sabotage

• vt. 妨害；对…采取破坏行动
• vi. 从事破坏活动
• n. 破坏；破坏活动；怠工

来自法语 sabotage,捣乱，破坏，来自 sabot,木鞋，来自中古法语 savate,旧鞋子，词源同 sabaton, 护脚甲，savate,法国腿踢，ciabatta,拖鞋面包。现词义据说是来自 18，19 世纪机器工业刚兴 起时，手工业者担心机器会抢走他们的饭碗，愤而把木鞋扔进机器里面破坏机器运转。

1. a deliberate act of destruction or disruption in which equipment is damaged

sabotage

sabotage: [20] The etymological idea underlying sabotage is of ‘clattering along in noisy shoes’. For its ultimate ancestor is French sabot, a word of unknown origin which means ‘clog’. From it was derived saboter ‘walk along noisily in clogs’, hence (via the notion of ‘clumsiness’) ‘do work badly’, and finally ‘destroy tools, machines, etc deliberately’. This in turn formed the basis of the noun sabotage, which originally denoted the ‘destruction of machinery, etc by factory workers’, but gradually broadened out to include any deliberate disruptive destruction. English acquired it around 1910.

sabotage (n.)

1907 (from 1903 as a French word in English), from French sabotage, from saboter "to sabotage, bungle," literally "walk noisily," from sabot "wooden shoe" (13c.), altered (by association with Old French bot "boot") from Middle French savate "old shoe," from an unidentified source that also produced similar words in Old Provençal, Portuguese, Spanish (zapata), Italian (ciabatta), Arabic (sabbat), and Basque (zapata).

In French, and at first in English, the sense of "deliberately and maliciously destroying property" originally was in reference to labor disputes, but the oft-repeated story (as old as the record of the word in English) that the modern meaning derives from strikers' supposed tactic of throwing shoes into machinery is not supported by the etymology. Likely it was not meant as a literal image; the word was used in French in a variety of "bungling" senses, such as "to play a piece of music badly." This, too, was the explanation given in some early usages.

SABOTAGE [chapter heading] The title we have prefixed seems to mean "scamping work." It is a device which, we are told, has been adopted by certain French workpeople as a substitute for striking. The workman, in other words, purposes to remain on and to do his work badly, so as to annoy his employer's customers and cause loss to his employer. ["The Liberty Review," January 1907]

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You may believe that sabotage is murder, and so forth, but it is not so at all. Sabotage means giving back to the bosses what they give to us. Sabotage consists in going slow with the process of production when the bosses go slow with the same process in regard to wages. [Arturo M. Giovannitti, quoted in report of the Sagamore Sociological Conference, June 1907]

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In English, "malicious mischief" would appear to be the nearest explicit definition of "sabotage," which is so much more expressive as to be likely of adoption into all languages spoken by nations suffering from this new force in industry and morals. Sabotage has a flavor which is unmistakable even to persons knowing little slang and no French .... ["Century Magazine," November 1910]

sabotage (v.)

1912, from sabotage (n). Related: Sabotaged; sabotaging.

an act of economic/military/industrial sabotage

经济 / 军事 / 工业破坏活动

牛津词典

Police investigating the train derailment have not ruled out sabotage.

警方调查火车出轨事件，没有排除人为破坏的可能。

牛津词典

The main electricity supply had been sabotaged by the rebels.

叛乱者破坏了供电干线。

牛津词典

Protesters failed to sabotage the peace talks.

抗议者未能破坏和平谈判。

牛津词典

The rise in interest rates sabotaged any chance of the firm's recovery.

由于利率的提高，公司的复苏已无任何可能。

牛津词典

The main pipeline supplying water was sabotaged by rebels.

供水主管道被叛乱分子蓄意破坏了。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

He accused the opposition of trying to sabotage the election...

他谴责反对派企图阻挠选举的进行。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

My ex-wife deliberately sabotages my access to the children.

我的前妻故意不让我与孩子们接触。

柯林斯高阶英语词典

They adopted a hostile attitude toward New China and plotted sabotage.

敌视新中国,策划破坏活动.

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The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.

那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的.

《简明英汉词典》

There is an unspoken assumption that the networks are safe from deliberate human sabotage.

有一个潜假设,即网络是安全的从人类的蓄意破坏.

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He said he could not put up with such internal sabotage any longer.

他说,他再也不能忍受这种从内部来的阴谋活动了.

辞典例句

'To commit acts of sabotage which may cause the death of hundreds of innocent people?'

“ 你们准备从事破坏活动,可能造成千百个无辜百姓的死亡 吗 ?”

英汉文学

You discover sabotage, often small value but specifically aimed at you, at work.

你发现有人经常故意针对你, 作一些无足轻重的事情来破坏你的工作.

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However , Doctor Zachary Smith , an agent for an enemy government is sent to sabotage the mission.

他们被迫降落在不知名的星球上, 一个地图上找不到的地方.

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Even people in developed countries, however, must be mindful that acts of sabotage are possible.

然而, 即使是发达国家的人们, 也必须保持警惕,在他们国家也可能发生破坏行为.

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How to handle the interruptions that sabotage your productivity?

在减少生产力的时候,如何避免发生工作中断?

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The channel was constantly dragged for fear of sabotage.

对那水道经常进行探测打捞,生怕有人破坏.

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They think they can sabotage the missile site?

他们觉得他们可以破坏导弹基地?

电影对白

The secret agent was arrested on a charge of sabotage.

密探因被指控犯有蓄意破坏罪而被捕.

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They tried to sabotage my birthday party.

他们企图破坏我的生日晚会.

《简明英汉词典》

But there had been not a single incident of sabotage or spying.

但事实上没有发生一起破坏或是间谍活动.

电影对白

They underwent courses in radio communication, demolition, and sabotage.

他们接受了无线电通信 、 拆毁和破坏的课程.

《简明英汉词典》

They tried to sabotage my party by getting drunk.

他们想藉耍酒疯来破坏我的宴会.

辞典例句

We should promptly and prosecute major cases of sabotage against the order of the market economy.

抓紧查处严重破坏市场经济秩序的大案要案.

期刊摘选

The rebels had tried to sabotage the oil pipeline.

反叛者试图破坏输油管道.

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The record companies are also trying to sabotage the file sharing services they can't shut down.

唱片公司也试着破坏它们无法关闭的文件分享服务.

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