| 释义 |
ˈrat-ˌcatcher
[f. rat n.1]
1. a. One whose business it is to catch rats. Also transf. and fig.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 78 Tybalt, you Rat-catcher, will you walke? 1623Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons (1860) App. 44 To the ratcatcher..for bating the house. 1668Davenant Man's the Master iii. ii, I rather fear 'tis the old rat-catcher, your master, that has caught us here in a trap. 1772T. Simpson Vermin-Killer i, The nobility, farmers, &c...send for a man, known in the country by the name of a rat-catcher. 1814Chalmers in Life (1851) I. 399 The gains..from the calling of a rat-catcher. 1851Mayhew Lond. Lab. No. 45 The Rat-catchers of the Sewers.
b. Applied to animals.
1704Baldeus' Ceylon lii, in Churchill Voyages III. 827/1 The Land-Serpents call'd Ratcatchers are..very large. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxix. 395 He [a fox] had only one fault as a rat-catcher; he would never catch a second till he had eaten the first.
2. Unconventional hunting dress. Also transf. and attrib.
1910Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 310 He came back to the bar, after he'd changed into those rat-catcher clothes. 1928J. B. Thomas Hounds & Hunting 254 Rat-catcher—referring to one informally dressed when hunting. 1930Field 29 Nov. 764/1 The self-respecting beginner will want to be turned out properly, in the right ‘rat-catcher style’. 1933A. Powell From View to Death viii. 200 Both sons were in ratcatcher and Torquil wore a canary-coloured waistcoat. 1963M. Malim Pagoda Tree xvi. 101 While one could exhibit oneself and did to the Cricket Club in rat-catcher, so to speak, one had to dress for presentation on the Thursday committee night at the Tulyar. 1976Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 32/2 (Advt.), Moleskin ratcatcher trousers. Warm, tough, supple. Shirt-grip self-supporting waist... Slim leg style. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xi. 205 Nor were they a very distinguished Hunt: the men mostly turned up in ratcatcher (Fen had that morning noted one..who was wearing a hoicked-up caftan and prayer beads above his shining riding boots). |