措く

おく【措く】

1 〔中断する〕 cease; suspend; put aside; 〔そのままにする〕 leave.

●〔話題を変えるときに〕 それはさておき leaving that aside (for the moment); by the way.

●この記事は読者に 10 年前のあの事件を思い出させずにはおかない. This article forces readers to recall that incident of ten years before.

・彼女の演技は観衆を魅了せずにおかなかった. Her performance left no member of the audience untouched.

・君が困った時には何をおいても助けに行くよ. If you are in trouble I'll drop everything else in order to [do absolutely anything to] help you.

・その話題はちょっとおいて別の話をしよう. Let's leave that [change the subject] for the moment and talk about something else.

・この問題は今はさておく. I'll postpone dealing with this problem [leave this problem on one side] for the time being.

・何はさておき警察に連絡だ. Drop everything and contact the police. | Contacting the police is the absolute priority.

2 〔除く〕 except…; 〔差しおく〕 lay [put]…aside [to one side, on one side]; set…apart.

●これをおいてほかに方法はない. There's no other method we can use [no alternative means].

・彼をおいて優勝候補はいない. He's the only person who could win. | No one else has a chance of winning.

・今日をおいては二度とチャンスは来ない. If we don't do it today there'll never be another chance. | Today is the only chance we'll get.

・委員長をおいてそれを決めるのは越権だ. We can't decide that without (consulting) the chairperson.