| 释义 |
▪ I. rattlesnake, n.|ˈræt(ə)lsneɪk|
Also 8 rattled snake.
[f. rattle n.1 or v.1 + snake.]
1. a. A venomous American pit viper belonging to the genus Sistrurus or Crotalus of the family Crotalidæ, having a series of horny rings at the end of the tail which make a rattling noise when the tail is vibrated.
1630Capt. Smith Wks. (Arb.) 955 Some [talk] of the danger of the rattell Snake. 1657Evelyn Diary 19 Sept., I saw at Dr. Joyliffe's 2 Virginian rattle-snakes alive. 1748Washington Jrnl. 12 Apr., Writ. 1889 I. 6 This day see a Rattled snake, ye first we had seen in all our journey. 1796Stedman Surinam II. xxiv. 195 The rattle-snake of Surinam is sometimes eight or nine feet long. 1860Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 264 The bite of the American rattlesnake has been known to produce death in two minutes. 1932W. Faulkner Light in August ii. 29 He carried with him his own inescapable warning, like a flower its scent or a rattlesnake its rattle. 1956L. M. Klauber Rattlesnakes I. i. 13 All rattlesnakes have rattles, and no other kind of snake has them. 1975R. L. Beals Peasant Marketing System of Oaxaca, Mexico iii. 31 The rattlesnake was associated with the rain cult.
fig.1824Byron Def. Transf. i. ii. 290 There's a demon In that fierce rattlesnake thy tongue.
attrib.1885C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 125 Rattlesnake oil, which is believed to possess wonderful curative powers. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 810 The poisonous properties of rattlesnake venom. 1910Encycl. Relig. & Ethics III. 143/1 The rattlesnake-doctor, who cured or prevented the bite of the rattlesnake, was usually distinct from other medicine-men.
b. Comb. in names of American plants, as rattlesnake fern, a species of moonwort or grape-fern, Botrychium virginianum; rattlesnake grass, a kind of quaking-grass, Glyceria canadensis; rattlesnake herb, the Bane-berry, Actæa rubra or alba, and some other plants; rattlesnake leaf (see quots.); rattlesnake('s) master, the Button-snakeroot, Liatris scariosa or squarrosa, and other plants; rattlesnake orchid, an epiphytic orchid of the genus Pholidota, esp. P. imbricata, which is native to parts of south-east Asia and bears pendant racemes of light brown flowers; rattlesnake plantain, one of three species of Goodyera, esp. G. pubescens; rattlesnake root, (a) the root of a species of milkwort, Polygala Senega (see senega); (b) one of several species of Prenanthes, esp. P. serpentaria; (c) one of several other plants believed to help cure the effect of rattlesnake bites; rattlesnake weed, (a) a species of Eryngium; (b) a species of hawk-weed, Hieracium venosum; (c) = rattlesnake root (c); rattlesnake-wort = rattlesnake root (a).
1814F. Pursh Flora Amer. II. 656 Botrychium virginianum..is known by the name of *Rattle Snake Fern. 1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 82/2 Rattlesnake-fern. 1868Paxton Bot. Dict. 83/2 The largest of the American kinds..is named the rattlesnake fern, on account of its generally being found where those reptiles abound. 1931W. N. Clute Common Names Plants 109 The spore-cases of one of our ferns are borne in spikes that so strongly suggest the rattles of the rattlesnake that it is commonly known as the rattlesnake fern.
1814J. Bigelow Florula Bostoniensis 25 *Rattlesnake grass... A large grass found in meadows and readily recognized by its swelling spikelets. 1878J. B. Killebrew Grasses of Tennessee 232 Rattlesnake Grass..resembles quaking grass very much.
1736B. Franklin Poor Richard 1737 3 (caption) *Rattle-Snake Herb. 1763tr. L. du Pratz's Hist. Louisiana II. 43 The Rattle-snake-herb has a bulbous root like that of a tuberose, but twice as large. 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. I. 47 The tubers of an American species [of Actæa] are considered an efficacious remedy for the wound inflicted by the bite of the rattle-snake; hence that plant is one of several which are known in America as the Rattlesnake-Herb.
1822A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 3) 294 Goodyera pubescens, *rattle-snake leaf, scrophula-weed. 1829A. H. Lincoln Familiar Lect. Bot. 288 Goodyera pubescens, rattle-snake leaf.
1806Farmer's Calendar sig. D4, Notwithstanding a free use of sweet oil, plantane, hoarhound, prenanthet alba, called here *rattlesnake's master, &c. the swelling and pain progressed. 1836M. Holley Texas v. 103 A root called rattlesnake's master grows abundantly in the pine woods and is said to be an efficient remedy. 1843Marryat Narr. Trav. & Adv. M. Violet II. vi. 134 Close to my feet I beheld five or six stems of the rattlesnake master weed. 1899H. B. Cushing Hist. Choctaw Indians 229 They [sc. the Choctaws] possessed an antidote for the bite and sting of snakes and insects, in the root of a plant called rattle snake's master. 1943D. C. Peattie Great Smokies 189 Thus a little orchid, the rattlesnake plantain, with net-veined leaves, looks enough like a snakeskin to suggest that it may be ‘rattlesnake master’ or cure for snake bites.
1887G. Nicholson Illustr. Dict. Gardening III. 105/1 Pholidota..*Rattlesnake Orchid. 1903H. J. Chapman Watson's Orchids (ed. 2) 430 It [sc. Pholidota] is commonly known as the Rattlesnake Orchid. 1965A. D. Hawkes Encycl. Cultivated Orchids 369/1 The persistent or deciduous, large, concave bracts which occur in most species—often almost hiding the blossoms—give the common name of ‘Rattlesnake Orchid’ to at least some of the cultivated Pholidotas.
1778J. Carver Trav. Interior Parts N. Amer. 482 The *Rattle Snake Plantain, an approved antidote to the poison of this creature. 1846–50A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 536 Rattlesnake Plantain. 1898L. H. Bailey Lessons with Plants 223 Among the better known plants which are members of the Orchidaceæ are the..rattlesnake plantain, putty-root, and vanilla. 1943[see rattlesnake master]. 1972Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 16 Apr. 16/3 Rattlesnake plantain..is a denizen of the woods.
1682T. A. Carolina 11 They have three sorts of the *Rattle-Snake Root which I have seen. 1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 Rattlesnake Root, Dr. Witts, Prenanthes. 1840Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. II. 1257 Senega or seneka root..sometimes called the seneka-snake-root, or the rattlesnake-root, is imported from the United States in bales. 1889Cent. Dict. 786/3 Cancer⁓weed, the rattlesnake root, Prenanthes alba, of the United States, a milky-juiced composite having an intensely bitter root. 1941R. S. Walker Lookout 48 Among the wild plants once employed as antidotes for the bites of poisonous reptiles are..Virginia snakeroot, button snakeroot, and rattlesnake-root.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 *Rattlesnake Weed, Eryngium. 1861N. A. Woods Tour Pr. Wales Canada 298 It is the rattlesnake weed, always most plentiful where this deadly reptile abounds. 1885Outing Nov. 180/1 A pretty thing sends a creeping feeling down our backs, because it is rattlesnake weed. 1936G. A. Reichard Navajo Shepherd & Weaver 45 A yellow-green commonly seen is made by brewing the leaves and stems of one of the goldenrods (Bigelovia) called by some Whites ‘tall rattlesnake weed’.
1782Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) IX. 6392/1 The seeds of the *rattlesnake-wort seldom succeed.
2. transf. In full, rattlesnake cocktail, rattlesnake whisk(e)y. A potent alcoholic drink or cocktail.
1862[see cobbler 3]. 1867T. C. Baker Hist. U.S. Secret Service xix. 246 It is hardly worth the while to present to the Government a bill for a few decanters and rattlesnake whisky. 1903A. M. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise iv. 110 He went from bar to bar drinking ‘rattlesnake cocktails’. 1930Savoy Cocktail Bk. 132 Rattlesnake Cocktail... So called because it will either cure Rattlesnake bite, or kill Rattlesnakes, or make you see them. 1947Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 3 Sept. 8/5 A bottle of ‘rattlesnake whiskey’ was seized in a recent Chinatown raid by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which offers this recipe for the concoction: Place a live rattlesnake in a large jar; add rice wine, dried toads, soy beans, sliced deer antlers and a handful of dried sea horses. Age six months. 1953T. Shane Bar Guide ii. 31 Rattlesnake. 2 dashes Pernod. 1 tsp. Lemon Juice. ½ tsp. Powdered Sugar. ½ Egg White. 1 oz. Rye. Shake with cracked ice and strain.
▪ II. rattlesnake, v. rare.|ˈræt(ə)lsneɪk|
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To deceive or trick, as with the cunning of a serpent.
1818Keats Let. 3 Feb. (1958) I. 223 We must cut this, and not be rattlesnaked into any more of the like.
2. trans. and intr. To snake (see snake v.1 4) with a rattling sound; to travel like a rattlesnake.
1961M. Spark Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ii. 23 The evening paper rattle-snaked its way through the letter box. 1981J. Barnett Firing Squad ii. 155 Messerschmitts came in at low level, rattlesnaking along the beaches. |