| 释义 |
▪ I. jack-boot, ˈjackboot
[Sense of jack uncertain: taken by some as jack n.2, but may be Jack n.1]
a. A large strong boot the top of which came above the knee, serving as defensive armour for the leg, worn by cavalry soldiers in the 17th and 18th centuries; also, a large boot coming above the knee, worn by fishermen and others, and also spec. by German soldiers during the Nazi regime.
1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2182/4 He had a light bob Periwig..and a pair of Jack-Boots. 1712Addison Spect. No. 435 ⁋6 Should they meet a Man on Horseback, in his Breeches and Jack-Boots. 1712E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 74 Leather, so dress'd that it is not inferior to Iron, like our Jack-Boots. 1771Mackenzie Man Feel. (1886) 41 Two jack-boots concealed, in part, the well-mended knees of an old pair of buckskin breeches. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. I. 17 A meagre but fiery postilion, who with tremendous jack-boots and cocked hat was floundering on before him. 1861Sala Dutch Pict. xii. 181 Jack-boots with long brass spurs. 1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 2 May 36 Either the British way shall survive or the Nazi jackboot and whip shall take its place. 1955Times 13 June 8/5 There were jackboots to be seen, iron crosses were pinned to the pockets of a few green shirts.
b. fig. Military oppression; rough bullying tactics. Also attrib.
1768J. Mordaunt Let. 10 May in E. Hamilton Mordaunts (1965) ix. 215 Some insults were offer'd to some of the Lords & Commons in their Coaches as they went down with a Cry of Wilkes & Liberty & no Jack Boot. 1910Westm. Gaz. 14 Feb. 5/1 A large numerical majority..excluded from power and honour by a mere jack-boot minority. 1968Sat. Rev. 26 Oct. 36 The writers' trials and the jackboot on Prague have made it quite clear that Brezhnev and Kosygin's views on liberalism are akin to Stalin's. 1968‘R. Simons’ Death on Display vii. 105 He also objected strongly to what he called your jack⁓boot methods when you interviewed Mrs Hurd. 1970Times 18 Mar. 26 This..attempt by the Government to bludgeon this Bill through with jackboot tactics.
Hence ˈjack-booted a.
1846R. Ford Gatherings from Spain xxii. 300 The clumsy look of a French jackbooted postilion. 1939‘N. Blake’ Smiler with Knife iv. 60 Silent, jack-booted watchers standing outside frightened houses. 1946R.A.F. Jrnl. May 175 The once-jackbooted Germans. 1972J. Rossiter Rope for General Dietz ii. 28 He stood..with his jackbooted legs apart..as if to underline what they'd done in the name of Nazi justice.
▪ II. jack-boot, -boots
(= the ‘Boots’ at an inn): see Jack n.1 36. |