| 释义 |
hobgoblin, n. (a.)|ˈhɒbˌgɒblɪn|
Also 6–8 -gobling.
[f. Hob n.1 2 + goblin1.]
1. A mischievous, tricksy imp or sprite; another name for Puck or Robin Goodfellow; hence, a terrifying apparition, a bogy.
1530Palsgr. 231/2 Hobgoblyng, goblin mavffe. 1567Drant Horace, Art Poetry (R.), An ould wyfes chat, or tale Of wiches, buggs, and hobgoblings. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. vii. ii. (1886) 105 Robin goodfellow and Hob gobblin were as terrible..as hags and witches be now. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 40 Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Pucke, You do their worke, and they shall haue good lucke. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 81 Now he saw the Hobgoblins, and Satyrs, and Dragons of the Pit, but..after break of day they came not nigh. a1704T. Brown Praise Drunkenness Wks. 1730 I. 34 No hobgobblings or dancing fairies. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest vii, Stories of ghosts and hobgoblins have always been admired and cherished by the vulgar. 1850W. Irving Goldsmith i. 20 A huge misshapen hobgoblin used to bestride the house every evening with an immense pair of jack-boots.
2. fig. An object which inspires superstitious dread or apprehension; a bogy, bugbear.
1709Steele Tatler No. 118 ⁋1 Some of the Deceased, who I thought had been laid quietly in their Graves are such Hobgoblins in publick Assemblies. 1823Bentham Not Paul 277 Putting an extinguisher upon this hobgoblin may have the serious good effect, of calming a mass of disquietude. 1841–4Emerson Ess., Self-rel. Wks. (Bohn) I. 24 A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
3. humorous. An animal that causes terror.
1770Gray in Corr. w. N. Nicholls (1843) 113 Here is Mr. Foljambe, has got a flying hobgoblin from the East Indies.
4. attrib. and adj. Of, pertaining to, or connected with hobgoblins; like a hobgoblin.
1622S. Ward Life of Faith (1627) 72 Phylosophie..hath taught them not to feare any such Hobgoblin spirits. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. iii. 737 Those hobgoblin terrors of the grave. 1679Dryden Troilus Pref. B, His language is as hobgoblin as his person. 1801M. Edgeworth Gd. French Governess (1832) 153 The sorrows of Werter, or some of our fashionable hobgoblin romances. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 386 Frightening us like children with hobgoblin terrors.
Hence (nonce-wds.) hobˈgoblin v. trans., to terrify or pursue as a hobgoblin. hobˈgoblinet, a little hobgoblin. hobˈgoblinism, belief in hobgoblins. hobˈgoblinry, hobgoblin business.
1615E. Hoby Currycombe iv. 153 Agonies, the feare whereof the Popes pecuniarie Hobgoblinets..did afterwards rayse. 1713Darrell Gentlem. Instr. ii. xii. (ed. 5) 222 We have been Hobgoblin'd too long into Religion. 1799Coleridge Lett. (1895) 291 They believe that he hovers between heaven and earth, and at times hobgoblins his relations till they preform it for him. 1836Blackw. Mag. XL. 159 The lower classes of Welsh were notorious for their faith in these local hobgoblinisms. 1843Borrow Bible in Spain xlvii. 271 What do you mean by this foolish hobgoblinry? 1853F. W. Newman Odes of Horace 56 Some regard this as a piece of hobgoblinry. |