20090716每日一词

junli

bestow

\bih-STOH\ , transitive verb:
1.To present as a gift or an honor; confer.
2.To apply; use.
及物动词 vt.
1.把...赠与,把...给予[(+on/upon)]
I hardly deserve the praises that were bestowed upon me.
我当不起这样的称赞。
2.使用,花费[(+on)]
The engineer bestowed much time on the project.
这位工程师把大量时间花在那个工程上。
3.放置;储藏
4.【古】留宿,为...供宿[(+for)]
My friend bestowed me for the night.
我朋友留我住了一夜。

Quotes:
He bestowed on him a pension of a hundred crowns a year.
~John Richard Green, Short History of the English People
In 1933...a hurricane bestowed a bonanza on Ocean City by cutting Fenwick, the island on which its sits, in two, offering new, easy access to oceangoing boats
~"Shifting Sands", Washington Post, July 11, 1999

Origin:
Bestow comes down to us from the Middle English bistowen, from bi-, be- + stowen, to place, to stow.