| 释义 |
▪ I. wanton, a. and n.|ˈwɒntən|
Forms: 4 wantowen, 4–5 -towne, 5 wantowe, wantton, 4–6 wantoun, (6 wantount), 4 Sc. vanton, 4–5 wantun, 5–6 vantoun, 4– wanton.
[ME. wantowen, f. wan- + towen:—OE. toᵹen pa. pple. of téon tee v.1 to discipline, train. The word thus literally means ‘undisciplined’; cf. untowen a., and the equivalent G. ungezogen; also ME. welitowen well-brought-up.]
A. adj.
†1.
a. Of persons: Undisciplined, ungoverned; not amenable to control, unmanageable, rebellious. Of children: Naughty, unruly. Obs.
wanton of word: violent or insolent in speech.
a1300Cursor M. 11952 Yur sun þat wantun [Gött. wantoun] and þat wild, Wit his banning has slan vr child. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 57 For whonne Blod is Bremore þen Brayn þen is Inwit I-bounde, And eke wantoun and wylde withouten eny Resoun. 14..26 Pol. Poems xii. 113 The fadir, þe wanton child wole kenne, Chastyse wiþ ȝerde, and bete hit sore. c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1230 ‘A’ seyde Reason, ‘then I know well that felawe. Wylde he ys & wanton, of me stant hym noon awe.’ c1440Promp. Parv. 515/2 Wantowe..insolens, dissolutus. c1470Henry Wallace I. 211 A hely schrew, wanton in his entent. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 100 The Carll was wantoun of word, and wox wonder wraith. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 15 Yf the childe wexe wonton the moder beteth hym fyrst with a litell rodde and the strenger he wexeth the gretter rodde she taketh. a1513Fabyan Chron. cxxvii. (1533) 62 Dagobert..associated vnto hym certayne wanton persones and bete his mayster. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 183 He with Piers of Gauestone and other wanton and wilde persons, had broken the Parke of the sayde bishop. 1612T. Taylor Titus i. 7 (1619) 127 Thus he shal make such wanton who should rather be kept vnder, by speaking peace to whom it belongeth not. 1697J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 72 The Dutchess of Northumberland came with several ladies of fashion to the Duke [a little boy] at Windsor, when unfortunately he was a little wanton, suffering some improper expressions to escape him.
†b. Of an animal: Skittish, refractory. Of a hawk: Out of hand, unmanageable. Obs.
1535Coverdale Hos. iv. 16 For Israel is gone backe, like a wanton cowe. c1575Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 26 Sugarcandy and butter will make her lustye, moyste, and proude, and being ofte used will make her wanton and to sore away. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 115 The cow kicked up her heels, and proved wanton and refractory.
†c. Of actions: Lawless, violent; in weaker sense, rude, ill-mannered. Obs. Cf. 5 b.
a1400–50Wars Alex. 12 Sum [couettis to lestyn] of wirschip I-wis slike as þam wyse lattis, And sum of wanton werkis þa þat ere wild-hedid. c1430Bk. Curteisie 20 in Babees Bk., And take good hede bi wisdom & resoun Þat bi no wantowne lauȝinge þou do noon offence.
d. Said of boys, with mixture of sense 4; often (after Shakespeare's use) with reference to childish cruelty.
1605Shakes. Lear iv. i. 38 As Flies to wanton Boyes are we to th' Gods, They kill vs for their sport. 1692E. Walker tr. Epictetus' Mor. xxxiv, Else you'll desist, and jade like wanton Boys. 1741–2Gray Agrippina 189 Had her wanton son Lent us his wings, we could not have beguil'd With more elusive speed the dazzled sight Of wakeful jealousy. 1822Scott Peveril xliii, You make me feel like the poor bird, around whose wing some wanton boy has fixed a line, to pull the struggling wretch to earth at his pleasure.
2. Lascivious, unchaste, lewd. † Also, in milder sense, given to amorous dalliance.
a. of persons (in early use only of women).
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 143 That alle wommen wantowen shulleþ be war by þe one, And biterliche banne þe. Ibid. viii. 300 Ich haue ywedded a wyf, quaþ he, wel wantowen [v.rr. wantoun, wanton] of maners. c1420Wyntoun Cron. iv. vi. 464 A woman occupyit þat steid Twa ȝeris as paip..Bot scho wes wantoun of hire waire. 1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 26 Her name was wanton Besse, Who leest with her delt he thryved not the lesse! c1515Cocke Lorell's B. 14 And many whyte nonnes with whyte vayles, That was full wanton of theyr tayles. 1569T. Underdown Ovid's Invect. Ibis D vj, Tyresias..gaue sentence of Iupiters syde, and concluded that women were the wantoner. Wherefore Iuno moued to anger put out hys eyes. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 19 Thou art a most pernitious Vsurer,..Lasciuious, wanton, more then well beseemes A man of thy Profession, and Degree. 1592Kyd Sp. Trag. i. i, My soule Did liue imprisond in my wanton flesh. a1661Fuller Worthies, Yorks. (1662) 190 Henry [I]..was very wanton, as appeareth by his numerous natural issue. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull ii. i, As for his personal Reflexions, I would gladly know who are those Wanton Wives he speaks of? 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Women (1767) I. i. 16 A daughter..turns out unruly, foolish, wanton.
b. transf. and fig.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 129 When we haue laught to see the sailes conceiue, And grow big bellied with the wanton winde. 1606― Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 220 Yond Towers, whose wanton tops do busse the clouds, Must kisse their owne feet. 1679The Confinement: a Poem 55 Curst be those Mountains, wanton with the Sun, From whose first hot embraces, Tagus run.
c. of dispositions, thoughts, speech, action, or appearance.
c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 602 And after that he sang ful loude and cleere, And kiste his wyf, and made wantowne cheere. c1400Destr. Troy 10824 Oft in wanton werkes wex þai with childe. c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 378 But aboue all other she [Venus] had a wonton ey. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 760 She thought him secretly familiar with the king in wanton company. 1577Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 64 But especyally keepe them from reading of fayned fables, vayne fantasyes, and wanton stories. 1651C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. i. 175 But consider this Commandment in the full extent of it, as forbidding all wanton lookes. a1672Wood Life etc. (O.H.S.) I. 366 A wanton (in plaine terms, a baudy) expression. 1782Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 12 June, I should have cared little about a wanton expression. 1789–96Morse Amer. Geog. II. 546 By the continuation of wanton attitudes, they acquire..a frantic lasciviousness. 1843Lytton Last Bar. i. ii, And dancing round him, with wanton looks and bare arms. 1846Keble Lyra Innoc., Gleaners, Those evil powers,..rude gaze and wanton word.
d. of writers.
1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 144 They are always abusing ‘wanton poets’.
3. Sportive, unrestrained in merriment.
†a. Of persons: Jovial, given to broad jesting, waggish. Also, free from care. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 208 A frere ther was, a wantowne and a merye, A lymytour, a ful solempne man. c1560A. Scott Poems xv. 3 Art thow nocht wantoun, haill, and in gud howp... Bathing in bliss, and sett in hie curaige? Ibid. xxvii. 7 Wantone in weill but wo, Glaid withowt grief also.
b. Of young animals: Frisky, frolicsome. Chiefly poet.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Lasciuus, Wantoner then a yonge kidde. 1593Drayton Ecl. vi. 81 The early wanton Lambs, That 'mongst the Hillocks wont to skip and play. 1694Addison Poems, Hor. Ode iii. iii. 74 Let the wanton flocks unguarded stray. 1733Pope Ess. Man iii. 29 Who for thy table feeds the wanton fawn. 1746Smollett Tears Scotl. 14 Thy swains are famish'd on the rocks, Where once they fed their wanton flocks.
c. Said poet. of moving objects, viewed as if endowed with life: Sportive, impelled by caprice or fancy, free, unrestrained.
1601Weever Mirr. Mart. E ij b, Tide for the ship, and ship was for the tide..For Neptune men, and Neptune them to guide, Thames wanton currant stealing on behind. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 517 So varied hee, and of his tortuous Traine Curld many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve. 1742Collins Or. Ecl. i. 15 When wanton gales along the valleys play. 1743Francis tr. Hor., Odes v. xv. 9 While Phœbus' locks float wanton in the wind. 1777Sir W. Jones Poems, Seven Fountains 33 A wanton bark was floating o'er the main.
†d. Of colour, music: Gay, lively. Obs.
1583Stubbes Anat. Abuses i. M 2, Then euerie one of these his men, he [the Lord of Misrule] inuesteth with his liueries, of green, yellow or some other light wanton colour. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 150 Though he were a priest he would rather choose to excell in that wanton and pleasing musick then in that which [etc.]. 1743Collins Epist. to Hanmer 41 With graceful ease the wanton lyre he strung.
†4.
a. ‘Spoiled’, petulant (of children); hence, self-indulgent, effeminate, luxurious. Obs.
1538Elyot Dict., Mollio,..to make wanton or tender. Ibid., Sibariticus, wanton or delycate. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 55 Wee are all diseas'd, And with our surfetting, and wanton howres, Haue brought our selues into a burning Feuer. 1601I. R. World or Kingd. & Commw. 169 The inhabitants [of China] partly by their effeminate and wanton kinde of life, partly by their forme of gouernment,..haue little valour or manhood left them. 1712Steele Spect. No. 438 ⁋4 Your Temper is Wanton, and incapable of the least Pain. 1746Francis tr. Hor., Epist. ii. i. 128 When Greece beheld her Wars in Triumph cease, She soon grew wanton in the Arms of Peace. 1835Thirlwall Greece I. ii. 59 Hence the name and the legend of Piasus, who reigned over the Pelasgians in the valley of the Hermus, and grew wanton from the exuberant increase of the land.
†b. Fastidious or dainty in appetite. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 328/2 Wanton of condycions..friant; friande. 1693Locke Educ. §14 If he be hungry more than wanton, bread alone will down. 1727Arbuthnot etc. John Bull iv. Postscr. ch. ix, How John pamper'd Esquire South with Tit-bits, till he grew wanton.
†c. Of clothing, diet: Luxurious. Obs.
1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. ix. B iij b, The auncient noble men..made not theyre children to be norisshed in the kyngis & prynces courts for to lerne pryde, lechrey nor to were wanton clothing. 1562Turner Baths 6 It commeth by evell and wanton diet. 1825Jamieson, Wanton-meat, the entertainment of spirits, sweetmeats, etc., given to those in a house at the birth of a child, Teviotd[ale]; elsewhere called Blithe-meat.
†d. Said of money or wealth, as tempting to extravagance or luxury. Obs.
1529More Dyaloge (1531) 76 b, And hauyng a lytell wanton money, which hym thought brenned out the botom of his purs..he toke his wyfe..to see Flaunders and Fraunce, [etc.]. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 783 The hope of gaye apparell, ease, pleasure, and other wanton welth was able soon to pierce a soft tender hart. a1700Evelyn Diary (1819) I. 2 Wotton..most tempting for a great person and a wanton purse to render it conspicuous. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 260 The midnight masquerade, With all the freaks of wanton wealth arrayed.
†5.
a. Of person: Insolent in triumph or prosperity; reckless of justice and humanity; merciless. Obs.
1513Douglas æneis xi. xiv. 149 O, quod the maid, thou fals Liguriane, Our wantoun in thy proud mynd, all in vane [L. frustraque animis elate superbis]. 1624Capt. J. Smith Virginia iv. 129 They now began to shrinke, and giue vs leaue to be wanton with our aduantage. 1643J. Burroughes Exp. 1st 3 ch. Hosea vi. 266 When men get abundance, they soon grow wanton. a1683Sidney Disc. Govt. ii. xv. (1704) 114 When that proud City [Rome] found no more resistance, it grew wanton. 1722Steele Consc. Lovers iii. i, You took no Delight, when you immediately grew wanton, in your Conquest. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 385 When I behold..Each wanton judge new penal statutes draw.
b. Of cruelty, injury, insult, or neglect: Unprovoked and reckless of justice or compassion; arbitrary, gratuitous.
1651Hobbes Leviath. iv. xliv. 342 Which is not arguing from Scripture, but a wanton insulting over Princes. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 29 Profane swearing..implies wanton disregard and irreverence towards an infinite Being. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 75 ⁋12 Some of them revenged the neglect..by wanton and superfluous insults. 1769Burke Late St. Nat. Wks. 1842 I. 109 The wanton and indiscriminate seizure of papers, even in cases where the safety of the State was not pretended in justification of so harsh a proceeding. 1841Dickens Barn. Rudge lxxxi, You see the destruction that has been wanton here. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 161 The feeling which has..induced the legislature to interfere for the purpose of protecting beasts against the wanton cruelty of men. 1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 222 note, It is impossible to pass by the wanton manner in which this is perverted by Mr. Froude. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. lxxxv. III. 133 Tyranny consists in the wanton and improper use of strength by the stronger.
†c. In weaker sense: Reckless of decorum. Obs.
1663Gerbier Counsel 20 Some wanton persons, who..affect low leanings, to make use either to sit on, and break the glasse-windowes, or to shew themselves in Quirpo to passengers.
†d. Of natural occurrences: Abnormal, extraordinary. Obs. rare.
a1754Fielding Ess. Conv. Wks. 1784 IX. 364 These men..are no less monsters than the most wanton abortions, or extravagant births.
†6.
a. Capricious, frivolous, giddy. Obs.
1538Starkey England (1878) 137 They were no thyng mete to kendyl..Chrystyan hertys to deuotyon..but rather to ster wanton myndys to vayn plesure. c1560A. Scott Poems xx. 40 Thy wantoun, folich mynd! 1602Churchyard Wond. Air in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 404 The bedstocke and the tycke, And all belongs to bed, Is but vaine pleasures that we like To please a wanton head.
†b. Of a material substance: Changeable. Obs. (? nonce-use.)
1681Grew Musæum iii. §ii. i. 323 Gold hath the least variety of regular figure, in the Ore, of any Metal. Because, more solid, and therefore, less wanton, than the rest.
7. a. Profuse in growth, luxuriant, rank. poet.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 99 The queint Mazes in the wanton green For lacke of tread are vndistinguishable. 1596― 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 214 She bids you, On the wanton Rushes lay you downe. 1704Pope Spring 35 Where wanton Ivy twines. 1876Blackie Songs Relig. 217 Wanton weeds my garden cumbered.
†b. Robust, overflowing with health. Obs.
1674R. Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physick 78, I have examined the Bloods of two hundred wanton Country healthy people.
†8. Unrestrained.
a. Of speech or imagination: Extravagant.
b. Of physical movement: Headlong, impetuous. Obs.
a.1680Otway Orphan i. i, I have heard him wanton in his Praise Speak things of him might charm the ears of Envy. 1713Addison Cato i. iv, How does your Tongue grow wanton in her Praise! 1759Hume Hist. Eng., Ho. Tudor II. Eliz. iv. 589 Sir Philip Sidney..is described..as the most perfect model of an accomplished gentleman which was ever formed even by the wanton imagination of poetry or fiction.
b.1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty xvii. 223 A fine Arabian war-horse, unbacked, and at liberty, and in a wanton trot.
9. Comb.: wanton-eyed, wanton-headed, wanton-winged adjs.; † wanton mad, sick adjs., made with the insolence of prosperity.
1603Breton Mad World (Grosart) 8/1 A..sharpe-witted, *wanton-eyed, and faire-handed..gentlewoman.
1918D. H. Lawrence New Poems 22 By-paths where the *wanton-headed flowers doff their hood.
a1700Evelyn Diary 15 July 1683, In a word, we were *wanton madd, and surfeiting with prosperity.
1599Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. iii, That griefe is *wanton sick Whose stomacke can digest and brooke the dyet Of stale ill relisht counsell. 1608R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1880) 47 The world wanton sick, as one surfetting on sinne.
1777Potter æschylus 128 Each insect, and each *wanton-winged bird.
B. n.
†1. A person, esp. a child, spoiled by over-indulgence and excessive leniency; a spoilt child, a pampered pet. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 41 b, Our lorde knoweth well that we be wantons..and..farre from the holy lyfe of perfeccyon. 1530Palsgr. 286/2 Wanton[.] cockeney, mignot, mignotte. Wanton of condicyons, saffre. 1548Udall etc. Erasm. Par. Luke Pref. {fatpara} ij, A Queene..if she would become fortunes wanton, she might without coumptrollemente swimme in the delices of all suche prosperitee. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 36, I am enforced to thinke..that thy parents made thee a wanton with too much cockering. 1595Shakes. John v. i. 70 Shall a beardlesse boy, A cockred-silken wanton braue our fields. 1623Rowlandson God's Bless. 8 So mothers deale with their little wantons, by taking the bread from them, which they tread under foot. 1656Sanderson Serm. (1689) 103 A Father may love a child too fondly and make him a Wanton.
†2.
a. A person, esp. a child, of playful, roguish, or sportive conduct. (Sometimes used as a term of endearment.) Obs.
1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 27 Sephestias Song to her Childe. Wepe not my wanton! smile vpon my knee! 1616B. Jonson Masque Oberon 977 Silenus [to the Satyrs] Peace my wantons.
†b. A sportive or roguish animal, bird, etc. Obs.
1605Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 126 As the Cockney did to the Eeles, when she put 'em i' th' Paste aluie, she knapt 'em o' th' coxcombs with a sticke, and cryed downe wantons, downe. 1697Dryden æneis vii. 678 Their Sister Silvia cherish'd with her Care The little Wanton [a young stag]. 1791Lochmaben Harper iv. in Child Ballads IV. 17 And tak a halter..And..wap it oer the Wanton's nose, And tie her to the gray mare's tail. 1805Wordsw. Waggoner iii. 118 Yon screech-owl,..I know that Wanton's noisy station. 1812Cary Dante, Parad. v. 83 The lamb, That, fickle wanton, leaves its mother's milk, To dally with itself in idle play.
3. A lascivious or lewd person. (The current use.)
† his wanton = his mistress. Obs. rare.
1540Palsgr. Acolastus iii. i, N iv b, He..playeth his parte stoutely or lyke a man, whyle the swete man .i. the plesantly disposed wanton leadeth wenches. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 45 Leonato. What doe you meane, my Lord? Clau. Not to be married, Not to knit my soule to an approued wanton. 1604― Oth. iv. i. 72 Oh, 'tis the spight of hell,..To lip a wanton in a secure Cowch And to suppose her chast. 1611Bible Prov. vii. Argt. 22 Solomon..sheweth the cunning of an whore, And the desperate simplicitie of a yong wanton. a1661Fuller Worthies, Northampt. (1662) 281 She confessed her self too worthless to be his wife, yet pleaded too worthy to be his wanton. a1693South Serm. (1697) II. 215 An old Wanton will be doating upon Women, when he can scarce see without Spectacles. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 171 ⁋1 Nothing would more powerfully..guard inexperience from seduction, than a just description of the condition into which the wanton plunges herself. 1858Merivale Rom. Emp. l. (1865) VI. 176 The hot blood of the wanton smoked on the pavement of his gardens. 1887M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike xxvii, You are a wanton by nature; but you have reckoned without your host, you fair, false devil. You shall not live to dishonour me.
4. Phrase. to play the wanton (or † the wantons), to dally, trifle; also, † to behave lewdly or lasciviously (obs.). Similarly, to play the wanton's part.
1529More Suppl. Souls 16 b, Yf the wench be nyce and play the wanton and make the mater strange, then wyll he bete her to bed to. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 164 Or shall we play the Wantons with our Woes, And make some pretty Match, with shedding Teares? a1677T. Manton Serm. Ps. cxix. (1681) 290 The word of God was appointed..to increase our reverence of God; Not that we may play the wantons with Promises, and feed our Lusts with them. 1712Steele Spect. No. 266 ⁋4 [Asking] Whether she was well educated, could forbear playing the Wanton with Servants and idle Fellows. a1718Prior Henry & Emma 540 Did e'er my Tongue speak my unguarded Heart The least inclin'd to play the Wanton's Part? 1852D. G. Mitchell Dream Life 120 It has very likely occurred to you, my reader, that I am playing the wanton in these sketches.
†5. the wantons: wanton fits, lascivious desires, wantonness. Obs. rare.
1727[E. Dorrington] Philip Quarll 53 'Tis to be hop'd you won't be troubled with the Wantons, and play the Trick your sister Juno did.
6. Comb., as wanton-like adj.
1617T. Campion 3rd Bk. Ayres xxii. Wks. (1909) 171 Though she be wilde and wanton-like in shew, Those little staines in youth I will not see.
▪ II. wanton, v.|ˈwɒntən|
[f. wanton a. and n.]
1. intr. To sport amorously, to play lasciviously or lewdly. Also, to wanton it.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 21, I will be bright and shine in Pearle and Gold, To waite vpon this new made Empresse. To waite said I? To wanton with this Queene. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 44 As if Venus in a countrey peticoate had thought to wanton it with her louely Adonis. 1665R. Brathwait Comm. 2 Tales 54 He who even now, so lasciviously wantonned,..see how he is scarrified! 1670Milton Hist. Eng. v. Wks. 1851 V. 231 On the very day of his Coronation, he abruptly withdrew himself from the Company of his Peers,..to sit wantoning in the Chamber with this Algiva. 1728Young Love Fame vi. 384 Who marry to be free, to range the more, And wed one man, to wanton with a score.
b. To play sportively, heedlessly, or idly, to frolic unrestrainedly, to gambol. Also to wanton it. (Said esp. of a child or young animal.)
1582Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 106 Yf a..Prittye lad æneas in my court wantoned [L. luderet] ere thow Took'st this filthye fleing. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 18 We shall Present our seruices to a fine new Prince One of these dayes, and then youl'd wanton with vs, If we would haue you. 1657G. Thornley Daphnis & Chloe 53 A boy appear'd in the..grove. Naked he was, alone he was; he play'd and wantoned it about. 1725Pope Odyss. xi. 554 Thy infant son her fragrant bosom prest, Hung at her knee, or wanton'd at her breast. 1762Falconer Shipwr. i. 332 In curling wreathes, they [porpoises] wanton on the tide, Now sport aloft, now downward swiftly glide. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. clxxxiv, And I have loved thee, Ocean!..from a boy I wanton'd with thy breakers. 1820Lamb Elia, Christ's Hosp., How merrily we would sally forth..and strip under the first warmth of the sun; and wanton like young dace in the streams. 1827Keble Chr. Y., All Saints' Day, As bloodhounds hush their baying wild To wanton with some fearless child.
c. To go idly or heedlessly up and down, over, through (a place); also, to spend one's time carelessly.
1682Kirchevall tr. Nepos, Elysander 46 They left their ships to the mercy of the winds and waves and carelessly wanton'd up and down the fields [L. dispalati in agris]. 1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1883) 130 The horses, camels, and guards wantoned over their tulips and other flowers, and made a terrible havoc. 1807J. Barlow Columb. viii. 490 Steeds, herds and flocks o'er northern regions rove, Embrown the hill and wanton thro the grove. 1847Tennyson Princess iv. 91 O tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown: Say to her, I do but wanton in the South, But in the North long since my nest is made. 1916L. P. Jacks From Human End i. 3 Like guests in a hospitable mansion where we may eat and drink, work and wanton, as we please.
d. transf. of inanimate things.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. ii. 54 Citherea all in sedges hid, Which seeme to moue and wanton with her breath. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. ii. 174 When, like some childish wench, she [sc. the river Stour] loosely wantoning, With tricks and giddy turns seems to in-isle the shore. 1697Dryden æneis vi. 302 And dancing Leaves, that wanton'd in the Wind. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. iii. 29 The wavy ringlets of her shining hair,..wantoning in and about a neck that is beautiful beyond description. 1759Johnson Rasselas xx. A rivulet, that wantoned along the side of a winding path. 1786Burns Lasso' Ballochmyle 3 The zephyr wanton'd round the bean, And bore its fragrant sweets alang. 1796Southey Joan of Arc vi. 124 When afar they..mark the distant towers Of Orleans, and..many a streamer wantoning in air. 1838Lytton Alice v. i, The sea-breeze wantoned amongst the quivering leaves of the chestnut-tree that overhung their seat.
e. To trifle (with something). Also quasi-trans. with out.
1589T. Brabine in Greene's Menaphon (Arb.) 20 Whose warbling tunes might wanton out my woes. a1797H. Walpole George II (1847) II. viii. 249 He found it was no longer a season for wantoning with the resentment of his successor.
2. To run into excesses or extravagances of conduct or living; to revel (in a course of action). Also with it.
1631May tr. Barclay's Mirr. Mindes i. 5 Soe that both the awe of their parents may not too sensibly decrease in them, and they not wanton it, through a suddaine, and vnexpected encrease of liberty. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 148 ⁋2 The power [parental authority] which we are taught to honour from the first moments of reason;..and which therefore may wanton in cruelty without control. 1752Ibid. No. 190 ⁋10 His house was soon crowded with poets, sculptors, painters, and designers, who wantoned in unexperienced plenty. 1850Kingsley A. Locke iv, Because he would not sit and starve..while those who fattened on the sweat of his brow..were wantoning on venison and champagne.
b. To indulge in extravagances of language or thought.
1640Fuller Joseph's Coat 50 The witty extravagances, and Rhetoricall phrases of these Fathers, were afterward interpreted to be their distilled doctrinall positions: so dangerous it is for any to wanton it with their wits in mysteries of Religion. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 2 ⁋2 The pleasure of wantoning in common topicks is so tempting to a writer, that he cannot easily resign it. 1789Burke Sp. agst. W. Hastings Wks. 1813 XV. 86 We are not persons of an age,—of a disposition..to wanton as these counsel call it; that is to invent fables concerning Indian antiquity. 1838Macaulay Ess., Temple (near end), For once he [Bentley] ran no risks;..he wantoned in no paradoxes.
c. transf. Of a garden, plant: To flourish profusely or extravagantly; to grow or ramble at will.
1800Asiatic Ann. Reg., Misc. Tracts 296/1 On the latter [garden] no decoration of art has been spared; the former wantons in all the luxuriance of nature. 1890Conan Doyle White Company xviii, As though some great ivy-plant of stone had curled and wantoned over the walls. 1907E. Gosse Father & Son v. 113 [A] wilderness, in which loose furze-bushes and untrimmed brambles wantoned into the likeness of trees.
d. fig. or of things (esp. Nature) personified.
1667Milton P.L. v. 295 A Wilderness of sweets; for Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and plaid at will Her Virgin Fancies. 1769Blackstone Comm. IV. xxxiii. 409 From this root has sprung a bastard slip, known by the name of the game law, now arrived to and wantoning in it's highest vigour. 1833Chalmers Const. Man II. x. 114 All nature smiles in beauty, or wantons in bounteousness for our enjoyment. 1866B. Taylor Poems, Mondamin, Where nature wantoned wild.
3. To deal carelessly or wastefully (with property, resources). Also trans. with away, to spend carelessly or wastefully, to dissipate (life, time, resources).
1646J. Hall Horæ Vac. iv. 39 [Of Preaching] Humane learning being a good Hand-maide and an ill companion to divinity, who though she carry away the Jewels and Eare⁓rings of the ægyptians she desires to use them and not wanton with them. a1656Bp. Hall Serm. Ps. lxviii. 30 Wks. 1837 V. 232 He wantons away his life foolishly, that, when he is well, will take physic to make him sick. 1669Pepys Diary 28 Apr., With this money the King shall wanton away his time in pleasures. 1775Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 47 It is urged that the Americans have not the same security, and that a British Legislature may wanton with their property. 1811J. Pratt in R. Cecil's Wks. (1827) I. 121 A minister has no right to wanton away the support of his family.
†4. trans. To make wanton; to lead into extravagances of conduct, living, etc. Obs.
c1600Chalkhill Thealma & Cl. (1683) 88 For he reign'd More like a Beast than Man;..weak'ning his strength By wantoning his people, without Law Or Exercise to keep their minds in awe. 1628Feltham Resolves ii. xxvi. 83 If wee sleepe, hee [the Devil] comes in dreames, and wantonneth the ill-inclining soule.
Hence ˈwantoning vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1596Warner Alb. Eng. xii. lxxiii. (1612) 304 Full fortie thousand Curtizans there, Ladies-like, do liue, That to the Pope for wantoning no small Reuenew giue. 1597Bp. Hall Sat. i. ii. 34 But since, I saw it painted on Fames wings, The Muses to be woxen Wantonings. 1624Heywood Gunaik. i. 5 Her embracings and wantonnings. 1701W. Nichols Consol. Parents 40 The innocent Wantonings of a beloved Child. 1883E. Gosse 17th Cent. Stud. 134 Chance melodies that seem like mere wantonings of the air upon a wind-harp. 1901T. R. Glover Life & Lett. Fourth Cent. viii. 184 The story of the wantoning Dido.
▪ III. wanton
see wanty (β). |