| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈflicker, n.1 Obs. rare—1.
[cf. flick n.2]
1598Florio, Guanciatore,..a pilferer, a flicker.
▪ II. ˈflicker, n.2 slang.
A drinking-glass. Hence ˈflicker v., to drink (Farmer).
1677in Coles. a1700in B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew. 1750Apol. Life Bampfylde-M. Carew 338. 1785–1823 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue.
▪ III. flicker, n.3|ˈflɪkə(r)|
[f. flicker v.]
1. An act of flickering, a flickering movement.
1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. iv, [The bird would] with an impudent flicker of his tail, dart into the depths of the quickset. 1861Wilson & Geikie Mem. E. Forbes i. 35 The flicker of the leaves whose shadows mottle their waters.
2. a. A wavering unsteady light or flame.
1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. vii. 36 After some delay, there was a flicker through the fanlight of the street door. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxviii. 371 Writing by this miserable flicker of my pork-fat lamp. 1862M. E. Braddon Lady Audley viii. 57 The pale sky, tinged with the last cold flicker of twilight.
fig.1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. v. 53 This little flicker of enthusiasm. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VII. xvii. vii. 75 His Enterprise was a final flicker of false hope. 1876H. Maudsley Physiol. Mind i. 25 The last flicker of departing life.
b. A rapid, rhythmic variation in the degree or quality of illumination which is perceptible to the eye; also, the visual sensation caused by this.
1892E. S. Ferry in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CXLIV. 195 A vibration of the lamp or of the diffraction-grating produces a flicker in the field of view that cannot be distinguished from the appearance produced by a too slow rotation of the sectored disc. 1912Phil. Mag. 6th Ser. XXIV. 370 The fovea is more sensitive to red flicker, the periphery to blue. 1929C. Murchison Found. Exper. Psychol. iv. 200 Chromatic flicker can be evoked by alternating, upon the same retinal area, two stimuli which differ in wave-length composition but which are photometrically equal. 1944W. D. Wright Measurem. Colour iv. 107 The sensation of flicker due to alternations in colour vanishes at a lower frequency of alternation than the flicker due to difference in brightness. 1962H. C. Weston Sight, Light & Work (ed. 2) v. 161 There is ordinarily no visible flicker from flourescent lamps, although sometimes it is apparent at their extremities as seen by peripheral vision.
c. spec. in Cinemat. and Television, a succession of sudden, abrupt changes in a picture, such as occurs when the number of frames per second is too small to produce persistence of vision.
1899H. V. Hopwood Living Pictures vi. 208 A continual rattle impinging on the ear tends to intensify irritation caused to the eye by flicker on the screen. 1923F. A. Talbot Moving Pictures 7 The regularity of this recurring damping wave, described as ‘flicker’, set up severe eye-strain. 1933Discovery May 157/1 The ultra⁓short waves enable images with much greater detail and almost complete absence of flicker to be transmitted. 1953H. A. Chinn Telev. Broadc. i. 6 The minimum acceptable frame frequency is that required for the elimination of flicker. 1968Times 18 Apr. 2/8 (headline) TV flicker led to death.
d. A rapid variation in the quality of a sound analogous to visual flicker (see 2 b above).
1922Physical Rev. XX. 332 It has been found possible..to make use of the perception of flicker in an alternation phonometer. Let two frequencies alternate in the ear at a suitable rate, [etc.]. 1934C. Murchison Handbk. Gen. Exper. Psychol. xvi. 897 The former used a flicker method, the tones to be compared being presented to the ears alternately at the rate of about 25 alternations a second. 1953C. E. Osgood Method & Theory Exper. Psychol. iv. 146 Simultaneous auditory flicker..was found to increase the pronouncedness of visual flicker if it was already present.
3. pl. = flick n.1 1 e. colloq.
1927[see flick n.1 1 e]. 1930W. de la Mare Desert Islands 2 Some of the best of the ‘flickers’ or ‘movies’. 1938G. Greene Brighton Rock i. iii. 43 What about you and me going across to the flickers? 1969Gish & Pinchot L. Gish iii. 31 Mother, guess who we saw acting in ‘flickers’!
4. attrib., as flicker frequency, flicker method; flicker effect Electronics, a relatively low-frequency random fluctuation in the current emitted by a cathode in a thermionic valve, caused by changes in the state of the emitting surface; also, a similar effect in transistors and other solid-state devices; flicker fusion, the apparent steadiness of a regularly varying source of light when the frequency of the variation is sufficiently great; so flicker-fusion frequency, the lowest rate of variation at which flicker is not perceptible; also called critical flicker (or fusion) frequency; flicker noise Electronics, noise due to the flicker effect; flicker photometer, an instrument for measuring the relative intensities of light from two different sources, esp. sources of different colours, by measuring the flicker or observing the absence of flicker when the field of view is illuminated alternately by the two sources of light; so flicker photometry.
1926W. Schottky in Physical Rev. XXVIII. 77 If we had to do with emission of light instead of electrons, we would speak of a chaotic variation of light intensity taking place over the surface of the cathode, a phenomenon which we should describe by the word ‘flicker’. If..Johnson's explanation of the phenomenon is the correct one, then we may use the analogy and call the new effect the ‘*flicker effect’.
1907Nat. Electr. Light Assoc. 30th Convention I. 337 The most sensitive *flicker frequency for small ranges of flicker was in the neighborhood of 2.5 cycles per second. 1922Jrnl. Optical Soc. Amer. VI. 7 The substantial independence of critical flicker frequency upon chroma is..the basis of the critical frequency method of heterochromatic photometry.
1936Jrnl. Gen. Physiol. XIX. 514 *Flicker fusion depends upon the suppression of intensity discrimination. 1944Federation Proc. III. 6 (heading) Changes in flicker fusion frequency (F.F.F.) under experimental stress. 1962H. C. Weston Sight, Light & Work (ed. 2) v. 161 The fluctuation in light output of electric lamps caused by a 50-cycle alternating current..is faster than the usual ‘flicker fusion frequency’ for the bright-adapted eye.
1897Jrnl. Physiol. XXII. 143 The most marked discrepancy between the band and *flicker methods was in the case of red. 1934Flicker method [see 2 d above].
1947Proc. Physical Soc. LIX. 366 At low frequencies (3 to 104 c.p.s.) *flicker noise may be tens or even hundreds of times greater than Johnson or shot noise. 1960D. A. Bell Electr. Noise xii. 274 When working with semiconductors there is always a risk of flicker noise being introduced at the electrode contacts.
1896F. P. Whitman in Physical Rev. III. 241 (heading) On the photometry of differently colored lights and the ‘*flicker’ photometer. 1955J. W. Wentworth Color Telev. Engin. iii. 59 The best instrument for measuring the luminances of ‘colored’ surfaces is the flicker photometer.
1897Jrnl. Physiol. XXI. 47 According to the rules of *flicker-photometry..flicker should disappear from the whole surface of the disc at the same minimal speed.
▪ IV. flicker, n.4 U.S.|ˈflɪkə(r)|
[Said to be echoic of the bird's note.]
The popular name of various American species of woodpecker.
1849Thoreau Week Concord Riv. Thursday 333 The flicker's cackle is heard in the clearing. 1870Lowell Study Wind. 19 The flicker makes good his claim to the title of pigeon-woodpecker. 1888Riverside Nat. Hist. IV. Introd. 8 The two flickers are mainly characterized by the color of the under-surface of the wing and tail feathers, these being red in the red shafted (Colaptes mexicanus), gamboge yellow in the yellow-shafted flicker (C. auratus). Ibid. IV. 428 The Cape flicker (C. chrysoides), with red moustache.
▪ V. † flicker, a. Obs. rare—1.
[f. flicker v.; cf. OE. flacor adj., mentioned under flacker v.]
Unsteadfast, wavering.
c1325Metr. Hom. 36 Forthi asked Crist quether man him soht Als he war man of fliker thoht.
▪ VI. flicker, v.|ˈflɪkə(r)|
Forms: 1 flicerian, -orian, 3–5 flikeren, (4 flikkere), 4–5 fleker, -ir, 5–6 fly(c)ker, 6 flickar, Sc. flickir, flikker, 6– flicker.
[OE. flicorian, an onomatopœic formation with frequentative suffix (see -er5), expressing repeated quick movement similar to that expressed by flacker, but slighter or less noisy.]
1. intr. Of a bird: To flutter; to hover. occas. To flap the wings; to move by flapping the wings.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 156 An blac þrostle flicorode ymbe his neb. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1104 Above hir heed hir dowves flikeringe. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 109 Ovyr hyr as she [a dove] dede hovyr flekerynge. 1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 348 Estrich, This bird..cannot mount up to flie aloft, but flickereth in such wise as he cannot be overgone. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 26 If the Duckes..flicker with their wings often and a long time together. 1700Dryden Palamon & Arc. iii. 123 The tuneful lark..flickering on her nest, made short essays to sing. 1801C. Smith Solit. Wanderer I. 255, I saw too..the flying fish..emerging from the waves on their wing-like fins, and flickering along the surface of the water. 1892Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker xix. 304 The pinnacles..were flickered about all day long by a multitude of wings.
fig.c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 1193 (1221) Her gost, that flikered aie a loft, Into her wofull herte ayen it went. 1583Stanyhurst Aeneis ii. (Arb.) 64 From the fathers sermons shal such fond patcherye flicker?
†2.
a. To make caressing or fondling movements with the wing; hence, to act in a fondling or coaxing manner; to dally, hanker, look longingly (after).
a1225Ancr. R. 290 Spit him amidde þe bearde..þet flikereð so mit þe. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋783 Yit wol thay kisse, and flikkere, and besien hemself. 1530Palsgr. 552/2, I flycker, I kysse togyther, je baise. 1556J. Heywood Spider & F. lxiii. 42 Where they may win ought..they flickar, and flatter, in fauer to grow. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iii. iv. ii, It is most odious, when an old acherontic dizzard that hath one foot in his grave..shall flicker after a young wench. 1697Dryden Virgil Life **iij b, Lavinia..looks a little flickering after Turnus. 1806R. Jamieson Pop. Ball. I. 296 Dorothy..flicker'd at Willie again.
b. slang and dial. (See quots.)
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, To flicker, to grin or flout. 1785–1823Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Flickering, grinning, or laughing in a man's face. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., ‘He flicker'd and flyred lahk a girning cat.’
3. a. To make a fluttering or vibratory movement; to wave to and fro; to flutter (in the air or wind); to quiver, vibrate, undulate. Of wind: To blow in light gusts.
c1450Merlin 324 Their baners..flekered in the wynde. a1577Gascoigne Wks. (1587) 299, I see not one..Whose feathers flant and flicker in the winds. 1601Holland Pliny I. xviii. xxxv. 613 You shall marke the leaves of trees to move, flicker & play themselves. 1633J. Fisher True Trojans ii. v, Troopes, With gawdie pennons flickering in the aire. 1793Earl of Buchan Ess., Spring (1812) 77 The darkest indigo blue was seen..to flicker on the surface of this molten gold. 1832Tennyson Dream Fair Women 113 The high masts flicker'd as they lay afloat. 1850― In Mem. cx, Nor cared the serpent at thy side To flicker with his double tongue. 1873Miss Thackeray Old Kensington xi. 89 A wet foggy wind flickered in his face.
b. trans. (causatively.) (Cf. flick v.2)
1843Blackw. Mag. LIV. 399/2 We mount beside the red-faced, much-becoated individual who is flickering his whip in idle listlessness on the box.
†4. To throb, palpitate, quiver. Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace ii. 268 His hart..flykeryt to and fro. 1508Dunbar Test. A. Kennedy 43, I leif my hert..That never mair wald flow nor flickir. 1513Douglas æneis iii. ix. 73 The hait flesch ondir his teth flikkerand. Ibid. v. viii. 115 Sprewland and flikkerand in the deid thrawis.
†5. fig. Of a person: To waver, vacillate. Obs.
c1325Metr. Hom. 92 This bischop flekerid in his thoht. c1440Promp. Parv. 165/2 Flekeryn, or waveryn yn vnstabylle herte, nuto.
6. a. To flash up and die away alternately. Of a flame: To burn fitfully or unsteadily; also with compl., out, etc.
Now the prevailing sense, though scarcely found earlier than the 19th c.
1605,1791[see flickering ppl. a. 5]. 1820Keats St. Agnes xl, A chain-droop'd lamp was flickering by each door. 1828Scott F.M. Perth iv, Eying the firmament, in which no slight shades of grey were beginning to flicker. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. III. xv. 305 Sheet lightning, flickering harmlessly in the distance. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. v. iv. 285 The fire sinks down and flickers low. 1883S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 197 The wasted flame soon afterwards flickered out.
b. transf. and fig.; also with up.
1833Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Pop. Fallacies, We love..to watch..a quirk..flickering upon the lips some seconds before [it is spoken]. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles ix. 84 A faint smile flickered at his lips. 1862Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) VII. lix. 244 A gleam of hope still flickered in their bosoms. 1876J. Weiss Wit, Hum. & Shaks. iii. 81 Dogberry flickers up into a kind of lukewarmness. 1892Speaker 3 Sept. 276/2 Precious lives which have..flickered out in the cruel storm.
7. trans.
a. To cause to flash or burn unsteadily or fitfully.
1869Sat. Rev. VIII. 70/2 The Supreme Pontiff..flickers his lightnings over the prostrate rebels. 1882T. Mozley Remin. II. Add. 428 The thought that the huge Alps all about us had been flickered like a candle.
b. To cause to move in a fitful and unsteady manner; to indicate by a flicker.
1903R. Langbridge Flame & Flood viii, He watched her eye-lashes flicker dismissal. Ibid. xxii, There was yet a partial inhumanity which licked its lips..which..burned as fiercely on the side of justice as injustice,..flickering an equal encouragement to ‘I can't go!’ and—‘I must!’ 1907Munsey's Mag. Dec. 308/1 [They] entered the castle..; the torches flickering weird shadows as they walked between them. 1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 113 He lifted his head from his drinking..And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips.
8. intr. = bicker. ? Obs.
1776[see flickering vbl. n.]. 1809J. Adams Wks. 1854 IX. 242 We flickered, disputed, and wrangled..but always with a species of good humour. |