enthrill

English

Alternative forms

• inthrill

Etymology

From en- +‎ thrill.

Verb

enthrill (third-person singular simple present enthrills, present participle enthrilling, simple past and past participle enthrilled)

1. (transitive) To pierce; penetrate; run through; stab.

   Synonyms: shank, yerk; see also Thesaurus:stab

   • 1815, Thomas Nash, Christ's tears over Jerusalem:

     Yea, though Christ from the skies hold out never so moving lures unto us, all of them (haggard like) we will turn tail to, and haste to the iron fist, that holds out nought but a knife to enthrill us.

2. (transitive) To cause to thrill.

   Synonyms: excite, inspirit; see also Thesaurus:thrill

   • 1839, George Robert Wythen Baxter, Baron George Gordon Byron Byron, Don Juan Junior:

     […] for then a glance from her she knew, Could inthrill his heart, enrapture and control […]

   • 1890, William Clark Russell, A marriage at sea:

     Long years ago, amid the sunny hills Where Arno dashing makes the maddest mirth, A master lived whose melody enthrills, And ever will, the children of the earth.

3. (nonstandard, transitive) To charm; to enthrall.

   Synonyms: beguile, entrance; see also Thesaurus:allure

   • 1867, Mrs. Henry Wood, Lady Adelaide's oath:

     She's getting enthrilled by him; she is, my lord. I saw 'em meet just now in the wood.