| 释义 |
▪ I. waver, n.1|ˈweɪvə(r)|
Also 6 wayver, weaver, 6–8 waiver.
[Of obscure origin: the early forms do not favour derivation from wave v. Possibly f. waive v.1, in the sense ‘to leave untouched’.]
A young tree left standing when the surrounding wood is felled.
1555Anc. Deed C 7700 (P.R.O.), The said Luke shall leave..standynge..all suche wayuers of oke and asshe that be vnder the compace of twelue ynches in thycknesse. 1590W. West Symbol. §267 (§406) Except the land and soile of the same woodes and vnderwoodes, and also wayuers called standers of &c. 1595Holmesfield Court Rolls in Sheffield Gloss. s.v., That no persone or persons within this manor shall cutt vpp or carry away any of the lorde's woodes..vpon payne of every burden of greene wood vj d. and every weaver xij d. and every burden of dry wood being hedgwood iiij d. 1597Ibid., Every weaver or poole. 1664Evelyn Sylva xxvii. 71 It is a very ordinary Copse which will not afford three or four Firsts, that is, Bests; fourteen Seconds; twelve Thirds; eight Wavers, &c. according to which proportions the sizes of young Trees in Copsing are to succeed one another. 1768Waiver [see tiller n.3 2]. 1800J. Tuke Agric. N. Riding Yorks. 186 Leaving at certain distances, when the timber and under-wood are cut down, the thriving young trees, which so left, are very properly called wavers, from their being agitated by every breeze. 1888Sheffield Gloss.
▪ II. waver, n.2|ˈweɪvə(r)|
[f. wave v. + -er1.]
†1. One who vacillates. Obs.
1667Waterhous Fire Lond. 189 No waver in Judgment, have I, through Gods mercy, ever been.
2. One who waves, or causes to undulate, swing, or flutter.
1835T. Mitchell Aristoph. Acharn. 1059 note, Groupes of tumblers, jugglers, ball-players, and wavers of the torch. 1860W. G. Clark in Galton Vac. Tour. (1861) 46 The wavers of flags, and the brandishers of daggers. 1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xiii. (1872) 91 The..house-tops..burst into a snow storm of waving handkerchiefs, and the wavers of the same mingled their cheers with those of the masses below.
†3. (With capital initial.) A name for the star Fomalhaut in the constellation Piscis Australis. Obs.
1556Recorde Cast. Knowl. iv. 267 [marg.] The Wauer.
4. Printing. See quots. Also waver roller.
1882Southward Pract. Print. 471 Next set in their places the wavers and the inkers. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 706/1 As the carriage returns, this strip of ink is distributed on the inking table by rollers placed diagonally across the machine. The diagonal position gives them a waving motion; hence they are called wavers. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Waver rollers, rollers which distribute ink on the ink table in a diagonal direction. Wavers, short term for ‘waver rollers’.
5. An implement for making the hair wavy.
1895Army & Navy Stores List 15 Sept. 180/2 Hair Wavers..Price per box, containing 5 wavers, 0/8½. 1909Daily Chron. 1 Oct. 7/4 These wavers may be left in the slightly dampened hair for an hour or two, and the result will be a soft, natural-looking wave.
▪ III. waver, n.3|ˈweɪvə(r)|
[f. waver v.]
The act or condition of wavering. a. In physical sense, a flutter or trembling.
1826J. Wilson in Blackw. Mag. XX. 90 No a bit butter⁓flee on its silent waver, meeting the murmur of the straight⁓forward bee. 1886Guillemard Cruise of Marchesa I. 137 Here and there a little gap revealed a Hobbema-like scene of sunny distance, whose clearness was unbroken by the waver of a single leaf. 1891‘R. Boldrewood’ Sydney-side Sax. xii, Sitting square, without the slightest waver or tremble in her saddle. 1918L. Merrick When Love flies iv. 44 She sat watching the waver of the candles in the draught.
b. A condition of vacillation or faltering. † in a waver (obs.), on or upon the waver, in uncertainty or unsteadiness; inclining now this way, now that.
1519W. Horman Vulgaria 57 b, I stande in doubte or in a wauer. Anceps sum concilii. 1806H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow III. 64 His reason was on the waver. a1809J. Palmer Like Master (1811) I. xii. 167 His regret to leave the coppers he touch'd in his present service, and his inclination to embrace the brazier's offer, kept him upon the waver, like an ass between two bundles of hay. 1864Sherman Let. 31 Dec. (1894) 241 Not a waver, doubt, or hesitation when I order, and men march to certain death without a murmur if I call on them. 1865Mrs. H. Wood Mildred Arkell xlviii, ‘Does she mean to accept him?’ asked Travice. ‘Well, she's on the waver. She does not dislike him, and she does not particularly like him.’
▪ IV. waver, v.|ˈweɪvə(r)|
Also 4 wever, 4–5 Sc. wayver, wafer, 4–6 Sc. vaver, 4–7 Sc. wawer, 5 wavere, wavur, wafyr, 6 wavor, Sc. vaifer, 7 wavour.
[ME. waver, wever = MHG. waberên, mod.G. (now dial.) wabern, webern to move about, ON. vafra to move unsteadily, flicker (cf. vafrloge flickering flame), Norw. vavra to go to and fro, stagger; a frequentative f. Teut. root *waƀ-: see wave v.
Shoreham's weverinde (c 1315, sense 5) shows that the word in the south at least is native English (cf. OE. wæfre unsteady, also nimble); it is possible that in the north the word may partly represent an adoption of ON. vafra, but the supposition is not necessary.]
I. Intransitive.
1. a. To go about or travel at random or without fixed destination; to wander, rove. Also with adv., as about.
1375Barbour Bruce vii. 41 The sleuth-hund maid stynting thar, And vaueryt [v.r. waweryt] lang tyme to and fra. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxv. (Julian) 287 Waferand fra place to place. c1440Alphabet of Tales 490 Þai waxed so pure at þai wavurd aboute here & þer. c1470Henry Wallace iv. 283 He saw mony rout Off wyld bestis wauerand in wode and playne. 1483Cath. Angl. 411/1 To Wavere Aboute (v.r. Wafyr Abowt), vagari. 1513Douglas æneis vi. v. 70 Quha ar vnbereit a hundreth ȝeir man byde, Wauerand and wandrand by this bankis syde. 1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe C 1, There were two Channels..where through the fishermen did wander and wauer vp to Norwitch and diuers parts of Suffolke and Norfolke. 1924Galsworthy White Monkey i. viii. 63 Michael watched him down the corridor, saw him waver into the dusky street. 1977D. Francis Risk ii. 20 One of them [sc. the two horses in front] wavered up the straight at a widening angle. The other seemed to be stopping second by second... Tapestry scorched past both of them..and won the Gold Cup.
†b. To stray from. Obs.
1456Sir G. Haye Bk. Knighthood Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 6 He slepit apon his palfray, and waverit fra his folk out of the hye way. 1599Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1848) II. 204 The said Thomas hes bene accusit of..wavering oftentymes fra his wyff, bairnis, and famelie. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Quon. Attach. x. 78 Gif..he..sall sweare that, that beast did waver away from him.
2. To sway to and fro, as if in danger of falling; to reel, stagger, totter. Now rare (cf. 5 d, 7).
c1400Destr. Troy 8266 All in wer for to walt, wayueronde he sote. c1440Promp. Parv. 447/2 Schoggyn, schakyn or waveryn, vacillo. 1500–20Dunbar Poems liii. 10 Bot ay his ane futt did wawer, He stackerit lyk ane strummall awer. 1531Elyot Gov. i. xi. (1883) I. 95 Oza, for puttyng his hande to the holy shryne that was called Archa federis,..though it were wauerynge and in daunger to fall, yet was he stryken of god. 1691Ray Creation i. (1692) 142 When they [sc. the Fins] are cut off, it [sc. the Body of the Fish] wavers to and fro. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxiii. 298 She was evidently in a condition of great suffering, and Tom often heard her praying, as she wavered and trembled, and seemed about to fall down.
3. a. To swing or wave in the air; to float or flutter.
c1440Promp. Parv. 518/2 Wawyn, or waueryn, yn a myry totyr, oscillo. c1514Barclay Eclogue iii, Sometime must thou stoupe unto a rude vilayne Calling him master,..Although thou would see him waver in a bande. 1548Udall Erasm. Par. Matt. viii. 18–22 The byrdes fleyng and wauoring in the ayer. 1574T. Hill Art Garden., Weather viii. 72 The kytes playing and wauering about in the aire. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xv. 136 Two Lions came running with their shaggy lockes wauering about their shoulders. 1726–30Thomson Winter 230 Thro' the hush'd air the whitening shower descends, At first thin-wavering. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. vii, He could discern a figure wavering and struggling as it hung suspended above the heads of the multitude. 1847Tennyson Princess vi. 64 On their curls From the high tree the blossom wavering fell. 1864Skeat Uhland's Poems 252 Lo! down waver clustering ringlets Round a soft and gentle face! 1883Chamb. Jrnl. 689 Huge butterflies wavered about the cactus plants.
b. Phr. to waver with or in the wind. ? Obs.
c1500Nut-brown Maid 74 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 200 Wythout pytee, hanged to bee, and wauer wt the wynde. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxxxiii. 522 With baners and penons waueryng with the wynde. 1526Tindale Matt. xi. 7 A rede waveringe with the wynde. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. lxxviii. 158 After this, hee went up and downe, wauering in the winde, tarryeng for the rest of the shippes. 1725Pope Odyss. xxii. 508 Soon fled the soul impure, and left behind The empty corse to waver with the wind. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xl, Here many an outlaw..had wavered in the wind during the wars. 1828Miss Mitford Village, Country Barber III. 165 A lank, long, stooping figure, which seemed wavering in the wind like a powder-puff.
c. transf.
1860Hawthorne Transform. xxix, Now tumbling down, down, down, with a long shriek wavering after him, all the way. 1876Morris Sigurd ii. 141 The wind in his raiment wavered.
†4. Of water, waves: To surge. Obs. rare.
c1425Wyntoun Cron. iv. 1963 As rewaris reythe for rayn wil rysse And wauer mare wiþe wawis woide Þan wil a kyndly standande flude.
5. a. Of persons, their sentiments, etc.: To exhibit doubt or indecision; to change or vary; to fluctuate or vacillate (between); to falter in resolution or allegiance; to show signs of giving way.
c1315Shoreham Poems i. 424 And þi bi-leaue of ihesu crist His nou al weuerinde. 1375Barbour Bruce xii. 185 Mony ane hert sal vaverand [v.r. wawerand] be That semyt ere of gret bounte. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 2901 And thus I stood al in a rage With look cast fix in hir visage, Wavering as in a were. c1425Wyntoun Cron. v. 4318 He was curyousse in his stille,..Mad in metyr meit his dyte, Litil or noucht neuir þe lesse Wauerande fra þe suythtfastnes. c1440Promp. Parv. 18/2 Waueron yn hert for vnstabylnesse, muto. c1440Gesta Rom. xxv. 97 Þat he sette fully his hope in god, and not be dul in the feithe, ne wauere in the comavndementes of god. 1526Tindale Jas. i. 6 But let hym axe in faythe and waver not [1611 nothing wauering]. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 223 b, That we his yongest chylden..sholde not..wauer in our fayth. 1548Udall Erasm. Par. Matt. i. 20, 21 Why art thou vexed? why doest thou wauer in & out? 1579Shakes. Lover's Compl. 97 And nice affections wauering stood in doubt If best were as it was, or best without. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 43 They that wavered betweene warre and peace. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. vii. 28 Vertue that wavers is not vertue. 1714Addison Spect. No. 585 ⁋8 Her Mind continued wavering about twenty Years longer between Shalum and Mishpach. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 603 While he was thus wavering between projects equally hopeless. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iv. 355 The allegiance even of the bishops and the secular clergy to Rome had begun to waver. 1874Green Short Hist. iv. §2. 172 Only on one occasion..did the burgesses waver from their general support of the Crown. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. i. xi. 131 Many people had begun to waver in their allegiance. 1884M. Creighton Hist. Ess. viii. (1902) 239 For a time opinions wavered which boundary to choose.
†b. Phr. to waver as, like, with the wind. Cf. 3 b.
c1480Henryson Fox, Wolf & Cadger 218 (Harl.) With that þe cadger, wauering as the wind, Come rydand on the laid. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. V 13 Not common people onely, which wauer with the wynde, but wyse menne also. 1565B. Googe tr. Palingenius' Zodiac vii. A a vj b, And so corrupt the mindes Of rude vnskilfull common sort, that wauer lyke the wyndes. a1825Child Noryce i. in Child Ballads II. 266 Child Noryce is a clever young man, He wavers wi the wind.
†c. To hesitate to (do something). Obs. rare.
1644Milton Divorce ii. xv. 61, I shall not much waver to affirm, that [etc.].
d. Of a combatant, body of troops, line of battle: To become unsteady, flinch, give way.
1831James Phil. Augustus xlii, He wavered not a step; but, still striding over the body of the king,..maintained his ground. 1860Froude Hist. Eng. V. xxvi. 213 The sustained fire of the Lanzknechts threw their dense and unorganized masses into rapid confusion. As they wavered, Warwick's horse were in the midst of them. 1915J. Buchan Hist. War IV. xxvi. 75 The line wavered and broke.
6. Of things (or a person as an unconscious agent): To change, vary, fluctuate.
1490Caxton Eneydos 2 We englysshe men ben borne vnder the domynacyon of the mone, whiche is neuer stedfaste, but euer wauerynge. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 116 Thus the Englishe affaires..within the realme began to wauer, and waxe variable. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 91 b, To suffer this gere to hange waueringe [L. ut rem ita fluctuare sinat]. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Nuto, Victorie wauereth or flitteth betweene both vncertaynly. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, During the whole space of time just mentioned, Mr. Benjamin Allen had been wavering between intoxication partial and intoxication complete. 1859Dickens etc. Haunted Ho. iii. 14/1 He had..a waistcoat that wavered in hue between a sunny buff and a stony drab. 192219th Cent. Apr. 681 Among all Arabs succession is hereditary, but it wavers between the eldest son and the eldest male member of the family.
7. Of the voice, the eye, etc. (or a person with reference to these): To become unsteady; to shake, tremble, falter (through emotion or bodily weakness). † Of the wits: To become confused, reel.
1621Fletcher Pilgr. iii. iii, Keep my wits Heaven, I feel 'em wavering, O God my head. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xlv, ‘No,’ replied the old man, wavering in his voice, no less than in his manner. 1850Susan Warner Wide World xv, Miss Fortune's conscience must have troubled her a little, for her eye wavered uneasily. 1876R. Broughton Joan i. ix, Her voice wavers and breaks. The tears well up into her eyes. 1883A. K. Green X.Y.Z. iv. 65 His eye did not waver from its steady solemn look toward the door. 1886Kipling Departm. Ditties etc. (1888) 45 The white hands wavered—the bright head drooped.
8. Of light, shade, objects seen unsteadily or through a haze: To flicker, quiver.
1664Boyle Exper. Colours iii. xiv. 227, I took..two Tri⁓angular Glasses, and one of them being kept fixt in the same Posture, that the Iris it projected on the Floor might not Waver. 1842Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 129 The shadow of the flowers..wavering Lovingly lower, trembled on her waist..and still went wavering down. 1842― Will Water-proof 38 The gas-light wavers dimmer. 1849Cupples Green Hand xvii. (1856) 173 Tall palms and cocoas—their stems wavering in the thin haze. 1914Blackw. Mag. Oct. 491/2 A little gleam wavered ahead on my right.
fig.1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. iv. i. I. 247 It may serve to illustrate..the extent to which, under the Roman empire, men's notions of mechanical relations became faint, wavered, and disappeared, if we observe the change which took place in architecture.
II. Transitive.
†9. causal. To cause to waver; to wave to and fro; to set in waving or fluttering motion; to render unsteady or unsteadfast. Obs.
c1425Wyntoun Cron. iii. 798 Þus in seige a sote to se, Or do a dowde in dignyte, Sal ger standande statis stauer, And wil bathe wit and worschep wauer. c1440Promp. Parv. 518/2 Waueron, or mevyn or steryn, agito. 1456Sir G. Haye Law of Arms (S.T.S.) 227 Nocht gaynstandand that he be wauerit [printed wanerit] in his wit. 1561in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) III. 148 Seeing he..showed himself so constant in religion, that neither the fear of his souereign's indignation could wauer him, nor great promises win him. 1583in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 683 Item, if the Admirall shall happen to hull in the night: then to make a wauering light ouer his other light, wauering the light vpon a pole. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. E 2 b, A third wauerd and wagled his head, like a proud horse playing with his bridle. 1812Courier in Examiner 24 Aug. 540/1 Shot, shells, grape,..could not..waver the line of the..infantry.
†10. To vacillate under, falter in resistance to. Obs. rare—1.
1596Drayton Mortimer. B 4 b, Th'vnconstant Barrons, wauering euery houre, The fierce encounter of this raging tyde.
▪ V. waver
var. waiver. |