| 释义 |
ˈhigh-grade, a. and n.
[high a. 22 a.]
A. adj. Of a high grade or quality; spec.
a. (See quot. 1909.)
b. Denoting ores rich in metal value; spec. in commercial use denoting those which, owing to convenience in situation and transport facilities, can be worked at a large profit.
1878R. J. Hinton Handbk. Arizona 161 The Metallic Accident is a large lode of low-grade ore, with a number of high-grade feeders. 1880‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad I. xxiv. 230 Only the few are educated up to a point where high-grade music gives pleasure. 1890Spectator 7 June 787 Two or three high-grade schools. 1902Daily Chron. 10 Apr. 7/2 Great Britain is becoming very short of high-grade ores. 1907Springfield Republ. 13 May 3 (Advt.), Auction sale of high grade household furniture. 1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., High-grade,..specifically, having more than three quarters pure blood: applied by stockbreeders to animals. 1910Westm. Gaz. 4 Jan. 5/2 The high-grade nature of the material and workmanship. 1919Empire Rev. 79 Its products are high-grade steels. 1929Daily Express 7 Nov. 8/4 The high-grade private car. 1932Discovery Nov. 357/2 The institute conducts genetical studies leading to the breeding and selection of high-grade wheats. 1939R. R. Snapp Beef Cattle (ed. 3) xviii. 252 Their color indicates that they are high grade and purebred individuals of strictly beef type. 1940War Illustr. 12 Apr. 360 A view of a Nazi petrol-substitute refinery where the raw material is converted into high-grade spirit suitable for use in the specially designed aeroplane engines. 1946Mind LV. 114 Some human being in his right mind, that is to say, a human agent capable of relatively high-grade action. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 23 May 279/4 But, unlike other fellow-travellers, he was actually engaged in high-grade espionage.
B. n.
a. High-grade stock.
b. (See quot. 1904 and cf. the vb.)
1882Rep. Maine Board Agric. XXVI. 253 High-grades of either breed [Jersey or Guernsey]. 1904N.Y. Sun 14 Aug. 11 One of the pests of gold mining in Colorado is the high grades, which is a polite term for the ore thief. The term high grades comes from the fact that they steal only high grade ore.
Hence ˈhigh-grade v. intr. and trans., to steal high-grade ore.
1907Westm. Gaz. 6 June 10/1, I had been ‘high grading’ in the Vindicator mine. 1923‘B. M. Bower’ Parowan Bonanza vi. 73 He..could not leave his claims and let Al Freeman..‘high grade’ his gold the minute his back was turned. 1927Blackw. Mag. June 833/1 In Cobalt..‘high-grading’ was rigorously dealt with. 1963Time (Canad. ed.) 18 Jan. 10/2 Some Timmins stores have been known to accept high-graded ore in payment for grocery bills. |