| 释义 |
▪ I. tatter, n.1|ˈtætə(r)|
Also 5–6 tater, (5 tatar), 7 tattar (totter), 8 Sc. tetter.
[Known only from c 1400, but evidenced in earlier use by tattered a. Of Scandinavian origin: cf. ON. *taturr (later Icel. tǫturr, töturr), pl. tötrar tatters, rags, in Norw. dial. totra, pl. totror. In OF. an instance of tatereles rags, tatters (‘a ces vies tatereles vestues’) occurs in Aucassin et Nicolette vi.
(Notwithstanding similarity of sense, the Norse and Eng. word has no known etymological or phonetic connexion with MLG. and LG. talter, pl. talteren, taltern, tatters, rags (Brem. Wbch.), whence app. Norw. dial. taltra, pl. taltrar.)]
1. a. An irregularly torn piece, strip, shred, or scrap of cloth or similar substance, hanging loose from the main body, esp. of a garment; more rarely applied to the separate pieces into which a thing is torn; a rag. In pl. often = tattered or ragged clothing; rags.
In early quots. applied in contempt to the ‘dags’ or projecting pieces of a slashed garment; in quot. 1470–85 to the sharp points or jags in a dragon's tail.
1402Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 69 Of suche wide clothing, tateris and tagges, It hirtith myn hert hevyly. 1470–85Malory Arthur v. iv. 165 A dredeful dragon..his hede..enameled with asure.., his taylle ful of tatters. 1520Treat. Galaunt 137 in Ballads fr. MSS. I. 450 With longe taters downe to the ars behynde. 1612Rowlands Knaue of Harts 23 A suite of ragges and tatters on my backe. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 172 To goe woolward, in sackcloth, and haire cloth, in totters and ragges. 1686tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 97 They go Barefoot, and all in Tattars. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, The remains of tapestry hung in tatters upon the walls. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv. 82 Furl the sail before it blows to tatters. 1873‘Ouida’ Pascarèl I. 25 What does a tatter or two in the dress signify? 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 216 Thin very obscure tatters of the ruptured tissue clothe the walls of the mature passage.
b. fig. or in fig. context.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 81 Torne to tatters with a thousand tempests of troubles. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 11 To see a robustious Pery-wig-pated Fellow, teare a Passion to tatters, to verie ragges. 1607Barley-Breake (1877) 5 Then Hate, and Enuie, all to totters went. 1792Cowper Let. to W. Hayley 4 June, Returned from my walk, blown to tatters. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 189 Philosophers,..who tear arguments to tatters.
†2. transf. A person wearing tattered or ragged clothes; a tatterdemalion. Obs.
c1600Day Begg. Bednall Gr. v. (1881) 110 How, mary with a Beggar? mix the blood of Strowds with a tatter? a1635Randolph Hey for Hon. iii. i, Well spoke, my noble English tatter, Lead up the vanguard. 1637Heywood Roy. King ii. viii, What Tatter's that that walkes there?
3. attrib. and Comb., as † tatter-rag; tatter-eared, tatter-fudded (Sc.: see fud), tatter-skinned, tatter-tailed, tatter-tangled adjs.; † tatter-wag (tatar-wagge), tatter-wallop (Sc. and n. dial.), a fluttering tatter or rag; also, a person in ragged clothes.
1953R. Graves Poems 18 *Tatter-eared and slinking alley-toms.
1880J. Nicol Poems & Songs 29 The dirty *tatter-fudded Poor stowaway.
1570Levins Manip. 10/36 *Tatterraggs, panniculi.
1924R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 26 And like a leper, faint and *tatter-skinned, The wan moon makes a ghost of every tree.
1876G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 177 *Tatter-tangled and dingle-a-danglèd Dandy-hung dainty head.
c1600Ruggle Club Law (1907) iii. ii, This is some *tattertaild Athenian.
c1400Rom. Rose 7257 And grey clothis not full clene But fretted full of *tatarwagges. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 9247 He hewys his mayles res by res, He hewys hem alle In taterwagges, His hauberk heng alle In ragges.
1808Jamieson, *Tatter-wallops, tatters, rags in a fluttering state. 1819W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 204 Hood..cowl and clout, In tatter-wallops flew about. 1828Craven Gloss., Tatter-wallops, a woman with ragged clothes. 1910Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 30/1 Ye're aye tearin' yer clothes, ye wee tatter-wallops!
▪ II. tatter, n.2 rare.
[f. tat v.2 + -er1.]
In Needlework: One who tats or does tatting.
1881Faith & Unfaith I. iv. 54 Miss Peyton..confronts this eminent tatter.
▪ III. tatter, n.3 slang.
[f. tat v.3 + -er1.]
A refuse-gatherer, a rag-collector. Cf. totter (s.v. tot n.5). Also ˈtatterer.
1890Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Tatter (tramps), a rag-gatherer. 1910Church Times 15 July, Their occupations being largely that of ‘Tatterers’ —i.e. rag and bone and bottle-gatherers, and casual labourers. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §970 Tatter,..collects [waste] with a hand-pushed barrow or cart. 1969Telegraph & Argus (Bradford) 16 Oct. 9 He was wearing a dark jacket, and light drill trousers. He is believed to be a rag tatter.
▪ IV. tatter, a. dial.
[?]
Cross, peevish, testy.
1579Twyne Phisicke agst. Fort. i. xv. 17 b, His two wiues, most tatter and testie olde women. Ibid. cx. 139 When a man maketh hym selfe seruiceable and subiect to a tatter olde foole. 1736Lewis Isle of Thanet Gloss., Tatter, ragged, cross, peevish, ‘he is a very tatter man’. 1887Kentish Gloss. s.v., The old 'ooman's middlin' tatter to-day, I can tell ye.
▪ V. ˈtatter, v.1
Also 4 tater.
[app. a back-formation from tattered.]
a. trans. To tear or reduce to tatters; to make ragged; to tear in pieces, mangle. Also fig. to tatter a kip (slang): see kip n.3 1.
(The ppl. adj. tattered and vbl. n. tattering are known before the simple vb.)
[c1380: see tattering vbl. n. below.] c1440York Myst. xlvi. 44 (Of Christ scourged and crowned with thorns) Ilk tag of þat turtill so tatterid and torne es. ]1608Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. v. Decay 342 A Lion, that hath tatterd heer A goodly Heifer, there a lusty Steer. 1652Persuasive to Compliance 6 A Nation so exhausted and tattered by divisions. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, To assist at tattering a kip, as the phrase was, when we had a mind for a frolic. 1837C. Lofft Self-formation I. 34, I tattered some good poetry to rags, expressly for her gratification. a1845Hood Forge ii. xvi, Shrieking for flesh to tear and tatter.
b. intr. To be or become tattered. rare.
1595[see tattering ppl. adj. below]. 1934Dylan Thomas in New Verse Apr. 12 Our strips of stuff that tatter as we move.
Hence ˈtattering vbl. n.1 (in quot. c 1380, slashing of garments) and ppl. a.1
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 124 Men deformen hor body by hor foule atyre..and tatering of clothes. c1580J. Jeffere Bugbears Epil., Song ii. in Archiv Stud. Neu. Spr. (1897), With battrynges, with plattrynges, with tattrynges. 1595Shakes. John v. v. 7 After such bloody toile, we bid good night, And woon'd our tott'ring colours clearly vp, Last in the field, and almost Lords of it.
▪ VI. ˈtatter, v.2 Obs. exc. dial.
In 4–5 tater.
[Appears before 1400: = MDu. and Du. tateren to stammer, MFl., Fl., to speak imperfectly or inarticulately, MLG., LG., and EFris. tateren, tatern, tattern to babble, speak nonsense; to chatter. From the same (prob. echoic) stem as tattle.]
intr. a. To talk idly, chatter, prate, tattle. b. ‘To scold; to chide; to be furious or cross’ (E.D.D.). Hence ˈtattering vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 192 Oure fleschly peple haþ more lykynge in here bodely eris in sich knackynge & taterynge þan in herynge of goddis lawe. c1440Promp. Parv. 487/1 Tateryn, or iaueryn, or speke wythe owte resone (K. or iangelyn,..P. iaberyn). Ibid., Taterynge, or iauerynge (S. iaperynge, P. iaberinge), garritus. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Gloss. s.v., Come now, there's to much tatterin' by half, let's have less noise and more work!
▪ VII. ˈtatter, v.3 dial.
[Origin obscure: the form is frequentative; cf. patter.]
intr. To move or bestir oneself actively; to go or run at a great rate.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Tatter, v. to stir actively and laboriously... ‘He is a very pains-taking man; always towing and tattering after his business’. 1828T. C. Croker Fairy Leg. ii. 127 Away they went tattering along the road making the fire fly out of the stones at no rate. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xiv, The bell rang violently. ‘There, do you hear him tattering?’ 1897Crockett Lochinvar v. 68 Running fleet-foot..as though the devil himself had been tattering at his tail.
▪ VIII. tatter
erron. variant of totter. |