themselves

英 [ð(ə)m'selvz] 美 [ðɛm'sɛlvz]

themselves (pron.): mid-15c. in northern dialect, standard from 1540s, alteration of Middle English tham-self, emphatic plural pronoun, also reciprocal pronoun (14c.); see them + self, with self, originally an inflected adjective, treated as a noun with a meaning "person" and pluralized. Displacing Old English heom selfum (dative). Themself returned late 20c. as some writers took to replacing himself with gender-neutral everyone, anyone, etc.

1. These large institutions make — and change—the rules to suit themselves.: 这些大机构总是随意制定规定，而且说变就变。

2. People will work themselves up into a state about anything.: 人们总会沉不住气，为任何事感到担忧。

3. In many respects Asian women see themselves as equal to their men.: 在很多方面，亚洲女性都认为自己和丈夫是平等的。

4. The small British crowd roared themselves hoarse, waving their Union Jacks.: 一小群英国人挥舞着国旗，吼得嗓子都沙哑了。

5. Those people who took up weapons to defend themselves are political prisoners.: 那些拿起武器自卫的人是些政治犯。