| 释义 |
hangman|ˈhæŋmən|
[f. hang v. + man.]
1. A man whose office it is to hang condemned persons; also more generally, an executioner, a torturer, racker. common hangman, the public executioner.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 368 Þe hangeman of tyborne. 1483Vulgaria abs Terentio 10 b, See how froward a face ȝoon hangeman makes. 1526Tindale Mark vi. 27 The kynge sent the hangman and commaunded his heed to be brought in. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. II. 328 Since the Hang-man dealt so roughly with him..racking as much from him as there needed no farther confession. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §51 A Paper..avowed to contain the matter of the Treaty, was burned by the Common Hang-man. 1785Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Hangman's wages, thirteen pence halfpenny, which according to vulgar tradition was thus allotted, one shilling for the execution, and three halfpence for the rope. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 175 The Commons began by resolving..that the Covenant should be burned by the hangman in Palace Yard.
b. transf. A term of reprobation; also used playfully. Also fig.
1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 123 Amplification..to call a naughtie fellowe theef, or hangman, when he is not knowne to bee any suche. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 11 He hath twice or thrice cut Cupids bow-string, and the little hang-man dare not shoot at him. 1645Milton Colast. Wks. (1851) 373 You suffer'd this nameles hangman to cast into public such a despightfull contumely.
2. attrib. and Comb.
1825Campbell To Memory Spanish Patriots v, Manglers of the martyr's earthly frame! Your hangmen fingers cannot touch his fame. 1859Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. II. lxxxvii. 56 Put to two deaths at once by the hands of a hangman-judge. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xii, ‘It strikes me rather as a hang-man air.’
Hence hangman-like a. and adv.; ˈhangmanship, the office or function of hangman.
1684Otway Atheist v. (1735) 107 Six or seven arm'd rogues with hangmanlike faces. 1824Landor Imag. Conv. Ser. i. Wks. 1846 I. 23, I abominate and detest hangmanship. 1881Swinburne Mary Stuart iv. i. 137 [They] rage not hangmanlike upon the prey. 1883Birmingham Weekly Post 22 Sept. 4/7 To decide upon the claims of 1,200 candidates for the hangmanship of England.
Sense 2 in Dict. becomes 3. Add: 2. A game in which one player attempts to guess the word or phrase chosen by the other by proposing one letter at a time, each incorrect letter causing an element to be added to a schematic drawing of a gallows and hanged man, the completion of which constitutes defeat for the guesser.
[1900E. V. & E. Lucas What shall we do Now? 136 Hanging,..the two players sit side by side, and one of them dots out..the words of a proverb or well-known line of poetry... Underneath this line a small gallows is erected... The game is for the other player to discover the line.] 1961in Webster. 1974P. Beaver Victorian Parlour Games for Today iii. 75 Gallows or hangman: This ever-popular game can be enjoyed by any number of persons irrespective of age. 1979Washington Post 25 Nov. e2/5 You can challenge the computer to hide numbers or letters from you. Like the old ‘Hangman’ game you have to guess correctly. 1989D. Leavitt Equal Affections 69 There is a hangman puzzle on the television, the letters slowly filling in. |