| 释义 |
three-ˈquarter, -ˈquarters, n., a., and advb. phr.
A. as n.
1. three quarters, three of the four equal parts into which anything is or may be divided; loosely, the greater part of anything.
1470,1650[see quarter n. 1]. 1886C. E. Pascoe London of To-day i. (ed. 3) 29 A modest luncheon of grilled chops and boiled potatoes is ordered. In three-quarters of an hour these appear. 1900Stoddard Evol. Eng. Novel 191 That three-quarters of life which is called conduct.
2. three-quarter (pl. -quarters), in Rugby Football, short for three-quarter back (see D.).
1889H. Vassall Rugby Football 13 If he [the captain] is playing four three-quarters and finds that his eight forwards are swamped by the opposing nine, he must make his extra three-quarter go forward. 1897Whitaker's Alm. 645/1 The English halves and three-quarters were run out before they had a chance of getting away.
B. as adj.
a. three-quarter (rarely -quarters). Amounting to three quarters of the whole; one quarter less in magnitude or dimension than that which is complete or full; three-fourths of the ordinary; also vaguely (cf. A. 1).
1677Lond. Gaz. No. 1239/4 A middle sized Fox Beagle,..white breast, and her legs whitish, with three quarter sterne. 1684J. Peter Siege Vienna 204 Three quarter Cannons, of each 36 pound. 1700T. Brown Acc. Journ. Exon Wks. 1709 III. ii. 101 As if he had been riding three-quarter-speed. 1766Entick London IV. 448 Adjoining to the walls are ten three-quarter columns. 1837Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 33/1 Secured with three-quarter inch bolts. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xxii, A three-quarter moon was staring down at her own image.
b. spec. Of portraits, etc. (a) Originally applied to a canvas measuring 30 inches by 25 (about three-fourths of the area of a kitcat, 36 in. × 28). (b) Now usually applied to a portrait showing three-fourths of the figure (in full, three quarter(s length). Also of a coat, sleeve, etc.: (having) three-fourths of the normal length. (c) three-quarter-face (esp. in Photogr.), the aspect intermediate between full face and profile.
1712–13Swift Jrnl. to Stella 27 Feb., I have a very fine picture of lady Orkney,..by sir Godfrey Kneller, three quarters length. 1831Williams Life & Corr. Sir T. Lawrence, 1769–1830, I. 77 The last prices received by Sir Thomas Lawrence. For a head-size, or three-quarters, 210l.; for a kit-kat, 315l.; for a half-length, 420l.;..and for a full-length, 630l. c1850Catalogue of Wm. Macgill, Edinb. 10 Canvasses on Frames kept in Stock..24 by 20, head size; 30 by 25, 3/4 size; 36 by 28, Kitcat,..50 by 40, half-length [etc.]. 1865M. E. Braddon Sir Jasper ii, There were several sketches of the Baronet's elder daughter; now a three-quarter face..; now a profile..; now a full face. 1882J. Ashton Soc. Life Reign Q. Anne xxvii. II. 42 Wollaston, a portrait painter, who could only command five guineas for a three-quarters canvas. 1894H. Gamlin G. Romney 202 Lady Susan Murray is a beautiful three-quarter standing figure. 1911Queen 4 Nov. Suppl. 14/3 A three-quarter length [coat] comes out at only 5 guineas. 1919in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing in Present Cent. (1952) 156 The three-quarter coat is the latest rage. 1940Graves & Hodge Long Week-End xvi. 280 Swagger coats..were of three-quarter length. 1943P. Cheyney You can always Duck v. 85 She is wearin'..a loose three-quarter length coat. 1960Woman's Own 19 Mar. 42/3 Three-quarter sleeve overblouse. 1960News Chron. 4 Apr. 6/1 The collar sits well away from the face; the sleeves are definitely three-quarter. 1960Harper's Bazaar Aug. 8/2 A brief tartan jacket..which has..three-quarter length sleeves. Ibid. Oct. 119 A three-quarter coat in oatmeal tweed. 1972A. Price Col. Butler's Wolf xi. 119 A reversible three-quarter length overcoat.
c. ellipt. Measuring or relating to three quarters (of a yard) in Cloth Measure, or three fourths of any quantity indicated by context; spec. of a coal seam, three quarters of a yard thick.
1708J. C. Compleat Collier (1845) 16 The 3 Quarter Coal about 3 Quarters thick or more. 1838Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 381/2 A half-inch service pipe will fill a cistern in one-third the time now taken by the three-quarter cock. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 75 The principal beds of coal are one of 6 feet thick, and a lower one called the three-quarter bed. 1894Heslop Northumbld. Gloss., Three-quarter-coal, a seam of coal about three-quarters of a yard in thickness. Mod. The three-quarter chimes.
C. as adv. To the extent of three quarters.
a1584Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 110 That little God of Loue..With bow thrie quarteris scant. 1832Regul. Instr. Cavalry iii. 106 The..Troops wheel three-quarters left about. 1869‘Lewis Carroll’ Phantasmagoria 106 Prone to the dust he bent his head, And lay like one three-quarters dead.
D. Spec. Comb. and Collocations: three-quarter back, in Rugby Football (also in Hockey), one of two, three, or four players stationed between the half-backs and the full-backs; three-quarter bed, a bed intermediate in width between a single and a double bed; three-quarter binding, a style of bookbinding having more leather than half-binding: see quot.; three-quarter-bred a., having three quarters of pure blood; three-quarter cleft (clift), dial. a person three-quarters ‘cracked’: cf. quarter-cleft 2; three-quarters face, Mil. three quarters of a full ‘face’ or turn; three-quarter fiddle: see quot.; three-quarter line Rugby Football, the row of three-quarter backs aligned (and usu. angled back) across the field, esp. at a set-piece; three-quarter plate (watch): see quot.; three-quarter veneer Dentistry = partial veneer s.v. partial a. 3 i.
1880Daily Tel. 20 Dec., One of the Northern *three-quarter backs sustained an injury to his leg. 1889H. Vassall Rugby Football 10 This led to the increase in the number of three-quarter-backs, first, from one to two, with two full-backs, and then to three, with one full-back—in other words, three-quarter-back became the main line of defence against the rush of opposing forwards. 1890Cresswell Hockey 10 The three-quarter-backs, generally two in number.
1919L. R. Balderston Housewifery vii. 196 Size of Bedspreads..80 in. × 100 in.—*three-quarter bed. 1978Lancashire Life Oct. 141/2 The old four foot wide ‘three⁓quarter’ bed—known in the trade as a ‘landlady's double’ because seaside landladies used it to get two people into what should have been a single room—is rarely seen nowadays.
1897Let. to Editor, *Three quarter binding is a very wide back and large corners. The sides may be of anything, paper, cloth [etc.].
1902Bodkin Shillelagh 32 The fast *three-quarter bred mare between the shafts.
1843Carleton Traits Irish Peas. I. 5 ‘A *three-quarter clift’ of a fellow—half knave, half fool.
1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 14 The recruit..makes a *three quarters face.
1889E. J. Payne in Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 813/1 Violino Piccolo (..Dreiviertel-geige, *Three-quarter fiddle), a violin of small size, but of the ordinary parts and proportions, differing in this respect from the pochette or kit.
1960E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby vii. 58 The scrum-half's first and foremost duty is to feed the *three-quarter-line. 1976Eastern Even. News (Norwich) 9 Dec. 19/8 Norfolk took an early lead when the ball was quickly fed along the three-quarter line to put Hopkins over for a try.
1884Britten Watch & Clockm. 199 In *three-quarter plate watches there is a piece cut out of the top plate sufficiently large to allow the balance to move in the same horizontal plane.
1924J. F. Hovestad Pract. Dental Porcelains xii. 110 (heading) The partial coping or the all porcelain *three-quarter veneer crown. 1963J. Osborne Dental Mechanics (ed. 5) xxiii. 415 Three-quarter or partial veneer crowns. Such crowns are usually employed as bridge retainers.
So three-quartered a., † (a) made in three sections (obs.); (b) Her. of an animal as a bearing: turned so as to be nearly affronté, but showing a part of the flank.
c1450Lovelich Grail xxxv. 535 There-Inne stoden peleris of Marbil stones..thre-qwarterid they weren Of Gold & Asure And Of Silver. c1828Berry Encycl. Her. I. Gloss., Three-quartered, showing three-fourths of an animal; termed, also, trian-aspect, as an eagle, &c. in a trian-aspect. 1889in Elvin Dict. Her. |