Question

aggravate
ag.gra.vate  AHD[²g“r…-v³t”]   DJ[6#gr*7ve!t]  KK[6#gr*7vet]
v.tr.（及物动词）  ag.gra.vat.ed,ag.gra.vat.ing,ag.gra.vates
1.To make worse or more troublesome.
    加重；加剧；使恶化：使变得更坏或更麻烦
2.To rouse to exasperation or anger; provoke.See Synonyms atannoy
    使恼火；激怒：激起愤怒或恼怒；煽动参见annoy
ORIGIN
1.Latinaggrav³re  aggrav³t-
    拉丁语aggrav³re  aggrav³t-
2.ad- [ad-]
    ad- [前缀，表“朝向”]
3.grav³re [to burden]  fromgravis [heavy] * see  g^wer…-¹
    grav³re [负担]  源自gravis [重的] *参见 g^wer…-¹
DERIVATIVES
▪ag“gravat”ingly  adv.（副词）
▪ag“grava”tive  adj.（形容词）
▪ag“grava”tor  n.（名词）
USAGE
It is sometimes claimed thataggravate  should be used only to mean “to make worse” and not “to irritate.” Based on this view it would be appropriate to sayThe endless wait for luggage aggravates the misery of modern air travel,  but notIt's the endless wait for luggage that aggravates me the most.   But the latter use dates back as far as the 17th century and is accepted by 68 percent of the Usage Panel. As H.W. Fowler wrote, “the extension from aggravating a person's temper to aggravating the person himself is slight and natural,and when we are told that Wackford Squeers [in Dickens'sNicholas Nickleby ] pinched the boys in aggravating places we may reasonably infer that his choice of places aggravated both the pinches and the boys.”
    有时认为aggravate 应当只被用来表示“加重；使恶化”的意思而不表示“使恼火；激怒”。 根据这种观点，The endless wait for luggage aggravates the misery of modern air travel（无休止地等待行李加重了现代飞机旅行的困难） 这个句子是正确的，而It's the endless wait for luggage that aggravates me the most（无休止地等待行李最为令我恼火） 这一句则不正确。 但是后一种用法可以追溯到17世纪，并且被百分之六十八的用法使用小组成员所接受。正如H·W·福勒写道，“从使一个人的脾气变得更坏到使一个人恼火的延伸是微小和自然的，当我们看到威克福特·斯贵尔斯［出自狄更斯的小说尼古拉斯·尼克尔贝 ］往令人恼火的地方拧孩子们时， 我们可以合理地推断出他所选择的地方既加剧了拧的疼痛又令孩子们大为恼火。”