1.spirit的基本意思是“精神,心灵”,引申可作“灵魂”“勇气”“骨气”“活力”“纯酒精”解,是不可数名词。
2.spirit表示“某种精神”或“精神实质”时,与“文字(letter)”相对,是可数名词,用单数形式。
3.spirit还可作“人; 人物; 鬼魂; 精怪; 圣灵”解,是可数名词。
4.spirit作“情绪,心情”解时,多用于复数形式; 作“含酒精多的酒”解时,也多用于复数形式。

be in (good〔high〕) spirits
喜气洋洋,快活,兴高采烈 put spirit into sth; be in royal spirits
I'm always in high spirits.我的情绪一向很好。

in spirit
精神上,心灵上 in one's thoughts
We shall be with you in spirit.我们的精神将与你们同在。

lose one's spirits
垂头丧气 be out of spirits; be in low spirits; be down in spirits
He lost his spirits after the girl rejected his love.姑娘拒绝他的求爱后,他垂头丧气。

She has rallied her spirits.她已恢复了精神。
Nothing could dampen his spirits.任何事情都不能使他精神消沉。
Cancer destroyed her body but not her spirit. 癌症摧残了她的身体,却毁不了她的精神。
Her youthful spirit was crushed out of her by hardships.由于受到种种艰难困苦的折磨,她那蓬勃的朝气消失了。
He shows no spirit.他没有勇气。
Communist spirit consists in whole-hearted devotion to public interests.共产主义精神就是一心为公。
He demanded that he himself be fired with the spirit of whole-heartedly serving the people.他要求自己充满全心全意为人民服务的精神。
The Chinese youth should carry forward the revolutionary spirit of the May 4th Movement.中国青年应该发扬五四运动的革命精神。
The article breathes the spirit of the age.这篇文章反映出时代精神。
He was one of the greatest spirits of his time.他是他那个时代最伟大的人物之一。
His spirit will soon be in Heaven.他的灵魂不久将归天。
The dying man recommended his spirit to God.这个将死的人把他的灵魂托付给上帝。
The magician offered to call up the spirit of any great person of the past that we liked to name.魔术师表示能把任何一个我们愿意指定的死去的伟人的鬼魂召回。
The music seems to purify one's spirit of evil thoughts.这种音乐似乎能够荡涤人们心灵中的邪念。
If the spirit of Caesar could be called up by some spell,I wonder what it would think of the present-day world.如果恺撒的鬼魂可以用符咒召回的话,我不知道它对当今世界会有什么看法。
Some people think that they have seen the spirits of dead persons.有些人认为他们看见过死人的鬼魂。
God is pure spirit.上帝是圣灵。
He was one of the spirits in heaven.他是天国的精灵之一。
I don't think her spirits will fall at the bad news.我想她听到这坏消息时不会情绪低落的。
The good news elevated everyone's spirits.这个好消息鼓舞了每个人的情绪。
Her spirits remained up in spite of her disappointment.尽管她很失望,但她的情绪依然高昂。
I hope that the holiday will give back my good spirits.我希望假日能使我的心情好转。
Her spirits were dashed by the incident.她因为那件事而心情沮丧。
I'm glad Hubert married a girl of spirit.我很高兴休伯特娶了一位天真活泼的姑娘。
She had a strong will, a spirit of initiative.她具有坚定的意志和首创精神。
That's the right spirit!这是正确的态度!
She did this thing in a spirit of mischief.她以恶作剧的心理做这件事。
Whisky contains a large percentage of spirit.威士忌的酒精含量极高。
A spirit lamp burns spirit instead of oil.酒精灯燃烧的是酒精而不是油。
The grocer sells wine and spirits.食品商出售葡萄酒和烈性酒。

spirit, mind, soul
参见mind条。

1.听到这个好消息,他们都兴高采烈。
［误］  They were all with great spirit when they heard the good news.
［误］  They were all with great spirits when they heard the good news.
［误］  They were all in great spirit when they heard the good news.
［正］  They were all in great spirits when they heard the good news.
［析］  当 spirit 作“情绪”或“心情”解时,应该用其复数形式 spirits,这里介词 in 不能用 with 替代。
2.输赢倒无所谓,重要的是你们临场时的那股锐气。
［误］  Whether you win or lose is unimportant; what matters is the spirits in which you play.
［正］  Whether you win or lose is unimportant; what matters is the spirit in which you play.
［析］  当 spirit 作“气魄,气概,勇气,志气”解时,是不可数名词,要用其单数形式。

spirit偶尔可用作动词,意思是“秘密地带走”。例如:
The fact is that Hubert kidnapped him and spirited him back to Russia.事实情况是,休伯特绑架了他并把他带回俄罗斯去了。
The new regime's claim that the King spirited 20 billions yuan out of the country appears to be preposterous.不过,新政府声称国王出国时偷偷地带走了200亿元,这件事看来是十分荒谬的。

［同义词］   air, feeling, spook, tone, will
［词源］  ＜拉丁语spiritus(气,心情)