- 1進行中；在醞釀
When something is afoot, it is happening now, or people are planning it, often quietly. “There is trouble afoot” means trouble is already moving. “A plan is afoot” means someone is getting a plan ready. It usually sits after is, are, or was: “Something is afoot.” The word has a slightly old, story-like feel; in everyday talk people more often say going on or in the works. Though actually, afoot first meant “on your feet” — walking, not riding — and that older use is still possible: “We continued afoot.” The meaning you will meet most, though, is the “something is going on” one.
組成a- + foot. The a- is the old prefix meaning “on.”
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
afootadv/əˈfʊt/
- 1
On foot. (means of locomotion, walking)
- Is it fit, let your mightyship say, / That I, like some pitiful flirt, / Should tarry within doors all day, / Or else trudge it afoot in the dirt?
- "The dogs were no sooner let loose, than the hare was afoot.
- 2
On foot. (support of the body, standing)
- 3
In motion; in action; astir; stirring; in progress.
- Hamlet: […]I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, / Even with the very comment of thy soul / Observe mine uncle:[…]
- Possibly some chemical experiment was afoot; possibly----Well, it was no business of mine to speculate upon why he wanted it.
afootadj/əˈfʊt/
- 1
That is on foot, in motion, in action, in progress.
- Sunny moves through these final days quickly, easily, buoyed by routine even though change is afoot in all directions.
- Now there are plans afoot to introduce a couple of extra trains to the timetable in December, with the long-term goal of a doubling of the service to eight trains a day.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。