| 释义 |
▪ I. tether, n.|ˈtɛðə(r)|
Forms: α. 4 tethir, (thether), 6 teyther, 6–8 teather, 7 tither, teither, 6– tether. β. 4–5 tedyr, 5 -yre, 5–7 teder, 6 teddir, tedure, teeder, 6–8 (9 dial.) tedder, 7 teddar (tedir).
[At first a northern word: app. a. ON. tjóðr ‘tether’ (Icel. and Fær. tjóður, Sw. tjuder); corresp. to 15th c. WFris. tyader, tieder; MLG., MDu. tûder, tudder, LG. tüder, tüdder, töder, tider, tier, tir, Du. tuier, all in sense ‘tether’. Cf. also OHG. *ziotar, zeotar, MHG. zieter (still in Bav. dial., Hess. zetter) in sense ‘fore-pole or team’. A corresponding OE. *téoðor has not been found.
The word points to an OTeut. *teudra-, pre-Teut. *deutro-, from a vb.-stem *deu- to fasten, with instr. suffix -tro.]
1. A rope, cord, or other fastening by which a horse, cow, or other beast is tied to a stake or the like, so as to confine it to the spot.
1376–7Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 386 In duobus thethers et j feterlok pro equis. 1394–5Ibid. 599 In iij Tethirs cum paribus de langalds. 1396–7Ibid. 214, j tedyr. 14..Nominale in Wr.-Wülcker 728/1 Hoc ligatorium, a tedyre. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §148 But make thy hors to longe a tedure. 1562Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) I. 207, ij wayne roopes, j haire teder xijd. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 38 Who coueteth to tie the Lambe and the Lion in one tedder maketh a brawle. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 145 A peece of an olde broken teather. 1669Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 133 Ane hair tedir 0. 13. 4. 1688Lond. Gaz. No. 2368/4 Stolen out of the Tether.., a dark brown Gelding. 1782Burns Death of Mailie 2 As Mailie, an her lambs thegither, Were ae day nibbling on the tether. a1854H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets (1857) II. 70 A delicate colt at the end of each tether.
2. Applied to a rope used for other purposes.
†a. A boat's painter; a tow-rope. Obs.
1503Hawes Examp. Virt. ii. 1 Wher was a boote tyed with a teeder. 1818W. Muir Poems 12 (E.D.D.), I saw her in a tether Draw twa sloops after ane anither.
b. A rope for hanging malefactors; a halter.
1508Dunbar Flyting 176 Lyke to ane stark theif glowrand in ane tedder. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 175 They tuik ane hardin tedder and hangit him ower the brige of Lawder. 17..Sheriff-Muir xvii. in Sel. Coll. Sc. Ballads (1790) III. 65 Then in a tether He'll swing from a ladder. 1819W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 11 Weems cried out, ‘Hang it in a tether’.
3. fig. The cause or measure of one's limitation; the radius of one's field of action; scope, limit.
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 18/1 Men must not passe their tedder. 1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxx. (1739) 137 A large Teather, and greater privilege than ever the Crown had. 1706E. Baynard in Sir J. Floyer Hot & Cold Bath. ii. (1709) 272 The length of his short Tedder of Understanding. 1734Pope Let. to Swift 19 Dec., We soon find the shortness of our tether. 1865G. Macdonald A. Forbes 51 Gin his mither has been jist raither saft wi' him, and gi'en him ower lang a tether.
b. A bond or fetter.
1609F. Grevil Mustapha Chorus ii, We scorne those Arts of Peace, that ciuile Tether, Which, in one bond, tie Craft and force together. 1817Byron Beppo xviii, When weary of the matrimonial tether. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 413 Why should we expect new hindrance, novel tether?
4. Phrases: † within (obs.), beyond one's tether, within, beyond the limits of one's ability, position, or reasonable action; the end († extent, length) of one's tether, the extreme limit of one's resources.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §148 As longe as thou etest within Tedure. 1549Latimer's 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI, To Rdr. (Arb.) 51 Learne to eat within thy teather. 1627Sanderson Serm. I. 276 He shall not be able to go an inch beyond his tedder. 1690Locke Hum. Underst. i. i. §4 To prevail with the busy Mind..to stop, when it is at the utmost Extent of its Tether. a1734North Exam. iii. viii. §57 (1740) 627 As to the last Order..which properly belongs to the next Reign and so beyond my Tedder. 1809Malkin Gil Blas x. ii. ⁋8 At length she got to the end of her tether, and I began. 1860–70Stubbs Lect. Europ. Hist. (1904) i. ii. 23 They had got to the length of their tether.
5. attrib. and Comb., as tether-end, tether-length, tether-rope, tether-string; tether-ball, a ball fastened to or suspended from a pole by a string; the game played with this (Webster Suppl. 1902); tether-peg, -stake, -stick, -stone, a pin or stake of wood or iron, or a stone, fixed in the ground, to which an animal is tethered.
1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, He'll look upon you as his tether-stake. 1782Burns Death of Mailie 52 Gude keep thee frae a tether string. a1800Kempy Kaye in Child Ballads I. 302/1 His teeth they were like tether-sticks. 1859Cornwallis Panorama New World I. 144 They took my tether rope, and commenced making me fast to a tree. 1884Lays & Leg. N. Irel. 13 Put a tether-stone up on the face av the hill. 1900Queen 29 Sept. (Advt.), Parlour tether ball... This..game consists of a perpendicular pole, to the top of which an india-rubber ball is attached by a cord... Each player is provided with a bat, with which to strike the ball. 1925T. Dreiser Amer. Tragedy I. ii. xxxviii. 425 His own mental tether-length having been strained to the breaking point. 1937J. Bancroft Games 632 Tetherball... This is one of the most delightful and vigorous games that is adapted to small playing space. 1973E. S. Shneidman Deaths of Man ix. 95 A..bachelor was found hanging from a tetherball pole.
▪ II. tether, v.|ˈtɛðə(r)|
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To make fast or confine with a tether.
1483Cath. Angl. 379/1 To Tedyr, restringere, retentare. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. xli. (1539) 58 To tye or tedder theyr horses and mares vpon. 1577Nottingham Rec. IV. 170 No man shall not teyther [his beasts] amongs the hey vnto it be gone of the ground. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 174, I tether'd the three Kids in the best part. 1800Wordsw. Pet Lamb 6 The lamb was all alone, And by a slender cord was tethered to a stone. 1882E. O'Donovan Merv Oasis I. 396 Hundreds of horses were tethered in every direction.
2. To fasten, make fast generally.
1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. §35 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 100 margin, Heir Ioh. Knox be his awin sentence aganis wtheris, is fast tedderit in the girn. 1674Grew Anat. Trunks ii. vi. §4 The said Roots tethering it, as it trails along, to the ground. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Vall. i, A gate,..too well tethered to be quickly opened. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 744 The heart is tethered to the bottom of the pericardium.
3. fig. To fasten or bind by conditions or circumstances; to bind so as to detain.
c1470Henryson Orpheus & Eur. 456 Suld our desyre be soucht wp in þe speris, Quhene It Is tedderit on þis warldis breris. 1624Bp. Hall Contempl., N.T. ii. iii, He, that bounded thy power, tether'd thee shorter. 1790Burns Tam O'Shanter 67 Nae man can tether time or tide, The hour approaches Tam maun ride. 1879H. James R. Hudson I. 65 She would fain see me all my life tethered to the law.
Hence ˈtethered ppl. a., fastened with a tether; limited, confined, ‘tied’; ˈtethering vbl. n. and ppl. a., fastening with a tether or the like.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 42 Get home with thy brakes, er an sommer be gon, for *teddered cattle to sit there vpon. a1680Charnock Attrib. God (1834) I. 237 Our contracted and tethered capacities. 1845R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. iii. (ed. 2) 43 All this may be preferable; but it is a tethered freedom still. 1890Doyle White Company 185 A dozen tethered horses and mules grazed around the encampment.
1671Grew Anat. Plants iii. App. §9 By the Linking of their Claspers, and..by the *Tethering of their Trunk-Roots, being couched together. 1862A. Hislop Prov. Scot. 35 Better hands loose than in an ill tethering. 1863G. J. Whyte-Melville Gladiators 367 Not a vestige remained of halter or tethering ropes. |