| 释义 |
▪ I. profile, n.|ˈprəʊfaɪl, -fiːl, -fɪl|
Also 8 profil. See also purfle.
[ad. obs. It. profilo, now proffilo, a border, a limning or drawing of any figure, n. f. profilare, now proffilare to profile; from It. also mod.F. profil, formerly porfil, pourfil (1539–c 1700), profile, section, contour, from which some of the Eng. senses may have been directly taken.]
1. a. A drawing or other representation of the outline of anything; esp. of the human face, outlined by the median line.
1656Blount Glossogr., Profile (Ital. profilo), that design that shews the side with the rising or falling of any work; As a place drawn sideways, that is so as onely one side or moyety of it may be seen, is called the Profile; and is a term in painting. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Profil..a Face or Head set sideways, as usually on Medals, and such a Face is said to be in Profil, or in a Side View. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 139 Invented the profile to represent the side face of a prince who had lost one eye. 1833R. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. i. 182 The shadow of a face on the wall is a correct profile.
b. A biographical sketch or character study (common in journalistic use since c 1920); a summary description or report.
a1734R. North in J. L. Clifford Biogr. as an Art (1962) 31 As for the many sketches or profiles of great men's lives, pretended to be synoptical or multum in parvo, we are sure there is nothing we look for in them. 1840Dickens Let. 26 Nov. (1969) II. 158, I have gone through your two profiles, and marked them in pencil here and there. 1925New Yorker 21 Feb. 9 (heading) Profiles. 1927Observer 23 Oct. 6/2 No man can better give a thumbnail sketch of..a personality intimately known. In this volume we have glimpses of a few political personages... But novel ‘profiles’ of writers whom he has known are not to be found. 1930H. Crane Let. 21 Nov. (1965) 357 One assignment is a ‘profile’ of Walter Teagle, president of Standard Oil (N.J.). 1942Observer 29 Nov. 1/4 M. Maisky, the Russian Ambassador, is the subject of the ‘Profile’ on page 7. 1952M. Steen Phoenix Rising v. 112 He's the big guy..who does the profiles in the Saturday edition. 1959Economist 20 June 1096/2 He is the author of ‘Profiles in Courage’, a prize-winning and best-selling work of popular history. 1962Listener 7 June 1004/1 A film profile of Julian Bream. 1975Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xiv. 217 We have in mind a profile which would include diagnostic information and examples of written work. Ibid. xvii. 249 More reliable and productive would be a detailed profile of every child's strengths and weaknesses. 1976Liverpool Echo 6 Dec. 1/5 United States President-elect Jimmy Carter was today examining profiles of 70 possible candidates for Cabinet and other senior posts.
2. in profile, as seen from one side, as opposed to a front view. Also, in lost profile (see profil perdu).
a1668R. Lassels Voy. Italy ii. (1670) 172 The head in Profile of Alexander the great cut into marble. 1702Addison Dial. Medals iii. (1726) 164 Till about the end of the third Century, when there was a general decay in all the arts of designing, I do not remember to have seen the head of a Roman Emperor drawn with a full face. They always appear in profil, to use a French term of art. 1746–7Hervey Medit. (1818) 268 Sometimes, she appears in profile, and shews us only half her enlightened face. Anon, a radiant crescent but just adorns her brow. 1865Lubbock Preh. Times xiv. (1869) 518 He excited great commotion among the Sioux by drawing one of their great chiefs in profile. ‘Why was half his face left out,’ they asked. 1967W. Ames Prince Albert & Victorian Taste xi. 139 The Duke..is seen in lost profile, with just enough of his nose and chin showing to be unmistakable.
3. a. The actual outline or contour of anything, esp. of the human face; in quot. 1791 the horizontal contour-line of a hill. In Physical Geogr., the outline of part of the earth's surface as seen in a vertical section along a straight line or a line following the course of a valley or river; profile of equilibrium, the profile of a graded river or stream; a profile such that the velocity is just sufficient to transport all the load supplied to it from above; also, an analogous profile of a beach, such that the amount of sediment deposited is balanced by the amount removed.
1664Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. i. 13, I continually begin to measure the projectures of every Profile from the Central line of the Colomn. 1776Mrs. Delany in Life & Corr. Ser. ii. II. 225, I..discovered him at my elbow, modelling my antiquated profil. 1791T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 434 Leading canals around the profiles of hills. [1841A. Surell Étude sur les Torrents des Hautes-Alpes i. 2 Quand on relève le profil en long du thalweg, on obtient..une courbe sensiblement continue, dont la pente s'élève, ou, si l'on aime mieux, dont la tangente s'approche de la verticale, à mesure qu'on approche du col. Ibid. iv. 18 Le profil longitudinal forme une courbe continue, convexe vers le centre de la terre.] 1868Min. Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers XXVII. 549 The longitudinal profile of the irrigation canal, leading out of such a river should be..a regular inclined plane. Ibid., The profile course of a river..described a curve, concave to the horizon throughout, but more inclined near its source than elsewhere. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 23 Mount Saint Helena..excelled them by the boldness of her profile. 1891T. Hardy Tess i, Throw up your chin a moment, that I may catch the profile of your face better. 1894Jrnl. Geol. II. 77 The profile of a consequent stream may for a time possess unequal slopes at its subsequent falls, but it soon attains a tolerably systematic curve of descent. Ibid., Following certain French writers, the profile of the stream when this balanced condition has been reached has been called the profile of equilibrium. 1902Jrnl. Geol. X. 1 (heading) Development of the profile of equilibrium of the subaqueous shore terrace. 1924Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. LXXX. 581 There is little indication of the U-shaped transverse profile which is so characteristic of the Towy valley near Nant Stalwyn. 1944A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. xiv. 292 Along a shore of submergence the slope of the initial surface may be either steeper or gentler than that of the ideal profile of equilibrium. 1950Geol. Mag. LXXXVII. 430 Fig. 1 represents the profile (perpendicular to the fold-axis) of part of the quarry face. 1952M. L. Begeman Manuf. Process (ed. 3) xix. 488 (caption) Milling profile of a locomotive side rod. 1954W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. xviii. 476 (caption) Comparison of topographic profiles across North America and the South Atlantic basin. 1961L. E. Doyle Manuf. Processes & Materials xxxiv. 755 An optical comparator..offers one way of checking the profiles and positions of gear teeth. 1964V. J. Chapman Coastal Veg. viii. 194 The beach profile is often such that it allows the waves to break close in-shore at high tide. 1968R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 871/2 During the last glacial period of the Pleistocene, mean sea level was lowered by about 100 meters or more. River valleys cut down towards a new profile of equilibrium. 1969D. J. Easterbrook Princ. Geomorphol. vi. 131 Below its junction with the Platte River, the profile of the Missouri River steepens because of the entry of gravel from the Platte. 1972M. G. Cross Oceanogr. i. 14 A profile of the ocean bottom under the ship's track is drawn by a recorder. 1976S. Judson et al. Physical Geol. xiii. 311/2 The long profile of a stream from its headwaters to its mouth is..steepest in its upper reaches.
b. transf. A barometric curve.
1860Maury Phys. Geog. Sea (Low) xxi. §859 There is barely a resemblance between this profile of the atmosphere over the land and the profile of it over the sea.
c. The shape of a wave.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 579/2 Mr Froude made the assumption that the profile of the wave was a curve of sines. 1952R. W. Ditchburn Light iv. 81 A wave of irregular profile may always be regarded as the sum of a series of simple harmonic waves. 1959E. Pulgram Introd. Spectrogr. of Speech ii. 33 The profiles of waves A and C are so different from one another that one cannot help wondering whether, apart from pitch, they really represent the same tone. 1975E. Hecht Schaum's Outl. Theory & Probl. Optics i. 1, g(x + vt) is a solution of the wave equation corresponding to an arbitrary profile g(x) propagating in the negative x-direction. Ibid. 2 Show that f(x - vt) is a progressive wave moving in the positive x-direction with an unchanging profile.
d. transf. A characteristic personal manner; an attitude, a policy (of a country, government, etc.). low profile: see low a. 23.
1961Musical Amer. May 14/1 In all of Prokofieff's music..we find his profile—his ‘signature’—his craftsman's attitude. 1962Listener 11 Jan. 105/2 Marschner's application of a powerful declamatory style lends Heiling an extraordinary dramatic profile. 1970Guardian 16 Dec. 10/2 The United States..has repeatedly committed itself to keeping its profile low. 1972Times 30 Mar. 2/1 The most complicated question is the profile the Army should adopt at the start of Ulster's ‘marching season’. 1972Guardian 12 Apr. 14/1 The British profile during the present crisis in Vietnam has been as low as could be conceived. Ibid. 24 May 13/6 There is only one realistic way to deal any sort of worthwhile blow at the IRA... This is to ‘raise the profile’ very briefly in one.. area. 1978S. Brill Teamsters ix. 323 Jackie expanded his base and his profile by joining civic groups.
4. Arch., Surveying, and Engineering. A sectional drawing, generally vertical; esp. in Fortif., a transverse vertical section of a fort.
1669Staynred Fortification 7 The Profile or Section of a Fort with a Fausse-Bray and Counterscarp. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 141 The Profil of a Chimney, cut by a Plane perpendicular to the Hearth and to the Back. 1803Woodington in Gurw. Wellington's Desp. (1837) II. 291 The profile and elevation of the western front of the fort. 1838Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 148/2 A profile of the river was constructed, exhibiting the depth of water and mud to the rock. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. i. 21 The profile is a vertical section at right angles to the trace, and shows the true heights and breadths of the object.
b. transf. The comparative thickness of an earthwork or the like (as it would appear in transverse section); hence ellipt. an earthwork of strong or weak thickness.
1810Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 39 This line ought to be taken up generally by a chain of works, closed in the rear by a weak profile connected by a line. 1865Reader 4 Mar. 247/3, 172 guns of position spread over a distance of five miles, which space was fortified by field⁓works of the weakest profile. 1891Daily News 11 Nov. 5/5 A strong profile will be required on account of the great power of penetration which is given to the present bullet by the smokeless powder employed.
c. A light wooden frame set up to serve as a guide in forming an earthwork.
1834–47J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. iii. (1851) 50 When a work is traced on the ground..two profiles should be set up on each line, to show the workmen the form of the parapet, and to guide them in the execution of their task... These profiles, when made with straight slips of deal, or other wood, shew with great accuracy the form of the parapet, &c.
d. Soil Sci. The set of horizons of which a soil is composed, as displayed in a vertical cross-section down to the parent material.
1906E. W. Hilgard Soils x. 165 (caption) Soil profiles illustrating differences in soils of humid and arid regions. 1923Soil Sci. XVI. 95 In this scheme of soil classification, the soil profile includes the whole thickness, upon which the soil-forming processes have operated, from the surface down to the parent rock or geologic substratum. The importance of a separation of a profile into its natural divisions is emphasized. 1927N. C. Comber Introd. Sci. Study of Soil xiii. 144 Areas in which the profiles are essentially alike are grouped together and the characteristic profile is given a definite name. 1946L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery xi. 94 Over a large part of Highland Britain..there has been insufficient time for the weathering of rocks and the formation of a complete profile. 1954W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. iv. 80 Some soils have profiles that could not have developed under a single set of soil-developing controls, but consist of a younger profile developed under existing topographic and climatic conditions superposed upon an older profile formed under different conditions. 1976M. D. Gidigasu Laterite Soil Engin. xx. 512 In well-developed laterite profiles, the laterite horizon ranges in texture from gravelly soils to laterite rock.
e. Geol. A representation of the form of the interface between strata obtained from measurements made at points lying on a straight line; also, the line itself; to shoot a profile, to make such measurements.
1929Colorado School of Mines Q. Mar. 108 For a number of potential profiles covering the ground, lines of equal resistivity may be drawn in plan view, instead of equipotential lines. 1929Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining & Metalling Engineers LXXXI. 597 To delimit a newly discovered dome and determine the depth to the top of the cap..profiles are shot by the refraction method. 1931[see profiling vbl. n. 3]. 1940C. A. Heiland Geophysical Explor. ix. 499 In a new area a profile is first shot to determine the normal sequence of beds. Ibid. x. 736 The survey..is of interest because of the excellent correlation possible between resistivity profiles. Ibid. 739 Fig. 10-71 shows resistivity-depth curves for a dipping vein taken along three profiles, laid out 15° off strike, at increasing distances from the outcrop. 1949Geophysics XIV. 57 (heading) Airborne magnetic profile above 40th parallel, eastern Colorado to western Indiana. 1950Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists XXXIV. 1384 The slope of a time-distance curve plotted from a profile across the dome usually showed salt velocity. 1960M. B. Dobrin Introd. Geophysical Prospecting (ed. 2) v. 86 Figure 5-13 shows two sample refraction records shot from opposite directions, each made with a spread of 22 detectors spaced 300 ft apart along a profile in line with the shots. 1977Nature 3 Nov. 23/2 (caption) Seismic and magnetic profiles from locations indicated in Fig. 1. Vertical scale for the seismic profiles is in seconds of two-way travel time.
f. The outline formed on a graph or chart by joining the scores that a person has obtained in tests for various personality traits, esp. in order to provide a quantified result easily comparable with the results of others or of the norm; a similar type of diagrammatic representation of measured individual attributes for purposes of comparison. Also transf.
1932Darrow & Heath in K. S. Lashley Stud. Dynamics of Behavior 68 By repetition and comparison of tests on the same person, we find a tendency for the shape of the profile to be characteristic of a given individual. 1940T. L. Kelley Talents & Tasks 28 The full line is the profile of an individual, and the dotted line that of the average participant in the type of job being considered. 1946Jrnl. Clin. Psychol. II. 23/1 Several recent articles have discussed the usefulness of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in various clinical situations..and one has dealt with the problem of test profiles. 1948Eng. Stud. XXIX. 109 Two variables are considered of prime importance in identifying specific patterns of tone in speech: the shape of the curve of speech melody, and the position of the principal stress on that curve. A given combination of shape and stress-position will be referred to as a profile. 1957R. B. Cattell Personality ix. 366 The definition of a profile as a set of ordered measurements (corresponding to the mathematical definition of a vector quantity) applying to a single case. 1960J. B. Carroll in Saporta & Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 342/1 Métraux's..‘profiles’ of speech development include descriptions of the tendency of the child to verbalize with regard to his own and others' behavior. 1973N.Y. Law Jrnl. 24 July 4/4 To be sure, Ruiz-Estrella did fit the hijacking profile, but no one contends that this statistical survey..can come close to supplying traditional probable cause for a search. 1973Times 26 July 8/2 Mr. Ehrlichman said that the need for a psychiatric profile of Dr. Ellsberg had prompted the decision to break into the office. 1974Physics Bull. Nov. 505/1 Abstracts would be sent selectively to subscribers..according to their interest ‘profiles’. 1977Language LIII. 186 Given that we have participants of particular socio-economic profiles—but not taking their individuality into account—and given the specific situation, these are the choices which are most expected.
g. Astr. (A diagram of) the way the intensity of radiation varies with wavelength from one side of a line in a stellar spectrum to the other.
1933Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XIX. 642 (caption) Schematic profiles of lines in the spectrum of a nova expanding with constant high velocity. Ibid., The predicted profile of a star with an effectively transparent radiation shell, ejecting matter symmetrically with respect to two hemispheres. 1953L. H. Aller Astrophysics p. v, The abundance of calcium may be determined from the profile of the ‘K’ line in the solar spectrum. 1957Encycl. Brit. XXI. 1951/1 The profiles of faint lines are strongly affected by the resolving power of the spectrograph. 1971Nature 15 Jan. 214/1 He was one of the first to measure intensity profiles of the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum and to attempt to explain these by theoretical models.
h. (A diagram of) the way a quantity varies along a line, esp. a vertical line through the earth or atmosphere; more widely, any graph in the form of a line.
1953Jrnl. Geophysical Res. LVIII. 519 Five temperature profiles are obtained which represent stratospheric conditions over New Mexico during October 1952. 1955Sci. Amer. Sept. 168/2 If we took gravity readings all over the earth and corrected them to sea level, we would have a gravity profile of the geoid. This profile undulates. 1963G. L. Pickard Descriptive Physical Oceanogr. vi. 97 Temperature/depth or salinity/depth profiles..are usually drawn as the first stage in examining oceanographic data. 1970Sci. Jrnl. Apr. 50/3 The measurement of temperature profiles within the atmosphere from satellite heights. 1971I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth v. 85/2 (caption) Crustal temperature—depth profiles, as a function of heat flow and surface radioactivity. 1972Nature 25 Feb. 417/1 Oxygen isotope profiles through the entire depth of the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica..provide an excellent record of climatic changes. 1977Lancet 29 Oct. 932/1 The area irradiated by the transducer was calculated from beam profiles obtained by scanning a piezo⁓electric probe hydrophone through the centre of the beam, parallel to the transducer face. 1978Nature 20 Apr. 725/1 PAS staining of the modified bovine receptors revealed a radically different profile and showed the presence of at least four major peaks with molecular weights in the region of 3·9 × 104, 5 × 104, 1·25 × 105 and 1·8 × 105.
i. Astronautics. A particular sequence of accelerations undergone by a space rocket in flight; the plan of a space flight as regards the nature and duration of successive trajectories.
1962K. A. Ehricke Princ. Guided Missile Design I. vii. 774 (caption) Constant thrust acceleration profile with and without intermediate coast period. 1962R. C. Duncan Dynamics Atmospheric Entry i. 16 The functional phases of the direct-entry profile are: 1. Orbital phase... 2. Departure phase... 3. Free-fall phase... 4. Approach phase... 5. Landing phase. 1966Electronics 3 Oct. 131 In the Mercury and Gemini programs, and in hypothetical mission profiles, the crew's time usually limits the number of adjustments that can be made in an experiment. 1972Jrnl. Spacecraft & Rockets IX. 259 (heading) Thrust profile shaping for spin-stabilized vehicles.
†5. A ground-plan. Obs.
1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. ix. 170 Profile, the same with Ground-Plot. 1701J. Collier Hist. Geog. Dict. (ed. 2) s.v. Cambalu, It is true, that the Profil, or Draught of Cambalu, which the Portuguese have at Lisbon..differs from that of Peking, which the Hollanders brought.
6. In Pottery (and Bell-founding). A plate in which is cut the exterior or interior outline of one side of the object to be made.
1756Dict. Arts s.v. Foundery of Bells, The core is judged to be in perfection, when the profile carries the fresh cement entirely off, without leaving any upon the last dry lay. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 462 With his fingers,..he gives the first form to the vessel; then with different profiles, or ribs, he forms the inside of the vessel into whatever shape may be required, and smoothes it by removing the..inequalities. 1832G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 46 The instruments employed for this purpose [giving the first form to a vessel in ‘throwing’] are called profiles or ribs.
7. Theatr. A flat piece of scenery or property on the stage of a theatre, cut out in outline.
1824J. Decastro Mem. 43 The master carpenter had forgot to saw off one of the unpainted pieces of profile belonging to a wing. 1904Westm. Gaz. 29 Jan. 10/1 A piece of ‘profile’ was left standing in contact with the gas-jets for twenty minutes without effect. 1906Volpé in P.T.O. I. 14/2 Another ‘villain’ and myself had to cross the stage in a boat designed on lines usually known as ‘profile’.
8. attrib. and Comb., as profile head, profile line, profile painter, profile picture, profile study, profile view, profile writer; profile board, a flat board or plate cut to a pattern, used to test the outside measurements of an object; a gauge; profile chart Ecol. = profile diagram; profile cut, a method of cutting a diamond in which it is sliced into thin plates that are polished on one side, finely grooved on the other, and bevelled on the edge; also attrib. as adj.; profile cutter, a cutting tool in wood- or metal-working machines, which corresponds in shape to the profile to be produced; profile diagram Ecol., a representation of a vertical section through a forest, showing the outlines of the individual components of the vegetation; profile drag Aeronaut., that part of the drag on an aerofoil or aircraft which arises directly from its profile and from skin friction, i.e. those parts of the drag which are not attributable to lift; profile grinding Engin., grinding in which the wheel extends the whole width of the work and is given a profile which when viewed at right angles to the axis of rotation is the negative of the one it is desired to produce on the work; so profile-grind v. trans., -ground ppl. a.; also profile grinder, a machine for this; profile instrument, machine, an apparatus formerly in use for taking silhouettes; profile machine, a machine for shaping the profile of small parts of machinery, in which the cutting tool is guided by a pattern; profile paper, paper ruled with equidistant vertical and horizontal lines, for convenience in drawing to scale; profile piece, Theatr., = sense 7; profile shot, a photograph or view of the human face in profile; profile stage property = sense 7; profile-wing: see quot. 1873.
1926Tansley & Chipp Aims & Methods in Study of Vegetation iv. 65 Profile charts record diagrammatically the vertical relations of the vegetation..as seen in profile or ‘elevation’. 1965P. J. Fisher Jewels vi. 83 Normally, for the conventional brilliant cut, an octahedral diamond crystal is sawn into two halves... For the new profile cut the same crystal is sawn into four plates. 1970R. Webster Gems (ed. 2) xx. 378 The Profile cut allows considerably greater area of visible diamond than a brilliant cut of similar size. Viewed from above a Profile cut diamond resembles a row of baguettes joined by a common table facet. 1976‘D. Craig’ Faith, Hope & Death xxii. 156 Good stuff, like profile-cut diamonds.
[1933Davis & Richards in Jrnl. Ecol. XXI. 369 The stratification is very irregular and ill-marked, as can also be seen from the diagrammatic profile in Fig. 6.] 1952P. W. Richards Trop. Rain Forest ii. 24 Because the direct observation of the stratification of the Rain forest usually offers insuperable difficulties, Davis & Richards..adopted the device of constructing profile diagrams to scale from accurate measurements of the position height and width and depth of crown of all the trees on narrow sample strips of forest. 1974Mueller-Dombois & Ellenberg Aims & Methods Vegetation Ecol. viii. 148 Profile diagrams can be used to illustrate details in vertical spacing of species.
1922Flight XIV. 692/2 Prandtl calls this increment of the drag at given lift by the trailing vortex system the ‘induced drag’, and the drag of the wing of infinite aspect ratio and of the same section he calls the ‘profile drag’. 1936Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. IV. 13/2 The covering of cellulose acetate may be highly polished to lower the profile drag. 1979Nature 20–27 Dec. 778/3 These calculations take into account the effects of lift (or, in aeronautical jargon, ‘induced drag’) and of the power needed to overcome direct air resistance (‘profile drag’).
1941Automobile Engineer XXXI. 169/3 (caption) Profile grinding a helical gear by the Maag gear grinding process. 1956Ibid. XLVI. 348/2 The floor-to-floor time was 12 minutes, or 6 minutes per gear. To profile grind at such rates a reasonable standard of gear preparation is necessary.
1950C. R. Hines Machine Tools for Engineers xi. 234 Profile or contour grinders. These grinders are similar to pantograph milling machines. 1968S. Tolansky Strategic Diamond viii. 67 (caption) Shaped profile grinder roller for making ceramic spark plug. 1975Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. i. 31 Microscopes are incorporated in suitable machine tools such as profile grinders.
1917T. R. Shaw Precision Grinding Machines x. 155 (heading) Profile and form grinding. 1956Automobile Engineer XLVI. 347 (heading) Faster profile grinding of spur gears. 1968S. Tolansky Strategic Diamond viii. 66 Profile grinding is used extensively and ubiquitously for both large and small components which require to be of exact size or have complex shape. Ibid. 67 In spite of the hardness of the carbide profile grinding wheels and rollers they soon wear and lose both accurate outline and..accuracy in dimensions.
1941Automobile Engineer XXXI. 168/3 In some cases the gears are hobbed and in others pinion type profile ground cutters are employed.
1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1828) V. 203 John Clarke..did two profile heads in medal of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, yet dated 1690.
1842Francis Dict. Arts, etc., Silouette, or Profile Instrument, a contrivance for taking the exact outline of an object, particularly the outline of a person's side face.
1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 125/2 The skull rounded with a slight peak—profile line nearly straight.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxxiii, Your likeness was took on my hart in much quicker time..than ever a likeness was took by the profeel macheen.
1892Hasluck Milling machines 154 Fig. 134. Single-spindle profile milling machine..used in small-arms factories for milling articles of irregular shape.
1788Burns Let. to R. Ainslie 23 June, Mr. Miers, profile painter in your town, has executed a profile of Dr. Blacklock for me.
1874‘Mark Twain’ Gilded Age xvii. 160 He plotted the line on the profile paper. 1892Appleton's Cycl. Techn. Drawing 157 Profile paper can be obtained from stationers, on which are printed horizontal and vertical lines.
1793J. Woodforde Diary 25 Nov. (1929) IV. 80 They were so kind as to bring us a profile Picture of our late worthy friend Mr. DuQuesne. 1967P. A. Whitney Silverhill iii. 48 He could not photograph me properly. Someone less skilled had taken over, but profile shots were not the same. 1968L. Deighton Only when I Larf ii. 24 He swung round to give me a profile shot. 1972I. Hamilton Thrill Machine viii. 34 She always managed to turn slightly this way or that to give Joe a profile shot.
1854A. C. Mowatt Autobiogr. xvii. 308, I suppose you will send some profile stage properties to my room. 1959N. & Q. Feb. 84/1 An initial profile-study gives some biographical facts.
1767Monro in Phil. Trans. LVII. 503 A profile view of a small piece.
1873Routledge's Yng. Gentl. Mag. Apr. 278/2 Side scenes cut out thus are termed profile wings.
1978Rugby World Apr. 36/2 Being wholly inarticulate on any aspect of Rugby, I decided it might be wiser to confine my questioning to Gareth's second enthusiasm which, according to a generation of profile-writers, is fishing.
▸ orig. and chiefly U.S. A criterion or set of criteria used to identify individuals or groups of people for particular scrutiny for purposes of law enforcement or public safety. Cf. profiling n.
1989in J. P. Collum Without Just Cause (WWOR TV script) Segment 1 (O.E.D. Archive) Individuals..are being stopped who fit what anyone else, black or white, would call a profile. The state police might not call it a profile but its clear its [sic] a profile. 1997Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 8 Mar. Police officials in Prince George's County..say they are sensitive to the danger of using racial profiles, and they have emphasized that officers must treat all drivers with ‘courtesy and professionalism’. 2003Los Angeles Times 8 Jan. b1 It didn't matter to the cops that night that he is a professional man... ‘All that matters to them..is that I am a young black male in an old Cutlass—that's their profile.’
▪ II. profile, v.|ˈprəʊfaɪl, -fiːl, -fɪl|
[ad. obs. It. profilare (mod. proffilare) to draw in outline, f. pro:—L. prō, pro-1 1 a + filare to spin, † to draw a line:—late L. fīlāre to spin, f. L. fīl-um a thread. So mod.F. profiler, formerly porfiler, pourfiler (Cotgr. 1611). See also purfle.]
1. a. trans. To represent in profile; to delineate the side view or outline of; to draw in section; to outline. Also fig.
1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 21, I have profil'd the Imposts of the Arches. Ibid. 30 The method of profiling each Member. 1882E. P. Hood in Leisure Ho. Apr. 225 Instances in which he thus profiles his contemporaries. 1902Contemp. Rev. Dec. 838 The delicate tracery of the leaves [was] profiled against the sunset sky.
b. To compose or present a profile (sense 1 b) of (a person). Also transf. orig. U.S.
1948Word Study Apr. 3/1 A student publication at Wayne wrote: ‘Pan Profiles Russell Beggs' Panorama.’ 1959J. Thurber Years with Ross v. 85 Ross..took..the flagpole sitter..and profiled him. 1967Times Rev. Industry Oct. 12/2 In February when the Review profiled Mr. Len Neal..he spoke enthusiastically of his department. 1970T. Lupton Managem. & Social Sci. (ed. 2) iv. 98 Ways of measuring and ‘profiling’ the many structural characteristics of organizations. 1974Observer 24 Mar. 29 (caption) Anthony Sampson profiles Mrs Katherine Graham, whose newspaper exposed the Watergate scandal. 1979Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 7b/3 Hugh Downs hosts a magazine format show. Tonight, disco star Donna Summer is profiled.
c. To summarize or register (information).
1971Nature 19 Mar. 153/2 The user constructs a list of words and phrases (search terms) that summarize (profile) his information requirements. 1975New Yorker 12 May 93/1 Electrical wires from the model power plants..ran over to a control room, where electronic equipment could absorb the findings of a hundred and twenty instruments that profiled, among other things, hull pressures, mooring forces, and six degrees of freedom of motion.
2. To furnish with a profile (of a specified nature), give an outline to; also, to cause to form a profile. (In first quot. profiled may be an adj. = having a profile (of a certain kind), outlined.) Cf. profiling vbl. n. 2.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 496 The Grecian Ionic specimens of capitals,..are, generally speaking, better profiled than those of the Romans. 1865J. Fergusson Hist. Archit. I. ii. ii. i. 401 Had they [Gothic architects] carefully profiled and ornamented the exterior of the stone roofs. 1905J. Horner Engineers' Turning xv. 294 Fig. 368 is a tool in its holder used for profiling ball handles, as used on lathes, and other machine tools. 1953G. S. Schaller Engin. Manufacturing Methods xix. 340 (caption) Vertical rotary-head milling machine profiling a vertical surface. 1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. vi. 146 Side-cutters are often profiled axially to cut a specific shape.
3. intr. To present one's profile to view; spec. in Bullfighting, to stand in profile in preparation for a charge.
1932E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon 347 Profiling with more style, his kills would gain greatly in emotion. 1957A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia xv. 205 To get it to charge he has to profile on the contrary horn, making it feel sure it will catch him each time. 1973Black World Sept. 84 Ever get tired of people posturing, Posing and profiling? 1974F. Nolan Oshawa Project ii. 14 He'll be over here..profiling for the newsreels.
4. trans. To measure or investigate the profile (sub-senses of 4) of. Cf. profiling vbl. n. 3.
1932Physics II. 174 One of the earliest applications of the seismograph was its use in profiling salt domes. 1960Econ. Geol. LV. 204 Sometimes the geologist wants to profile a particular stratigraphic horizon..instead of the land surface. 1972Physics Bull. Feb. 85/1 The Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford..has improved still further its original method of profiling the atmosphere from a satellite. 1978Nature 5 Jan. 49/2 Side-scan sonar has been used..to profile icebergs, by lowering a sonar transducer vertically..from the side of a boat.
Hence ˈprofiled ppl. a.
1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 15 The profil'd Architrave, mark'd F. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVII. p. xix, The profiled figures in low relief.
▸ intr. orig. and chiefly U.S. To engage in profiling (profiling n. 5b), esp. racial profiling. Also trans.: to subject to profiling.
1989in J. P. Collum Without Just Cause (WWOR TV script) Segment 2 (O.E.D. Archive) Profiling is illegal. We as state police officers are not allowed to profile. 1996Las Vegas Rev.-Jrnl. (Nexis) 13 Dec. While driving from New York to Boston several years ago I was ‘racially profiled’—that is, stopped because I fit a law enforcement agency's ‘profile’ of a likely drug courier: a young black man driving a rented car. 1999N.Y. Times Mag. 20 June 53/3 Cops, white and black, know one other thing: they're not the only ones who profile. Civilians profile all the time—when they buy a house, or pick a school district, or walk down the street. 2002National Rev. 28 Jan. 36/1 American [Airlines], to its credit, has stood by the pilot, all the while insisting that the airline would never ethnically profile. |