1
- a person's face or facial expression脸; 面孔; 表情：
his impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away.
他让人捉摸不透的眼神和深不可测的表情几乎什么也没流露。
2
- mass noun support支持; 拥护：
she was giving her specific countenance to the occasion.
她对这一事件给予明确支持。
with obj.
- admit as acceptable or possible认可; 赞同：
he was reluctant to countenance the use of force.
他不太同意使用武力。
短语
keep one's countenance
- maintain one's composure, especially by refraining from laughter（尤指忍住不笑）不动声色; 保持镇定。
keep someone in countenance
- help someone to remain calm and confident使（某人）冷静自信：
to keep herself in countenance she opened her notebook.
为保持镇定, 她打开了笔记本。
out of countenance
- disconcerted or unpleasantly surprised不安的; 惊慌的：
I put him clean out of countenance just by looking at him.
我只是看着他, 就让他非常不安。
词源
Middle English: from Old French contenance 'bearing, behaviour', from contenir （see CONTAIN）. The early sense was 'bearing, demeanour', also 'facial expression', hence 'the face'.