| 释义 |
Goliath|gəʊˈlaɪəθ|
Often incorrectly Goliah; also 4, 6 golias.
[a. L. (Vulg.) Goliath, Heb. golyath the giant slain by David, 1 Sam. xvii.
In Wyclif's Bible the MSS. have the forms Goliath and Golie; Coverdale has only Goliath. The form Golias in Shakes. occurs also in Chaucer, and seems to have been used in med.Lat.]
1. A giant; often with allusion to details in the Scripture narrative.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. ii. 33 None but Samsons and Goliasses It sendeth forth to skirmish. 1607Hieron Wks. I. 429, I haue..chosen this clause, as a smooth stone, by which I may..smite this Goliah in the forehead. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 331 The world still affording us a Goliah now and then, as well as of old. 1830J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 4 These Goliahs of the forest. 1846J. Hamilton Mt. Olives iv. 105 The Goliath of English literature felt that he had studied successfully when he had prayed earnestly.
Comb.1718Entertainer xxxiv. ⁋3 He..Goliah-like defies the whole Body of the Clergy. 1847Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art I. 137 The Goliath-like stature and the Herculean chest of Charlemagne himself.
2. a. A very large lamellicorn beetle, of the genus Goliathus or the family Goliathidæ.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. 494 The vast African Goliaths. Ibid. 628 (Index) Goliath beetles.
b. The African giant heron, Ardea goliath. In full Goliath heron.
1860Ibis II. 220 Ardea goliath, Temm. Goliath Heron. 1906W. L. Sclater Birds S. Afr. IV. 55 Goliath Heron. Ibid. 56 The Goliath is found throughout the greater part of Africa. 1970Animals July 127/1 Huge goliath herons stand like statues, suddenly darting to life to spear a fish or a frog.
c. A giant frog, Cyclorana goliath, found in S. Cameroon. In full Goliath frog.
[1914E. G. Boulenger Reptiles & Batrachians ii. 208 The Giant Frog, Rana goliath, of Cameroon..was discovered only quite recently.] 1931H. W. Parker in W. P. Pycraft Standard Nat. Hist. xii. 501 We may mention the..largest of all frogs, the giant Goliath-frog (R[ana] goliath) of the Cameroons, which is as big as a medium-sized terrier and can eat a full-grown rat. 1961D. M. Cochran Living Amphibians of World 159/1 It seems very unlikely that a successful cross could ever be made between the goliath frog and any frog from the northern hemisphere.
3. A kind of powerful travelling crane. Also attrib.
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. s.v., Goliaths, like travellers, are worked both by hand and by steam power. 1892E. Marks Notes Constr. Cranes 107 A Goliath supplied to the Government of New South Wales. Ibid. 108 The Goliath crane, known also as the Wellington crane. 1892F. Colyer Lifting & Pressing Machinery (ed. 2) 164 ‘Goliath’ Travellers. 1928Daily Express 5 Dec. 13 Floating cranes and land cranes, goliaths and derricks. 1970Railway Modeller May 155/1 Three closely spaced sidings are spanned with a Goliath crane. |