indentation
indentation — 名詞
- indentationsingular
- indentationsplural
1. a small cut, hole, or hollow area on the surface or edge of something, caused by
凹痕；刻痕
表面受壓形成的凹陷或刻記
a small cut, hole, or hollow area on the surface or edge of something, caused by pressing or hitting it
After dropping the frying pan, Qing noticed a small indentation on the kitchen tile floor.
平底鍋掉到地上後，Qing 發現廚房瓷磚上有個小凹痕。
indentation + on + surface noun
The wooden table still showed the deep indentation where Yuki's grandmother had pressed dough for decades.
木桌上仍可看到 Yuki 的祖母長年揉麵團壓出的深深凹痕。
collocation: deep indentation
Hassan ran his thumb over the indentation the hammer blow had left in the metal sheet.
Hassan 用拇指摸著鐵皮上被榔頭敲出的凹痕。
Amara could feel a slight indentation in the sofa cushion where her cat always curled up to sleep.
Amara 摸到沙發坐墊上有一處微微下陷，那是她的貓常蜷縮睡覺的地方。
collocation: slight / small indentation
- deep indentation
- slight indentation
- small indentation
- leave an indentation
- make an indentation
- feel an indentation
- bump
an area that sticks outward rather than inward
- protrusion
something that pushes out from the surface
文法句型
indentation + in + noun phrase
常見錯誤
2. a blank area left at the beginning of a line of text, or the process of creating
縮排；縮格
文字段落開頭留空的格式
a blank area left at the beginning of a line of text, or the process of creating such a blank area when writing or typing
The teacher asked the class to leave a two-centimeter indentation before each new paragraph.
老師要求全班在每個新段落前留出兩公分的縮排。
indentation + of + measurement
Pablo set his word processor to create an automatic indentation of four spaces on every fresh paragraph.
Pablo 將文書軟體設為每個新段落自動縮排四個空格。
automatic / left indentation
Chitra noticed the essay had inconsistent indentation from line to line, which suggested careless copying.
Chitra 注意到那篇作文的縮排前後不一致，可能是隨便抄來的。
In formal business letters, a clear indentation at the start of each paragraph improves readability.
在正式的商業書信中，每個段落開頭清楚的縮排能提高閱讀流暢度。
indentation + improves / makes — benefit of the formatting
- automatic indentation
- left indentation
- paragraph indentation
- hanging indentation
- set the indentation
- increase indentation
文法句型
indentation + of + amount (spaces/centimeters)
用法筆記
In word-processing software, indentation is typically set automatically for the first line of a paragraph. A 'hanging indent' is a reversed format where the first line extends to the left margin and later lines are indented.
3. a curved inward area along a coastline, cliff edge, or similar boundary, forming
海岸凹入處
海岸線向內彎曲形成的海灣區域
a curved inward area along a coastline, cliff edge, or similar boundary, forming a bay, inlet, or similar shape
Elena studied the map of Chile's coastline, noting every indentation where a fishing port might be sheltered.
Elena 仔細看著智利海岸的地圖，標出每個可能設有漁港的海岸凹入處。
The old lighthouse stood at the entrance of a wide indentation that formed a natural harbour for cargo ships.
那座老燈塔矗立於一個寬闊凹入處的入口，形成天然良港供貨輪停泊。
wide / deep indentation (geography collocations)
Emeka traced the shore with his fingertip, counting more than a dozen small indentations along the way.
Emeka 用指尖沿著海岸線劃過，數出沿途十幾個小凹入處。
From the airplane window, Zahra could see a deep indentation in the coastline where the river met the sea.
Zahra 從飛機窗口看到海岸線上有一個深深的凹入處，那是河流入海的地方。
indentation + in + coastline / shoreline
- coastal indentation
- deep indentation
- wide indentation
- indentation in the coastline
- indentation in the shoreline
- headland
a point of high land that sticks out into the sea
- cape
a large headland projecting into a body of water
- promontory
a high ridge of land jutting out into the sea
文法句型
indentation + in + geographic noun (coastline, shore, edge)
用法筆記
This sense is most common in geography and cartography contexts. A large indentation is usually called a 'bay' or 'gulf'; 'indentation' covers any inward curve regardless of size.