| 释义 |
sultry, a.|ˈsʌltrɪ|
Also 6–7 sultrie, 7 soultry, -ie, sowltry.
[f. sulter v. + -y. Cf. sweltery.]
1. a. Of the weather, the atmosphere, etc.: Oppressively hot and moist; sweltering.
1594Kyd Cornelia ii. i. 133 The spring, Whom Sommers pride (with sultrie heate) pursues. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 101 Ham. The winde is Northerly... Mee thinkes it is very soultry, and hot for my Complexion. 1671R. Bohun Wind 65 The complexion of the Air is generally more silent..in Soultry Weather. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. vii. 213 We had now for several days together close and sultry weather. 1845J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific viii. 102 In this valley it is much more sultry than on the outside of the hilly range. 1871M. E. Braddon Fenton's Quest i, A warm summer evening, with a sultry haze brooding over the level landscape.
b. Of places, seasons of the year, etc.: Characterized by such weather.
1620–6Quarles Feast for Worms 473 Wks. (Grosart) II. 13 A sowltry Summer's euentide. 1704Pope Summer 65 When weary reapers quit the sultry field. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. v. 181 The coast of Brazil is extremely sultry. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxii, A beautiful evening, that had succeeded to a sultry day. 1836W. Irving Astoria II. 274 The rigorous winters and sultry summers. 1865Parkman Huguenots i. (1875) 6 They..pierced the sultry intricacies of tropical forests.
c. Of the sun, etc.: Producing oppressive heat. poet.
1697Dryden æneid vii. 309 Such as born beneath the burning Sky, And sultry Sun betwixt the Tropicks lye. 1704Pope Summer 21 The sultry Sirius burns the thirsty plains. 1784Cowper Task vi. 297 Neither mist, Nor freezing sky nor sultry, checking me. 1804Campbell Turkish Lady 5 Day her sultry fires had wasted. 1817Moore Lalla Rookh, Nourmahal 50 When Day had hid his sultry flame Behind the palms of Baramoule.
2. Figurative and allusive uses.
a. Chiefly poet. (a) Associated with oppressive heat; characterized by the overpowering heat of toil; hot with toil.
1637Milton Lycidas 28 What time the Gray-fly winds her sultry horn. 1682Southerne Loyal Brother iii. i, You were not form'd to run in natures herd, Sultry, and elbow'd in the crowd of slaves. 1824Coleridge First Adv. Love 5 The sultry hind..stays his reaping. 1833Tennyson Pal. Art 77 The reapers at their sultry toil.
(b) Characterized by the heat of temper or passion; hot with anger or lust.
1671Milton Samson 1246 Stalking..in a sultrie chafe. 1704Pope Windsor For. 195 His [sc. Pan's] shorter breath, with sultry air, Pants on her neck. 1784Cowper Task vi. 741 The clouds [are] The dust that waits upon his sultry march, When sin hath mov'd him, and his wrath is hot. 1893F. Adams New Egypt 78 Sultry and imperious, brutally and pettily tyrannical to his own immediate entourage. 1893F. Thompson Poems, Poppy iii, With mouth wide a-pout for a sultry kiss.
b. colloq. or slang. (a) ‘Spicy’, ‘smutty’.
1887Kipling Plain Tales from Hills (1888) 175 Clean-built, careless men in the Army..told sultry stories till Riley got up and left the room. 1900Westm. Gaz. 30 Jan. 4/3 A comedy of exceedingly sultry complexion.
(b) Of language: Lurid, ‘sulphurous’.
1891Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Oct. 1/2 Certainly no bishop ever heard more sultry or variegated language in his time. 1909Westm. Gaz. 1 Oct. 3/3 She makes the mission ladies' flesh creep, she's that sultry with 'er tongue.
(c) ‘Hot’, ‘warm’, lively.
1880‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad xxv. 250 It was getting pretty sultry for me. I said to myself, ‘Is it possible she is going to stop there, and wait for me to speak? If she does, the conversation is blocked.’ 1899Conan Doyle Duet xviii, I shall make it pretty sultry for you down at Woking. 1905H. A. Vachell Hill iv. 76 The Caterpillar would have made things very sultry for him.
(d) Of a woman: lascivious or sensual, arousing sexual desire; also transf. and in Comb. orig. U.S.
1940Time 7 Oct. 63/2 He watches..another become a sultry, sirenic dancer. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 25 Apr. 12/1 There is also a ballet touch to Miss Horne's sultry song number, ‘Love’. 1949R. Harvey Curtain Time xvi. 160 Miss Nethersole specialized in sultry rôles and her performance in Daudet's Sapho was considered scandalous. 1956People 13 May 4/4 Certainly none of the sultry Continental sirens stood a chance when Diana strolled on to the beach. 1977C. Storr Tales Psychiatrist's Couch i. 6 She exuded an air of unsatisfied sexuality... She was what I'd call sultry. 1978Times 30 Nov. 16/8 A trip to Rio to see the real thing—real sultry-eyed temptresses.
c. In book-names of some birds, indicating a reddish tinge.
1783Latham Gen. Syn. Birds II. ii. 455 Sultry W[arbler]... The edges of the feathers rufous. 1815Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. IX. ii. 544 Sultry Finch, Fringilla calida..upper parts of the body pale rufous brown.
Hence ˈsultry v. trans., to make hot.
1897F. Thompson New Poems, Ode Setting Sun x, Cold as the new-sprung girlhood of the moon Ere Autumn's kiss sultry her cheek with flame. |