释义 |
ˈhole-and-ˈcorner, adj. phr. Done or happening in a ‘hole and corner’, or place which is not public; secret, private, clandestine, under-hand. Contemptuously opposed to ‘public’ or ‘open’.
1835Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administ. (1837) III. 205 Hole-and-corner meetings are got up to speak the voice of the nation. 1839Stonehouse Axholme 77 Any manufacturer of the hole and corner political petitions of the present day. 1862H. Kingsley Ravenshoe III. 55 Tell me at once what this hole-and-corner work means. 1878S. Walpole Hist. Eng. I. vi. 600 The Queen's friends declared that the King's supporters were ‘hole-and-corner’ men. 1883Black Shandon Bells i. Hence hole-and-ˈcornerism, hole-and-corner action; a system of secret procedure.
1873Daily News 7 Nov. 5/4 The real..conduct of French politics at the present moment is by hole-and-cornerism. |