| 释义 |
strangler|ˈstræŋglə(r)|
[f. strangle v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who or something which strangles. lit. and fig. strangler's grip = strangle-hold (strangle n. 4).
1552Huloet, Strangler, suffocator. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii, My selfe will be thy strangler, unmatcht slave. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vi. 130 The band that seemes to tye their friendship together, will bee the very strangler of their Amity. 1753[see strangleable]. 1844P. Parley's Ann. V. 355 Though..the cords of the strangler and the sword of the headsman be ready for me. 1895Westm. Gaz. 9 Oct. 2/1 The strangler's grip is another trick which some men practise, though not very often with success, as the police know it and watch for it.
b. spec. in Bot., an epiphytic plant which eventually sends its roots to the ground and smothers its host.
1895J. Rodway In Guiana Forest 91 The strangler is now ready for its deadly work. The forest giant..is bound by cords which are stronger than iron bands. 1952P. W. Richards Tropical Rain Forest ii. 21 The third section of dependent plants, here termed stranglers..begin life as epiphytes and later send roots to the ground. 1960N. Polunin Introd. Plant Geogr. xiv. 435 Stranglers..begin life as epiphytes but later send down roots to the soil. 1976Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 288/1 Clusia..dioecious trees and shrubs, occasionally more or less epiphytic or stranglers.
c. attrib. and Comb. as strangler fig, strangler vine; strangler tree U.S., a tree of the genus Clusia, growing usually as a parasite on some other tree.
1909Century Dict. Suppl., Strangler tree. 1955Sci. Amer. Apr. 74/2 The strangler fig in the tropical jungle, which kills other trees to reach the light, is a rare type. 1962Times 6 Apr. 7/2 Strangler figs..envelope and kill other trees. 1976Publishers Weekly 12 Jan. 50/3 ‘Nanny’ grows upon the family like a strangler vine upon a tree.
2. = choke n.1 7.
1925E. W. Knott Carburettor Handbk. i. 29 Easy starting devices... First, stranglers or air chokes which reduce the main air supply by means of a suitable shutter or similar device, the use of which increases the suction on the main fuel orifice or jet far beyond the normal state of affairs. 1976J. Watson Understanding your Car v. 27 A second butterfly valve, mounted above the spray tube..is known as a strangler, and by cutting off most of the air it greatly increases the suction on the jet to give a very rich mixture for starting. |