Achilles heel

短语

致命要害；薄弱环节

发音

UK /əˌkɪl.iːz ˈhiːl/
CA
US /əˌkɪl.iːz ˈhiːl/

词形变化

Achilles heels 复数 Achilles heels

别名

Achilles' heel

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    A vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation.

    弱项

    死穴

    软肋

    阿喀琉斯之踵

    致命伤

    A good all-round golfer, playing out of bunkers is my Achilles heel.

  2. 2.

    The Achilles tendon, the tendo Achillis.

    医学

词源

From the Greek hero Achilles, whom according to legend his mother held by the heel when she dipped him in the River Styx, making him invulnerable everywhere except on his heel. He was later killed by an arrow wound to the heel. Although the legend is ancient, the phrase only entered English in the 19th century. It is used as a metaphor for vulnerability, as in the earliest citation, an essay by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

来源：wiktionary