| 释义 |
ˈfire-water
1. ‘A name given to alkahest’ (Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753).
2. Any strong liquor or ardent spirits.
Originally used by (or attributed to) the North American Indians: chiefly current with reference to the pernicious effects of alcoholic liquors on primitive peoples, or in vituperative or jocular use.
1826J. F. Cooper Mohicans xi, His [Magua's] Canada fathers..taught him to drink the fire-water, and he became a rascal. 1849Whittier Marg. Smith's Jrnl. Prose Wks. 1889 I. 32 Never taste of the strong fire-water, but drink only of the springs. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. x, His father..had a horror..of the fire-water which is generally sold to the undergraduate. |