| 释义 |
▪ I. feathering, vbl. n.|ˈfɛðərɪŋ|
[+ -ing1.]
1. a. The action of the vb. feather in various senses.
1640Bp. Hall Chr. Moder. 8/1 That bird of whom Suidas speaks, which dies in the very act of his feathering. 1775Burke Corr. (1844) II. 26 North Carolina is left out..because it furnishes tar for feathering. 1875Sharpe in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) II. 372 This king [Henry V of England] directed the sheriffs of counties to take six wing-feathers from every goose for the feathering of arrows. 1878Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. iv. (1887) 35 Rowing their short, deep stroke, without any feathering, but in perfect time.
b. Arboriculture (see quot.).
1827H. Steuart Planter's G. (1828) 237 What the workmen call ‘the feathering’, that is, the position of the capillary rootlets upon the primary rootlets or branches, which are always found pointing outwards from the body of the Tree.
c. The action of feathering the floats of a paddle-wheel or the blades of a propeller (see feather v. 11 b, c); also, an angular motion of a revolving rotor blade about its axis, producing a continual variation in its pitch. Also attrib.
1850Rep. Comm. Patents 1849 (U.S.) 47 Many applications have been made based upon alleged novelties in the feathering of the vertical float paddle wheel. 1909A. E. Seaton Screw Propeller xi. 162 Flat blades..have been tried on propellers where complete feathering..is required for efficient sailing. 1955J. Shapiro Princ. Helicopter Engin. iii. 173 In most rotors the blades are constrained in pitch by the control linkage and the problem of evaluating free feathering motion does not arise. 1962Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) v. 16 Feathering hinge, a blade pivot which allows the blade pitch angle to be varied. 1970A. C. Kermode Flight without Formulae 202 Feathering means turning the blades so that, when the propeller is stopped, they offer the least resistance.
d. Of cream: see feather v. 8 b.
1928Jrnl. Dairy Sci. XI. 249 The formation of a flocculent coagulum, known as feathering, when sweet cream is added to hot coffee, is a problem of considerable commercial importance. Ibid., The acidity of the product is an important factor in the feathering phenomenon. 1955J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 465 Feathering of cream, a term applied to the flocculation of fat, etc., on the surface of tea or coffee, particularly with homogenised milk.
e. The spreading of ink on paper, resulting in printed or written matter having a blurred appearance.
1942J. Grant Lab. Handbk. Pulp & Paper Manuf. 120 To prevent the spreading (or ‘feathering’) of writing ink on paper. 1959New Scientist 23 Apr. 930/1 This [sc. an ink containing an additive] could be used in concentration and still did not cause feathering. 1963Kenneison & Spilman Dict. Printing 63 Feathering{ddd}may be caused by using an unsuitable paper or ink.
2. a. In various concrete senses: The plumage of birds; the feather of an arrow; feather-like structure in the coat of an animal.
1530Palsgr. 219/1 Fedderyng of a shafte. 1721Bradley Wks. Nature 57 The Beauty of whose Shells..is as remarkable as the diversity of Feathering in Birds. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxi. 268 The ptarmigan shows a singular backwardness in assuming the summer feathering. 1875G. W. Dasent Vikings I. 46 An arrow on which a golden thread was twisted in the feathering. 1885Century Mag. XXXI. 121 His [the Irish setter's] coat..where it extends into what is technically known as feathering, is like spun silk in quality. 1891J. L. Kipling Beast & Man in India viii. 199 In Indian horse lore the set of these featherings..ending sometimes in circles or whorls, are all mapped out like currents on a mariner's chart.
b. Archit. (see quot. 1842–76).
1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 132 The parts of tracery are ornamented with small arches and points, which is called feathering or foliation. 1842–76Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss., Featherings, the cusps, plain or decorated, at the ends of a foil in tracery. 1854J. L. Petit Archit. Studies France 84 Some windows of a single light, with a free trefoil feathering in the head.
c. Gardening. A feather-like marking or pencilling in a flower.
1833Hogg Suppl. Florists' Flowers 25 The feathering elegant and various, heavy and light, close in some [Tulips], and slightly broken in others. 1882The Garden 28 Jan. 67/1 The outer surface..suffused with purple featherings.
3. attrib.
1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. vii. (1891) 165, I have established a pair of well-pronounced feathering-calluses on my thumbs. 1867J. Hogg Microsc. ii. ii. 407 Whereby a ‘feathering movement’ is effected.
▪ II. feathering, ppl. a.|ˈfɛðərɪŋ|
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
a. That feathers; in senses of the vb.
1789W. Gilpin Wye 93 The ruins..with the feathering foliage. 1839M. F. Ossoli in Mem. (1862) I. 260 His wit is so truly French in its..sparkling, feathering vivacity. 1848Lytton Arthur iii. xxvii, Where o'er the space the feathering branches bend.
b. Of an oar, paddle-wheel, float, etc.: see feather v. 11.
a1740Tickell (W.), The feathering oar returns the gleam. 1867Smyth Sailor's Wd.-bk., Feathering-paddles. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xv. 278 Feathering paddle⁓wheel shafts are sometimes carried on brackets secured to the ship's side. 1874Knight Dict. Mech., Feathering Paddle-wheel, a wheel whose floats have a motion on an axis, so as to descend nearly vertically into the water and ascend the same way, avoiding beating on the water in the descent and lifting water in the ascent.
c. Of the propeller of a ship or an aeroplane: see feather v. 11 c.
1885A. E. Seaton Man. Marine Engin. (ed. 4) xv. 298 A feathering screw. 1909Westm. Gaz. 18 Mar. 4/2 The feathering propeller..for airship work will no doubt appeal..as a means whereby the pitch can be altered. 1909A. Berget Conquest of Air ii. ii. 141 We have obtained the longitudinal stability of the aeroplane by the use of the ‘feathering tail’. 1939Flight 28 Sept. p. h, Blade root cuffs are being fitted by the Curtiss concern to their electrically controlled, fully feathering airscrew. 1968A. J. Jackson Blackburn Aircraft 465 Four Hercules engines installed as self-contained power plants driving 14-ft diameter four-bladed Rotol constant-speed, feathering and reversible-pitch airscrews. |