1.amuse的基本意思是“逗乐”,可指使人觉得有趣,也可指逗得人捧腹大笑。amuse也可指以轻松或逗人的事物来消遣时间。amuse强调娱乐时的专心致志,通常没有什么特殊的目的。
2.amuse是及物动词,主语可以是人、物、事物,宾语则总是人。表示“以…逗乐”时接with; 表示“通过做某事而逗乐”时可接by; 用于被动结构时可接at,表示“对…感到好笑”。

amuse by(v.+prep.)
通过…使得到乐趣 give sb or oneself pleasure by playing with sb sth or doing sth
▲amuse sb/oneself by sth/v-ing
She amused the children by tricks.她耍把戏逗孩子们笑。
They amused themselves by playing games.他们做游戏消遣。
While waiting, he amused himself by counting cars that passed.在等候的时候,他以数过往的车子而打发时间。

amuse with(v.+prep.)
以某事〔物〕逗乐 give sb or oneself pleasure by playing with sb, sth, or doing sth
▲amuse sb/oneself with sth/v-ing
He could amuse us for hours with his stories of the theatre.他能接连几小时地为我们讲戏剧故事逗我们发笑。
There are plenty of toys to amuse the children with while we're out.我们不在家时有足够的玩具供孩子们取乐。
The girl was amusing herself with a doll.那女孩在玩洋娃娃。
I often amuse myself with reading.我常以读书自乐。
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
We were amused with the beautiful scenery.那美丽的景色使我们感到快乐。

用作及物动词
▲S+～+n./pron.
His jokes amused the crying child.他的笑话逗笑了那个正哭闹的孩子。
That kind of joke doesn't amuse me.那种笑话没法逗我发笑。
We had to keep thinking of things to amuse Haff.我们得不断地想法子让哈夫笑。
How do you amuse yourself in rainy weather?你在雨天怎样消遣?
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
I was mildly amused.我稍微觉得有趣。
The patient was amused at the music.听到音乐,病人感到快乐。
I was amused at the story.我觉得这个故事很有趣。
I was amused at his ignorance.我被他的无知逗乐了。
The boys felt amused by the clown.孩子们被滑稽演员逗得发笑。
We were amused with his remarks.他的话使我们很开心。
We were amused to learn that she was to sing us a song.得悉她要为我们唱支歌我们都觉得好笑。
I was amused to see her trying to please the boss.看见她讨好老板，我觉得好笑。

amuse, divert, entertain, recreate
这组词都有“娱乐”的意思。amuse强调娱乐时的专心致志,主要指轻松、琐碎、没有什么目的的消遣活动。divert强调以不同的乐事去分散注意力。entertain指能够提供娱乐的消遣活动。recreate则指为使头脑清醒,身体松弛而变换的消遣活动。

amuse, interest, please
参见interest条。

amuse不能用于正面肯定场合。例如:
Your singing amuses me.并不是赞美唱得好,而是五音不全使我发笑,而如果说Your idea amuses me.则是说“你的看法太可笑了”,贬义已十分明显。

［派生词］ amusing adj. (令人感到)有趣的，逗人笑的