| 释义 |
ram's horn
Also ram's-horn.
[f. ram n.1]
1. The horn of a ram; the material of this. Also transf. and fig., and in proverbial phr. as † right (straight, crooked, etc.) as a ram's horn.
c1320in Wright & Halliwell Reliquæ Antiquæ (1843) II. 19 As ryt as ramis orn. 1522Skelton Why not to Court 87 As ryght as a rammes horn. 1611Bible Josh. vi. 6 Let seuen Priests beare seuen trumpets of rammes-hornes. 1658Mennis & Smith Wit Restor'd 102 Straight as a rams horne is thy nose. 1751R. Paltock P. Wilkins (1884) I. 178 The thing I made..was composed of old hat, pieces of rams-horn [etc.]. 1816Scott Antiq. xxii, Sir Arthur drew from his pocket a large ram's-horn, with a copper cover. 1834C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing xxxvi. 324 As crooked as a ram's horn. 1842[see sheep's eyes 2]. 1878Hardy Ret. Native II. iii. iii. 107 I'm as stiff as a ram's horn, stooping so long. 1914C. Mackenzie Sinister Street II. iii. v. 588 A ramshorn of snuff and glasses of mead waiting for casual callers. 1947S. Folklore Q. Dec. 263 More conventionally..a seasoned reprobate is characterized as ‘old as the hills and crooked as a ram's horn’.
attrib. and Comb.1589T. Nashe Anat. Absurd. Wks. (Grosart) I. 71, I know the learned wil laugh me to scorne, for setting down such Rams horne rules of direction. 1820Lamb Elia, Christ's Hospit. 35 Yrs. ago, A young ass..blew such a ram's horn blast, as..set concealment any longer at defiance. 1840F. Trollope Widow Married xxiii, My old ramshorn aunt Betsy. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1081 They form a long ram's-horn-like projection. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 612/2 Handle bars,..up or down or ram's horn as desired. Our ram's horn bar is the neatest and most comfortable made. 1909Daily Chron. 17 Aug. 7/4 A great silver-mounted ram's-horn snuffbox. 1934Archit. Rev. LXXVI. 64/3 Material [sc. timber] possessing ‘ram's horn’ figure, is also met with, and ‘stripe’ or ‘ribbon-grain’ is relatively common. 1964J. S. Scott Dict. Building 256 Ram's horn figure.., a ripple like fiddleback.
b. A form of scroll ornament.
1842Francis Dict. Arts, Ram's Horn, a particular kind of scroll ornament, the origin of which is from the skull and horns of the ram.
†2. An ammonite or nautilus (Nautilus spirula). Also ramshorn sailor. Obs.
1798Nemnich Polyg. Lex. V. ii. 865.
3. Mil. (See quot.)
1802James Milit. Dict., Rams-horns,..are a kind of low works made in the ditch, of a circular arc; they were invented by M. Belidor, and serve instead of tenailles.
4. A vessel in which fish are washed.
1809Naval Chron. XXI. 21 The fish [cod] are thrown into what is called a ram's-horn (a square wooden thing, perforated with holes, to admit the water to pass), when the fish are tumbled about and well washed. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4) 175 Washing Fish in a Ram's-Horn.
b. dial. ‘A winding-net supported by stakes, to inclose fish that come in with the tide. Somerset.’ (Halliwell.)
5. dial. The plant Orchis Morio. Also attrib.
1884in Britten & Holland Plant-Names. 1889Jefferies Field & Hedgerow 115 Soon after the May garlands the meadow orchis comes up,..and after that the ‘ram's-horn’ orchis, which has a twisted petal.
6. In full, ram's-horn (pond) snail. A herbivorous aquatic snail belonging to the family Planorbidæ, esp. Planorbis planorbis or P. corneus.
1901,1926[see flat-coil s.v. flat adj. 15]. 1950Sci. News XV. 101 These absorption bands have not got precisely the same wave-lengths in the blood of man and in that of the ramshorn pond snail. 1952J. Clegg Freshwater Life Brit. Isles xvi. 254 The larger species of Ram's Horn Snails..live at least two or three years. 1960Times 4 Aug. 1/3 (Advt.), Pond Naturalist would gratefully acknowledge information where to collect Ramshorn Snails. 1971Oxf. Bk. Invertebrates 68 The ramshorns can possibly live in more stagnant conditions than other water-snails. |