Emotional reaction "V at n" construction

Form

NP
Experiencer
Verb
at
NP
Stimulus

Examples

Experiencer Meredith
Verb bristled
at at
Stimulus [his rudeness.]
Experiencer [Hamill's family]
Verb exulted
at at
Stimulus [the news of his escape.]
Experiencer He
Verb laughed
at at
Stimulus [her confusion.]

Meaning

An Experiencer expresses a particular feeling in reaction to a Stimulus.

Roles

Experiencer
The person who experiences and expresses a feeling towards the Stimulus.
Stimulus
The thing, person, or situation that elicits the Experiencer's emotional reaction.

Frames

Inherits from

Sub-constructions

Lexical items ( Verb slot)

Willingness recoil Any self respecting managing director in industry would recoil at the last Feethams balance sheet. Making_faces bristle Meredith bristled at his rudeness and whirled around, hot with temper. frown Ross frowned at the strong note of venom in her voice. grimace Christabel took a sip of her tea, grimacing at its scalding temperature. smirk She stood still, her eyes glittering, almost smirking at his threat. wince He winced at the insinuation that he was past it. Make_noise cackle Some zealous war opponents, cackling at the failure to find WMD, say withdrawing from Iraq is the only recourse. chuckle He chuckled at his grim little joke. guffaw The signalman guffawed at his own punchline then disappeared from view, closing the window after him. laugh He laughed at her confusion. snicker Besides, this is the perfect place to hit a few balls around without worrying about people snickering at your lack of skill. snigger We should n't snigger at Morris's latest creation. Experiencer_focused_emotion (not) sniff The price, however, is not to be sniffed at: £17.50! cringe She cringed at the sound of her own voice and took a breath. despair Only experience saved him from despairing at this rag-bag of memories. exult Hamill's family exulted at the news of his escape. grieve Let's be honest, few of the nobles are going to grieve at the news of the King's death. marvel People marvelled at the way Lilly Foley ran such an elegant home when she had five rugby-playing lads to deal with. quail Many people would quail at the idea of having to construct an open-plan building 70ft long and 24ft wide out of freshly cut oak, using nothing but their hands and traditional tools. rage The Dallas Cowboys were left raging at a refereeing decision which could eventually cost them a place in the Super Bowl. rejoice Last night the motor industry was rejoicing at the unexpected cut. smart She had smarted at Jenny's accusation the night of the dinner party that she had encouraged Matthew. thrill The children will thrill at all their favourite characters. wonder Lindsey wondered at her ability to lie so easily. Emotion_heat chafe Coleridge, still lame, chafed at his own confinement. fume Earlier this year senior ministers fumed at the lack of honest exchange between Westminster and Holyrood. seethe Richmann seethed at Henri's arrogance. Desiring drool Jones has to be absolutely drooling at the prospect of facing a young Rutgers defense that surrendered 373 yards on the ground to Navy last weekend. salivate Genre fans are salivating at the possibility of all kinds of celebrity death matches. Color_qualities blanch People who have children may blanch at the idea of those cream sofas. Body_movement bridle She bridled at his tone, irritated hugely by his assumption that she'd simply drop everything to dance to his bidding. shudder He shuddered at his remembrance of royalty's puzzled look when he removed this ostentatious headgear.

Phraseological constructions