| 释义 |
gaper|ˈgeɪpə(r)|
Also 6 Sc. -are.
[f. prec. + -er1.]
1. a. One that gapes; one that stares or gazes in wonder or curiosity.
a1637B. Jonson Discov. Wks. (Rtldg.) 748/1 The Taberlanes..of the late age, which had nothing in them but the scenicall strutting, and furious vociferation, to warrant them to the ignorant gapers. 1711Addison Spect. No. 47 ⁋3 The Dutch..hang up..what they call the Sign of the Gaper, that is, the Head of an Idiot dressed in a Cap and Bells, and gaping in a most immoderate manner. 1835Lytton Rienzi i. ix, The pope's notary hath set up a great picture in the Market-place, and the gapers say it relates to Rome. 1864–5Knight Passages Work. Life II. i. 5 Gapers from the country stood wonderingly upon the Parade.
†b. One who gapes or longs for a thing. Obs.
1559Mirr. Mag., Worcester xiv, And for my goodes and liuinges wer not small The gapers for them bare the world in hand [etc.]. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 351 Maister Gavine Hammiltoun, gapare for the Bischoprik of Sanctandrois. 1593Queen Elizabeth tr. Boeth. (E.E.T.S.) 9 Paulin the consul..from the gapers [L. hiantium] Jawes I drew. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. iv. 727 More gapers for the wealth Of such as dy'd.
2. Ornith.
a. The open-bill (see quot. 1871). rare.
b. One of the Eurylæmidæ; a broad-bill.
1871Darwin Descent of Man II. 217 The Gaper (Anastomus oscitans) of India. 1884–5Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) IV. 463 The blue-billed gaper (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus)..is found in Sumatra and Borneo.
3. (See quots.)
1828–32Webster (citing Pennant, but it is not in P.'s Brit. Zool.), Gaper, a fish with six or seven bands and tail undivided. [1861Couch Brit. Fishes I. 195 From this peculiarity it was that among the Greeks it [Serranus Cabrilla] obtained the name of..Channos, or the Gaper. ]1889Cent. Dict., Comber, the Serranus cabrilla, also called..gaper.
4. A bivalve mollusc of the family Myidae, the shell of which is open at one end: also gaper-shell.
1853Forbes & Hanley Brit. Mollusca I. 160 Myadæ. The Gaper Tribe... The popular appellations of ‘Gapers’ may be applied to the whole tribe. 1868Wood Homes without H. v. 98 The common Gaper Shell (Mya arenaria), so called because one end of the shell gapes widely.
5. An easy catch in Cricket. colloq.
1903Wodehouse Prefect's Uncle viii. 117 Seeing you miss a gaper like that right into your hands made me think I was playing stump-cricket with the juniors. 1963Times 7 Feb. 3/3 Certain of the younger members of the side were dropping some regular ‘gapers’.
Hence † ˈgaperess, a female gaper.
1660Hexham Nether-Dutch Dict., A woman Gaper or a gapresse. |