释义 |
▪ I. welk, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.|wɛlk| Also 3 welken, 4–7 welke, 5 wylke, 7 wilke; ppl. a. 6 wealked, 9 dial. wilkt. [ME. welken, prob. of Continental origin: cf. (M)Du., LG., OHG. (MHG. and G.) welken (also OHG. welhen, MHG. welchen), in the same sense, and LG. welk, wälk, OHG. welk, welc (G. welk) adj., withered, flaccid, sere, etc.] 1. intr. Of a flower, plant, etc.: To lose freshness or greenness; to become flaccid or dry; to wilt, wither, fade. Also with away.
c1250[implied in welked ppl. a.]. a1300E.E. Psalter lxxxix. 6 It wites als gresse areli at dai;..At euen doun es it broght Vnlastes, and welkes and gas to noght. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 707 A man may likend be Til a flour, þat..Welkes and dwynes til it be noght. 1387Trevisa Higden I. 77 No manere of tree leseþ þere his leues; no floures þere welkeþ. c1440Jacob's Well 262 Thou faryst as a vyne wyth brode levys that sone welkyn. a1470H. Parker Dives & Pauper (W. de W. 1496) iv. xxiii. 189/1 They [the garlondes] shall alwaye be grene & fresshe, & neyther welke ne fade. 1577Harrison England iii. xiv. 113 b, Saffron..These flowers are gathered..before the rising of the Sunne, whych would cause them to welke or flitter. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 31 Soe soone as the pennie-grass beginne to welke and seeme dry, then is it time to beginne to mowe. 1648Hunting of Fox 7 Some particular vines..doe daily wilke and wither away. 1787Grose Prov. Gloss. s.v., Mown grass in drying for hay is said to welk. 1825Brockett N.C. Words, Welk, to dry, to wither. b. transf. and fig. (or in fig. context).
c1340Hampole Psalter lxxii. 17 Behaulde the laste endinge of wicked men, when thair flour welkes, & wytes awaye. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love ii. xi. 105, I, as a seer tree, with⁓out burjoning or frute, alwaye welke. a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 41 And so I quenchid þe forseid superfluites..so þat þai bigan to dry and to welk and fall away. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis Pref. 4 For Bookes translated doe,..like remov'd Trees, welke. 1657Reeve God's Plea 232 This world..can hold nothing in it long, the whitest flowers welk and drop. †2. To become less, to diminish, to shrink. Of the sun or moon: To wane, lose brightness. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. I. 35 The See now ebbeth, now it floweth, The lond now welketh, now it groweth. [1579E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Nov. 13 The Moone being in the waine is sayde of Lidgate to welk.] 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 23 When ruddy Phœbus gins to welke in west. 1631Quarles Samson xiii. 74 When the Sun was welking in the West. 1641Milton Reform. i. 29 The Church that before by insensible degrees welk't and impair'd, now with large steps went downe hill decaying. 3. trans. To cause to fade or wither.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov., 13 But nowe sadde Winter welked hath the day. 1594Zepheria xvi. C 4 b, Oh how hath black night welked vp this day? a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Welk... 2. To expose to sun and air, and turn over in order to be dried; as grass to be converted to hay. Hence ˈwelking vbl. n. and ppl. a.
a1400Gloss. in Rel. Ant. I. 6 Emerceo, to wex drie and welkynge. c1440Promp. Parv. 521/1 Welkynge, marcor. 1630J. Lane Contn. Squire's T. ix. 225 (Ashm.) While welking Phoebus went down to the west. ▪ II. † welk, v.2 Obs. rare. [Related to walk v.1 and v.2] trans. To roll or knead together.
a1400Stockholm Med. MS. i. 300 in Anglia XVIII. 302 Take garlek & hony & an eyis ȝelke, Do hem to-gedyr wel bete & welke. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Welk,..To soak, roll, and macerate in a fluid. ▪ III. welk(e obs. forms of whelk. ▪ IV. welk(e obs. pa. tense of walk v. |