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mercy

noun
 
🔊/ˈmɜːsi/
🔊/ˈmɜːrsi/
(plural mercies)
Idioms
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  1.  
    [uncountable] a kind or forgiving attitude towards somebody that you have the power to harm or right to punish仁慈；宽恕 synonym humanity
    • to ask/beg/plead for mercy请求／乞求／祈求宽恕
    • They showed no mercy to their hostages.他们对人质丝毫不讲仁慈。🔊🔊
    • God have mercy on us.上帝怜悯我们吧。🔊🔊
    • The troops are on a mercy mission (= a journey to help people) in the war zone.部队出发救助战地民众。🔊🔊
    Extra Examples
    • God's infinite mercy上帝无限的恩惠
    • He asked for mercy for the crimes he had committed.他请求对他所犯的罪行给予宽恕。
    • The prisoners begged for mercy.囚犯求饶。
    • The terrorists are completely without mercy.那些恐怖分子全无仁慈之心。
    • There shall be no mercy for my enemies.对我的敌人不会有任何慈悲。
    Topics Personal qualitiesc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • divine
    • infinite
    • great
    • …
    verb + mercy
    • ask for
    • beg for
    • plead for
    • …
    mercy + noun
    • dash
    • mission
    • killing
    • …
    preposition
    • at the mercy of
    • without mercy
    • mercy for
    • …
    phrases
    • be grateful for small mercies
    • be thankful for small mercies
    See full entry
  2. [countable, usually singular] (informal) an event or a situation to be grateful for, usually because it stops something unpleasant幸运；恩惠
    • It is a mercy (that)… It's a mercy she wasn't seriously hurt.幸运的是她伤势不重。🔊🔊
    • His death was a mercy (= because he was in great pain).他的死是慈悲的（因为他痛苦极了）。
    3. see also merciful, merciless
    Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French merci ‘pity’ or ‘thanks’, from Latin merces, merced- ‘reward’, in Christian Latin ‘pity, favour, heavenly reward’.
Idioms
at the mercy of somebody/something
  1. not able to stop somebody/something harming you because they have power or control over you任…处置；对…无能为力；任由…摆布
    • I'm not going to put myself at the mercy of the bank.我不想任由银行摆布。🔊🔊
    • We were at the mercy of the weather.我们受制于天气。🔊🔊
be grateful/thankful for small mercies
  1. to be happy that a situation that is bad is not as bad as it could have been为情况不太坏而庆幸
    • Well, at least you weren't hurt. I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies.好啦，至少你没受伤。我想这就该让我们知足了。🔊🔊
leave somebody/something to the mercy/mercies of somebody/something
  1. to leave somebody/something in a situation that may cause them to suffer or to be treated badly听任某人可能受苦或受到虐待（而无能为力）
    • privatized companies left to the mercy of market forces私有化公司留给市场力量摆布
    • (humorous) I’ll leave you to the tender mercies of these ladies!我会让你留给这些女士温柔的怜悯！
throw yourself on somebody’s mercy
  1. (formal) to put yourself in a situation where you must rely on somebody to be kind to you and not harm or punish you指望某人能够善待（或宽恕）自己