyle Hill, behind the fort.• Eck therefore had a whole night's steaming to put himself a hundred miles from the sinking before submerging at dawn.• Waking with a start, she lay in the greyhalf-light of dawn, wondering where she was.• It had been the hope which had kept her going through the dawn and early morning.• We talked almost until dawn.• There, we spent a night at a Yonchon inn and waited until dawn to make our getaway.
1START TO HAPPEN, EXIST ETCif day or morning dawns, it begins 破晓,天亮
The morning dawned fresh and clear after the storm.
暴风雨过后,破晓时天朗气清。
2START TO HAPPEN, EXIST ETCif a period of time or situation dawns, it begins 〔某一时期或情形〕开始
The age of Darwin had dawned.
达尔文时代开始了。
3THINK something/HAVE A THOUGHTif a feeling or idea dawns, you have it for the first time 第一次有某种感觉[想法]
It began to dawn that something was wrong.
于是开始想到什么地方出了差错。
4dawn on somebodyphrasal verbphr vREALIZEif a factdawns on you, you realize it for the first time 开始明白〔某个事实〕,醒悟
The ghastly truth dawned on me.
我开始明白了可怕的真相。
it dawns on somebody (that)
It dawned on me that Jo had been right all along.
我开始明白乔一直都是对的。
Examples from the Corpus
dawn• Mondaydawned, as Mondays will, and it was back to the SohoLaundry.• As the ColdWardawned in 1949, Galvin was starting his militarycareer.• Until it dawned on her that by postponing the decision she was making a decision.• It dawned on me that no one seemed to be idle.• Suddenly it dawned on Ramsay that this flag was considerably larger than that flown by the Regent.• Suddenly it dawned on Rose that he stopped by so frequently because he was attracted to her.• It is dawning on the rebels that they may have widersupport than first realised.• I was afraid that if I appeared too eager, it might dawn on the woman she had made a terriblemistake.
Origindawn1
(1200-1300)daw“to dawn”((10-19 centuries)), from Old Englishdagian; related to day