break a butterfly upon the wheel

短语

发音

US

词形变化

breaking a butterfly upon the wheel breaks a butterfly upon the wheel 三单 breaks a butterfly upon the wheel broke a butterfly upon the wheel broken a butterfly upon the wheel breaking a butterfly upon the wheel 现在分词 broke a butterfly upon the wheel 过去式 broken a butterfly upon the wheel 过去式 broken a butterfly upon the wheel 过去分词

别名

break a butterfly on a wheel break a butterfly on the wheel break a butterfly upon a wheel break a fly on a wheel break a fly on the wheel break a fly upon a wheel break a fly upon the wheel

释义与例句

v.
  1. 1.

    To inflict a punishment out of all proportion to the offence.

  2. 2.

    To employ great exertions for insignificant ends.

词源

Coined by English poet Alexander Pope in 1734 in Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot.

来源：wiktionary