thrift
/θrɪft/ (bre, ipa) · /θrɪft/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈthrift/ (ame, mw)
thrift — 名詞
- thriftsingular
- thriftsplural
1. the practice of spending money only on what you truly need and putting the rest
節儉
只買必需品、避免浪費的金錢習慣
the practice of spending money only on what you truly need and putting the rest aside, so that nothing goes to waste
Her grandmother's thrift meant reusing every jar and saving every penny.
祖母的節儉體現在每個罐子都重複使用、每分錢都存起來。
collocation: practise thrift — shown through possessive + noun
Through years of careful thrift, Mei saved enough to open her own bakery.
經過多年的謹慎節儉，Mei 存夠了錢開了自己的麵包店。
collocation: years of thrift
The family's thrift during hard times kept food on the table.
一家人在艱難時期的節儉讓餐桌上總有食物。
Amir admired his father's thrift — nothing in the house was ever thrown away.
Amir 敬佩父親的節儉——家裡沒有任何東西會被丟掉。
Thrift taught Elena to mend torn clothes instead of buying new ones.
節儉讓 Elena 學會修補舊衣服，而不是買新的。
- frugality
more formal; often describes a whole lifestyle rather than just money habits
- economy
broader in scope — applies to any resource, not only money
- penny-pinching
informal and mildly negative; suggests being too careful with small amounts
- wastefulness
spending or using resources carelessly
- extravagance
spending freely and luxuriously without concern for cost
用法筆記
Uncountable noun; never used with 'a'. Commonly appears in phrases such as 'the virtue of thrift' or 'practise thrift'.
常見錯誤
2. a small wild plant that grows in rocky soil on seaside cliffs, producing tight r
海石竹
海邊峭壁生長的粉紅野花
a small wild plant that grows in rocky soil on seaside cliffs, producing tight round clusters of blossoms in pink, and sometimes white, on slender stems
Kofi spotted patches of pink thrift blooming on the cliff above the beach.
Kofi 看到一叢叢粉紅色的海石竹在沙灘上方的峭壁上盛開。
collocation: patches of thrift
Sea thrift covered the rocky headland, its flowers swaying in the salt wind.
海石竹覆蓋了整片岩石岬角，花朵在鹹鹹的海風中搖曳。
Ingrid pressed a stem of thrift between the pages of her notebook.
Ingrid 將一枝海石竹壓在筆記本的書頁之間。
The coastal path was lined with thrift, turning the cliffs pink in late spring.
海岸步道旁長滿了海石竹，在春末將峭壁染成一片粉紅。
- sea pink
the same plant; a more descriptive everyday name
- cliff rose
another common name for Armeria maritima, though less widely used
3. a financial institution in the United States that takes savings deposits from cu
儲蓄銀行
美國提供存款與房貸的金融機構
a financial institution in the United States that takes savings deposits from customers and lends that money to people buying homes
The local thrift approved Diego's mortgage after reviewing his savings history.
當地的儲蓄銀行在審查 Diego 的存款記錄後批准了他的房貸。
Many thrifts in the Midwest offered better interest rates than big banks.
中西部許多儲蓄銀行提供的利率比大型銀行更好。
plural: thrifts — countable when referring to institutions
Harriet opened an account at a thrift to save for her first home.
Harriet 在一家儲蓄銀行開了戶，為她的第一間房子存錢。
During the 1980s crisis, hundreds of thrifts across the United States collapsed.
在 1980 年代的危機中，美國數百家儲蓄銀行倒閉了。
- savings and loan
the full formal name; 'thrift' is the shortened industry term
- building society
the British equivalent; provides similar savings and mortgage services
用法筆記
Countable in this sense (unlike sense 1). Refers specifically to a US savings and loan association. Rarely used outside American English contexts.
常見錯誤
thrift — 動詞
- thriftpresent simple I / you / we / they
- thrifts3rd person singular
- thrifting-ing form
- thriftedpast simple
1. to search charity shops and flea markets for secondhand treasures — clothes, boo
淘二手貨
在二手店尋找並購買便宜舊物
to search charity shops and flea markets for secondhand treasures — clothes, books, and home goods — and to buy them for far less than they would cost new
Zuri thrifted a beautiful woollen coat for only eight dollars last Saturday.
Zuri 上週六淘到一件漂亮的羊毛大衣，只花了八美元。
transitive: thrifted + direct object
Every weekend, Budi and his sister go thrifting in the old part of town.
每到週末，Budi 和他妹妹都會去老城區淘二手貨。
intransitive: go thrifting
Nanda thrifted nearly all the furniture in her apartment over three months.
Nanda 花了三個月，把公寓裡幾乎所有家具都淘了回來。
Clive loves thrifting for vintage records and old paperback novels.
Clive 喜歡去淘黑膠唱片和舊平裝小說。
Fatima thrifted a jacket that still had the original tags attached to it.
Fatima 淘到一件夾克，上面的原廠標籤都還在。
- bargain-hunt
broader — you can bargain-hunt anywhere, not only in secondhand shops
- secondhand-shop
can be used as a verb but is far less common than 'thrift'
文法句型
thrift + direct object
go thrifting
用法筆記
Can be used transitively ('She thrifted a lamp') or intransitively ('We spent the afternoon thrifting'). The past tense is 'thrifted'. Common in casual, everyday English; less frequent in formal writing.