| 释义 |
adapter, -or|əˈdæptə(r)|
[f. adapt v. + -er1.]
1. One who adapts.
a. One who fits or suits one thing to another.
b. One who modifies or alters a composition to suit it to new purposes.
1801Chalmers Let. in Life (1851) I. 48 Such adaptation speaks of a divine and intelligent adapter. 1858De Quincey Wks. VI. 374 If these imaginary adapters of Homer, according to the German pretence, modernised his whole diction. 1865Sat. Rev. 12 Aug. 210/1 The original author is of opinion that the adapter has not mended but marred his work. 1877R. H. Hutton Ess. (ed. 2) I. 43 Intelligence is the conscious and voluntary adapter of means to ends.
2. A connecting part: in Chem. a tube to connect two pieces of apparatus; in Optics, a metal ring with screw threads to unite two lengths of a telescope; a ‘sliding fitting’ in an optical instrument.
1808Sir H. Davy in Phil. Trans. Vol. XCIX. 454 The adaptors must have contained ·8 of a similar gas. 1867J. Hogg Microsc. i. iii. 170 A flat piece of glass placed at an angle of 45° across the tube, interposed like an adapter between the objective and the microscope-body. 1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 7 An adapter tube is then fitted to the lateral cylinder. This adapter enters into another tube at the same degree of inclination. 1876Chambers Astron. 623 A more simple form of solar eye-piece is that which consists of an adapter in which a diaphragm plate is fitted as above.
3. Electr. Engin. (See quots.)
1907T. O'C. Sloane Stand. Electr. Dict. (ed. 12) 11 Adapter, a screw coupling to engage with a different sized screw on each end; one of the uses is to connect incandescent lamps to gas-fixtures. 1913E. E. Becker & Co. Illustr. Catal. Sci. App. 539 (caption) Plug adaptor, for tapping current off any ordinary bayonet-catch lamp-holder. 1943Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 123 Socket-outlet adaptor, an accessory for insertion into a socket-outlet and containing metal contacts to which may be fitted one or more plugs for the purpose of connecting to the supply portable lighting fittings or other current-using appliances.
Sense 3 in Dict. becomes 4. Add: 3. a. Used attrib. to designate components and fittings intended to adapt one fixture, device, etc., to another, as adapter board (*board n. 2 h), adapter card (*card n.2 12), adapter ring, etc.
1860Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) I. 8 An adapter tube is then fitted to the lateral cylinder. 1963M. Caidin Man-in-Space Dict. 11/1 Adapter skirt, a flange or extension of a booster rocket stage or section that provides a ready means of fitting another stage or section to it. 1978Washington Post 11 June f14/4 Accessory elements used in photography—specifically an antique lens, color filters, an adapter ring for the lens, a 5,000 watt studio light bulb, and a photo album. 1981Electronics 20 Oct. 270/3 A universal adapter card that translates the 9516 bus structure into the bus structure of Millennium's 9508 microsystem emulator. 1986Byte May 273/2 The plus sign cannot be displayed in graphics mode or by some display-adapter boards. 1991Airforces Monthly Oct. 7 (Advt.), Features include a helical (rubber duck) antenna with an aircraft type BNC connector, a variable squelch control, earphone adaptor jack and crystal clear high fidelity speaker.
b. Special Comb. adapter molecule Molecular Biol., a molecule of transfer RNA.
[1957F. H. C. Crick in Struct. Nucleic Acids (Biochem. Soc.) 25 The combination between each amino acid and its own specific adaptor could be made by a special enzyme, or enzymes.] 1958― in Symp. Soc. Exper. Biol. XII. 155 It is therefore a natural hypothesis that the amino acid is carried to the template by an ‘*adaptor’ molecule. 1983B. Lewin Genes vii. 103/1 Transfer RNA occupies a pivotal position in protein synthesis, providing the adaptor molecule that accomplishes the translation of each nucleotide triplet into an amino acid. |