| 释义 |
▪ I. weather, n.|ˈwɛðə(r)|
Forms: 1 weder, 2 wæder, 2–5 weder, 4 Sc. vedir, weddire, wedyre, 4–5 wedir(e, wedre, wedur, wedyr, whedir, 5 Sc. weddre, -ir, -yr, wedere, wedyer, wheder, whed(d)yr, 6 weddur, wedor, Sc. wadder, (veddir), wodder, -ir, woder, (vodder); 5 wethyr, 5–7 wether, 5–6 whether, 6, 9 Sc. wathir, (6 vedthir), 6– weather.
[Com. Teut. (not recorded in Gothic): OE. weder neut., OFris. weder, wether (NFris. wedder, WFris. waer, war), OS. wedar weather, storm, Du. weder, weer, OHG. wetar (MHG. weter, mod.G. wetter), ON. veðr (Sw. väder, Da. vejr):—OTeut. *weđro-m. It is uncertain whether the pre-Teut. form was *wedhro-m (= OSl. vedro, Russian vedro good weather, vedrŭ adj., fair, said of weather; cogn. w. Lith. vidras, vydra, storm, áudra storm, flood) or *wetró-m (ablaut-var. of Lith. vétra storm, OSl. vĕtrŭ air, wind); on either alternative the word is prob. f. the Indogermanic root *wē̆ to blow (see wind n.1) + suffix dhro- or tro-.
The spelling with th instead of the earlier d first occurs in the 15th c. (though the pronunciation which it indicates may well be much older); before the end of the 16th c. it had become universal. In several dialects, chiefly Sc. and n.w., the pronunciation with (d) still survives. See th 6, and the note s.v. father n.
The nautical use = wind, direction of the wind (see senses 3, 8) is probably derived from ON. veðr.]
I.
1. a. The condition of the atmosphere (at a given place and time) with respect to heat or cold, quantity of sunshine, presence or absence of rain, hail, snow, thunder, fog, etc., violence or gentleness of the winds. Also, the condition of the atmosphere regarded as subject to vicissitudes.
For wind and weather (rarely † weather and wind) see wind n.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) T 121 Temperiem, uueder. a1000Azarias 62 Wedere onlicust, þonne on sumeres tid sended weorþeð dropena dreorung. a1100Gerefa in Anglia IX. 259 Þæt he friðiᵹe & forðiᵹe ælce [tilþe] be ðam..ðe hine weder wisað. c1205Lay. 12042 Þe wind gond aliðen & þat weder leoðede. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2441, & vor weder & oþer þing on erþe after hom [sc. the planets] moche is, Þis misbileuede men hom clupede godes. c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 670 And if ye liggen wel to-night, com ofte, And careth not what weder is on-lofte. c1400T. Chestre Launfal 223 And for hete of the wedere Hys mantell he feld togydere And sette hym doun to reste. c1403Lydg. Temple of Glas 395 And oft also, aftir a dropping mone, The weddir clereþ. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 627 But sodanly þe wedir chaunged. c1520Skelton Garl. Laurel 1442 How men were wonte for to discerne By candelmes day what wedder shuld holde. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 161 The lengthe or shortnesse of the marke is alwayes vnder the rule of the wether. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 88 Item the intemperancie & mutation of the ayre, & whether, may be cause of aborcement. 1528Lyndesay Dreme 774 Surmountyng the myd Regioun of the air, Quhare no maner of perturbatioun Off wodder may ascend so hie as thair. 1609Pimlyco, or Runne Red-Cap D 2, To know what Wether was to come By 'th Almanacke. 1667Sprat Hist. R. Soc. 247 A Wheel-Barometer, and other Instruments for finding the pressure of the Air, and serving to predict the changes of the Weather. 1678Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 45 Lady Portsmouth..goes to Bourbon as soone as the weather opens to allow travelling. 1779Mirror No. 35 The conversation began about the weather, my aunt observing, that the seasons were wonderfully altered in her memory. 1853Mrs. Gaskell Ruth xxv, It was weather for open doors and windows. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn viii, However, I am sincerely glad you are come, I knew no weather would stop you. 1890C. Dixon Ann. Bird Life 309 They are birds which have no regular winter home{ddd}they wander to and fro, south and north, just as the exigency of the weather drives them.
¶ In advb. phrases sometimes with omission of in.
1738C'tess Pomfret in C'tess Hartford's Corr. (1805) I. 10 On your left hand is the fire (no bad thing this weather), and on your right a window. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxv, Fred keeps the house all kinds of weather.
b. With descriptive adj., e.g., good, bad; hot, cold, warm; bright, dull; fine, fair, foul; dry, wet, rainy; clear, thick; rough, windy, still, calm.
c893ælfred Oros. vi. xxxii, Þa het he betan þærinne micel fyr, for þon hit wæs ceald weder. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvi. 2 To-morᵹen hyt byð smylte weder, þes heofen ys read. c1220Bestiary 236 Ðe mire is maȝti, Mikel ȝe swinkeð In sumer and in softe weder. c1290S.E. Leg. 198 Þat weder þat was so cler and fair. 1340Ayenb. 129 Ase uayr weder went in-to rene. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1442 Nowes the wedir bright and shynand, And now waxes it alle domland. c1350Will. Palerne 2440 What of here hard heiȝing & of þe hote weder, Meliors was al mat. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 310 Þorw Flodes and foul weder Fruites schul fayle. c1394P. Pl. Crede 300 Nou han þei..hosen in harde weder. c1440Promp. Parv. 146/1 Fayre, mery wedur or tyme, amenus. 1470–85Malory Arthur xiv. ix. 653 And at that tyme the wheder was hote. 1490Caxton Eneydos xv. 56 The reyny wedre therto propyce and conuenable. 1578Lyte Dodoens ii. xlvi. 204 Sometimes they flower againe in Autumne when the whether is milde and pleasant. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 142 You and you, are sure together, As the Winter to fowle Weather. 1631E. Pellham Gods Power 4 But the next day,..the weather falling out something thicke, and much yce in the Offing [etc.]. 1653Walton Angler ii. 41 The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather that can be thought of. 1774M. Mackenzie Marit. Surv. 95 In moderate Weather, anchor a Vessel at the Shoal. 1782F. Burney Cecilia viii. ix, To go out in all weather to work. Ibid. ix. v, The weather being good on the morning he called. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes ii, The vessel being pretty deep in the water,..and the weather being calm and quiet, there was but little motion. 1853― Bleak Ho. xv, There was no fire, though the weather was cold. 1919H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill 165 Will you look at that mess of clouds? I bet it's falling weather over in Surprise Valley.
c. fig. and in figurative context; spec. (Lit.), applied to an intellectual climate, state of mind, etc.
1603R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 65 Iustinian restored it [the Empire] somewhat to a better state, driuing the Vandals out of Africke, and the Gothes out of Italy by his captaines; but this faire weather lasted not long. 1630Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. §73 O God..Let mee haue no Weather but Sunne⁓shine from thee. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. xcvi, Pipes, who..knew the contents of the piece [a pistol], asked..if it must be foul weather through the whole voyage. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xlvii, Certain polemical skirmishes betwixt her father and her husband, which..often threatened unpleasant weather between them. 1862Thackeray Philip xxviii, We hadn't much besides our pay, had we? we rubbed on through bad weather and good, managing as best we could. 1878E. W. Benson in Life (1899) I. xiii. 463 But we have foul weather coming. We have to do the Church's work without sacrificing those party men, [etc.]. 1901N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 266 A barometer is thus formed by which the financial weather of the country is forecast. 1909H. James R. Hudson (rev. ed.) vii. 147 He supposed that these changes of intellectual weather..were the lot of every poet. 1922G. Santayana Soliloquies in England 30 What governs the Englishman is his inner atmosphere, the weather in his soul. 1927T. Wilder Bridge of San Luis Rey 17 Such authors live always in the noble weather of their own minds. 1962K. Allott Penguin Bk. Contemp. Verse 18 A short introduction giving explicit attention to the poetic ‘weather’ of each of the last four decades.
†d. With indef. article: A kind of weather; a spell of a particular kind of weather. Obs.
c1205Lay. 4573 æst aras a ladlich weder. Ibid. 7398 Þeo com heom a wedere wunderliche feire. c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 657 Lord, this is an huge rayn! This were a weder for to slepen inne. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 12914 It made tho a lothely wedur, Hit raynes faste, thondres, & blowes. 1546Gassar's Prognost. A viij b, Not long before the Sonne shall set, we may looke for a trobelous wether, & perchaunce snow. 1548Elyot's Dict., Apricitas,..a fayre clere wether. 1618Rowlands Sacred Mem. 25 Their storme was chang'd into a fayre calme weather.
e. pl. Kinds of weather: sometimes equivalent to sing. Now rare exc. in phr. (in) all weathers.
Beowulf 546 Wedera cealdost, nipende niht ond norþan wind, heaðogrim ondhwearf. a900Andreas 1256 Weder coledon heardum hæᵹelscurum. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 244 Swa bið eac on wintra, for cyle & for þara wedra missenlicnesse, þæt se milte wyrð ᵹelefed. c1175Lamb. Hom. 13 Westmes þorð uuele wederas oft and ilome scal for-wurðan. c1325Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy) xxxv, Catel cometh and goth As wederis don in lyde. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1424 Sere variaunce, for certayn skille, Of þe tyms and wedirs and sesons. c1350Will. Palerne 5216 For wind & gode wederes hade þei at wille. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 349 For þorw werre and wykked werkes and wederes vnresonable Wederwise shipmen..Han no belieue to þe lifte ne to þe lore of philosofres. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. ii. 146 God is such oon, that he nedith not to haue housis ouer him for to couere him fro reyne and fro othir sturne wedris. a1450Le Morte Arth. 2470 Wederes had they feyre and good. 1526in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 618 Dowble bandes of leade for defence of great wyndes and other outragious wethers. 1639J. Taylor (Water P.) Pt. Summers Trav. 44 Every Sunday, be it Winter or Summer, all manner of weathers. 1697T. Smith in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 247, I was forced..to go downe to Westminster..in all weathers. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 21 He's..not so stiff as to carry Sail against all Weathers. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 17 May, It is covered on the top with boards to keep out the rain, that merchants may meet conveniently in all weathers. 1849C. Brontë Shirley xi, She took walks in all weathers—long walks in solitary directions. 1862H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xix, It was impossible to pass round the promontory on horseback in the best of weathers; now doubly so. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. v, All weathers saw the man at the post.
fig.1611Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 195 Camillo ha's betray'd me; Whose honor, and whose honestie till now, Endur'd all Weathers.
† f. With implied favourable qualification: Weather suitable for some purpose. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machar) 1486 Þar-to weddire had þai þane, þat þai wane froyt of land & se thru his prayere in gret pleynte. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 113 Bote ich hadde wedir at my wil ich wited god þe cause. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 3280 Thei..passed the see, when thei hadde wedur, To Thenedoun. 1469Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 21 Whether is so latesum in this cuntrey, that men can neither well gett corne nor hay.
g. With unfavourable implication: Adverse, unpleasant, hurtful, or destructive condition of the atmosphere; rain, frost, wind-driven waves, etc. as destructive agents. stress of weather: see stress n. 3.
a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud) an. 1097, He þohte his hired on Winceastre to healdenne, ac he wearð þurh weder ᵹelet. Ibid. an. 1114, Ac wæder him lætte. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 443 Swich housinge we han to holde out þe wedures. c1400Sowdone Bab. 76 A drift of wedir vs droffe to Rome. 1425Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 5 Whether it wille chippe or chynne or affraye with frost or weder or water. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 233 b, Which bridge was made and covered with bordes, onely to kepe of the wether. 1557Tusser 100 Points Husb. xxxv, Thinges sowne, set or graft, in good memory haue: from beast, birde and weather to cherishe and saue. 1606G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine ii. 7 Before the vse of garments was found out against weathers iniury. 1616T. Scot Philomythie H 6 b, His [the weathercock's] taile was too too weake, when euery feather Was bent with storms, and broken with the weather. 1638M. Casaubon Use & Custom 77 It hath beene observed of some free stones, that..if they bee laid in that proper posture, which they had naturally in their quarries, they grow very hard and durable against both time and weather. 1665in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 4 The stones..being of a soft..condition and not able to endure the sunn and weather. 1693Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 251 Chords, which should be well Pitched to preserve them from the Weather, and rotting. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxii, Weather and war their rougher trace Have left on that majestic face. 1853Dickens Bleak Ho. lvii, ‘Are you well wrapped up?’.. I told him I cared for no weather, and was warmly clothed. 1872Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms s.v. Louvre Boards, Boards..to keep out the weather.
fig.1663Charleton Chorea Gigant. 18 An Invention..not so firmly founded, as to be impregnable; nor so closely compacted in all its parts, as to keep out all weather of Contradiction.
h. Violent wind accompanied by heavy rain or agitation of the waves. Now dial. and Naut. † Also, a storm, tempest; often pleonastically, storm, tempest of weather(s. Obs.
c888ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §1 Ða ᵹestod hine heah weder & stormsæ. c1205Lay. 102 Mid wolcnen & mid wedere heo þoleden wensiðes. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3055 Moyses, do ðis weder charen, And ȝu sal [ic] leten ut-faren. a1300Cursor M. 6018 Þe seuend on-sand [sc. of the plagues of Egypt] Was a weder ful selcut snell. 13..K. Alis. 5794 (Laud MS.), Þe wederes stronge & tempestes..hem duden grete molestes. c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules v. 681 Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe, That hast this wintres weders over-shake. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. iii. 63 And so by mokel duresse of weders and of stormes..I was driven to an yle. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 144 Þer es neuermare..nowþer thunner ne leuenyng, haile ne snawe, ne oþer tempestez of ill weders. 1402Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 44 To were us from wederes of wynteres stormes. c1420Wyntoun Cron. vii. x. 3278 And þar be a tempest fel Off gret wedderis scharpe and snel. 1450–1530Myrr. Our Ladye iii. 303 There are gendered tempastes of weder and hayle. 1490Caxton Eneydos xxx. 114 Whan thenne they had ronne & saylled so moche that they were in the highe see a stronge weddre arose. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. (1812) I. cccxxiv. 506 This rayne and wether endured tyll the sonne rose. 1526Tindale Heb. xii. 18 Ye are not come..to myst and darcknes and tempest of wedder [Gr. θυέλλῃ]. 1531Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 26 Tempestes of wedder or stormes. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 106 b, Diogenes beeyng vpon the Sea emong a number of naughtie packes in a greate storme of wether, when diuerse of these wicked felowes cried out for feare of drownyng, [etc.]. 1598in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) II. 27 [They] alegeit thai war impeidit be storme of wedder. 1703W. Dampier Voy. III. i. 10 Upon these Signs Ships either get up their Anchors, or slip their Cables and put to Sea, and ply off and on till the Weather is over. 1718Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) VI. 212 The Master and the other Servant, running through the Weather towards the Houses, were both struck dead. 1894Hall Caine Manxman iii. v, ‘Then don't be late,’ said he, ‘there's weather coming.’ 1898Morn. Post 11 Nov. 5/2 Wasn't it a beautifully disciplined Mess, though? I wish you could see 'em at sea in weather.
†i. What falls from the clouds; rain, snow, etc. Also in fig. context. Obs.
1382Wyclif Deut. xxxii. 2 Flowe as dewe my speche, as wedre [Vulg. imber] vpon erbe. [Ibid. Job xxiv. 8, Eccl. xi. 3, Isa. v. 6, Jer. xiv. 22.] c1400Rom. Rose 4336 But er he it in sheves shere, May falle a weder that shal it dere. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 74 The wedderis ar sa fell, that fallis on the feild. a1533Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. xxxiv. (1535) 59 The labourer whan it reyneth not, couereth his house, thinkinge that an other tyme the wethers or raynes wyll fall theron and trouble hym. 1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 109 A fearefull eye thou hast!.. So foule a skie cleeres not without a storme: Poure downe thy weather! how goes all in France? 1825Jamieson, Weather, a fall of rain or snow accompanied with boisterous wind. Roxb. When the wind comes singly.., [people say] ‘It 'ill be no weather the day, but wind’.
†j. In contexts relating to clouds or fog, the word sometimes assumes the sense of: Air, sky. Obs.
c1375Cursor M. 24414 (Fairf.) Þe wedder [earlier texts air, aier] be-gan to derkin & blake. c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 801/1–4 Hic aier, Hec aera, Hic ether, Hec ethera, the wethyr. a1500Coventry Corpus Chr. Plays i. 209 These wedurs ar darke and dym of lyght. 1530Palsgr. 648/1, I overcast, as the weather dothe wan it is close or darke and lykely to rayne... We shall have a rayne a none, the weather is sore overcaste sodaynly... I overcast, as the cloudes do the weather. c1605Drayton Ballad Agincourt 76 Arrowes..that like to serpents stoong, pearcing the Wether.
2. Phrases.
†a. the weather rains, weather thunders, etc. = ‘it rains’, etc. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. I. 140 The weder schal upon thee reine. 1590Sir J. Smythe Disc. Weapons 19 b, If in the tyme of anie battle..the weather doth happen to raine, haile, or snow. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 24 The weather thundring and storming exceedingly.
†b. to make (rarely bear) fair weather: to be conciliatory, make a show of friendliness (to or with a person); also, to make a specious show of goodness, etc. to make fair weather of (a state of things): to gloss over, represent as better than it is. Obs.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 8289 At here comyng thei made fair wedur, And spak of many thynges to-gedur. 1537Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 93 Thother parte declare him in wordes towardes his Maieste to make only faire wether, and in his harte..to doo all that he canne to his graces dishonour. 1547Cheke in Harington Nugæ Ant. (1804) I. 20 And if anye suche shall be, that shall of all things make fair weather, and, whatsoever they shall see to the contrarye, shall tell you all is well. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 369 b, Duke Moris..to make fayre weather [L. pacificationis causa] sendeth his ambassadors to the Counsell. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxix. 732 And that is the cause why wee see so fewe holde out in weldoing. Many make faire wether for a time, so as yee woulde thinke them to bee maruellous good men: but in the turning of a hande all is marde. 1589R. Payne Brief Descr. Irel. 7 Al the better sort doe deadly hate y⊇ Spaniardes, & yet I thinke they beare them fayre weather, for that they are the popes champions. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 30 But I must make faire weather yet a while, Till Henry be more weake, and I more strong. 1596Edw. III, i. ii. 23 Returne and say, That we with England will not enter parlie, Nor neuer make faire wether, or take truce. 1598Marston Pygmal., Sat. i. 31 Ixion makes faire weather vnto Ioue. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 49 To which message, although the French King gaue no full credit, yet he made faire weather with the King, and seemed satisfied. 1673Kirkman Unlucky Cit. 163 My Mother-in-law made very fair weather to me, and gave me many good words.
c. Naut. Of a ship, to make good, bad, etc. weather of it: to behave well or ill in a storm.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 17 We make foul weather. 1781Naval Chron. XI. 287 The Ship makes a very good weather of it. 1860Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 86 The ship making very bad weather and shipping large quantities of water. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Make bad weather, To. A ship rolling, pitching, or leaking violently in a gale. 1881Daily Tel. 28 Jan., The sea was..not so heavy but that in my judgment a twenty-ton yacht would have made excellent weather of it.
fig.1915‘Ian Hay’ 1st Hund. Thou. i. xiii. §2 The feckless and muddle-headed, making heavy weather of the simplest tasks.
d. in the weather: in an exposed situation, unprotected from rain, cold, and wind; in the open air (usually with implication of severe weather). Similarly to go into, through the weather.
a1513Fabyan Chron. v. lxxxiii. (1516) 32 The kynges Herdemen passyd by, And seynge this Bysshop with his company syttyng in the weder, desyred hym to his howse to take there such poore lodgynge as he had. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. 102 The Tree roots best, that in the Weather stands. 1693Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 241 The out side of Buildings that lies in the Weather. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes ii, The captain..turns up his coat collar..and goes laughing out into the weather as merrily as to a birthday party. 1865Mrs. H. Wood Mildred Arkell xlvi, They started together through the weather to the house of William Arkell. 1880Howells Undisc. Country xiii. 190 Her longing to be in the weather [after an illness].
†e. down the weather: in adversity. to go down the weather: to become bankrupt. Obs.
1611Cotgr., s.v. Aller, Aller au saffran, to fall to decay, to grow bankrupt in estate, to goe downe the weather. 1641J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 63 We see how Job was despised when he was down the weather, yea even by those, whom, when he prospered, he would scarce have set with the dogs of his flock.
f. under the weather (orig. U.S.): indisposed, not quite well.
1827Austin Papers (1924) I. 1622 The fredonians is all here rather under the wether. 1850D. G. Mitchell Lorgnette (1852) I. 50 As for the Frenchman, though now, between the valorous Poussin and the long-faced Bonaparte, a little under the weather [etc.]. 1882M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. iv. 59 ‘What, old lady, are you under the weather?’ he asked, turning to survey his mother with a critical air. 1887F. R. Stockton Borrowed Month 68 They had been very well as a general thing, although now and then they might have been under the weather for a day or two.
g. weather permitting: often appended to an announcement (e.g. of the sailing of a vessel) to indicate that it is conditional on the weather being favourable.
1712Lond. Gaz. No. 4953/4 The Edgley Gally will be ready to Sail.., Wind and Weather permitting. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes i, There was a beautiful port-hole which could be kept open all day (weather permitting). 1883Black's Guide Devon. (ed. 11) 164 The steamers from Portishead to Ilfracombe call, going and returning, weather permitting.
h. clerk of the weather: see clerk n. 3.
1829P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 302 Asking of no favours from the clerk of the weather to keep off ‘the pitiless pelting storm’, as their greasy jackets were proof against all watery attacks. 1835C. F. Hoffman Winter in West I. 38, I could not, if I had made my own private arrangements with the clerk of the weather, have fixed it upon the whole more to my satisfaction.
i. to stretch wing to weather: to fly.
1825Scott Betrothed xxiii, If they be not carefully trained..I would rather have a gosshawk on my perch than the fairest falcon that ever stretched wing to weather.
j. above (or over) the weather (Aeronaut.), above the range of weather conditions acting at ground-level; above the clouds.
1944Aviation Feb. 497/1 The plane climbs..to fly ‘over the weather’. 1958Listener 16 Oct. 593/1 It was said that they [sc. accidents] had destroyed all prospect of carrying passengers at speeds not far short of the speed of sound, far above the weather, at heights of 35,000 feet.
3. Naut. The direction in which the wind is blowing. ‘Applied to anything lying to windward of a particular situation’ (Adm. Smyth). In various phrases: to luff nigh the weather: to sail near the wind; in quot. fig. to drive with the weather: to drift with the wind and waves. to have the weather of: to be to windward of (another ship); similarly in, into, on, to, upon (the) weather of. Also, in, into the weather; up to weather: to windward. Cf. a-weather.
1390Gower Conf. II. 370 Or elles thei take ate leste Out of hir hand or ring or glove, So nyh the weder thei wol love. 1526Tindale Acts xxvii. 15 We lett her goo, and drave with the wedder [ἐϕερόµεθα]. 1557Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 113 Wee had sight of three sailes of shippes..which were in the weather of vs. Ibid., When we met, they had the weather of vs. 1565J. Sparke Ibid. 524 His pinnesse..being in the weather of him. 1588in St. Papers Defeat Sp. Armada (Navy Rec. Soc. 1894) II. 107 After this we cast about our ship, and kept ourselves close by the Spaniard until midnight, sometime hearing a voice in Spanish calling us; but the wind being very great and we in the weather, the voice was carried away. c1595Capt. Wyatt Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 18 [Hee] gave commaundement that the carvell shoulde plie up into the weather. Ibid., The French admerall, who laie aloofe of some six leagues to weather. 1692J. Smith's Sea-mans Gram. i. xvi. 78 Weather Gage, is when one Ship has the Wind (or is to weather) of another. 1842Browning Waring iii. 12 Then the boat..from the lee, Into the weather, cut somehow Her sparkling path beneath our bow. 1868Field 25 July 83/2 The Mabella [yacht] too, was much closer on her weather than was pleasant. 1903Times 21 Aug. 4/3 Reliance, though astern, was well up to weather. Ibid., Reliance by now had unmistakably got upon the challenger's weather.
4. The angle which the sails of a windmill make with the perpendicular to the axis. More fully, angle of weather.
1759Smeaton in Phil. Trans. LI. 141 note, The angle of the sails is accounted from the plain of their motion; that is, when they stand at right angles to the axis, their angle is denoted 0°, this notation being agreeable to the language of practitioners, who call the angle so denoted, the weather of the sail. 1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 138 In the mill-wright's terms, the greatest angle of weather was 30 degrees, and the least varied from 12 to 6 degrees, as the inclination of the windshaft varied from 8 to 15 degrees.
5. = weathering vbl. n. 3. rare.
1894A. M. Bell in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. XXIII. 272 Beyond doubt they [two flints] were chipped at the same time..yet one is weathered, and the other is unaltered. So from an isolated example of weather I am in no haste to draw a conclusion. Ibid. 273 So also with surface finds; if they possess definite characteristics of form, of wear, of weather,..then these are certainly local accidents.
II. attrib. and Comb.
6. a. Simple attrib., as weather bulletin, weather-cast, weather-change, weather-chart, weather-forecast, weather-journal, weather-lore, weather-lorist, weather-map, weather-mark, weather prediction, weather-report, weather-saw, weather-screen, weather-wear, † weather-wrack.
1926R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. viii. 157 She asked Arnold..to tell her when the *weather bulletin came on; that was normally the only part of the programme to which she cared to listen. 1980P. Moyes Angel Death xv. 198 The weather bulletin..advised guests that Hurricane Beatrice was..moving at a brisk fourteen knots.
1866Steinmetz Weathercasts 142 *Weathercasts by the Barometer. 1878R. Strachan in Mod. Meteorology (1879) 84 A system of storm-warnings and weather-casts. 1980Time 17 Mar. 37/1 A native American art form, the television weathercast.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lii, Something as dim as the sense of approaching *weather-change.
1901Westm. Gaz. 26 Oct. 5/2 The *weather-chart{ddd}showed that there were several small atmospheric disturbances in the neighbourhood of the British Isles.
1883Encycl. Brit. XVI. 158/1 *Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings.
1868G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 189 Henceforth I keep no regular *weather-journal but only notes.
1875Chamb. Jrnl. 2 Jan. 7/2 We shall thereby add every year to our *weather-lore of the various oceans and seas.
1905Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 10/1 A remarkable dearth of acorns..which, according to the *weather lorists, is a favourable augury for the coming weather.
1877*Weather map [see facsimile 3]. 1883Encycl. Brit. XVI. 157/1 The International Monthly Weather Maps issued by the United States Signal Service.
1693Humours Town 15 Bringing Old Age and *Weather marks on you before you have run half your Course.
1909*Weather prediction [see gaffe]. 1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 75/1 The comment is given in the style of stock⁓market operations or weather predictions.
1863R. Fitzroy Weather Bk. 349 Local changes should be indicated to observers..by due attention to the published *Weather Reports. 1939T. S. Eliot Family Reunion ii. i. 97 And now it is nearly time for the news We must listen to the weather report. 1980A. E. Fisher Midnight Men vii. 78 He could do without unfavourable weather reports.
1871G. M. Hopkins 6 Aug. Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 213 The common *weather-saw about the rainbow.
1914‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xx. 181 The men on the bridge ducked their heads as..a shower of spray drifted over the *weather-screens. 1977P. Smalley Trove ii. 84 The triple-panel weather screen was fitted with heavy duty wipers.
1824Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 191 Owre moor and dale for mony a year, May Davie's famous dykes appear, Ne'er bilged out wi' *wather-wear, But just the same. 1875Brash Eccl. Archit. Irel. 96 In truth, I have seldom seen a better executed piece of masonry, despite the weather-wear of over seven hundred years.
a1616Beaum. & Fl. Wit at Sev. Weapons ii. i, Well, well, you have built a nest That will stand all stormes, you need not mistrust A *weather-wrack.
b. objective, as weather-caster (so weather-casting), weather-forecaster, † weather-wielder; weather-braving, weather-withstanding ppl. adjs.
1800J. Hurdis Fav. Village 4 How long upon the hill has stood Thy weather-braving tower.
c1904Encycl. Dict. Suppl., Weather-caster. 1965Punch 5 May 660/2 His great ambition in life is to be a TV weathercaster. 1980Time 17 Mar. 37 TV weather⁓casters have been much mocked for their polyester jocularity. Ibid. (heading) The wonderful art of weather⁓casting.
1900Nature 29 Nov. 110/2 Disappointing..from the viewpoint of the weather forecaster. 1981Times 9 Dec. 1 The weather forecasters were criticized..for not giving enough warning..of the snowfall.
c1611Chapman Iliad vii. 3 As the weather-wielder sends, to Sea-men prosperous gales.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xliii, Those prudent and resolved and weather-withstanding professors, wha hae kend what it was to lurk..in bogs and in caverns.
c. instrumental, as weather-bleached, weather-blown, weather-borne, weather-bronzed, weather-eaten, weather-hardened, weather-roughened, weather-scarred, weather-stayed, weather-tanned, weather-tinted, † weather-waft, weather-wasted, weather-worn ppl. adjs. Also weather-beaten, etc.
1784Cowper Task v. 834 His country's *weather-bleach'd and batter'd rocks.
c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 532 Strong Enispe, that for height, is euer *weather-blowne.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-borne, pressed by wind and sea.
1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville xv, Their..*weather-bronzed complexions.
1814Coleridge Lett. (1895) 640 [A Janus face] all *weather eaten.
1834Southey Doctor ix. I. 111 A countenance which, *weather-hardened as it was, might have given the painter a model for a Patriarch.
1897W. B. Yeats Secret Rose 187 Her dark, *weather-roughened skin.
1876R. Broughton Joan i. i, The *weather-scarred gray walls.
1854C. L. Balfour Working Women (1868) 395 Whenever he had a guest belated or *weather-staid in that lonely region.
1853Dickens Bleak Ho. lii, A *weather-tanned..woman with a basket.
1814Scott Wav. v (verses), The *weather-tinted rock and tower.
1647Ward Simple Cobler 20 Men.., that are *weather-waft up and down with every eddy-wind of every new doctrine.
1822Scott Pirate xix, These haggard and *weather-wasted features.
1609Healey Discov. New World i. v. 13 We beheld a tombe, which as far as I could guesse by the *weather-worne inscription conteined the bones of the Romane Apicius. 1827Carlyle Germ. Lit. Misc. 1857 I. 48 The weather-worn sculptures of the Parthenon. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. i. i. (ed. 2) 8 Sark, somewhat the loftiest of the islands, is also the most weather-worn.
d. with adjectives expressing imperviousness or power of resistance (to the weather), as weather-free, weather-resistant, weather-resisting, weather-tight, weather-tough. Also weather-resistance; weather-proof.
1648G. Daniel Eclog ii. 6 Lambs, sooner wise then wee, Have got the Hedge, and now stand Weather-free. 1819Byron Juan ii. xi, The dashing spray Flies in one's face, and makes it weather-tough. 1832H. Martineau Ella of Garv. i. 10 If your honour would order the place down below to be made weather-tight for us. 1855Poultry Chron. III. 388 Place a hen, with her brood, under a good weather⁓tight coop. 1894Weather-resisting [see roofing (vbl.) n. 1 b]. 1902A. Austin Haunts Anc. Peace 20 The cottages..looked solid, sturdy, and weather-tight. 1934Archit. Rev. LXXVI. 16/1 Many years of use have proved the method satisfactory, both as a weather-resistant and as insulation. 1942E. African Ann. 1941–2 98 (Advt.), Anti-rust paint.. durable, elastic, weather-resisting. 1967M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 117 Another property that makes both porcelain and glass insulators particularly suitable for high-voltage insulators is their weather-resistance. 1970New Yorker 3 Oct. 27/2 You can bolt on anything from redwood to weather-resistant aluminum.
7. Special comb.: weather balloon, a balloon sent up to provide meteorological information, either by the course it takes or by means of instruments it carries; † weather-basket, a wickerwork screen or covering to protect a plant; weather-box = weather-house; weather-brained a. = weather-headed; weather bureau U.S., an agency (spec. one established by the Government) which observes and reports on weather conditions; † weather-caster, a weather-prophet; weather centre, an office which provides weather information and analysis; spec. in U.K., part of the Meteorological Office; weather clerk = clerk of the weather s.v. clerk n. 6 c; weather-cloth Naut., a covering of canvas or tarpaulin used to protect boats, hammocks, etc., or to shelter persons from wind and spray; weathercoat, a weather-proof coat, a raincoat; weather-cord, a cord used as a hygrometer; weather-cottage = weather-house; weather cycle, a recurring pattern of weather or of some tendency in the weather; weather-dog dial. [dog n. 10] = weather-gall; weather-door, (a) a louver-hole in a church steeple (cf. louver 4, quot. 1858); (b) Mining (see quot.); † weather-fan, a punkah; weather-fane = fane n.1 2; weather-fast a., secure against the weather; weather-fence v. trans. = weather-fend; weather-fish = thunder-fish b (s.v. thunder n. 6); † weather-flag, a vane; weather-gleam, -glim Sc. and north. dial., clear sky near a dark horizon; also, the horizon; weather-god, a god who presides over the weather; weather-guard v. trans., to guard against bad weather; weather-head dial., a secondary rainbow; weather-hen jocular, a female weathercock; an inconstant woman; weather-house, a toy hygroscope in the form of a small house with figures of a man and woman standing in two porches; by the varying torsion of a string the man comes out of his porch in wet weather and the woman out of hers in dry; weather-line, the surface of an embedded timber just above the ground; weather-maker, a weather-prophet; also weather-making vbl. n.; weather-man, (a) one who observes the weather; now also spec. one who presents a weather forecast on radio, television, etc.; (b) (freq. with capital initial and in pl.) (a member of) a violent revolutionary group in the U.S. (see quot. 1970); cf. Weather Underground below; weather modification, the deliberate alteration of the weather in an area; weather-monger, a weather-prophet; weather-moulding Arch., a dripstone; weather plane, an aeroplane designed to collect data on weather conditions at high altitudes; † weather-plate, a plate marked with a scale for indicating the height of the mercury in a barometer; † weather-prophecy Obs., the foretelling of the weather; weather-prophet, one who foretells the weather; one who is weather-wise; also fig.; weather radar, radar used for meteorological investigations (e.g. of rain); † weather-rope (see quot.); weather satellite, a satellite especially equipped to observe weather conditions and to provide meteorological information; weather-sharp U.S. colloq., a weather-prophet; an official meteorologist (Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909); weather ship, a ship serving as a weather station; weather-sick a., sick of, suffering from, the weather; weather-sign, a phenomenon that indicates change of weather; also fig.; † weather-skirt U.S. = safeguard n. 8; weather-slated, -slating (cf. weather-tiled, -tiling); † weather-spar = weatherboard 2; † weather-spy, a weather-prophet; weather station, a meteorological observation post; † weather-stone, a kind of stone classed according to its imperviousness to weather; weather-strip orig. U.S., a strip of wood or rubber applied to a crevice in order to exclude rain and cold (Webster 1864); hence as v. trans., to apply a weather-strip to (Cent. Dict. 1891); hence weather-stripped ppl. a.; weather-stripping vbl. n., material used to weather-strip a door, window, etc.; the process of applying this; weather-table Arch. = water-table 1 b; weather-tile, a kind of tile used instead of weather-board to cover a wall; weather-tiled ppl. a., covered with overlapping tiles; weather-tiling vbl. n., the process or result of covering a wall with tiles; weather-tree, the white poplar, Populus alba; Weather Underground, the revolutionary organization formed by the Weathermen (see above); weather-vane = vane 1; also fig.; weather-wall, a wall serving as a shield from the weather; weather-warning (see quot.); weather window Oil Industry, a brief interval in the year when the weather is calm enough to allow construction, loading, etc., operations to be carried out at sea; weather-wiseacre nonce-wd., one who professes to be weather-wise; † weather-wizard, a weather-prophet; weather woman, (a) (with capital initial) a female member of the revolutionary Weatherman organization; (b) a woman who presents a weather forecast on radio or television; † weather-works, devices to protect a ship from rough weather.
1940War Illustr. 19 Jan. 614/3 (caption) Finnish soldiers are investigating weather conditions by sending up a *weather balloon. 1979J. Gribbin Weather Force vii. 160 (caption) Russian scientists..prepare to launch a flock of weather balloons, which will radio back information about conditions in the atmosphere's lower levels.
1699L. Meager New Art Garden. 28 When they are Grafted they must be fenced, either with a *weather-basket, or some earthen Vessel.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair x, The elder and younger son of the house of Crawley were, like the gentleman and lady in the *weather-box, never at home together.
1826Scott Woodst. vii, But art thou not an inconsiderate *weather-brained fellow, to set forth as thou wert about to do, without any thing to bear thy charges..? 1854H. Miller Sch. & Schm. i. (1858) 10 There was a weather-brained tailor in the neighbourhood, who used to do very odd things, especially, it was said, when the moon was at the full.
1871Harper's Mag. Aug. 401/1 In the year 1857 Lieutenant M. F. Maury..appealed to the public and Congress, through the press, urging the establishment of a storm and *weather bureau. 1890U.S. Statutes XXVI. 653 The civilian duties now performed by the Signal Corps of the Army shall hereafter devolve upon a bureau to be known as the Weather Bureau. 1950Los Angeles Times 12 Feb. 1/4 Weather Bureau figures show that ·34 inch fell during the rainstorm. 1978S. Sheldon Bloodline iv. 71 July turned out to be the rainiest month in the history of the French weather bureau.
1607Dekker Knt.'s Conjur. (1842) 9 The storme beeing at rest, what buying vp of almanacks was there to see if the *weather-casters had playd the doctors to a haire.
[1959Times 19 Aug. 8/7 The Air Ministry Meteorological Office is to open a ‘weather shop’ where the public may call in person at the new home of the London forecasting office at Princes House, Kingsway.] 1961A.A. Handbk. 17 ‘*Weather Centres’ staffed by the Meteorological Office are open in London, in Glasgow, and in Manchester. 1973C. Bonington Next Horizon xiii. 185, I..went through the daily ritual of getting the weather forecast. This entailed 'phoning..the weather centre in London.
1877‘Mark Twain’ New England Weather in Index (Boston) 11 Jan. 16/2 It must be raw apprentices in the *weather-clerk's factory who experiment and learn how in New England.., and then are promoted to make weather for countries that require a good article. 1898H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 111, I wouldn't have a weather clerk inside of me for any thing.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiv. 315 A sort of *weather-cloth, which..would certainly make her more comfortable in heavy weather. 1897Outing XXIX. 547/1 A coil of rope for head-rest, a discarded sail for weather cloth.
1897J. L. Allen Choir Invisible x. 132 He got up at last and wrapped his *weather-coat about him. 1930Daily Express 6 Oct. 13/5 (caption), Real Harris tweed weathercoat. 1978Sunday Times 21 May 1/6 (Advt.), A pure silk wrap-around weathercoat..to protect you from summer showers..{pstlg}165.
1746Phil. Trans. XLIV. 169 The *Weather-Cord is an Hygrometer of a very ancient Invention.
1906E. V. Lucas Wanderer in Lond. 170 One of the old *weather-cottages, with a little man and a little woman to swing in and out and foretell rain and shine.
1930Engineering 31 Jan. 148/2 Based upon a *weather cycle or period of almost fourteen years.
1758Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 17 There appeared in the North-East the frustum of a large rainbow... They call it here in Cornwall a *weather dog,..and pronounce it a certain sign of hard rain. 1865R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1881) 434 ‘Weather dogs’..are regarded as certain prognostications of showery or stormy weather.
1753F. Price Observ. Cathedral-Ch. Salisbury 40 The upper part of the Spire..just below the *weather Door. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Weather-door, a door in a level to regulate the ventilating current.
1611Cotgr., Poille,..also, an Vmbrello, or great *weather-fanne.
1773Phil. Trans. LXIV. 140 The *weather-fane which terminates the conductor.
1910J. Farnol Broad Highway i. xxiv, It was somewhat roughly put together, but still very strong, and seemed, save for the roof, *weather-fast.
a1850W. L. Bowles Poems, Sylph of Summer 466 Yon eastern downs, That *weather-fence the blossoms of the vale.
1886H. G. Seeley Freshw. Fishes Europe 248 In Germany and Austria it [Misgurnus fossilis] is regarded as a weather prophet, and sometimes is called the *Weather-fish, because it usually comes to the surface about twenty-four hours before bad weather, and moves about with unusual energy.
1611Cotgr., Girouette, a fane, or *weather-flag.
1802Sibbald Chron. S.P. Gloss., *Weddir-glim, clear sky, near the horizon; spoken of objects seen in the twilight or dusk; as ‘between him and the wedder-glim’. 1817Blackw. Mag. Oct. 84/1 While..the weather-gleam of the eastern hills began to be tinged with the brightening dawn. 1819W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 185 Nae cloud owr-head the lift did dim, But i' the wastern weddir-glim A black up-castin'.
1905E. Clodd Animism §11. 58 Indra, the old Vedic *weather-god, has been completely elbowed out as an object of worship by special rain-gods.
1885Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. I. 338/2 The pioneers attend to this work, trenching the ground, *weather-guarding the shelters.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Weather-head, the secondary rainbow. 1904E. Rickert Reaper 318 The old folk watched for weatherheads and talked of storms.
1632Heywood 2nd Pt. Iron Age i. i. C 2, And now faire Troian *Weather-hen adew, And when thou next louest, thinke to be more true. 1899B. Thomas & Granv. Barker (title), The Weather-Hen.
1726Post-Man 1–3 Sept. 2/2 Advt., The Gentlemen, Ladies and Farmers famous new invented *Weather Houses. 1784Cowper Task i. 211 Peace to the artist, whose ingenious thought Devis'd the weather-house, that useful toy! 1800Lathom Dash of Day i. i, He is always in bed when I am up, and I am always at rest, when he is stirring; our movements put me in mind of the man and woman in the Dutch weather-house. 1915‘Q’ (Quiller-Couch) Nicky-Nan xiii. 156 A man has no business to stand grimacing in his own doorway..like a figure in a weather-house.
1830R. Mudie Pop. Guide Observ. Nature 302 As little was the injury done at the ‘*weather-line’, just by the surface of the earth, where the durability of timber is put to the severest test.
1888E. D. Gerard Land beyond Forest II. 30 note, Instances of *weather-makers are also common in Germany. 1891Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Oct. 7/2 A weather-maker for an almanack got into conversation with a shepherd.
1883Stallybrass tr. Grimm's Teut. Mythol. III. 1152 The gift of prophecy and the art of *weather-making.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. 11. (Arb.) 152 Therefore in shootynge there is as muche difference betwixt an archer that is a good *wether man, and an other that knoweth and marketh nothynge, as is betwixte a blynde man and he that can se. 1901Weather man [see hot wave s.v. hot a. 12]. 1944Sun (Baltimore) 15 Nov. 11/2 Nobody ever gets anywhere telling the weatherman how to behave. 1952W. Stevens Let. 26 June (1967) 757 It did not go below 85° in N.Y. last night according to the weather man. 1970Guardian 28 Oct. 13/3 The Weathermen have been in existence for just over a year, since the SDS [sc. Students for a Democratic Society] split of June, 1969... The Weathermen got their name from a line in a Bob Dylan song: ‘You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ 1971Times 15 Jan. 12/6 Could this country have acquired an Anglicized offshoot of the American Weatherman—or Weathermen as these violent urban guerillas are less accurately but probably more widely known? 1979R. Perry Bishop's Pawn i. 23 The West was agreed that the IRA, the Weathermen, the Red Army Faction..were composed of criminals, terrorists and murderers. 1983Listener 14 July 17/3 We asked the weatherman, Jack Scott, to demonstrate some of those extraordinary regional variations for us.
1951U.S. Congr. Senate Committee Interior Hearings Apr. 152 *Weather modification on a small scale, such as protection against frost..is known to be possible. 1968Times 1 Nov. 6/6 Russian research on methods of reducing damage to crops by hailstorms is being examined seriously in the United States, according to a National Science Foundation report on last year's activities in weather modification. 1977Time 7 Mar. 55/1 The Governors also agreed to create a task force that could channel such requests for aid and coordinate weather-modification (cloud seeding) programs.
16562nd Ed. New Alamanack 3 If the *weather-mongers rule hold true. 1911J. G. Frazer Golden Bough: Magic Art (ed. 3) I. iv. 227 Wizards, doctors, weather-mongers, prophets.
1841Few Words to Churchwardens i. (Camb. Camden Soc.) 10 You may see what is called the *weather-moulding of the old roof remaining. a1878Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 165 A hollow projecting moulding containing the foliage, capped by a weather moulding.
1962Listener 18 Oct. 632/2 The ‘Coliseum of cloud’ that a *weatherplane captured for us. 1976Evening Post (Nottingham) 13 Dec. 7/2 Experts..identified it as a crashed weather plane which sends wind and temperature conditions from a height of 90,000 feet.
1698Derham in Phil. Trans. XX. 4 The *Weather-plates are to be put upon the Frame [of a portable barometer], by setting them to the same height, at which the Mercury stands in a common Barometer.
1843Mill Logic I. iii. iv. 389 The reliance on astrology, or on the *weather⁓prophecies in almanacs.
1866Steinmetz Weathercasts 7 The most successful *weather-prophet of modern times,..the late lamented Admiral Fitzroy. 1884S. E. Dawson Handbk. Dom. Canada 4 The metaphors of political weather-prophets.
19461st Technical Rep. Weather Radar Research (Mass. Inst. Technol. Dept. Meteorol.) (AD 54113) 3 (heading) *Weather-radar observations at M.I.T.'s Radiation Laboratory. 1979Atmosphere-Ocean XVII. 78 The radar data were obtained from the McGill Weather Radar located just outside Montreal.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-ropes, an early term for those which were tarred.
1960Aeroplane XCIX. 90/2 After taking 22,952 photographs of the Earth's cloud cover, Tiros I, the World's first *weather satellite, has ended its useful life..after the satellite's electronics had suffered a failure. 1976L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle, Little Spy xi. 115 His factories make complicated junk for communications satellites... And there are weather satellites too.
1884Graphic 13 Dec. 610/3 The New York ‘*weathersharps’, who have to their westward some three thousand miles of land studded with signal stations.
1946Shell Aviation News No. 100. 6/3 A proposal by the Search and Rescue Committee that *weather ships should be maintained in the North Atlantic for meteorological observations. 1978Nature 1 June 407/1 Following the withdrawal of US weatherships in 1973, it is the only regularly reporting deep ocean (3,000 m) station in the North Atlantic north of the tropics and south of 50° N.
1757Dyer in J. Duncombe Lett. (1773) III. 62, I think I never was so *weather-sick; the deep snows forbid me air and exercise. 1892Meredith Ode to Comic Spirit Poems 1898 II. 222 A statue losing feature, weather-sick.
1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh ii. 691, I can tell The *weather-signs of love: you love this man. 191519th Cent. Jan. 190 His prophecies [about India] are perpetual, and he read the weather-signs at a glance.
1903A. M. Earle Two Cent. Costume Amer. II. 617 Another name for a safeguard was a *weather-skirt.
1870Lond. Society Sept. 266 A..house, *weather-slated from top to bottom.
1859Jephson Brittany xvi. 269 Buildings of lath and plaster, covered on the most exposed parts with *weather-slating.
1632–3in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 698 The Windowes in y⊇ Roofe, to be of good Oake Timber, with *Wether sparrs handsomely wrought.
c1595Donne Sat. i. 59 And sooner may a gulling *weather Spie By drawing forth heavens Scheme tell certainly [etc.].
1895Funk's Stand. Dict., *Weather station. 1953Encounter Nov. 7/1 Japan gets its weather from China, but no weather reports—at least not until the Japanese experts again manage to break the code of the Chinese weather-stations. 1981‘E. Lathen’ Going for Gold vii. 87, I was on to the weather station... The forecasters are talking about the blizzard of the century.
1686Plot Staffordsh. 168 It being all of it good *weather⁓stone, but not enduring the fire.
1847Rep. Comm. Patents 1846 (U.S.) 94 One patent has been granted for improvement in fences, and another for a *weather strip for doors. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 25 Oct. 6/6 (Advt.), Weather Strip—‘Stormproof’, 24 feet in box. 1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook xii. 143/2 The front windscreen and rear window are secured in place by a special weatherstrip. 1985Times 19 July 13/4 In windy winter conditions the windloading presses the door up against the weatherstrip.
1908I. N. Stevens Liberators 8 The wind that shook the windows, *weather⁓stripped as they were, crept into the room. 1945Nelson & Wright Tomorrow's House xiii. 147/2 A heavy flush door, weather-stripped,..would..reduce the direct transmission of sound.
1942Archit. Rev. XCI. 99/3 The windows are pine with aluminium *weatherstripping. 1959‘S. Ransome’ I'll die for You xii. 144 A part of the weather stripping was loose, and in a heavy rain it leaked. 1975Globe & Mail (Toronto) 14 Nov. 2/5 As for weather⁓stripping, Mrs. Macdonald said their house doesn't need it because of extra insulation and double windows.
1839Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 361/2 A weather fillet, or *weather table, which projects half an inch from the general face of the window. 1906Antiquary Jan. 7/2 A weather-table on the north wall.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2568/2 Siding-tiles are sometimes called *weather-tiles.
1887J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 230 A somewhat quaint little inn, having a *weather-tiled upper story. 1904A. C. Benson House of Quiet iv, One wing is weather-tiled.
1703[R. Neve] City & C. Purchaser 286 *Weather-tyling..Is the Tyling, (or Covering with Tyles) the upright Sides of Houses. 1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §438 The weather-boarding may be covered..with what is called weather-tiling.
1847C. A. Johns Forest Trees I. 357 note, I think there will be rain,..for the *weather tree is shewing its white lining.
1972National Observer (U.S.) 27 May 10/2 The..‘*Weather Underground’, which boasts that it is responsible for so many of these bombings, is down to only 15 or 20 members now, according to sources in the House Internal Security Committee. 1982H. Kissinger Years of Upheaval iv. 89 The terrorism of the Weather Underground.
1721Bailey, *Weather-vane. 1866Le Fanu All in Dark x, The pointed gables, with stone cornices and glittering weather-vane on the summit. 1896Tablet 1 Feb. 167 The Pall Mall Gazette even prefers to regard him as a Royal weather-vane.
1838Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 235/1 A *weather wall in the centre will run the whole length [of the pier].
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-warning, the telegraphic cautionary warning given by hoisting the storm-drum on receiving the forecast.
1974Petroleum Rev. XXVIII. 787/1 The *weather-window is normally reckoned to last into September. 1983Sunday Times 6 Mar. 69/4 It's been said that Esso's development of artificial islands has not merely opened the weather window further but ripped it off its hinges.
1807W. Irving Salmagundi (1824) 122 This is the universal remark among the..*weather-wiseacres of the day.
1596Nashe Saffron Walden Ep. Ded. B 3 b, False Prophets, *Weather-wizards, Fortune-tellers. 1652Gaule Magastrom. 23 Weather-wizzards, planet-prognosticators, and fortune-spellers!
1971Times 15 Jan. 12/7 Only one unconnected *Weatherwoman has since been traced. 1973Daily Tel. 14 Dec. 3/3 BBC Television is to have its first weather woman. She is Miss Barbara Edwards,..who at present reads weather forecasts on radio. 1982Times 28 May 9/3 Diana Arp..was from a very wealthy family and became a Weather woman, making bombs.
1776Cook 3rd Voy. i. iii. (1784) I. 34 The caulkers were set to work..to caulk the decks and inside *weather-works of the ship.
8. Naut. Used attrib. or as adj. with the sense: Situated on the side which is turned towards the wind; having a direction towards the wind; windward; opposed to lee, leeward adjs.; as weather-anchor, weather-beam (beam n.1 17), weather-bowline, weather-brace, weather-division, weather-earing, weather-gangway, weather-gun, weather-leech, weather-lift, weather-lurch, weather-port, weather-quarter, weather-rail, weather-roll, weather-sheet, weather-shore, weather-shrowd, weather-spoke, weather-tack, weather-tide, weather-topping-lift, weather-wheel; weather-bow, the bow that is turned towards the wind; hence as v. trans., to turn the weather-bow to; weather-deck, a deck exposed to the weather [cf. G. wetterdeck]; the uppermost unprotected deck, other than the forecastle, bridge and poop; weather-dodger slang, a screen on the bridge of a ship, affording protection from the weather; weather-gage, -gauge (see gauge n. 5); hence as v. trans., to keep the weather-gage of; weather-helm, a tendency in a ship under sail to come too near the wind, requiring the tiller to be kept constantly a little to windward; weather-mark Sailing, a mark on a racing course towards which boats sail into the wind. Also (to the) weatherward adv.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-anchor, that lying to windward, by which a ship rides when moored.
1790Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. II. 140 Two sail..gave us chase and..kept on our *weather-beams till morning. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Weather-beam, a direction at right angles with the keel, on the weather side of the ship.
1626Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 18 On the *weather bow. 1851H. Melville Whale xvi. 80 Take a peep over the weather-bow..and tell me what ye see there.
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxvi, We made but little by *weather-bowing the tide.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 18 Set in the Lee-Braces, and hawl forward by the *Weather Bowlines.
Ibid. 17 Let go the..Lee-Braces;..set in your *Weather Braces. 1762–9Falconer Shipwr. ii. 308 The sheet and weather-brace they now stand by. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxv[i], ‘A small pull of that weather main-top-gallant brace—that will do,’ said the master.
1850Rep. Committee in G. Moorsom Admeas. Tonnage (1853) 167 The Depth in Midships from the Underside of the *Weather Deck to the Ceiling at the Limber Strake. 1906Attwood War-ships 46 Wood is now only used for weather decks [etc.]. 1908Paasch From Keel to Truck (ed. 4) 75 Weather-deck, Term given to an upper deck on account of its exposure to the sun, rain and wind.
1973H. Gruppe Truxton Cipher (1974) xiii. 135 Tolley..disappeared down the weather-deck ladder.
1920Discovery Nov. 329/2 Nelson had intended his *weather division to be in line ahead.
1924R. Clements Gipsy of Horn v. 84 One was..in comparative comfort under the lee of the *weather-dodger.
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, The first [sailor] on the yard goes to the *weather earing, the second to the lee, and the next two to the ‘dog's ears’.
1834Marryat P. Simple xiii, Walk this boy up and down the *weather gangway.
1892Field 2 July 30/3 Daffodil..was sufficiently far to windward to *weather-gauge her.
1759Ann. Reg. 120 We..run our *weather-guns out.
1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 126 *Weather, or Leeward Helm..may be fitted to promote or hinder the Sailing upon occasion. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 190 A screw ship carries more weather helm than a sailing ship.
1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxv[i], The Aurora dashed through at the rate of eight miles an hour, with her *weather leeches lifting. 1899F. T. Bullen Log of Sea-waif 279 The weather-leech of the lower stun' sails began to flap.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-lurch, a heavy roll to windward.
1894Outing XXIV. 36/2 The ‘Una’ turned the *weather-mark with a lead of nearly half an hour. 1963Times 8 June 5/1 By the weather mark Andromeda was in front.
1809Sporting Mag. XXXIII. 127 A great sea poured through one of the *weather-ports.
1626Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 19 Boord him on his *weather quarter. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 9 The Commodore being on the Weather-Quarter, bore down under our Lee, and spoke with us. 1834M. Scott Cruise of Midge i. (1836) 16 The felucca was now within long pistol-shot of our weather-quarter.
1888E. J. Mather Nor'ard of Dogger 352 We had to hang on the *weather-rail, the seas rolling along like mountains.
1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Rolls, those inclinations which a ship makes to windward in a heavy sea.
a1625H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict. (1644) 76 If the *weather-sheate be as farre as the Bulk⁓head. 1851H. Melville Whale xiii. 67 The tremendous strain upon the main-sheet had parted the weather-sheet.
1626Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 30 Come to an Anchor vnder the Ley of the *weather shore. 1697J. Puckle New Dial. 16 A North-West Wind..makes Holland a Lee and England a Weather Shore.
a1625H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict. (1644) 32 Then cutting the *weather shrowdes, the mast will instantly and without danger fall over boord.
1849Cupples Green Hand vi. (1856) 59, I looked to the wheel..as he coolly gave her half a *weather-spoke more.
1883Man. Seamanship Boys 56 Haul on the *weather-tack and lee-sheet.
1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Tide, denotes that which, by setting against a ship's lee-side, while under sail, forces her up to windward.
1883Man. Seamanship Boys 163 The fiddle-block is hooked to the *weather-topping lift.
1557Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 127 At night the Minion, and the pinnesse came vp to vs, but could not fetch so farre to the *weatherward as we, and therefore they ankered about a league a wether the castle. 1600(25 Dec.) Adm. Ct. Exam. 34 (P.R.O.) [A ship] to the weatherward about a league. 1904Dowden R. Browning 73 The boat veers weatherward.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-wheel, the position of the man who steers a large ship, from his standing on the weather-side of the wheel.
▪ II. weather, v.|ˈwɛðə(r)|
Forms: 5 wederyn, 5–7 wether, 6– weather.
[f. weather n.
OE. had wedrian, widrian, wuderian, ᵹewiderian, to be (good or bad) weather = ON. viðra: see weathering vbl. n. 1. Cf. MHG. weteren (mod.G. wettern), to subject to wind and sun (= sense 1 below), witeren (mod.G. wittern) to storm, etc.; also wither v.]
1. trans. To subject to the beneficial action of the wind and sun; to air.
a. Hawking (see quot. 1856). Also refl. and intr. in passive sense.
14..in Harting Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) Introd. p. ix, For wetheringe yor hauke offer yor hauke water. 1575Turberv. Faulconrie 134 When you haue kept hir two houres vpon the fist, then set hir in the Sunne to weather hir half an houre. c1575Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 11 Set her to wether fastinge a longe tyme. Ibid. 14 In myste they will neuer wether, nor flye well. 1615Markham Country Contentm. i. vii. 88 Then he shall bee sure to weather his Hawke abroad euery euening except on her bathing daies. 1773J. Campbell Mod. Faulconry 191 Of Bathing and Weathering Hawks. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. iv. §5. 223/2 Hawks must also be weathered; that is to say, they should be put out on perches..in the open air, and then left..for many hours a-day, but not in the rain.
transf.1590Spenser Muiopotmos 184 And then he [the butterfly] pearcheth on some braunch thereby, To weather him, and his moyst wings to dry. 1596― F.Q. v. iv. 42.
b. To air (linen, etc.); to dry thoroughly (a harvested crop).
c1440Promp. Parv. 519/2 Wederyn, or leyn or hangyn yn the wedyr, auro. 1530Palsgr. 780/2, I wether a thyng, I lay it abrode in open ayre. Je ayre... It shall be well done to weather your garmentes in Marche for feare of mothes. a1569A. Kingsmill Man's Est. xii. (1574) F vj b, They may not flourish long: Euen as herbes that growe in the shadowe, neuer well weathered with the warme sunne. 1580Tusser Husb. (1878) 129 Maides, mustard seede gather, for being too ripe, and weather it well. 1844Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 269 After reaping..the produce of the several plots was well weathered, and then thrashed. 1847Halliwell, Weather, to dry clothes in the open air. 1892P. H. Emerson Son of Fens xvii. 173 ‘Well, the stuff [cut reeds] is rather heava, ain't it?’ ‘It want to be weathered, bor.’
c. To expose (land, clay for brick- or tile-making) to the pulverizing action of the elements.
1548[see weathering vbl. n. 3 b]. 1865Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 5/4 The clay bank, where the raw material is stored and ‘weathered’.
2. To change by exposure to the weather.
a. trans. To wear away, disintegrate, or discolour by atmospheric action. Const. into, to a specified form or condition. Chiefly in pass. Also with away. Also, to produce as an incrustation on a surface by the action of the weather. Spec. in Geol.
1757tr. J. F. Henckel's Pyritol. v. 61 This leady clay..derived from a lead-ore, weathered and reduced to earth. Ibid. 87 On this sinter..we find glitter, iron and copper pyrites, not conveyed by streams of water, nor agglutinated, but weathered thereon, or produced by weather or damps. 1789[see weathered ppl. a. 1]. 1833Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 210 The face of the limestone is hollowed out and weathered into such forms as are seen in the calcareous cliffs of the adjoining coast. 1867H. Macmillan Bible Teach. xiii. (1870) 267 The rain-cloud hangs low..overhead; the smoke hovers around; and they weather the finest sculptured surface. 1878Ansted Water & Water Supply 89 It [sc. percolation] acts also very powerfully in weathering the rocks through which the water passes. 1918H. Balfour in Man XVIII. 147 The nose either was not represented or has been weathered away.
b. intr. To become worn, disintegrated, or discoloured under atmospheric influences. Const. into, to a specified condition. to weather out: to become prominent or isolated by the decay or disintegration of the surrounding rock.
1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. II. 20 The grey granite begins to weather or decompose. 1839Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxiii. 441 The lower shale is here clearly seen beneath the limestone, and weathers to the same light ashen colour as in Salop. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. i. i. 7 Hard crystalline rock, decomposing or weathering by the constant action of the sea and weather. 1883Ruskin Fors Clav. xcii. 207 The dark rock weathers easily into surface soil. 1885Sir J. W. Dawson Egypt & Syria v. 112 The pillar⁓like masses of salt that weather out of the salt cliff of Jebel Usdum. 1914Moir in Man XIV. 179 Those fragments of flint would in time, by thermal effects, ‘weather out’ and leave a clean-cut groove behind.
c. In pass., esp. of a crop: To be deteriorated by too long exposure to bad weather.
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 74 With feet nigh shoeless..And napless beaver, weather'd brown. 1875Ure's Dict. Arts III. 185 All barleys that have been weathered in the field..should be rigidly rejected [for malting].
d. intr. To wear (well or ill) under atmospheric influences.
1883R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 436/2 For outside work, boiled oil is used, because it weathers better than raw oil.
3. Naut.
a. trans. To sail to the windward of (a point or headland, another ship, etc.).
c1595Capt. Wyatt Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 18 Our carvell plyinge up into the winde weathered the saile which came from the shore. 1608W. Hawkins in Hawkins' Voy. (Hakl. Soc.) 383 We lay close E.S.E. with a S.W. wynd, seeking to wether Socotora but could not. 1627Capt. J. Smith Sea Gram. xii. 57 You cannot boord him except you weather him. 1660N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. i. (1682) 170 When they have weather'd the Cape of Good-Hope. 1694Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 323 Not being able to weather the Lizard Point because of the strong south west wind. 1703Burchett Mem. Trans. at Sea 141 Our Blue Squadron..by a shift of Wind had weather'd the French. 1801Nelson in Nicolas's Disp. (1845) IV. 314 The Agamemnon could not weather the shoal of the middle, and was obliged to anchor. 1820Scoresby Arctic Regions II. 476 An impervious mass of ice..which..we could neither weather, nor discover a passage through. 1878D. Kemp Yacht & Boat Sailing 378/1 To weather is to pass on the windward side of an object. In cross tacking the vessel ‘weathers’ another that crosses ahead of her.
b. fig. To get safely round; to get the better of.
1626Donne Serm. xxi. (1640) 210 That soule which is but neare destruction, may weather that mischiefe. 1654Whitelocke Swed. Ambassy (1772) I. 449 Butt, through mercy, he weathered this point also. 1708Addison Pres. St. War 15 We have been tugging a great while against the Stream, and have almost weather'd our point. 1833Marryat P. Simple xxxvii, Peter, read me about Jacob, and his weathering Esau with a mess of pottage.
†c. To aim wide of (the mark) on the windward side. Obs. rare— 1.
1588Lucar Tartaglia's Colloq., Lucar Appendix 4 Euery Gunner ought to weather the marke according to the hardnes of the winde, and the distance.
d. intr. to weather on or weather upon: to gain upon in a windward direction; also fig., to get the advantage of, take liberties with.
c1595Capt. Wyatt Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 16 Some fowre leagues of, wee sawe a saile to weather on us. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 35 How well soever he can weather upon others, he is never able to fore-reach upon his Commander. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 163 We had both weathered and fore-reached upon her considerably. 1829Marryat F. Mildmay xvii, How do you think the scoundrels weathered on me at last? 1836Fraser's Mag. XIV. 475, I weathered upon my duty without discredit, my leisure without care, my liquor without quarrelling. 1863Reade Hard Cash I. ix. 252 The other [pirate]..came up to weather on him and hang on his quarters, pirate fashion. 1881Daily News 9 June 5/4 There is a triumph, too, which only a genuine yachtsman can feel when inch by inch a dreaded rival is weathered on.
4. trans.
a. Naut. To withstand and come safely through (a storm). Often with out (also absol.).
1673Temple Observ. United Prov. viii. 255 Such old Sea⁓men in so strong a Ship that had weathered so many storms without loss. 1681H. Nevile Plato Rediv. 22 [No more than] the Pilot and Marriners [are answerable] for not weathering out a Storm, when the Ship hath sprung a planck. 1748Anson's Voy. i. vi. 62 Had they [the masts] weathered the preceding storm, it would have been impossible..to have stood against those..tempests we afterwards encountered. 1790Cowper On Receipt of Mother's Pict. 89 As a gallant bark..(The storms all weather'd and the ocean cross'd) Shoots into port. 1819Byron Juan ii. xli, But the ship labour'd so, they scarce could hope To weather out much longer. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. V. 204 In the port lay fleets of great ships which had weathered the storms of the Euxine and the Atlantic. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 135 To sell the boat—and yet he loved her well—How many a rough sea had he weather'd in her! 1866R. M. Ballantyne Shifting Winds ii, She had sailed from the antipodes, had weathered many a gale.
b. fig. or in fig. context. To come safely through (a period of trouble, adversity, affliction, etc.); to sustain without disaster.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. xvi. 192 He Weathered out the Raign of Queen Mary. 1671Caryl Sir Salomon iv. 66 My designs of Revenge are vain, and unjust. I must pull down my Sailes to weather out this storme. 1674Boyle Excell. Theol. i. iii. 95 Afflictions slight and short may well be weather'd out by these Philosophical Avocations. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 78 They value no such Puffs, if they can but weather a Beating. 1772Mackenzie Man of World ii. xx, After having weathered so many disasters, I at last arrived near the place of my nativity. 1775Jefferson Let. 4 July in H. S. Randall Life (1858) III. 568 If we can weather out this campaign, I hope that we shall be able to have a plenty [of gunpowder] made for another. 1787Burns Let. Earl Glencairn Dec., My brother's farm is but a wretched lease, but I think he will probably weather out the remaining seven years of it. 1834Creevey in C. Papers (1904) II. xii. 296 The Government..could not have weathered the session. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 623 They were..thrown into the shade by two younger Whigs,..who weathered together the fiercest storms of faction. 1853Dickens Bleak Ho. xiv, Pa told me, only yesterday morning,..that he couldn't weather the storm. 1865― Lett. (1880) II. 242, I rather doubt..their being able to weather it out. 1885Contemp. Rev. June 906 Their proprietors are less indebted and weather a crisis better. 1900G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 143 The other weathered a serious illness and lived on for two or three years.
c. gen. To pass through and survive (severe weather).
1680Otway Orphan iv. i, The Beasts that under the Warm Hedges slept, And weather'd out the cold bleak Night, are up. 1742T. Woodroofe in Hanway Acc. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea (1753) I. i. xvii. 113 We had weathered out the inclement season with as good spirits as could be expected in so bad a neighbourhood. 1785Cowper Let. Lady Hesketh 9 Nov., Wks. 1835 I. 171, I began..to fear I should never be able to weather out the winter in so lonely a dwelling. 1795–6Wordsw. Borderers i. 513 My husband, Sir, Was of Kirkoswald—many a snowy winter We've weathered out together. 1805― Waggoner iii. 80 Among these hills, from first to last, We've weathered many a furious blast. 1854Thoreau Walden xiv. (1863) 275, I weathered some merry snow storms.
†d. To take shelter from (a storm). Obs.
1742Fielding J. Andrews ii. iii, They said there was a violent shower of rain coming on, which they intended to weather there [i.e. at an alehouse]. 1749― Tom Jones xii. viii, Partridge, with much earnest Entreaty, prevailed with Jones to enter, and weather the Storm. 1798Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Winter 296 Beneath whose trunk I've weather'd many a show'r.
5. intr. to weather along, † to weather it on: to sail or make headway in spite of wind and weather. Also to weather her way.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe D 3, [All] that euer Yarmouth vnshelled or ingendred to weather it on till they lost the North-starre. 1836W. Irving Life & Lett. (1866) III. 91, I have ever since made my calculations to ‘weather along’, as the sailors say, for some time to come, without any of the funds I have invested. 1881J. K. Scott Galloway Glean. 14 See the ‘Press Home’ steerin' strecht for lan', Will she weather her way to the shore?
6. trans. To set (the sails of a windmill) at the proper angle to obtain the maximum effect of the wind-force. Cf. weather n. 4.
1745Phil. Trans. XLIV. 1 All which Sails [of a water-wheel] are weathered in the same Manner as those designed for Windmills. 1759Smeaton Ibid. LI. 144 Plain sails weather'd according to the common practice. 1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 138 From which it appears that sails weathered in the Dutch manner produced nearly a maximum effect.
7. Arch. To slope or bevel (a surface) so as to throw off the rain; to furnish (a wall, buttress) with a weathering or water-table.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §860, 13 feet 6 inches oak wrought, framed, and weathered (beveled to throw off the wet). 1878MacVittie Ch. Ch. Cathedral, Dublin 66 A plinth which is weathered in the depth of the buttresses by nine courses of Water-tables. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 294/1 Fig. 391 shows the manner in which the sill is sloped off, or ‘weathered’.
▪ III. weather
obs. f. wether, wither n. |