| 释义 |
▪ I. frame, n.|freɪm|
[In sense 1, perh. a. ON. frame furtherance, advancement, or repr. the neut. of OE. fram adj., forward (see from prep.); cf. freme n. In the remaining senses, f. the vb.]
†I.
1. Advantage, benefit, profit. Obs.
c1200Ormin Ded. 17 Þu þohhtesst tatt itt mihhte wel Till mikell frame turrnenn. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2540 Pharao..dede ðe ebris frame. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9604 Sey..‘Y crysten þe [etc.]’..And ȝive what thou wylt hyt a name, And kast on water; than ys hyt frame. c1330― Chron. 162 We trowe it is our frame, his resurrectioun.
II. Action or manner of framing.
2.
†a. The action of framing, fashioning, or constructing; a contrivance. Obs.
1558Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. i. 3 He openeth our eyes to see the frames of our enemyes. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 191 The practise of it liues in John the bastard, Whose spirits toile in frame of villanies. 1642Rogers Naaman 28 The first happy moover in this frame of miraculous cure. 1645Ussher Body Div. (1647) 96 A man which will teach a child in the frame of a letter, will first teach him one line of the letter.
†b. ? nonce use. Upbringing. Cf. frame v. 5 d.
1632Lithgow Trav. v. 182 Thou Tharsus, brookes a glorious name, For that great Saint, who in Thee had his frame.
c. = frame-up. U.S. slang.
1914Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 35 Frame,..a prearranged plan of action; a secret implying sinister intention; a ‘frame-up’. 1924G. Bronson-Howard Devil's Chaplain ii. 36 This louse woulda beat us to the frame if I hadn't plugged him. 1948‘J. Evans’ Halo for Satan (1949) xiii. 175 He..wasn't a killer but just the victim of a frame.
3. The manner or method of framing; construction, structure; constitution, nature.
1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 31 The goodly frame, And stately port of Castle Joyeous. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 3 Apes do..resemble men..in the inward frame of the hand. 1705Col. Rec. Pennsylv. II. 204 Upon Account of the whole frame of the act. 1736Butler Anal. i. v. 126 We have in our inward frame various affections. 1829Lytton Devereux i. iii, My youngest brother..was of a very different disposition of mind and frame of body. 1884Sir J. Pearson in Law Times Rep. LIII. 6/1 There was a trust created..which might be enforced even though the deed in its form and frame were inoperative.
4. a. An established order, plan, scheme, system, esp. of government.
1599Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 130 Grieu'd I, I had but one? Chid I, for that at frugal Natures frame? 1605― Macb. iii. ii. 16 But let the frame of things dis-ioynt, Both the Worlds suffer. 1630Prynne Anti-Armin. 118 Which ouerthrowes the whole foundation, frame, and method of the Scriptures. 1694Atterbury Serm. (1723) I. iv. 150 The Law of Moses..had nothing in the Frame and Design of it apt..to recommend it to its Professors. 1759Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 180 Mr. Penn left his frame at least in a very imperfect state. 1825Macaulay Ess., Milton (1854) 22 His death dissolved the whole frame of society. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xvii. (1862) 253 The democratic principle enters largely into the frame of our mixed monarchy.
†b. A form or arrangement of words; a formula; a form of reasoning, type of syllogism. Obs.
1603Daniel Def. Rhime Wks. (1717) 7 All verse is but a Frame of Words. 1628T. Spencer Logick 273 This frame containes a proposition negatiue vniversall, an assumption affirmatiue speciall, and a conclusion negatiue speciall. 1646Bp. Maxwell Burd. Issach. in Phenix (1708) II. 261 To make this frame good, they maintain, that [etc.]. 1739G. Ogle Gualth. & Gris. 66 Take, for your Plan, some old Pontific Frame.
†c. ? Warlike array; a host. Obs.
c1430Hymns Virg. 44 Þe deuelis gadriden þer greet frame, And heelden þer perlament in þe myst.
d. In full frame of reference: (i) A system of co-ordinate axes in relation to which position may be defined and motion conceived of as taking place.
1897A. E. H. Love Theoret. Mech. i. 5 A set of lines of reference such as OA, OB, OC with respect to which the position of a point P can be determined will be called a frame of reference. Ibid. xiii. 360 ‘Acceleration’, and by consequence ‘force’, have no meaning except as dependent on a frame; ‘acceleration’ means ‘acceleration relative to a frame’, and similarly with force. 1928A. S. Eddington Nature Physical World iii. 61 The particular frame in which we are relatively at rest has a symmetry with respect to us which other frames do not possess. 1942Synge & Griffith Princ. Mech. i. 12 Latitude and longitude define position on the earth's surface; we are here using the earth as a frame of reference. 1965J. D. North Measure of Universe xvi. 362 The triply-infinite set of inertial frames connected by the Lorentz transformations is often referred to as a new ‘Absolute’. 1967Rodberg & Thaler Introd. Quantum Theory of Scattering x. 260 The S matrix we have been using..describes collisions in an arbitrary reference frame.
(ii) fig. and transf. (Always as frame of reference.) A set of standards, beliefs, or assumptions governing perceptual or logical evaluation or social behaviour.
1924Sci. Amer. Dec. 401/1 This is the mind's ‘frame of reference’ for the facts of the outer world. 1933G. B. Shaw Polit. Madhouse Amer. 16 If I may borrow an expression from my friend Professor Archibald Henderson, who is a mathematician, he had no frame of reference. He had no scientific postulates of any kind. He was in the air. 1936M. Sherif Psychol. Soc. Norms ii. 9 We shall give concrete examples to illustrate the existence of norms or frames of reference which are different from those that are taken by western civilization to be as ‘natural’ as air or water. 1949Koestler Insight & Outlook xxvii. 366 In each pair two universes clash, two self-contained frames of reference, two hierarchies of values intersect. 1957V. G. Childe Dawn Europ. Civilization (ed. 6) x. 176 But his [sc. Montelius's] disciples and imitators have clumsily extended his system beyond the regions for which it was devised and have used it as a frame of reference into which cultural phenomena in Central Europe, South Russia, and even Turkestan must be fitted! 1958Listener 6 Nov. 724/1 There is as yet no assured frame of reference for comparisons between the scrolls and the New Testament. 1967A. Arent Gravedigger's Funeral xii. 192 That was the thing about Jenny. Her frame of reference. She was solid.
†5. Adapted or adjusted condition; definite form, regular procedure; order, regularity, ‘shape’. Frequent in phrases (to bring, set, etc.) in, into, out of, to (a good, etc.) frame. Obs.
1494Fabyan Chron. v. cvi. 80 Arthur by his marcyal knyghthode, brought theym in such frame..that [etc.]. 1535Coverdale Bible Ded., It causeth all prosperite, and setteth euery thyng in frame. 1581Mulcaster Positions xx. (1887) 84 It [walking] is good for..the throte, the chest, when they be out of frame. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 321 Good my Lord put your discowrse into some frame. 1641Vind. Smectymnuus xiii. 125 To plant and erect Churches to their due frame. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. (1723) 199 The Strata..owe their present Frame and Order to the Deluge. 1718Swift Horace's Odes iv. ix. 9 Your steady soul preserves her frame. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 41 When Nature finds any Member..weakened or out of Frame. 1801W. Seward Yordes Cave 2 Box-trees are cut into a curious frame. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. xxxii, To her lips in measured frame The minstrel verse spontaneous came.
6. Mental or emotional disposition or state (more explicitly, frame of mind, soul, etc.).
a. Natural or habitual disposition, temper, turn of thought, etc. (now rare).
b. Temporary posture of mind, state of feeling, mood, condition of temper. frames and feelings: often used in religious literature of the 18th and 19th c. as a disparaging term for emotional states as a criterion of the reality of spiritual life.
a.c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 31 So had he the most merciful, gentle, and compassionate frame of spirit. 1711Steele Spect. No. 167 ⁋3, I am a Fellow of a very odd Frame of Mind. a1754Fielding Char. Man Wks. 1784 IX. 409 That heavenly frame of soul, of which Jesus Christ himself was the most perfect pattern. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 110 It did not occur to a body of so conservative a frame of mind, that [etc.].
b.1665Boyle Occas. Refl. (1845) 28 The way of thinking we would recommend, does very much dispose men to an attentive frame of mind. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. xvi. 117 He would compose himself unto a most heavenly Frame in all things. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. xv, In this thankful frame I continued. c1741Brainerd in Edwards Life i. (1851) 3 All my good frames were but self-righteousness. 1774Fletcher Ess. on Truth Wks. 1795 IV. 114 The modish doctrine of a faith without frame and feeling. 1806A. Knox Rem. I. 10 The concluding stanza shews..in what frame he wrote. 1828E. Irving Last Days 45 Hence arose that substitution of frames and feelings for the sacraments..of the church. 1838J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1839) IV. viii. 144 Consider the different frames of mind we are in hour by hour. 1874Stubbs Const. Hist. I. xiv. 131 He was in no patient frame.
III. A framed work, structure.
* generally.
7. a. A structure, fabric, or engine constructed of parts fitted together. Now obs. or arch., exc. in the particular applications under 8, 9. † In early Sc. applied spec. to a rack; in 16–18th c. to a gallows, an easel, a scaffolding, etc.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Laurentius 338 Þar-eftyre gert hyme straucht In til framis with al þare macht. Ibid. Agatha 168 He gert strek hire in a frame, & torment hir in syndry vyse. 15..Hickscorner in Hazl. Dodsley I. 158 Yea, at Tyburn there standeth the great frame, And some take a fall that maketh their neck lame. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 147 The way of perfeccyon is as a frame, in the whiche one thynge dependeth of an other. 1558T. Phaer æneid iv. 653 Make out with ores, in ships, in boates, in frames. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 41 b, They use a greater Sythe..fenced with a crooked frame of stickes. 1632Lithgow Trav. v. 171 At Ierusalem I lodg'd..in a Cloystred frame. a1641Suckling Lett. Wks. (1646) 87 If I should see Van Dike with..his Frame and right Light. 1645Evelyn Diary (1889) I. 189 At Naples they use a frame [a ‘maiden’, sort of guillotine], like ours at Halifax. 1697Dryden Alexander's Feast 162 Divine Cecilia came, Inventress of the vocal frame. 1700― Palamon & A. ii. 554 The gate was adamant; eternal frame. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 121/2 He made use of Frames to shut out the River.
†b. ? A snare; = engine. Obs.
1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 164 The deuyll..labours to get vs in his frame. [Cf. 1558 in 2.]
8. Applied to the heaven, earth, etc. regarded as a structure.
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 21 Y⊇ knowledge of God..in the frame of the world and all the creatures is..plainly set forth. 1594Marlowe & Nashe Dido v. ii, Ye gods, that guide the Starry frame..Grant [etc.]. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 310 This goodly frame the Earth. 1667Milton P.L. v. 154 These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almightie, thine this universal Frame. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. II. 371 Power supreme..to thee I sue, to thee, coeval with the mundane frame. 1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. xii. (1858) 403 The thunderstorm..begins by making the solid frame of Lebanon and Sirion to leap for fear.
9. a. Applied to the animal, esp. the human body, with reference to its make, build, or constitution.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iii. i, As you enter at the door, there is opposed to you the frame of a wolf in the hangings. c1600Shakes. Sonn. lix. 10 This composed wonder of your frame. 1617J. Taylor (Water P.) in Shaks. C. Praise 126 His post-like legs were answerable to the rest of the great frame which they supported. 1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. Ep. Ded., How long in this corruptible Frame some Parts may be uncorrupted. 1749Smollett Regicide i. vi, Simple woman Is weak in intellect, as well as frame. 1775Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 65 Amidst the terror which shakes my frame. 1812–16J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 298 A lever of the third sort became most admirably adapted to the animal frame. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. v. 398 One whose vigorous frame had won him his distinctive surname [Ironside].
b. Austral. and U.S. An emaciated animal; spec. in pl. in Austral., draught cattle. (Cf. sense 11.)
1880Bradstreet's 29 Sept. 3/4 The north British farmers are finding it profitable to import what the American dealers graphically call ‘frames’ to feed for market. 1903‘T. Collins’ Such is Life 249 By-the-way, there's four of your frames left—out near those coolibahs. 1934Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Oct. 21/4 No poorer or weaker old frames ever travelled the Birdsville stock route.
** A supporting or enclosing structure.
10. a. A structure of timbers, joists, etc. fitted together to form the skeleton of a building.
c1440Promp. Parv. 176/1 Frame of a worke, fabrica. 1533Udall Flowers Latine Speaking 84 b, Fabrica, proprely is a forge or frame of a carpenter. 1545Act 37 Hen. VIII, c. 6 The secret burnynge of frames of tymber..redy to be sett up, and edified for houses. 1579Nottingham Rec. (1889) IV. 182 For the frame of the house at Fre Scole. 1626Bacon Sylva §505 Great Castles made of Trees vpon Frames of Timber..were anciently matters of Magnificence. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 132 Taking away the wooden Blocks..from under the corners of the Frame, they let it fall into its place. 1741P. Tailfer, etc. Narr. Georgia 107 The Frame of the Orphan-house is up. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies 251 The bare frames of the lodges, and the brands of extinguished fires, alone marked the place. 1904W. N. Harben Georgians 299 Half a dozen expert workmen were putting up the frame of a two-storied building on massive pine sills.
b. A building; in later use, one composed chiefly or entirely of wood. Also = frame-house 2. Obs. exc. U.S.
c1425Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 13 He reysid vppe a grete frame. 1509in C. Welch Tower Bridge (1894) 85 A Trinite and ij aungellis set in the new Frame upon the bridge. c1639in Quincy Hist. Harvard Univ. (1840) I. 452 The frame in the College yard. 1667Boston Rec. (1881) VII. 37 The Complaint of seuerall Inhabitants of a frame sett vp. 1732Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1885) XII. 40 Henry Gibbs has very lately Incroched on the Towns Land on Dock Square by Erecting Frames thereon. 1766Entick London IV. 334 A large..frame of timber and brick was set thereon. 1841C. Cist Cincinnati 41 Of these last [buildings] 200 were brick and 121 frames. 1884N.Y. Herald 27 Oct. 4/6 The house is a three story frame, and was full of guests at the time. 1892‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claimant 28 The ‘mansion’..was a rickety old two-story frame.
c. ellipt. as adj. (= framed ppl. a.) or n. (= framework 1). U.S.
1790Pennsylvania Packet 3 Apr. 3/3 A good frame loaf bread bake house with one oven. 1816U. Brown Jrnl. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1915) X. 268 The 3rd House is Log and frame with Double Porches. 1836J. Hall Statistics of West iv. 66 The dwelling houses are usually large edifices of brick or frame. 1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It (1882) xiii. 74 Block after block of trim dwellings, built of ‘frame’ and sunburnt brick. 1897J. L. Allen Choir Invisible ii. 12 Rude dwellings of logs now giving way to others of frame and of brick. 1924C. E. Mulford Rustlers' Valley iv. 38 The street was a busy one in front of a line of lighted buildings, frame, one-story shacks all.
11. a. A structure which serves as an underlying support or skeleton, or of which the parts form an outline or skeleton not filled in.
In mod. dialects used for the skeleton of a person or animal (see Cheshire and Wilts. Glossaries, E.D.S.).
1536in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 183 To Wesburne, carpenter, settyng upon the frame and bells in St. Fryswides steple, xiiijs. 1579E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Nov. 161 Beare, a frame, whereon they vse to lay the dead corse. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) Index 84 The Frame where the Coppers stand..is made of Dutch Bricks. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. v. x. (1845) 335 For placing broken Looking-glasses upon a moveable Frame betwixt their Nets. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. ii. 20 Lay there all night, upon our Barbecu's, or frames of Sticks. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 26 The tube and basin are fixed to a frame of wood. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 143 The whole of the machine is made of iron, the length and breadth of the frame being regulated according to the size of the article to be turned. 1846Young Naut. Dict. 310 The paddle-shafts and intermediate shaft rest on the top of a strong frame. 1853Ure Dict. Arts I. 1086 The powerful uprights or standards called housing frames, of cast iron, in which the gudgeons of the rolls are set to revolve. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Frame..the ribs or stretchers for an umbrella or parasol. 1866Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxi. 542 The frame or body of the cart. 1884Longm. Mag. Mar. 486 The terrible jars which its rubberless wheels and springless frame communicated to the system of the rider.
fig.1642Rogers Naaman Ep. Ded. 1 These two Graces..are the chiefe frame of these my ensuing lectures.
b. Horology. (See quots.)
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn., Frame is the Out-work of a Clock or Watch, consisting of the Plates and Pillars. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 106 [The] Frame..[comprises] the plates of a watch or clock that support the pivots of the train.
c. Printing. (See quot. 1874.)
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc. II. 22. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 912/2 Frame..7 (Printing) a desk containing two pairs of cases, containing roman and italic letters for the use of a compositor (see Case), or the stand supporting them.
d. Naut. (See quots.)
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) D b, A frame of timbers..is composed of one floor-timber..whose arms branch outward to both sides of the ship: two or three futtocks..and a top timber. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Frames , the bends of timbers constituting the shape of the ship's body—when completed a ship is said to be in frame. 1883Nares Const. Ironclad 4 The frames, which correspond to the ribs or timbers of a wooden ship are of iron about ½ inch thick.
e. That part of a pair of spectacles which encloses the lenses and holds them in their proper position. Also attrib.
1847Penny Cycl. XXII. 328/2 Where side-pieces are added to the frame..the instrument is denominated simply a pair of spectacles. 1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 203/2 Steel frame spectacles. 1939–40Army & Navy Stores Catal. 921/2 Lenses fitted to any of the above frames or customers' own frames. 1969Which? Feb. 45 Two-thirds of those buying spectacles pay several pounds extra on private frames.
f. The fixed part of a bicycle. Hence frame-bag (a bag for carrying articles, fixed within the frame).
1871English Mechanic 10 Feb. 491/3 The great ease in riding..the makers attribute to the form of the frame. 1897Westm. Gaz. 14 Aug. 7/2 In the frame bag was a package containing blocks of writing paper. 1898Cycling 8 Lacking the elaborate plant of the great firms—especially that for frame building—they are apt to fit their frames together untruly. 1968Which? Aug. 233 We measured the strength of front forks (the parts of the frame which are likely to bend or crack first), pedal cranks and carriers. 1971Oxford Mail 6 Oct. 16/1 (Advt.), Boys bicycles, 16 in. frame, relatively little used.
g. In Pool, the triangular form used in setting up the balls; also, the balls as set up, or the round of play required to pocket them all; similarly in Skittles and Tenpin Bowling; also, one of the several innings forming a game.
1890C. C. Moore Games of Pool 79 These balls are placed in the form of a triangle upon the table, as in Pyramids, a wooden frame or ‘triangle’ being employed to save trouble and insure correctness. 1897R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 608 (Tenpins) Each player rolls ten frames or innings. 1910Hints on Skittles, Offic. Rules 23 The Frame shall be 4-ft. 6-in. square, the Plate circular, 3-in. in diameter, and 22½-in. from centre to centre. Ibid. 24 The ball is not dead until it is motionless on, or off the frame. 1929Encycl. Brit. III. 978/1 The teams roll one frame (2 balls) on one alley, and for the next frame alternate and use the other alley. 1930A. P. Herbert Water-Gipsies xxi, There were thirty competitors for the Cup, and each of them played seven frames. 1958Economist 20 Dec. 1085/1 If he succeeds in spilling all ten pins with one ball, this is called a ‘strike’, and the bowler is credited with ten points in that particular section of the game (each such section is called a ‘frame’). 1968Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 8 Oct. (1970) 718, I..rolled two balls that went in the gutter for my second frame. 1971J. Wainwright Last Buccaneer i. 10 He could play snooker. It was a three-frame match and he had already won the first frame.
h. The horizontal skeleton of a motor vehicle that supports the body, the engine, and the various mechanisms; also, the structural framework of an aircraft (now usu. air frame (air n.1 B. III. 6)).
1900W. W. Beaumont Motor Vehicles I. 232 The frame is built up of tubes, and is carried on double-leaf springs on the front axle, which carries stud axles at its ends with forwardly projecting steering arms. 1902A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors ii. x, A frame which has some diagonal stays or parts which act as diagonals is very desirable, though few car frames are so made. 1909Flight 20 Feb. 103 Frame, in French, the term ‘chassis’ is sometimes used, but more often the word ‘fuselage’ on account of the bodies of most monoplanes being spindle-shaped. Ibid., Half-Elliptic Frames, a frame of the fusiform type which has been curtailed at the middle. 1921Chambers's Jrnl. 341/1 The rattle and jolt of the little frame-car and the noise of the motor made conversation..inaudible. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 24/1 The body [of an aeroplane] is most often a frame of wood compression members and wire bracing. Ibid., To these spars are attached transverse ribs which give the shape of the wing and a light wood edge completes the frame. 1929Encycl. Brit. XV. 893/2 The type of frame which has become practically standard consists of two longitudinal beams..with cross members spanning between them at intervals... The frame with the mechanical parts of the car assembled upon it is called the chassis. 1959‘Motor’ Man. (ed. 36) i. 13 The cruciform bracing could be applied to a frame only to the rear of the engine and gearbox. 1968G. N. Georgano Compl. Encycl. Motorcars 574 Based on light and simple tubular frames, the cars were easily adaptable for various racing classes.
i. Aeronaut. A transverse structural member in a fuselage, wing, etc., which follows the outline of the part and supports the longitudinal members and the skin.
1925E. H. Lewitt Rigid Airship i. 13 All the loads carried by the ship are supported by this corridor, which transmits their weight to the transverse frames. 1930,1966[see former n.1 3 e]. 1933W. Munro Marine Aircraft Design v. 74 The scantlings of a wing float frame are given in Fig. 55. The frames are spaced about 8 in. apart. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. V. 587/2 Most..stiffened-shell fuselages use both frames and stringers to support the skin.
12. a. That in which something, esp. a picture, pane of glass, etc. is set or let in, as in a border or case.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. xxiv, My body is the frame wherin 'tis held. 1666Pepys Diary (1890) 280 Paid him {pstlg}14 for the picture, and {pstlg}1 5s. for the frame. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. I. iv. 89 It had a glass over it, and a frame curiously carved. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) p. lxxxviii, These [filters] are generally made..with the mouth stretched on a hoop or frame. 1849C. Brontë Shirley xix, The mill yawned all ruinous with unglazed frames. 1892Photogr. Rev. of Rev. I. 452 Pictures in unusual frames.
fig.1848C. Brontë J. Eyre xxxvii, A grass-plat..set in the heavy frame of the forest.
b. Cinematography. One of the series of separate pictures on a film.
1916E. W. Sargent Technique Photoplay (ed. 3) 362 Frame. A single photograph in the roll of film. A picture one inch wide by three-fourths of an inch high. There are sixteen of these frames to the foot. 1918H. Croy How Motion Pictures are Made 32 The light revealed the postures of the dancer as she appeared on the ‘frames’ in front of the viewing aperture. 1936Discovery June 192/2 Red figures underneath the black shutter speeds show the standard ciné speeds from 8 to 96 frames per second. 1966Listener 24 Feb. 286/2 The very last (and most horrifying) frame. 1971Sci. Amer. Oct. 35/2 Frame-by-frame analysis of motion pictures of the head movements and eye movements.
c. Television. A single complete image or picture built up from a series of lines; formerly also = field n. 16 d. Also attrib., as frame frequency.
[1928Television I. ii. 10/3 All that is required is simply an adjustment to bring the picture properly into its ‘frame’.] 1935E. H. Robinson Televiewing iii. 49 This number of complete ‘frames’ or pictures is barely sufficient to prevent flicker in the receiver. 1936O. S. Puckle tr. von Ardenne's Telev. Reception i. 5 The Marconi-E.M.I. television system transmits 25 complete pictures per second each of 405 total lines. These lines are interlaced so that the frame and flicker frequency is 50 per second. 1943[see field n. 16 d]. 1943Gloss. Terms Telecomm. (B.S.I.) 77 In interlaced scanning the frame-frequency is an integral multiple of the picture-frequency. 1955J. W. Wentworth Color Telev. Engin. ix. 249 It takes two fields to produce a complete television image or frame. In a field-sequential color system, it takes 6 fields or 3 frames to produce a complete color picture, since each line must eventually be scanned in all three colors. 1971Sci. Amer. Sept. 183/2 Television stations broadcast 30 frames per second, each frame containing 525 scan lines.
13. a. Hence applied to various utensils of which the ‘frame’ or border is an important part.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Frame, The founder's Frame is a kind of ledge inclosing a board; which being filled with sand, serves as a mould to cast their work in. 1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 912 Frame..3 the head of the batten in a loom. Ibid., Frame..10 (Soap-making) a box whose sides are removable when required, and locked together when the soap is to be poured in.
b. Embroidery and Weaving. In early use: A loom (obs.). Now short for lace-frame, stocking-frame, etc.: see also quot. 1727.
The early uses should perh. be referred to sense 7 or 11.
1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 792 The frame was brought forth with his wevyng pin. 1530Palsgr. 222/2 Frame to worke in, metier. 1592Davies Immort. Soul iv. x. (1714) 36 Narrow Webs on narrow Frames are weav'd. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Frame is more particularly used for a sort of loom, whereon artizans stretch their linens, silks stuffs &c. to be embroidered, quilted or the like. 1797Monthly Mag. III. 243 Many frames are entirely stopped, and others but partially employed. 1812Examiner 11 May 291/2 Frames..indisputably lessen the number of workmen. 1849James Woodman ii, Two young girls..sat near with tall frames before them, running the industrious needle in and out. 1849C. Brontë Shirley i, He expects two waggon loads of frames and shears.
c. Horticulture. A glazed structure, portable or fixed, for protecting seeds and young plants from frost, etc.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 207 Covering..the Tree..with a glaz'd Frame. 1782Cowper Pineapples & Bee 9 The frame was tight, And only pervious to the light. 1858Glenny Gard. Every-day Bk. 276/1 Stocks..are mostly sown in frames. 1882Garden 4 Feb. 73/3 The whole of these were placed in..a propagating frame.
d. An open box of slats in which bees build and which can be removed from the hive. Also attrib.
1673Phil. Trans. R. Soc. VIII. 6097 The Frame for the Bees to fasten their Work upon. 1875J. Hunter Man. Bee-keeping 137 Select a frame of comb. 1881Gardening Illustr. III. 123 Remove the top, and four or five of the frames, so as to let the bees drop in the hive. Ibid., The bees will run up into the frame hive. 1908Kipling Actions & Reactions (1909) 98 Melissa found a far-off frame so messed and mishandled by abandoned cell-building experiments that, for very shame, the bees never went there. 1955A. C. Waine Background to Bee-keeping v. 46 Part of this problem was solved by the blind Swiss naturalist Huber (1789) who induced his bees to build their combs within wooden frames each of which could be conveniently handled. 1971D. Galton Bee-keeping in Russia ii. 10 The movable frames..now in standard use in Russia as elsewhere.
14. Mining. (See quots.)
1747Hooson Miner's Dict., Frame, This is for Sinking in Sand and Water..it is made of four good Planks..placed in the Top of a Sand, [it] may be let down with ease enough as one Sinks. 1869R. B. Smyth Goldf. Victoria 612 Frame of Timber—Differs (as some say) from a ‘set’ in width, and the legs are placed perpendicularly. 1875J. H. Collins Metal Mining Gloss., Frame, an inclined board over which a gentle stream of water is made to flow, for the purpose of washing away the waste from small portions of ore which are placed upon it from time to time.
15. attrib. and Comb. General relations:
a. simple attrib., as (sense 10) frame barn, frame-building, frame construction, frame-cottage, frame-dwelling, frame shop; (sense 11) frame-boat, frame tent; (sense 11 d) frame-bend, frame-timbers; (sense 12) frame-door; (sense 13 b) frame-smith; (sense 13 c) frame-cucumber, frame yard. See also senses 11 f, 12 c.
1753in New Jersey Archives (1897) 1st Ser. XIX. 284 To be Sold... Plantation..there is on it..a large *frame barn, and stables. 1825Colonial Advocate (Toronto) 5 Jan. 1/4 For Sale... A Frame Barn with Stabling, Forty by Forty-two. 1831J. M. Peck Guide Emigrants 182 He may put up a frame barn. 1847Carlyle Lett. 2 Oct. (1904) II. 50 You will be very wise to get that frame barn you speak of.
c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 120 Frame-timbers, Various timbers that compose a *frame bend.
1888T. T. Wildridge Northumbria 124 *Frame-boats covered with skins.
1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 93 The machinery is in a *frame building.
1935Archit. Rev. LXXVII. 64/3 All Wright houses look like *frame-construction houses. 1956J. M. Richards in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowledge 381 Rhythmic façade patterns that frame-construction naturally promotes.
1881G. W. Cable Mme. Delphine Carancro iv. 12 A little *frame cottage, standing on high pillars.
1890Daily News 26 June 2/6 *Frame cucumbers, 1s. 6d. to 2s. per dozen.
1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 23 A *frame door is set in a proper frame, made for the purpose.
1760in New Jersey Archives (1898) 1st Ser. XX. 425 To be sold, a certain Tract of Land,..with three good *frame Dwelling-houses. 1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn I. xix. 192 Half a dozen frame dwellings..were scattered over the landscape. 1913J. London Valley of Moon iii. xiv, He had just begun work on a small frame dwelling.
1894‘Mark Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson i, Two or three brick stores..towered above interjected bunches of little *frame shops.
1725Lond. Gaz. No. 6385/4 John Smith..*Frame-Smith. 1861Stamford Mercury 1 Feb. 6/2 Apprenticed..to a frame-smith.
1874A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences x. 134 We reached the township of Maori Point..consisting of..a few ‘*frame tents’, as fixed tents usually lined with green baize or druggeting are called. 1961Spectator 23 June 933 Frame tents are what liken the camping fields of Europe to Agincourt. 1963Guardian 21 Jan. 5/2 The frame tent..is built on a folding tubular frame, with four or five uprights. 1970Which? May 132/1 A frame tent usually consists of two tents. Ibid. 136/1 The number of people a frame tent can sleep is determined by the width of the inner tent.
1846Young Naut. Dict., Frames, or *Frame-timbers, in shipbuilding, the floor timbers, which..compose what is termed the frame.
1899Daily News 28 Oct. 7/6 The early chrysanthemums..are well worth a visit. Ask for the ‘*frame-yard’. 1933Jrnl. R. Hort. Soc. LVIII. i. 13 The plants..should be..left on the beds for two or three days before removing to the frame yard.
b. objective, as frame-bender, frame-maker.
c. instrumental, as frame-knit, frame-knitted, frame-knitter, frame-knitting, frame-tape, frame-worker.
1882Standard 13 Oct. 2/3 The dispute originated with the *frame benders and steel platers.
1696Lond. Gaz. No. 3226/4, 5 dozen of superfine Rolling *Frame Knit Hose.
1892Scott. Leader 30 Mar. 5 He presented a petition from the *frame-knitters to Parliament.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, *Frame Knitting, a description of Frame Work, which when finished has the appearance of Knitting.
1762Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1765) II. 57 note, Norrice, *frame-maker to the Court. 1822B. Hofland Son of a Genius iv, His frame-maker agreeing to take his pictures off his hands.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, *Frame Tape, this is a stout half bleached linen tape..The prefix ‘Frame’ refers to the loom on which it is woven.
1812Byron Let. to Ld. Holland 25 Feb., Practices which have deprived the *frame-workers of employment.
16. Special comb.: frame aerial Radio, an aerial composed of a rectangle or loop of wire, adapted for directional reception; frame-breaker, one of those who resisted with violence the introduction of frames for weaving stockings, etc.; so frame-breaking; frame-bridge (see quot.); frame-dam (see quot.); frame-level (see quot.); frame story, a story which serves as a framework within which a number of other stories are told; frame-stud, one of the uprights of the frame of a building; frame-tubbing (see quot.). Also frame-house, frame-saw.
1921Wireless World 10 Dec. 562/2, I can receive the Dutch Concert..on a..*frame aerial. 1924Wireless Weekly 8 Oct. 745/1 A good range of receivers, including reflex sets using small frame aerials. 1960Gloss. Terms Telecomm. (B.S.I.) 122 Loop aerial (frame aerial), a closed circuit designed to be used as an aerial.
1812in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1813) XVI. 160, I have had an application from Nottingham to chalk for the *frame-breakers. 1849C. Brontë Shirley ii, I only wish..the frames..were safe here..Once put up, I defy the frame-breakers.
1816Parl. Debates 10 July, Lord Sidmouth moved the third reading of the *Frame Breaking Bill. 1863Kingsley Water Bab. i, The frame-breaking riots, which Tom could just remember.
1882Ogilvie, *Frame-bridge, a bridge constructed of pieces of timber framed together on the principle of combining the greatest degree of strength with the smallest expenditure of material.
1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 26 A *frame-dam is formed of balks of fir wood, placed endwise against the pressure.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 913 *Frame-level, a mason's level.
1924F. Edgerton Panchatantra Reconstructed II. i. 4 Each of the five books contains not only a primary story, which we call the ‘*frame-story’, but also at least one, and usually several, ‘emboxt’ stories. 1960J. V. Cunningham Trad. & Poetic Struct. 60 For the second feature—the general idea of a frame story—it is agreed that no particular model need be sought.
1770–4A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1804) II. 195 In wooden cottages, the *frame-studs are to be six inches by five.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, *Frame Tubbing, solid wood tubbing.
Add:[III.] [11.] j. = walking frame s.v. walking vbl. n.1 4 b. Cf. also Zimmer n.
1966Equipment for Disabled IV. xvi. a2 The special swivel action of this frame enables the user to walk with a natural gait while having full support. 1976S. Hooker Caring for Elderly People iii. 38 Having the frame in front reduces the fear of falling. 1984‘J. Somers’ If Old Could 162 She struggles to the commode, using her frame.
[12.] d. Colloq. phr. in the frame: (amongst a group) singled out for or attracting attention; under consideration, in the spotlight; spec. under suspicion or wanted, esp. by the police (cf. frame v. 10).
1941V. Davis Phenomena in Crime xix. 255 In the frame, ‘wanted’. 1974J. McVicar McVicar ii. 186 A police officer spoke to Shay..and said, ‘McVicar's in the frame, and he'll never come out of it.’ 1985Times 23 Mar. 15/2 Guardian Royal Exchange..emerged as the clear favourite to attempt a bid although BTR, Hanson Trust and the West German Allianz group were in the frame.
▸ Literary Criticism and Literary Theory. A (section of) narrative which encloses or introduces the main narrative (or narratives) of a text, esp. one which comments upon or sets in context the primary narrative. Cf. frame story n. at Compounds 2, metanarrative n.
1810A. L. Barbauld Brit. Novelists I. 39 The frame is very well managed; the whole is supposed to be read in manuscript to the fathers of the Inquisition, and the remarks of the holy office are very much in character. 1883H. M. Kennedy tr. B. ten Brink Hist. Eng. Lit. iv. ii. 355 This led, of itself, to the idea of the vision as the poetic frame. 1924Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 39 321 Trissino claimed epic unity for the Decamerone because (as in the Faerie Queene) all the stories are related to a basic situation and are consequently placed in a single frame. 1956College Eng. 17 200/1 The ‘frame’ of the story [sc. Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny], the narrative of action on shore, is inferior in texture to the body of the book. 1974MLN 89 924 The narrative text so generated is placed within the frame of a dialogue between narrator and reader. 1995V. Chandra Red Earth & Pouring Rain (1996) 24 ‘So,’ he said. ‘What's your narrative frame?’ ‘My what?’ I said. ‘Your frame story.’.. ‘You don't have one, do you.’ ‘No,’ I said, shame-faced. ‘I was just going to tell it, straightforwardly, you see.’
▸ Linguistics. = substitution frame n. at substitution n. Additions.
1943K. L. Pike in Language 19 81 Members of a form class often can be determined by utilizing a test phrase, one element of which can be replaced successively by other items; this testing device is a frame. 1952Language 28 508 Each morpheme of the frame determines the items substitutable with in it (as our in that's our— prevents cyst but permits sister, whereas my permits both). 1966M. Pei Gloss. Ling. Terminol. (at cited word), Frame, a test sentence or word group, one element or slot of which can be successively replaced or filled by different forms. 1997P. H. Matthews Conc. Oxf. Dict. Linguistics 135 Adjectives, such as happy or helpful, are among the units that can fill the blank (—) in the frame the— people.
▸ frame drum n. Music any of the class of hand drums consisting of a (usually shallow) circular frame, either one or two drumheads, and occasionally also fitted with small bells or jingles.
1935K. G. Izigowitz Mus. & Other Instruments of S. Amer. Indians 165 Another single-membrane drum is the arctic shaman-drum or *frame-drum. 1961A. Baines Musical Instruments through Ages 36 Frame drums also include a wide range of forms, with instruments as different from each other as the huge drums of ancient Sumeria,..and the European tambourines. 2000S. Broughton & M. Ellingham World Music: Rough Guide II. i. 5/2 All over Afghanistan in the privacy of their homes women play, sing and dance to the sound of a daireh—a large tambourine-like frame drum.
▸ frame narrative n. Literary Theory and Literary Criticism = frame story n. at Compounds 2.
1909C. Thomas Hist. German Lit. xviii. 342 The multitudinous Serapion stories, with the *frame narrative of the storytelling club in Berlin, where Hoffmann spent the last six years of his life as judge of a criminal court. 1988L. Hutcheon Canad. Postmodern i. 8 Its setting [sc. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter], what we might call its colour-coding, and its frame narrative, which suggests historical verification through documentation, are all present, but are also all made ironic in context.
▸ frame narrator n. Literary Theory and Literary Criticism a fictional character who narrates a frame story.
[1946PMLA 61 770 We do not return at the end to the young reader of the magazine story; we do return to the ‘middle-frame’ narrator, the Traveller.] 1963Mod. Philol. 60 192/2 The *frame narrator and Simon Wheeler engage in a contest of innuendo and insult. 1992Rev. Eng. Stud. 43 230 The narrative convention is that of the told tale: a frame narrator reports the narrative spoken by an inner narrator.
▸ frameshift n. Molecular Biol. displacement of the reading frame in a nucleic acid sequence; spec. (more fully frameshift mutation) any mutation which results in this by insertion or deletion of nucleotides in numbers other than multiples of three.
[1961F. H. C. Crick et al. in Nature 30 Dec. 1229/2 The simplest postulate to make is that the shift of the reading frame produces some triplets the reading of which is ‘unacceptable’.] 1965Q. Rev. Biol. 40 264/2 Their complements, with reversed polarity, and no *frame shift, are: Up Up A and Cp Up A. 1988L. Stryer Biochem. (ed. 3) vii. 171 The deletion or addition of a nucleotide, a frameshift mutation, leads to an entirely different amino acid sequence on the distal side of the mutation. 2002Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 16616/1 This deletion causes a frameshift and the introduction of a stop codon.
▸ frameshifting n. Molecular Biol. the occurrence or initiation of a frameshift; spec. (more fully ribosomal frameshifting) a mechanism by which certain viruses and yeasts, etc. can produce different proteins from a single messenger RNA sequence by the use of different sites for initiation and termination of translation.
1971Jrnl. Molecular Biol. 62 230 Occasionally a suppressible sequence in the proper phase may occur at a site close to but distinct from the *frameshifting site. 1999New Scientist 3 July 85/1 (advt.) A..studentship is available in the Division of Virology to study ribosomal frameshifting, a translational strategy used by retroviruses to express reverse transcriptase.
▸ frame-tale n. Literary Theory and Literary Criticism = frame story n. at Compounds 2.
1912S. L. Wolff Greek Romances in Elizabethan Prose Fiction i. ii. 195 The main story of the ‘æthiopica’, for fully half its course, is degraded to the level of a ‘*frame-tale’, and made to enclose the incidental novella of Cnemon, [etc.]. 1994J. Barth Once upon Time 341, I luxuriated in our first upstate springtime..casually researching the entire corpus of frametale literature: stories-within-stories from every culture and century that I could find them in.
▪ II. frame, v.|freɪm|
[OE. framian to be helpful or profitable, to make progress, f. fram forward adj. and adv. (see from); cf. the equivalent ON. frama to further, advance, get on with. The cognate ON. fremja (= OE. fręmman, fręmian: see freme v.) to further, execute, perform, may have influenced the development, as it has no umlaut in pa. tense and pa. pple. (framðe, framdr).]
†1. intr. To profit, be of service. Const. with dat.; also quasi-impers. Also, to supply the needs of. Obs.
c961æthelwold Rule St. Benet lvii. (Schröer) 95 Forðy, þe he bydæle þære stowe mid his cræfte framað. c1230Hali Meid. 31 Þat tu understonde hu lutel hit frameð ham. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1642 At set time he sulden samen ðor [i.e. at the well] hem-self & here orf framėn. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11112 To nemne hem here, litel hit frames.
†2. To gain ground, make progress; to ‘get on’ (with); to prosper, succeed. Also, in neutral, sense with adv., to get on well, ill, etc. Obs.
a1050Liber Scintill. iv. (1889) 20 Eadmodness swa micelum swa heo is ahyld to neowlum swa micelum heo framað [proficit] on heahnysse. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 253 But oft full yll they frame That wyll be besy with to hye thynges to mell. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1863 The feldfare wolde have fydled, and it wold not frame. 1550Latimer Last Serm. bef. Edw. VI, Wks. I. 228 Now I could not frame with it, nor it liked me not in no sauce. 1559Mirr. Mag., Dk. York xxiii, God that causeth thinges to fro or frame. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 186/2 When the world framed contrarie..to his purpose. 1582T. Watson Centurie of Loue lxxxi. (Arb.) 117 So frames it with mee now, that I [etc.]. c1611Chapman Iliad iv. 13 The two..are pleas'd to see how well the..fight did frame. 1634Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 126 Even howbeit the business frame not, the Lord shall feed your soul. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 184 It framed not according to expectation.
†3. trans. To prepare, make ready for use; also, to furnish or adorn with. Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 3146 So mikil hird so it noten mai, Ben at euen folc sum to samen, And ilc folc is to fode framen, And eten it bred. 13..Coer de L. 1859 The knights framed the tree-castel Before the city upon a hill. c1400Destr. Troy 6206 A cloth all of clene gold, Dubbit full of diamondis..Framet ouer fresshly with frettes of perle.
†4. To prepare (timber) for use in building; to hew out; to prepare the timbers, perform the carpenter's work for (a building). Phrase, to frame and rear, frame and set up. Obs.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 481 (530) This timber is al redy up to frame. c1440Promp. Parv. 176/2 Framyn tymbyr for howsys, dolo. 1520Whittinton Vulg. (1527) 1 To square tymbre, frame and rere ony buyldynge. c1520Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 205 Will'mo Caruer framyng the sayd fertter per ij dies & alias, 2s. 2d. 1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 25 It shalbe lawfull..to erecte, make, frame and set vp..one good..windemill. 1557Trin. Coll. Acc. in Willis & Clark Cambridge II. 472 Carpenter 4 dayes in framing tymber for y⊇ upper floor. 1603Ibid. II. 491 A bargayne to frame finish and set vp y⊇ roofe. 1707Mortimer Husb. 302 The Carpenters Work to Hew the timber, saw it out, frame it, and set it together. 1724in Temple & Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. (1875) 199, I hope the fort and houses will be framed and set up this month.
5. To shape, give shape to; to fashion, form.
a. with material obj. Obs. exc. with additional notion as in 6 and 7.
1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 30 They frame the roofes of these cotages with sharpe toppes. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 190 This brittle bottle framed out of clay. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 181 The effigies of Saint Ierome, miraculous framed by the naturall veines of the stone. 1678R. Barclay Apol. Quakers v. xxiii. 171 The Iron..is softned and framed. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 9 Batter it out..pretty near its shape; and so by several Heats..frame it into Form and Size. Ibid. 183 The Gouge..may..also frame pretty near the hollow Moldings required in the Work.
b. To shape, compose, give (specified) expression to (the countenance).
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus, Frons castigata, a Countenance so well framed that it cannot be reprehended. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 186 Why I can..frame my Face to all occasions. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 21 The Admirall (framing the best countenance he could) departed thence.
c. To shape, direct (one's thoughts, actions, powers, etc.) to a certain purpose. Also with a person, etc. as obj., to shape the action, faculties, or inclinations of; to dispose. † In early use, to train, discipline; = form v. 2. † Also in pass., to be in a certain frame or mood. Const. for, to, to do.
1547J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes 210 You shall..frame his youthe with verteous preceptes. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer, Ordering of Deacons, To frame..youre owne lyues..according to the doctrine of Christ. 1556Hoby tr. Castiglione's Covrtyer (1577) Q ii. v, The good man of the house..firste with faire woordes, afterward with threatninges, attempted to frame hir to do his pleasure. 1569J. Parkhurst Injunctions, You must endeuour so to order and frame your selues in the setting foorth of Gods true Religion. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 127 Two whelpes..the one he framed to hunt, and the other [etc.]. 1599B. Jonson Every Man out Hum. ii. i. (Rtldg.) 38/1, I cannot frame me to your harsh vulgar phrase, 'tis against my genius. 1637Rutherford Lett. clxxxvii. (1891) 367 Frame yourself for Christ, and gloom not upon His cross. 1640Marcombes in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1888) IV. 117 It will be a harder matter for me to frame them to their bookes. 1660Pepys Diary 26 Jan., We were as merry as I could frame myself to be. 1662H. Newcome Diary (Chetham Soc.) 44, I got up about 8, and was but ordinarily framed. 1675tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. (ed. 3) Introd. 6 b, She..framed her Tongue to a pure and elegant way of Speaking. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 177 She cannot quite..frame her Mouth to the Sound of the Word Sister. 1775F. Burney Let. to Mr. Crisp 8 May in Early Diary, I cannot frame myself to anything else. 1814Cary Dante, Par. iii. 110 God knows how, after that, my life was framed. 1846Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 150 Such is Thy silent grace, framing aright our lowly orisons.
d. To direct (one's steps); to set out upon (a journey). Also refl. and absol. To shape one's course; to betake oneself, resort. Obs. exc. dial. = ‘go’.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 169 Many..men..have framed themselves to my conversation. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 20 A stately Castle far away she spyde, To which her steps directly she did frame. 1598Yong Diana 61, I frame my selfe to the seruice of some Lord or Gentleman. 1608Shakes. Per. Prol. 32 The beauty of this sinful dame Made many princes thither frame. 1637Heywood Dial. i. Wks. 1874 VI. 100 Pilgrimage I'l frame Vnto the blessed Maid of Walsinghame. 1847E. Brontë Wuthering Heights v, ‘Frame upstairs, and make little din.’ Ibid. xiii, A threat to set Throttler on me if I did not ‘frame off’, rewarded my perseverance. 1865B. Brierley Irkdale I. 120, I fraimt up to her and sed.
e. intr. for refl., in various applications, now chiefly dial.: (a) To put oneself in a posture of doing something; to set about, make an attempt or pretence to do; (b) to go about a work in a promising manner; to give promise of becoming skilful; (c) to manage, contrive, to do something.
Cf. shape intr., used dialectally in all these meanings.
16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. v. (Arb.) 62 Schollers must frame to liue at a low sayle. 1611Bible Judg. xii. 6 He could not frame to pronounce it right. 1634–5Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 119 The masters..not..knowing how to frame to till, and order their land, the ground hath been untilled. 1664Flodden F. ix. 83 For defence they fiercely frame. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 130 Before he could frame to get loose of her. 1863Mrs. Toogood Yorksh. Dial., She frames with the butter, does Mary Ann. 1867H. Parr Mr. Wynyard's Ward II. 79, ‘I frames to get about, but I'se racked wi' rheumatiz terrible—terrible.’ 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘She frames at eating a bit’..‘He frames badly at wark.’ Ibid., ‘It's framing for wet.’ 1887H. Smart Cleverly Won iv. 31 If..the mare framed well for jumping..he would [etc.]. 1888–9Longm. Mag. XIII. 442 ‘And when the other maids was back, she was framin' to be asleep, with her cap of rushes on.’ 1894Westm. Gaz. 15 June 5/3 He was just framing to play when a ball..came right through the next net. 1894Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. 265 He frames well in speaking.
6. a. trans. To adapt, adjust, fit (chiefly an immaterial object) to or into (something).
c1550Lusty Juventus in Hazl. Dodsley II. 93 Unto his teaching your life ye will not frame. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 10 Rosana..framed her selfe unto all the humours of the Prince. a1656Ussher Power Princes ii. (1683) 131 To frame our wills to the chearful performance of that duty. 1663Gerbier Counsel 15 Carpenters do frame their Railes to Ballesters. Ibid. 94 Carpenters do frame them so exact to the width..of the window. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 131 They are to be framed into one another. a1716South Serm. (1744) II. 305 The desires of the righteous are..framed to an agreeableness with the ways of God. 1806Wordsw. Intimations vii, Unto this he frames his song.
†b. intr. for refl. To adapt oneself, conform. Of things: To suit, fit. Obs.
1533More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 783/1 How would then those wordes frame. 1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 80 It will not frame altogether so currantlye in our English as the other, because the shortnesse of the seconde Penthimimer will hardly be framed to fall together in good sence. 1606Holland Sueton. 76 Having in..ardent heat begun a Tragædie, when he saw his stile would not frame thereto..he..wiped it quite out. 1642Rogers Naaman 436 Bids us try the Unicorne whether he..will..draw our cart..meaning that his wildnesse will not frame to it.
7. trans. To make, construct. Now always implying the combination and fitting together of parts, and adaptation to a design; in 16–17th c. often used more widely.
1555Eden Decades 58 They framed a new carauel shortly after. 1571Digges Pantom. i. vi. C ij b, Couple y⊇ endes of those two right lines togither with a thirde, and so haue you framed a Triangle equall to the former. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 39 b, [Hemp] serveth both for makyng of Canvesse, and framing of Ropes. Ibid. iv. 185 They be greater, as though their bodies were purposely framed for generation. 1598Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 116 To frame bridges ouer rivers. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 264 Alexander the Great caused Lysippus..to frame the pictures of all those knights which..were slain at the river Granicus. 1612Enchir. Med. 94 A cataplasme framed of crumbs..and milke with oile of Roses. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 691 It was a place Chos'n by the sovran Planter, when he fram'd All things to mans delightful use. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 120 The principal things..to be considered in framing and fitting of a Ship. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 321 Their rafts..were lifted off from the place where they were framed. 1726Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 72/2 You may frame wooden dams. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. v, The fieldfare framed her lowly nest. 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Plato Wks. (Bohn) I. 291 If the tongue had not been framed for articulation man would still be a beast in the forest. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 418 The things in heaven are framed by the Creator in the most perfect manner. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 189/2 This is really the first stage in the operation of ‘framing’ a wood ship.
8. In various immaterial applications.
a. To contrive (a plot, etc.); to devise, invent, fabricate (a rule, story, theory, etc.); to put together, fashion, compose; to put into words, express.
1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 23 Than frame they fraudes man slyly to begyle. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 187 Leland calleth it Noviodunum, which word is framed out of the Saxon Niwanðune. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 150, I will frame an aunsweare, to your two severall letters. 1577B. Googe Herebach's Husb. i. 16 He can not so easely frame a false accompt. 1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 127 Shee ever lookt when he Would frame his humble sute. 1608Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. 122 (Slothfull) He is wittie in nothing but framing excuses to sit still. 1658Bramhall Consecr. Bps. vii. 153 He who had so great a hand in framing the Oath. 1674Playford Skill Mus. i. xi. 40 Who hath framed to himself a manner of Singing. 1682Burnet Rights Princes ii. 27 This was a Story framed long after. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 128 We may observe, with how much nicety and consideration the old rules of law were framed. 1791Cowper Odyss. ii. 226 But let us frame Effectual means. 1808Scott Marm. i. vii. Frame love-ditties passing rare. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iv. 359 The convocation..had framed their answer in the same spirit. 1859Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 67 Statutes..Which must needs have been framed for some purpose or other.
b. To form, articulate, utter (words, sounds).
1609Bible (Douay) Num. ix. comm., God answered by a voice framed by an Angel. 1702Pope Dryope 80 When first his infant voice shall frame Imperfect words. 1782H. More Belshazzar i. 62 Then may my tongue refuse to frame the strains Of sweetest harmony. 1880G. Meredith Trag. Com. (1881) 153 She framed the words half aloud.
c. To form or construct in the mind; to conceive, imagine. More fully to frame to oneself. † Also with out.
1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. ii. §2 Frame to themselues a way more pleasant. a1618Raleigh Sceptick in Rem. (1651) 21 As several humours are predominant, so are the..conceits severally framed and effected. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. i. iii. (ed. 1712) 13 An Idea of a Being absolutely..Perfect, which we frame out by attributing all conceivable Perfection to it. 1710Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. §98 Whenever I attempt to frame a simple idea of time. 1782H. More Moses iii. 14 A mother's fondness frames a thousand fears. 1814Cary Dante, Par. ii. 48 With thoughts devout, Such as I best can frame. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola i. ix, He could frame to himself no probable image of love-scenes between them.
†d. To cause, produce, bring to pass. Obs.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. Epit. A iv b, Can you name A better place then countrie blest? Where..Summers frame Joyes. a1592Greene Alphonsus v. Wks. (Rtldg) 243/1 His daughter..by her marrying did his pardon frame. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 32 Feare frames disorder. 1597― 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 180 Which Heauen so frame.
e. to frame up: to pre-arrange (an event) surreptitiously and with sinister intent; to plan in secret; to fake the result of (a contest, etc.). U.S. slang.
1906A. H. Lewis Confess. Detective ii. 26 One of the gang..cried out to his fellows: ‘Hold off! He's pulled his cannister; an' if you crowd him he's framed it up to do Red.’ 1910E. A. Walcott Open Door vii. 86 ‘An' then he frames up dis job on me,’ said Jimmy bitterly. 1913C. E. Mulford Coming of Cassidy vii. 119 As long as this deal was framed up, we'll say it was this mornin'. 1919Detective Story Mag. 25 Nov. XXVIII. 5 If you give me the signal I'll frame up something. 1923R. D. Paine Comrades of Rolling Ocean vii. 121 All I need is a little work with your catcher, to frame up signals and so on.
9. [from the n.] To set in a frame; to enclose in or as in a frame; to serve as a frame for. Also with in.
1705Addison Italy 7 The winding Rocks a spacious Harbour frame. 1842Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 138, I have your..Villa framed and hung up. 1876W. H. Pollock in Contemp. Rev. June 63 Scenery and machinery were employed to frame the play. 1878Browning Poets Croisic 56 Somebody saw a portrait framed and glazed. 1883Ld. R. Gower My Remin. I. xiii. 237 The lovely lake, framed in by a background of soft-swelling hills.
10. To concoct a false charge or accusation against; to devise a scheme or plot with regard to; to make the victim of a ‘frame-up’. slang (orig. U.S.).
1922E. Titus Timber xxvi. 234 So they were after Bryant were they? They were framing him? 1926C. E. Mulford Cassidy's Protégé iv. 40 He had seen honest men framed, and guilty men let off for political reasons. 1926J. Black You can't Win xxii. 347 The police..knew I was trying to frame myself out; they began framing me in. 1927Observer 6 Nov. 21 Her heart has been given to Tom Mix, who, in consequence, is ‘framed’. 1931Daily Tel. 19 Jan. 11/6 They're for ever after me all the time, trying to frame me. 1956R. Braddon Nancy Wake vii. 70 If they were prepared to lie about Marseille then obviously they intended to frame her.
Hence ˈframing ppl. a., that serves as a frame.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxxiv. 382 Her yellow face with its framing rouleau of grey hair.
▸ trans. Literary Theory and Literary Criticism. Of a (section of) narrative: to enclose or introduce (the main narrative or narratives); to act as a frame story for. Cf. frame n.
1883H. M. Kennedy tr. B. ten Brink Early Eng. Lit. ii. 179 The Disciplina clericalis, framed by a dialogue between an Arabian philosopher and his son, was rendered in Spain in the year 1106, from Arabian sources. 1952Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 65 101 The song of the Magi which in the Swedish tradition always reappears as a narrative chorus, framing the dialogues, is in part a borrowing from the Danish type. 1991Paragraph 14 126 The autobiographical story itself is framed by a prologue, a metatext which extracts from the object narration the moment of avowed finality. 2003Village Voice (N.Y.) (Nexis) 28 Jan. 53 Carson..further complicates matters by framing his narrative as the grief-addled delusion of an institutionalized man who may or may not be Gilligan. |