一日一词：损害DENT

自现象级英语

DENT

1. 英英释义：to have a bad effect on something 

例句：The lawsuit has dented investors’ confidence for the company. 

2. 体会这个词 （进阶篇） 

“dent”作为名词表示“凹痕”，作为动词表示“使…产生凹痕”。它的动词用法也常常引申表示“削减、损害”，这是《经济学人》中经常出现的用法，也是让我们的表达更简洁、形象的一个好用表达。 dent 后面常接表示热情/信心/自尊心这些表示情感的名词，这是 dent 最常见的用法。

比如某个公司惹上了官司，投资人对公司不再有信心，我们就可以说： 

The lawsuit has dented investors’ confidence for the company.

男孩向他心仪的女孩告白，被拒绝后自尊心受到打击，那种滋味就像是心里多了一处凹痕： 

His pride was badly dented when he was turned down by his crush. 

Facebook爆出丑闻后，收益并没有减少： 

Facebook scandals fail to dent its profits.

我们再来看《经济学人》中几个例句： 

Sacrificing range and interior space in this way may dent brands built on luxury and technological prowess.（这段话的主要意思是说许多汽车厂商对新车作出的调整，这些调整可能会对品牌造成伤害）

Badly handled, the outbreak could dent the government's credibility. Even if giants do not copy startups outright, they can dent their prospects.

从这些例句中我们可以发现 dent 后面可以接多种类型的名词。有些用法在字典中并不会出现，这就要求我们在阅读中注意收集这些准确、地道的常见搭配。 

3. 从认识到会用（作业） 

1）翻译下面的句子： 

由于接连失利，这支队伍失去了信心。 (接连失利a losing streak, 现在完成时)

Successive losses/defeats have dented the team's confidence.

The team's confidence has been dented by a losing streak.

造句：

例1：He struck me as a big-hearted person whose compassion cannot be dented by misfortune. 善良的人不因命运坎坷而失去慈悲

例2：Ill-informed, the regulators failed to beef up their oversight. Subsequently, the government's credibility was severely dented. 信誉

例3：It is not just the resource-intensive growth pattern that has dented the national economy today, it is the prevalence of informal employment too.  国民经济

个人拓展

搭配：dent one's confidence/ pride/ credibility/ profits/ prospects/ image

be badly/severely/ seriously dented

背诵

The team's confidence has been dented by a losing streak.

We are here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?---Steve Jobs

Try To Make a Dent in the Universe - Thrive Global