| 释义 |
▪ I. stunt, n.1|stʌnt|
[f. stunt v.1]
1. A check in growth; also, a state of arrested growth or development.
1795Trans. Soc. Arts XIII. 166 If it [a tree] takes a stunt. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Stunt, a check in growth. Ex. ‘That tree has got a stunt.’ 1864Lowell Fireside Trav. 143 The compressed nature struggles through at every crevice, but can never get the cramp and stunt out of it. 1894G. M. Gould Illustr. Dict. Med. etc., Stunt, a stunted or undeveloped state. Ibid., s.v. Cram, Cram-stunt, arrest in mental development due to over-study. 1899Rider Haggard in Longman's Mag. Oct. 547 They suffer from mildew or stunt of one kind or another.
2. A creature which has been hindered from attaining full growth or development; spec. (see quot. 1858).
1725Dudley Whales in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 257 At two Years old, they [sc. whales] are called Stunts, being stunted after weaning. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Stunts, a name for young whales of two years old, which, having been weaned, are lean. 1894N. & Q. 8th Ser. VI. 337/2 The streets are filled with stunts and runts.
3. dial. A fit of sulkiness or obstinacy; in phr. to take (the) stunt.
This use of the phrase is perh. a fig. application of that in quot. 1795, sense 1. But cf. strunt n.2
1837Hood Blue Boar 34 Now at a line he gave a grunt, Now at a phrase took sudden stunt. 1862C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 424 Tuke t' stunt an' went off wi'art speiking. 1890Sat. Rev. 12 Apr. 446/2 The most probable explanation of his [Ld. Geo. Sackville's] inaction on that occasion [battle of Minden] is that he simply ‘took stunts’, as the Yorkshire phrase has it—a case of sheer sulkiness, not of cowardice.
▪ II. stunt, n.2 colloq.|stʌnt|
[Of obscure origin.
Orig. belonging to the slang of American college athletics; not in the Century Dict. 1891 or in Webster 1897; our earliest quots. show that it seems to have been still current only among schoolchildren and college students. Its general colloquial currency, and its extension of application, seems to have begun early in the 20th c. In British use it was at first regarded as mainly a soldiers' word. It has been conjectured that the word may be a. G. stunde, lit. hour, or a variant of stint n.; neither of these suggestions seems impossible. A notion which is app. prevalent in the U.S. is that the word is a variant of stump n.3, but in spite of the remarkable affinity of meaning, etymological connexion between the words is very unlikely.]
1. a. A prescribed item in an athletic competition or display, an ‘event’; a feat undertaken as a defiance in response to a challenge; ‘an act which is striking for the skill, strength, or the like, required to do it; a feat’ (W. Suppl. 1900); something performed as an item in an entertainment, a (theatrical, etc.) ‘turn’ and spec. in aerobatics. b. Hence, an enterprise set on foot with the object of gaining reputation or signal advantage. In soldiers' language often vaguely: an attack or advance, a ‘push’, ‘move’. Also spec. in Advertising, Journalism, etc., a ‘gimmick’ or device for attracting attention.
1878S. Butler Let. 7 Feb. (1955) 174 It was a stunt for advertising the books, so I sent them. 1892R. H. Davis West from Car Window 13 They went about it as gleefully as schoolboys at recess doing ‘stunts’. 1895Dialect Notes (Amer. Dial. Soc.) I. viii. 400 Stunt (stɒnt): one of those convenient words which may be used in almost any connection and the exact meaning of which must be determined largely by the context;..‘It would be a great stunt to go to a dance without a girl’ (i.e. an unpleasant thing to do). ‘He performed various stunts for the prof.’ (i.e. did things that would win him the professor's favor, give him a ‘pull’)... [Editor's note: Doing stunts is used in N.Y. City by boys in the sense of performing some feat in rivalry,—a long jump for instance,—one boy ‘stumping’ or challenging another.] 1897Outing Aug. 440/2 A lamprey fastened upon a bare leg. That boy did more ‘stunts’ in five minutes than he would attempt now for five thousand dollars! 1899Jesse L. Williams Stolen Story etc. 198 If I were you I'd have a mass meeting first, with horse speeches, and all the old Fresh-fire stunts, then a parade. 1901Westm. Gaz. 31 Jan. 10/2 There will be many new ‘stunts’ of a vaudeville nature. 1904J. A. Riis Theodore Roosevelt ii. 29 [At College] he played polo, did athletic stunts with the fellows,..having no end of good times in it. 1905D. Wallace Lure of Labrador Wild viii. 114 That snowshoeing trip would be a great stunt. 1909Daily Chron. 25 Aug. 1/7 I've been in Texas about two years, doing broncho stunts. 1909Flight 11 Sept. 552/2 He made the machine dart down as though it were going to pitch to earth head foremost, but when within about 20 feet of the ground, without effort he brought it horizontal again. These are what Americans style ‘stunts’. 1915W. E. Dommett Submarine Vessels viii. 88 Of course, nothing in the nature of ‘stunts’, such as are performed by airman, are tried. 1916Blackw. Mag. Apr. 482/1 You remember it is time to get up, for there is a ‘stunt on’. 1919‘R. N. Etienne’ Strange Tales from Fleet 27 The ‘stunt’ was over, and two brief hours had prevented the twelfth Cruiser Squadron from cutting off the enemy light forces. 1922Daily Mail 13 Nov. 11 The plea for ‘stipes’ is a newspaper stunt. 1927C. A. Lindbergh We i. 13 We did a few stunts over the fair-grounds to get everyone's attention. 1930Lancet 7 June 1264/1 It has even been whispered, Sir, that there are too many ‘stunts’ (if this word may appear in your columns), too little science, but this is just malicious gossip. 1942Sun (Baltimore) 29 Dec. 13/2 It would be a good stunt for us fellows to learn all the tricks of the Coast Guard and then we could turn rum runners! 1968J. R. Ackerley My Father & Myself vii. 61 My brother's assignment was what we called a ‘stunt‘, a common affair, in this case important if only because the Brigadier had set his heart on it. 1975Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 20 July 12/2 His bisexuality..was attracting sensational publicity. How much of this was simply a stunt?
c. A stint, a task, an exercise. orig. U.S.
1880Hermean (N.Y.) 256 Ye have heard it said by those of old time, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss,’ but by reason perhaps of its having been used as a ‘stunt’ for our childhood in the copy books, we seldom realize how beautiful and full of wisdom is the adage. 1904G. H. Lorimer Old Gorgon Graham 85 And you set the other at a twelve-hour stunt of making all the beds you've mussed. 1921G. B. Shaw in G. C. Williamson John Keats Memorial Vol. 176 Milton can do a stunt of geniality, as in L'Allegro.
d. In wider use, a piece of business, an act, enterprise, or exploit.
1904Sun (N.Y.) 8 Aug. 5 He took lessons in holding the life net..and the other stunts firemen are taught. 1913R. Brooke Coll. Poems (1918) p. lxxxiv, Then I do my pet boyish-modesty stunt and go pink all over. 1920C. Bax Square Pegs 21 Hilda. You'll drive me frantic If you're not just the teeniest bit romantic. Gioconda. It isn't done. You're absolutely wrong In asking me to do that stunt. So long! 1928[see peep n.1 2 b]. 1964C. Hassall Rupert Brooke vii. 277 ‘So of course you were frank and boyish?’ said Mrs. Cornford, on hearing he [sc. Rupert Brooke] had just met Henry James. ‘Oh yes,’ he said, ‘Of course I did the fresh, boyish stunt, and it was a great success.’
2. a. attrib., as stunt artist, stunt flying, stunt pilot, etc.
1904W. H. Smith Promoters iii. 75 He might have made a successful actor, of the modern ‘stunt’ sort. 1916C. Winchester Flying Men 112 Trick flying, or ‘stunt’ flying as it is colloquially called, can only be attempted with impunity by those aviators who have had some experience. 1922H. L. Wilson Merton of Movies 174 Ain't I a good stunt actress? 1931Morning Post 18 Feb. 6/4 (heading) ‘Stunt’ pilot's escape. 1931Everyman 23 Apr. 388/2 We are on the eve of a reaction from the ‘stunt Press’, he believes—the Press of competitions and coupons and catchpenny sensations. 1938M. McCarthy in Partisan Rev. Feb. 35 In the actual production of Gielgud's Hamlet and Welles's Caesar, the exploiter, that is, the stunt artist, wears a more successful disguise. 1971Flying Apr. 46/3 He is in the stunt-flying business. 1976M. Maguire Scratchproof iv. 53 ‘Remember to stretch the line tight,’ the stunt arranger emphasized. 1977D. Anthony Stud Game vi. 37 After the war Dusty became a stunt pilot for the movies. 1981Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Feb. 177/5 The black-and-white plates which illustrate the book..reveal completely new aspects of the works of art reproduced, without ever verging on the stunt photography which so often distorts Baroque sculpture in books written by less scrupulous authors.
b. Special Comb.: stunt-drive v. intr., to drive a car for stunts (sense 1 a), esp. for making dangerous film sequences; hence stunt-driving vbl. n.; stunt man, one who performs dangerous feats, esp. as a stand-in for a film actor.
1966J. Cleary High Commissioner v. 96, I used to stunt-drive in the old Ealing comedies.
1975New Yorker 21 Apr. 92/3 One can disregard obvious high-risk occupations, such as stunt-driving.
1930Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 23 Jan. 2/6 To those who wish to get plenty of excitement out of life our advice is—Be a movie stunt man. 1953C. A. Lindbergh Spirit of St. Louis ii. vi. 275 We walked over to a group of pilots, mechanics, and stunt men. 1953Dylan Thomas Let. (1966) 416, I cry to myself as I kick clear of the cling of my stuntman's sacking. 1968P. Geddes High Game viii. 101 He'd worked, off and on, as a stunt-man in movies. 1977New Yorker 27 June 84/3 The successful stunt man explained that his plan had been to scale the tower a day earlier.
▪ III. stunt, a. Obs. exc. dial.
Also 3 stunnt (Ormin), 5 stont.
[OE. stunt foolish, corresp. to MHG. stunz stubbed, short, ON. stutt-r (earlier *stunt-r = MSw. stunt-er) short:—OTeut. *stunto- short, truncated, perh. repr. pre-Teut. *stm̥do-, f. root *stem-: cf. stump n.
In OE. only in fig. sense (cf. ‘short-witted’); the lit. sense may have existed unrecorded, but more prob. senses 2–4 are from Scandinavian. With sense 3 cf. short a. 10.]
†1. Foolish, stupid. Obs.
c960Rule St. Benet (Schröer) vii. 30 Se stunta on lehtre his stefne ᵹeuferað. c1200Ormin 3714 Wiþþ mannkinn þatt wass stunnt, & dill, & skilllæs swa summ asse.
†2. Short in duration. Obs.
a1450Knt. de la Tour. i. (1906) 4 [He] yeuithe longe lyff and stont [Fr. longue vie et courte] in this terreyn.
3. Obstinate, stubborn; rudely or angrily curt or blunt. (Chiefly applied to persons.) Now only dial.
1581A. Hall Iliad vii. 123 This speech so stunt and sodaine sayed yeelds all the troupe abasht. 1674Ray N.C. Words, Stunt, Lincoln, stubborn, fierce, angry. 1788W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 357 Stunt; stubborn; not easy to be bent; as, a ‘stunt child’, a stubborn child. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Stunt, Stunty, short, blunt, crusty; unmannerly. 1869Tennyson North. Farmer, New Style v, Do'ant be stunt: taäke time; I knaws what maäkes tha sa mad.
4. Stunted.
a. Short and thick.
b. Dwarfed in growth.
a.1788W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 357 A ‘stunt stick’, a thick short stick. 1845S. Judd Margaret i. xvii. 147 The smoke of the stunt gray chimney.
b.1819Keats Fall of Hyperion i. 293 Side by side we stood (Like a stunt bramble by a solemn pine). 1845Thackeray Cornhill to Cairo v. 48 A stunt district of olive trees is almost the only vegetation.
5. Of a turn, bend, end: Abrupt.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 431/2 In case we comes to a stunt end where there's a wall and no place for 'em to get away,..they [sc. rats in a sewer] fly at us. 1886S.W. Linc. Gloss., Stunt,..blunt, abrupt: as a ‘stunt turn’, that is, an abrupt bend, one at right angles.
6. Comb.: stunt-head Engineering, the vertical timbered end of a trench which has been excavated for the purpose of laying a sewer or a water-main.
▪ IV. stunt, v.1|stʌnt|
[f. stunt a.]
†1. trans.
a. To irritate, provoke to anger. (Cf. stunt a. 3.)
b. To bring to an abrupt stand; to nonplus. Obs.
a.1583B. Melbancke Philotimus N j, The burning of his right eare stunted him likewise, for yt it is one of y⊇ parts which Saturne an euil planet gouerneth. Ibid. U iij, Y⊇ tender bloud, from whence thin rare spirites do breath.., enfeebles the body, and kepes it downe, whettes the wit and stunts the stomacke.
b.1603Harsnet Popish Impost. 55 It was sufficient..that his girdle..should at the first touch of the party possessed, stunt the deuils wits. 1614Latham Falconry (1633) 40 For want of digesture..she will be presently stunted by those obstructions. 1642W. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 301 His going..is the wonder of London, and stunts us all to apprehend either what was the cause or what will be the sequel of it.
2. To check the growth or development of (a person, plant, etc.); to decrease (growth or production); hence, to dwarf.
1678Evelyn Terra (ed. 2) 333 It is ever advisable to Water whilst the Ground is a little moist, and not totally dry, especially during the growing seasons, for it stunts the Plant and interrupts its progress. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. ii. 10 This Usage tho' it stunted the Girl in her Growth, gave her a hardy Constitution. 1740Cheyne Regimen 68 To stunt the growth of young Animals,..they need only be frequently rubbed over, with Brandy. 1842J. Wilson Chr. North (1857) II. 19 Not only was his stature stunted, but his whole frame was delicate in the extreme. 1845Florist's Jrnl. (1846) VI. 97 They require to be kept rather dry, and to be stunted in the pots. 1881Whitehead Hops 27 Stimulating the plants is apt to weaken them, and stunt their growth afterwards. 1896Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 466 Exercise increases growth, while over-exercise stunts it.
b. transf. and fig.
1659F. Osborn Miscell. Ess. etc. 75 Such as succeed in their dear-bought Experiences..become stunted in their Knowledge. 1796Burke Let. Noble Lord 30 When by a cold penury, I blast the abilities of a nation, and stunt the growth of it's active energies, the ill I may do is beyond all calculation. 1819J. Foster Contrib. Eclectic Rev. (1844) I. 509 Their minds were cramped, stunted, and irritated by a hyper-calvinistic cast of doctrine. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 48 During the last three centuries, to stunt the growth of the human mind has been her [sc. the Church of Rome's] chief object. 1867Pusey Eleven Addr. ix. (1908) 108 It is a graver thing, if a duty, impressed on us in our very earliest childhood,..remained stunted to its then measure. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. xiii. 238 There is a barrenness in their minds which stunts all the truths which they take up. 1893J. Edgar Hist. Early Scot. Educ. xiv. 175 However hostile critics may talk, their system does not necessarily cramp or stunt native genius.
3. intr. To become arrested in growth. ? Obs.
1706London & Wise Retir'd Gard. 20 Nor do our fruits stunt, chap, and drop off as they do with them [in France]. 1707Mortimer Husb. 379 [Of coppice wood] What is bit by the Cattle, will else stunt for several Years before it will take to its growth. 1750W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. III. ii. 50 in Britten Old Country Words s.v., [Lambs] stunting or dying by the operation [of castrating]. Ibid. V. i. 78 ibid., [Turnips will] burn, stunt, and spoil [if they grow too thick]. 1796C. Marshall Gardening viii. (1813) 101 Old fruit trees may sometimes succeed with good management, but they are liable to stunt, and dwindle off.
4. To become sullen or sulky. dial.
1877–89N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., Doänt saay noht; I'd let her stunt it oot if I was thoo. Master Robad, O, how he stunt. 1886S.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., I spoke to him but he stunted directly.
▪ V. stunt, v.2 Sc.|stʌnt|
a. trans. To stamp (the feet).
b. intr. To walk with a heavy tread. Cf. stump v. 2, stamp v. 2 e.
1804J. Aikman Poems (1816) 233 His feet he [sc. a horse] on the road fair stunted. 1901G. Douglas House with Gr. Shutters 45, I come stunting out in a bleeze of wrath and slam the yett ahint me!
▪ VI. stunt, v.3|stʌnt|
[f. stunt n.2]
a. intr. To perform stunts (in quots. with reference to aerobatics).
b. trans. To use (an aeroplane) for the performance of stunts.
1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings p. xxiii, They could turn, climb, and stunt quicker than any two-seater. 1928Daily Mail 9 Aug. 7/1 The aeroplane was apparently ‘stunting’ at a height of between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. 1928Daily Tel. 18 Sept. 11/4 There is no reason why the autogiro should not be stunted. 1953C. A. Lindbergh Spirit of St. Louis ii. vi. 421 DHs aren't built like Jennies... And you can't stunt 'em like a Jenny either—no rolls or loops. 1970L. Deighton Bomber iv. 64 When the Luftwaffe was officially born in 1935 Peter Redenbacher was stunting a Bücker Jungmann biplane above the heads of Hitler, Göring, the foreign Press and a deliriously happy German crowd.
Hence ˈstunter, ˈstuntist, one who performs or organizes stunts; ˈstunting vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2
1914G. Hamel Flying 212 It [sc. the Royal Flying Corps] talks shop..and indulges in rude health and proper pride, discouraging ‘stunting’ and heroics. 1922Daily Mail 2 Nov. 5 Some of the members of the Committee..went on the Council as economy ‘stunters’. 1923Glasgow Herald 14 July 7 Close on five o'clock the ‘stunting’ planes came to earth. 1925Public Opinion 31 July 107/3 When the political stuntists saw fit to mobilise. 1927C. A. Lindbergh We vi. 94 The De Havilands were not considered safe for hard stunting. 1928Observer 18 Mar. 17/2 Two officers..who are considered to be the best ‘stunters’ in the force. 1940G. Frankau Self-Portrait xlvi. 285 The stunt merchant, for all his stunting, had a creed. 1970R. Blake Conservative Party viii. 253 The Conservatives, in spite of having a real point, incurred the charge of ‘stunting’ when they used such expressions as ‘Gauleiter Laski’. 1978Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. (Cartoon Suppl.) 1/2 (Advt.), Boys' deluxe MX moto-cross style bike... Not for stunting or off-road use.
▪ VII. stunt
error for or variant of stint n.1 4.
1691Mrs. D'Anvers Academia 34 Because they have their stunt of Victuals, And that I'me sure, but very little's.
▪ VIII. stunt(e
see stound n.1, stint v. |