| 释义 |
‖ vedette|vɪˈdɛt|
Also 9 vedet; 7– vidette.
[F., ad. It. vedetta, prob. f. vedere to see. The incorrect spelling vidette, now rare, was common in the first half of the 19th cent.]
1. Mil. A mounted sentry placed in advance of the outposts of an army to observe the movements of the enemy.
α1690Davies Diary (Camden) 129 And then lay down to sleep..without posting any scouts or videttes abroad. 1778Gouv. Morris in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) II. 228 A few good cavalry may be requisite for the videttes. 1812Examiner 7 Sept. 561/2 He fell in with the enemy's videttes. 1843Prescott Mexico iii. iii. (1864) 152 One of the videttes perceived..a large body of Indians moving towards the Christian lines. 1868Regul. & Orders Army §892 Instructions for the guidance of Outposts,..videttes, and sentries. 1902R. W. Chambers Maids of Paradise xxii. 376 The rigid system of patrol which brought death..to our sleet-soaked videttes.
β1702Milit. Dict., Vedette, a Sentinel of the Horse..detached from the main Body of the Army [etc.]. 1746Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope 78 To post the Out-Guard, and see the Vedettes placed properly. 1786Gillies Hist. Greece iii. I. 100 The order of their guards and watches was highly judicious; they employed, for their security, out-sentries and vedettes. 1809Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1836) V. 355 note, The vedettes of the outposts were within shot of each other. 1844Queen's Reg. & Ord. Army 394 Whether they have been in the habit of placing piquets, posting vedets, conducting patrols, &c. 1879Blackw. Mag. July 23 A vedette was killed to-day. Half-a-dozen Zulus rushed out on him soon after he had been posted for the day.
transf.1807Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 248, I made a pretext to halt—established my boy as a vedet, and sat down peacably under a bush and made my notes. 1812P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 53 An old cock, who was the vidette. 1878L. W. M. Lockhart Mine is Thine xxii. II. 98 The blackcock vedette rolled his burnished plumage leisurely against the sun.
fig.1801Jefferson Writ. (1859) VII. 483 Philosophical vedette at the distance of one thousand miles..is precious to us here. 1880Spectator 13 Nov. 1439 They cannot bear to see the landlords, whom they regard as their own vedettes, terrorized.
2. vedette boat, a small vessel used for scouting purposes in naval warfare; hence more widely, any motor launch. Also ellipt.
1884Pall Mall G. 6 Oct. 6/1 Building armour-clads, fast cruisers, vedette and torpedo boats. 1892Times (weekly ed.) 7 Oct. 7/2 They are vedette boats and not torpedo boats in the proper sense. 1977E. W. Middleton Lifeboats of World v. 178, 90 fast vedettes. 1982H. A. Williams Some Day I'll find You i. viii. 23 If it was low tide the passengers had to land in vedettes.
3. With pronunc. |vəˈdɛt|. A stage or film star.
1963Listener 28 Mar. 572/2 The ‘pop’ singers' predecessors were the music-hall vedettes, among them Marie Lloyd and Maurice Chevalier, who..lit up the souls of their audiences with wit and innuendo. 1980L. St. Clair Obsessions viii. 150 At the sight of..the Hollywood vedette, the maitre d'..escorted his guests to the window table. |