means
noun uk/miːnz/ us/miːnz/ means
(METHOD)
B2 [ C ]方法，手段
a method or way of doing something
They had no means of communication. 他们没有通讯手段。
We need to find some other means of transportation. 我们得找其他交通工具了。
We need to use every means at our disposal. 我们必须把我们所能采用的各种方法都用上。
She tried to explain by means of sign language. 她试图通过手语来解释。
There is no means of tracing the debt at all. 根本无法追查这笔债。
The family had no means of support (= way of getting money). 这家人没有生活来源。
- More examples
- Television is an increasingly important means of communication.
- Exams are not the only means of assessing a student's ability.
- Well, we'll just have to find some other means of persuading her.
- There must be some means by which wealth can be distributed more equitably.
- Another means of preventing further flooding would be to deepen the river bed.
(MONEY)
C2 [ plural ]金钱;财富;财力;收入
money, for example from an income, that allows you to buy things
[ + to infinitive ] He has the means to buy half the houses in the street if he wanted to. 只要他愿意，他有钱买下这条街上半数的房产。
live beyond your means 入不敷出
to spend more money than you receive as income
Over 40% of Americans admitted they were living beyond their means.
He was using credit cards to live way beyond his means.
If that's her only income, she appears to be living beyond her means.
I try not to live beyond my means, but it's not always easy.
If you can't afford to pay off your credit card bill at the end of the month, you're living beyond your means.
live within your means 量入为出
to spend less money than you receive as income
He promised that he wouldn't use his credit card too much - he wanted to live within his means.
I was brought up to live within my means.
The only way to achieve financial stability is to live within your means.
We help people make changes to enable them to live within their means.
Unlike most of her friends, she was living within her means and saving money each month.
a man/woman of means 富有的男人／女人
a rich man/woman
You can tell from the clothes she wears that she's a woman of means.
Getting good legal advice isn't a problem for a woman of means.
He thought it essential that he marry a woman of means.
Judging by his yacht and country estate, he is most definitely a man of means.
A man of means, he was able to devote his life to art.
Idioms
by all meansidiom C2 （表示许可）好的，当然可以
used to give permission
"May I borrow this book?" "By all means." “我可以借这本书吗？”“当然可以。”
by no meansidiom (also not by any means)C1 决不，一点都不
not at all
It is by no means certain that we'll finish the project by June. 我们能否在6月份前完成这项工程还很不确定。
This isn't the last we'll hear of it by any means. 这绝不会是我们最后一次听到此事。
a means to an endidiom C2 达到目的的手段
something that you do because it will help you to achieve something else
I didn't particularly like the job - it was just a means to an end. 我不是特别喜欢这项工作——它不过是一个谋生手段罢了。