fossils
fossils — 名詞
1. the hardened remains or imprints of plants, animals, or other living things that
化石
保存於岩石中的古生物遺骸
the hardened remains or imprints of plants, animals, or other living things that lived millions of years ago, now found inside rock or sometimes soil.
Rodrigo found tiny fish fossils in the cliffs behind his grandmother's house.
Rodrigo 在外婆家後方的懸崖中找到了小型魚類化石。
fossils of [organism] in [location]
Museum staff carefully cleaned the dinosaur fossils with soft brushes and tiny picks.
博物館人員用軟毛刷和小型尖嘴工具仔細清理恐龍化石。
collocation: dinosaur fossils / clean fossils
Hoa learned that some fossils are millions of years older than humans.
Hoa 學到有些化石比人類還要早幾百萬年。
Workers digging the new road uncovered shell fossils dating from when the area was an ocean.
修築新路的工人挖出了貝殼化石，可追溯到該地區還是海洋的時代。
- remains
general term; not specifically about ancient stone-preserved organisms.
- petrifications
technical; emphasizes the turning-to-stone process.
文法句型
fossils of [organism]
用法筆記
Almost always plural in everyday talk because finds usually involve many specimens; singular 'fossil' is used when pointing to one specific item.
常見錯誤
2. older people whose tastes, opinions, or habits feel hopelessly outdated, especia
老古板
觀念守舊、不接受新事物的人
older people whose tastes, opinions, or habits feel hopelessly outdated, especially when they refuse to try anything new.
The teenagers laughed and called their uncles fossils for still using flip phones in 2024.
青少年們笑稱在 2024 年還用掀蓋手機的叔叔們是老古板。
informal: call someone a fossil
Sahil joked that the board members were fossils who blocked every modern proposal.
Sahil 開玩笑說董事會成員都是擋下所有現代提案的老古板。
Don't act like fossils — try the new app before deciding it's too complicated.
別像老古板一樣——先試試新的應用程式，再決定它是不是太複雜。
Iris said the gym managers were fossils because they refused to allow loud music.
Iris 說健身房的經理是老古板，因為他們拒絕讓會員放大聲音樂。
- trendsetters
people setting new fashions or ideas, the opposite attitude.
文法句型
call someone a fossil
用法筆記
Mildly insulting; usually said in a teasing way among friends or family. Distinguish from sense 1 by social context — no rocks or ancient creatures involved.
常見錯誤
fossils — 形容詞
1. describes plant or animal traces that have lasted from very long-ago geological
化石的
保存自遠古地質年代的
describes plant or animal traces that have lasted from very long-ago geological periods, usually found hardened inside rock.
Élise photographed the fossils ferns pressed into the gray cliff wall above the beach.
Élise 拍下了壓印在海邊灰色懸崖壁上的化石蕨類。
attributive: fossils [noun]
The museum's new wing displays fossils insects trapped in golden amber stones.
博物館的新展區陳列著被困在金色琥珀石中的化石昆蟲。
Eli's class examined fossils leaves under bright lamps in the school laboratory.
Eli 的班級在學校實驗室的明亮燈下檢查化石樹葉。
Workers near Tariro's village uncovered fossils bones believed to be from giant reptiles.
Tariro 村莊附近的工人挖出了據信來自巨型爬蟲類的化石骨頭。
- petrified
specifies that the organic material has been replaced by mineral; narrower scope.
- living
actively alive, not preserved from a past age.
文法句型
fossils [noun]
用法筆記
Used only before a noun, never after a linking verb. The more common modern form is 'fossil' (singular) used attributively, e.g. 'fossil ferns'.
常見錯誤
2. having qualities that remind people of a fossil, such as being very old, hardene
老掉牙的
陳舊、僵化、像化石般不變的
having qualities that remind people of a fossil, such as being very old, hardened, or no longer changing.
Roya complained that the company's fossils policies had not changed since the 1980s.
Roya 抱怨公司老掉牙的政策從 1980 年代以來都沒有改變。
metaphorical: outdated and unchanging
Xiu described her grandfather's fossils handwriting as something from a forgotten century.
Xiu 形容祖父老掉牙的字跡像是來自某個被遺忘的世紀。
Critics called the prime minister's speech a fossils version of old wartime slogans.
評論者稱首相的演說只是老掉牙的舊戰時口號版本。
The library kept its fossils filing system long after every other office switched to computers.
在其他辦公室都改用電腦之後，圖書館仍長期保留著老掉牙的歸檔系統。
- antiquated
more formal; same idea of being outdated.
- modern
current, up to date.
文法句型
fossils [noun]
用法筆記
Mostly figurative; used to dismiss something as old-fashioned or frozen in time. Distinguish from sense 1, which describes actual prehistoric remains.
3. connected with coal, oil, or natural gas — fuels that come from the buried remai
化石燃料的
與煤、石油、天然氣相關的
connected with coal, oil, or natural gas — fuels that come from the buried remains of very ancient plants and animals.
Anthony's report showed that fossils fuels still supply most of the country's electricity today.
Anthony 的報告顯示，化石燃料至今仍供應該國大部分的電力。
collocation: fossils fuels supply electricity
Climate scientists urge governments to cut fossils energy use within the next decade.
氣候科學家呼籲各國政府在未來十年內減少化石能源的使用。
collocation: cut fossils energy use
Maja's town voted to replace its fossils fuel power plant with a large solar farm.
Maja 的小鎮投票決定以大型太陽能電廠取代化石燃料發電廠。
Burning fossils fuels releases carbon dioxide that warms the planet's atmosphere.
燃燒化石燃料會釋放二氧化碳，使地球的大氣變暖。
- hydrocarbon
scientific term for the same family of fuels; more technical.
- renewable
energy from solar, wind, or water — not from ancient buried organisms.
文法句型
fossils [fuel|energy]
用法筆記
Almost always appears in fixed pairings: 'fossils fuel(s)' and 'fossils energy'. Distinguish from sense 1 (the rocks themselves) — this sense is about the energy source.