| 释义 |
▪ I. harp, n.1|hɑːp|
Forms: 1 hearpe, (hærpe), (2 herpe, 3 hearpe), 3–7 harpe, 4– harp.
[Com. Teut.: OE. hearpe = OLG. *harpa, MDu. harpe (Du. harp), OHG. harpha, harfa, (Ger. harfe), ON., Sw. harpa, Da. harpe:—OTeut. *harpôn-. Thence late L. harpa and derived Romanic words.]
1. a. A stringed musical instrument, which, in its usual form, consists of a framework of wood fitted with a series of strings of definite lengths which are played with the fingers, (or, in some earlier types, with a plectrum). Also spec. one used by Anglo-Saxon minstrels.
The modern harp is roughly triangular in form and furnished with pedals for raising the tone of the strings by a semitone, in double-action harps by two semitones.
c825Vesp. Psalter xxxii[i]. 2 In hearpan ten strenga singað him. c1000ælfric Gen. xxxi. 27 Mid timpanum and mid hearpum. c1175Lamb. Hom. 97 He [David] on ȝeoȝoþe herpan lufede. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 23/127 Þe harpe he heng vp bi þe wouh. 1382Wyclif Gen. iv. 21 Tubal..was the fadre of syngerys in harp and orgon. 1535Coverdale Ps. xcvi[i]. 5 Prayse the Lorde vpon the harpe, synge to the harpe with a psalme of thanksgeuynge. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 258 They..touch't thir Golden Harps. 1767Percy Ess. Anc. Eng. Minstrels 9 In the early times it was not unusual for a Minstrel to have a servant to carry his harp. 1791Cowper Odyss. viii. 301 Our pleasures are the feast, the harp, the dance. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca ii. xvii. 174 The harp originally consisted of four strings, to which Terpander added other three. 1807S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Saxons (ed. 2) II. 407 Of the harp, Bede mentions, that in all festive companies it was handed round, that every one might sing in turn. 1889Ruskin Præterita III. 166 The harp is the true ancient instrument of Scotland, as well as of Ireland. 1898S. A. Brooke Eng. Lit. fr. Beginnings to Norman Conq. iv. 82 We should place ourselves..in the hall..when the benches are filled..and hear the Shaper strike the harp to sing this heroic lay. 1903L. F. Anderson Anglo-Saxon Scop 36 The harp was the instrument most used by the scop. 1942J. C. Pope Rhythm of Beowulf 91 If the harp were keeping time, the voice might omit the first accent of a verse..without causing the slightest confusion. 1957Rev. Eng. Stud. VIII. 7 The clear song of the bard is accompanied by the music of the harp.
fig.1704Pope Windsor For. 280 Where Cowley strung His living harp. 1781Cowper Retirement 325 Man is a harp whose chords elude the sight, Each yielding harmony, disposed aright. 1784― Task vi. 747 Sweet is the harp of prophecy. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 33 Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might.
b. double harp: one having two sets or rows of strings differently tuned. triple harp: one with three such sets. æolian harp: see æolian 2.
1552Huloet, Double harpe, called a roote, barbitos. 1880Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. T., Double harp.
c. A representation of a harp.
1785Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v., Harp is also the Irish expression for woman, or tail, used in tossing up in Ireland, from Hibernia being represented with a harp, on the reverse of the copper coins of that country. 1843Q. Rev. Sept. 586 A small volume under the title of the ‘Spirit of the Nation’, with a vignette emblem of the harp without the Crown. 1873Boutell Her. Anc. & Mod. 158 Harp..headed with the upper part of a winged angel—originally called a Welsh harp. It is the national device of Ireland, and it is borne in the Irish quarter of the Royal arms.
d. Also mouth harp = mouth-organ, harmonica. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1887Scribner's Mag. Oct. 481/1 She displayed a flimsy red silk handkerchief and a child's harp. 1903Ade In Babel 40 I'd walked from Loueyville over to Terry Hut with a nigger that played the mouth harp. 1963Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 246 Harp or mouth harp ‘harmonica’. 1965Melody Maker 10 July 12/6 For the best blues sound you have to..play the harp in a transposed manner.
e. An Irishman. U.S. slang.
1904‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing xiii. 249/1 Harp, an Irishman. 1926T. Beer Mauve Decade iv. 162, I sewed up his head for a young Italamerican who had been trying to impress the haughty Harps on his street. 1936J. Dos Passos Big Money 75 The foreman was a big loudmouthed harp.
†2. Phr. to agree (etc.) like harp and harrow: not to agree at all (the things being utterly different, though their names alliterate). Obs.
1563Becon Displ. Pop. Masse (1637) 299 The Lords Supper and your peevish, popish private masse doe agree together..as the common proverbe is, like harpe and harrow, or like the hare and the hound. 1624Gataker Transubst. 203 These things hang together like harp and harrow, as they say. 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 34 [Bethlehem] Bedlam..whether the Name and Thing be not as disagreeable as Harp and Harrow?
3. The northern constellation Lyra.
1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 264 An other constellation, whiche is called the Harpe. 1697Creech Manilius v. ii. 67 Next shines the Harp. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 225/2 Lyra (the Harp), one of the old constellations, representing the lyre of Mercury..or of Orpheus.
†4. The name given to two Irish coins bearing the figure of a harp.
a. = harp-groat: see 8.
b. Short for harp-shilling: see 8 and harper1 2. Obs.
1542Recorde Gr. Artes (1575) 198 There is an other Grote called a Harpe, which goeth for 3d. 1561Proclam. in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iii. 122 The said pece called the Reade Harpe shalbe taken and receyved onely for and at two pence currant of this realme. 1606J. Rowley in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1887) I. 90, I..desired you to be pleased to make me over 100li in harpes.
5. Applied to various mechanical contrivances:
a. A screen or sieve used in sifting and cleansing grain from weed-seeds, etc. Sc.
b. An oblong frame filled up with parallel wires and used as a screen for sifting sand, coal, etc. Sc.
c. Cotton Manuf. ‘A concave grating in a scutching-machine through which the refuse falls as the cotton is driven forward by the revolving beater’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
1768Specif. Patent No. 896 A wire harpe which sifts out all the gross sand, dust, small wheat, etc. 1788Patent No. 1645 Harp for separating the straw from the corn. 1830Mechanic's Mag. XIV. 162 The year following [1795] he introduced..what he denominated plain harps, to receive the straw as it fell from the shaker and give it also a shaking motion. 1897Alloa Jrnl. 24 July 3 He was threatening [him] for not giving him his harp (a riddle for coals).
6. Also harp-shell: A mollusc of the genus Harpa of family Buccinidæ, and its shell.
1751Sir J. Hill Hist. Anim. 150 Harp Shell. 1837Penny Cycl. IX. 455/2 The genus [Harpa]..is more especially abundant at the Mauritius and the neighbouring islands, whence the finest of the more common species and the many-ribbed harps are procured. Ibid., The most precious..is the Many-ribbed Harp (Harpa imperialis). 1863Wood Nat. Hist. III. 373 The general colours are tolerably similar throughout the Harps, but each species always preserves its peculiar individuality. Ibid. 377 The Harp-shells are only found in the hottest seas.
7. Also harp-seal: The Greenland seal: so called from the harp-shaped dark marking on the back.
1784Pennant Arctic Zool. 165 The Newfoundland Seal⁓hunters call it the Harp, or Heart Seal, and name the marks on the sides the saddle. 1847Carpenter Zool. §202 The Greenland, or Harp Seal, is remarkable for the changes of colour which it undergoes. 1854Chamb. Jrnl. I. 76 Four varieties..the young harp and young hood, the old harp and the bedlamer, or old hood. 1885Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 25 Apr. 2/3 Steamer Ranger..returned to St. John's with 35,600 prime young harps.
8. attrib. and Comb., as harp-form, harp-maker, harp-note, harp-player, harp-solo, harp-twanging, harp-woman; harp-fingering, harp-like, harp-shaped adjs.; harp-wise adv.; harp-file, a wire hook for filing papers, attached to a harp-shaped piece of iron (Funk); harp-fish, a fish of the genus Lyra, the Piper; † harp-groat, an Irish coin having the figure of a harp on the reverse; harp-lute (see quot.); harp-master, -mistress, a teacher of harp-playing; harp-seal: see sense 7; harp-shell: see sense 6; † harp-shilling, an Irish coin having the figure of a harp on the reverse: see harper1 2; † harp-star, Vega, the chief star in Lyra. Also harp-string.
1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 233 *Harp fish hath a hard and dry flesh, yet sweet enough if eaten boiled with vinegar. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Lyra, The lyra cornuta or horned harp fish..a fish of an octangular form, covered all over with long scales.
1543in O'Curry Mann. Anc. Irish (1873) III. 274 An hundred pounds sterling in *harp grotes.
1861J. S. Adams 5000 Mus. Terms, *Harp-Lute, an instrument having twelve strings and resembling the guitar.
c1515Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy) 10 *Harpe makers, leches, and upholsters.
1819Hermit in Lond. II. 185 That gentleman is my daughter's *harp-master.
1852Miss Mitford Recollect II. 101 The dismissal of the poor little *harp-mistress.
1813Scott Trierm. i. v, Had a *harp⁓note sounded here, It had caught my watchful ear.
1591Fearf. Effects 2 Comets (Halliw.), *Harpe shillings shall not passe for twelvepence. a1592Greene Jas. IV, iii. ii. (Rtldg.) 204/2 What shall I be, then? faith, a plain harp⁓shilling.
1601Holland Pliny xviii. xxvi. I. 590 The Dolphin star riseth in the morning, and the morrow after, the *Harp-star Fidicula.
1626Bacon Sylva §223 You may try it without any sound board along, but only *Harp⁓wise, at one end of the strings.
▪ II. † harp n.2
In 7 harpe.
= harpy 4. Obs.
1671H. M. tr. Colloquies Erasmus 514 The Ducks and Seaguls, the Harpe and the Buzzard..The Harpe and the Kite against the Buzzard.
▪ III. harp, v.
[OE. hearpian, f. harp n.1 Cf. MDu., Du. harpen, MHG. harpfen, Ger. harfen.]
1. intr. To play on a harp.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §6 He mihte hearpian þæt þe wudu waᵹode. c1205Lay. 20311 He cuðen harpien wel an his child-haden. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 405 Many hundreth of angeles harpeden and songen. 1525Tale of Basyn 82 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 47 He harpys and gytryns and syngs well ther-too. 1629Milton Nativity 115 The helmed cherubim, And sworded seraphim..Harping in loud and solemn quire. 1879Butcher & Lang Odyss. 208 Among them harped the divine minstrel Demodocus.
2. fig. to harp upon, on († of), a, one, the same (etc.) string: to repeat a statement or dwell on a subject to a wearisome or tedious length.
1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 773 The Cardinall made a countenaunce to the Lord Haward that he should harpe no more upon that string. c1526Frith Disput. Purgat. (1829) 117 See how he harpeth all of one string. 1625Gonsalvio's Sp. Inquis. 13 They are sure still harping on their old string. 1685Refl. Baxter 25 He harps much upon that jarring String. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. vi. (1872) 198 Harping mainly on the religious string.
3. Hence, to harp on, harp upon, († harp of, harp about): to dwell wearisomely upon in speech or writing.
1562Apol. Priv. Masse (1850) 19 The great matter you harp on. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 189 Still harping on my daughter. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 103 This word revenge he still harpt upon. 1712Steele Spect. No. 504 ⁋2 Ever harping upon things they ought not to allude to. 1837Disraeli Venetia ii. x, Still harping of her father.
b. harp on (intr.): to continue harping.
1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xii, ‘It would be a comfort’, harped on Mr. Rivers, dwelling on the subject.
†4. trans. To play (notes, etc.) upon a harp. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 7430 (Gött.) Harpand a sang bifor þe king. c1320Sir Tristr. 572 He..harpeþ notes swete. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 172 b/1 An harpe on whiche..he wold harpe anthemes. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. xiv. 7 Howe shall it be knowen what is pyped or harped? 1777Warton Ode x. Poems 67 A tale..Never yet in rime enroll'd, Nor sung, nor harp'd in hall and bower.
b. To render in verse, to ‘sing’.
1808J. Barlow Columb. viii. 322 What avails To harp for you these known familiar tales?
†5. trans. To play upon, twang (a string, etc.).
1628Gaule Pract. The. (1629) 44 The Promise made, the Prophets harpe the string.
b. fig. (intr.). To ‘play’ (upon). rare.
1830Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 228 They fear the orators who harp upon the bad passions of the people.
6. intr. To make a sound like that of the harp.
1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 59 Yet shall you hear them if you listen in an evening harping like Mise (as if Mise were gnawing on every side). 1823Byron Island ii. xviii, No dying night-breeze, harping o'er the hill.
7. trans. To give voice to, to guess.
1605Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 74 Thou hast harp'd my feare aright. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. iv, The old dame had..harped aright the fear of the Lord Keeper. 1821Byron Sardan. ii. i. 420 Thou hast harp'd the truth indeed!
†b. intr. to harp at: To guess at. Obs.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Taston, Parler à taston, to speake by ghesse or coniecture, onely to harpe at the matter. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. iv. Wks. (1851) 178 Rugged names of places unknown, better harp'd at in Camden, and other Chorographers.
8. trans. To bring out of, into, a place or state by playing on the harp.
a1529Skelton Replyc. 341 At his resurrection he harped out of hell Olde patriarkes and prophetes in heuen with him to dwell. a1800Glenkindie in Jamieson Pop. Ballads (1806) I. 91 He'd harpit a fish out o' saut water, Or water out o' a stane. a1828Water o' Wearie's Well in Buchan Anc. Ballads, He's harped them all asleep. 1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 328 He could harp his wife up out of Hell. |