expostulate
verb🔊/ɪkˈspɒstʃəleɪt/
🔊/ɪkˈspɑːstʃəleɪt/
[intransitive, transitive] (formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they expostulate | 🔊/ɪkˈspɒstʃəleɪt/ 🔊/ɪkˈspɑːstʃəleɪt/ |
| he / she / it expostulates | 🔊/ɪkˈspɒstʃəleɪts/ 🔊/ɪkˈspɑːstʃəleɪts/ |
| past simple expostulated | 🔊/ɪkˈspɒstʃəleɪtɪd/ 🔊/ɪkˈspɑːstʃəleɪtɪd/ |
| past participle expostulated | 🔊/ɪkˈspɒstʃəleɪtɪd/ 🔊/ɪkˈspɑːstʃəleɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form expostulating | 🔊/ɪkˈspɒstʃəleɪtɪŋ/ 🔊/ɪkˈspɑːstʃəleɪtɪŋ/ |
- (+ speech)
to argue, disagree or protest about something 争论；争执；抗议 Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘demand how or why, state a complaint’): from Latin expostulat- ‘demanded’, from the verb expostulare, from ex- ‘out’ + postulare ‘demand’.