hothouse
hothouse — 名詞
- hothousesingular
- hothousesplural
1. a warm glass building where delicate plants like orchids or tomatoes are kept so
溫室
加熱的玻璃溫室，種植嬌弱植物
a warm glass building where delicate plants like orchids or tomatoes are kept so they keep growing through winter or other harsh weather.
Apinya grows rare orchids in a small hothouse behind her cottage.
Apinya 在她小屋後面的小溫室裡種植珍稀蘭花。
typical context: a hothouse for delicate or tropical plants
The botanical garden's main hothouse stays at 28 degrees all year.
植物園的主要溫室全年維持在攝氏 28 度。
collocation: in / inside the hothouse
Frost killed the seedlings outside, but the ones in the hothouse survived.
外面的幼苗被霜凍死了，但溫室裡的存活下來。
Christopher carried trays of young tomato plants out to the heated hothouse each morning.
Christopher 每天早上把一盤盤的番茄幼苗搬到加熱的溫室裡。
The old Victorian hothouse on the estate still smells of damp soil and warm glass.
莊園裡那座古老的維多利亞式溫室至今仍散發著潮濕泥土和溫熱玻璃的氣味。
- greenhouse
more general; not necessarily heated
- glasshouse
British English; structurally similar but emphasizes the glass walls rather than warmth
- conservatory
usually attached to a house and used as much for sitting as for growing plants
用法筆記
Often interchangeable with 'greenhouse', but a hothouse is specifically heated to a high temperature, whereas a greenhouse may simply trap sunlight without extra heating.
常見錯誤
2. a school, programme, or setting where young people are pushed to learn skills or
資優教育環境
讓孩子超齡學習的場所
a school, programme, or setting where young people are pushed to learn skills or ideas much faster than children their age usually would.
The music school became a hothouse for young pianists from across Eastern Europe.
這所音樂學校成了東歐年輕鋼琴家的資優教育環境。
collocation: a hothouse for [type of learner]
Yumi's parents sent her to a maths hothouse every weekend from the age of six.
Yumi 的父母從她六歲起就每個週末送她去數學資優教育環境。
Critics worry that turning every primary school into a hothouse will exhaust the children.
批評者擔心把每所小學都變成資優教育環境會讓孩子精疲力竭。
The summer academy is a hothouse where teenage chess players train ten hours a day.
這個暑期學院是個資優教育環境，青少年棋手每天訓練十個小時。
- pressure cooker
stronger; emphasizes stress rather than learning
- academy
more neutral; no implication that the pace is excessive
文法句型
a hothouse for / of [skill]
用法筆記
Often used with a faintly disapproving tone, suggesting the pace is unhealthy or unnatural for the age group. Compare with sense 1 — the metaphor draws on how a hothouse forces plants to grow faster than nature allows.
常見錯誤
3. a place where one specific activity, especially gossip, political plotting, or c
溫床
特定活動極度頻繁發生之地
a place where one specific activity, especially gossip, political plotting, or creative work, happens at an unusually intense level.
The newsroom was a hothouse of rumour the week before the election.
選舉前那週，新聞編輯室成了謠言的溫床。
collocation: a hothouse of [activity, often abstract noun]
In the 1920s, Paris became a hothouse of literary experimentation.
1920 年代，巴黎成了文學實驗的溫床。
The royal court was always a hothouse of intrigue and shifting loyalties.
皇室宮廷一直是陰謀和忠誠轉變的溫床。
Baraka described the small village as a hothouse of gossip where no secret lasted a day.
Baraka 把這個小村莊形容為八卦的溫床，任何秘密都撐不過一天。
- hotbed
very close in meaning; slightly more common in everyday writing
- breeding ground
usually negative; implies something unwanted is growing
文法句型
a hothouse of [activity]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 2 by the focus: sense 2 is about people learning faster than normal; sense 3 is about a specific activity (gossip, intrigue, creativity) occurring at high intensity in one place.
hothouse — 形容詞
- hothousepositive
- more hothousecomparative
- most hothousesuperlative
1. (of flowers, fruit, or vegetables) raised inside a heated glass building rather
溫室種植的
在加熱玻璃屋內栽培的
(of flowers, fruit, or vegetables) raised inside a heated glass building rather than out in the open field.
Caleb arranged a bouquet of hothouse roses for his sister's wedding in January.
Caleb 為他姊姊一月的婚禮挑了一束溫室種植的玫瑰。
typical use: before a flower or fruit noun
Hothouse tomatoes are available all winter but rarely taste as sweet as summer ones.
溫室種植的番茄整個冬天都買得到，但很少像夏天的那麼甜。
collocation: hothouse tomatoes / cucumbers / strawberries
The chef refused to use hothouse strawberries and waited until June for the field crop.
那位主廚拒絕使用溫室種植的草莓，一直等到六月才用田裡採收的。
A vase of pale hothouse lilies stood on the hotel's reception desk all year round.
一瓶淡色的溫室種植的百合全年都擺在飯店的接待櫃台上。
- greenhouse-grown
more descriptive; same meaning but less concise
- glasshouse
British English equivalent, used attributively in the same way
- field-grown
grown outdoors in open ground
- outdoor
general antonym
用法筆記
Almost always used before the noun (attributive position). You would not normally say 'these roses are hothouse'; instead say 'these are hothouse roses' or 'these roses were grown in a hothouse'.
常見錯誤
2. describing someone or something that has grown up in a sheltered, intense settin
嬌生慣養的
在過度保護環境中長大的
describing someone or something that has grown up in a sheltered, intense setting and may therefore be delicate or unable to cope with the wider world.
Critics called the young violinist a hothouse talent who would burn out before twenty.
評論家稱這位年輕小提琴家是嬌生慣養的人才，會在二十歲前就燃燒殆盡。
common pairing: a hothouse talent / a hothouse upbringing
Maja regretted her hothouse childhood, where every hour was filled with lessons and tutors.
Maja 後悔自己嬌生慣養的童年，每個小時都被課程和家教填滿。
The novel describes a hothouse atmosphere inside the old boarding school, full of secrets and pressure.
這部小說描繪了那所老寄宿學校裡嬌生慣養的氛圍，充滿秘密與壓力。
Many child stars come from a hothouse environment that ordinary teenagers would find suffocating.
許多童星都來自嬌生慣養的環境，那是一般青少年會覺得窒息的。
- down-to-earth
raised in ordinary conditions
用法筆記
Carries a clearly negative tone, even when describing apparent success. The metaphor implies fragility — that what flourished in protected conditions will struggle in normal ones.
hothouse — 動詞
- hothousepresent simple I / you / we / they
- hothouses3rd person singular
- hothousing-ing form
- hothousedpast simple
1. to push a child through unusually intense extra lessons or training in one subje
填鴨式栽培
對孩子進行超齡密集訓練
to push a child through unusually intense extra lessons or training in one subject so that they excel at it earlier than peers of the same age.
Anjali's parents hothoused her in mathematics from the age of four.
Anjali 的父母從她四歲起就對她填鴨式栽培數學。
pattern: hothouse + somebody + in + subject
Some coaches openly hothouse young swimmers in the hope of reaching the Olympics.
有些教練公開對年輕游泳選手進行填鴨式栽培，希望能進軍奧運。
typical subject: parents, coaches, ambitious schools
João refused to hothouse his daughter and let her pick her own hobbies instead.
João 拒絕對女兒填鴨式栽培，讓她自己挑選嗜好。
Many gifted children are hothoused so early that they lose interest in their subject by adolescence.
許多資優兒童被太早填鴨式栽培，結果到青春期就對該科目失去興趣。
文法句型
hothouse + somebody (+ in + something)
用法筆記
Almost always used with disapproval. Subject is typically a parent, coach, or institution; object is a child or young person. Often appears in the passive ('be hothoused'). Distinguish from neutral verbs like 'tutor' or 'coach', which do not carry the same implication of excess.