| 释义 |
▪ I. whiffling, vbl. n.1
see whiffle v.1
▪ II. ˈwhiffling, vbl. n.2
[f. whiffler1 + -ing1.]
The action of a whiffler in clearing the way; also attrib. or as ppl. a., used by, or acting as, a whiffler.
1618in J. Nicholl Comp. Ironm. (1866) 183 For 14 doz. of whiffling staves and 1 doz. of truncheons..2 li. 5 s. 0 d. 1675V. Alsop Anti-Sozzo iii. §2. 156 These whiffling Slanders do but make way for the Show. 1683[J. Norris] Murnival of Knaves 16 The Rabbles Darling, small Birch-rod Of Loyalty, a Whifling Blade.
▪ III. whiffling, ppl. a.1|ˈhwɪflɪŋ|
[f. whiffle v.1 + -ing2.]
1. That whiffles; blowing, or blown, in light puffs; moving lightly as if driven by gusts of wind.
1568T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 68 Vphoyst by wyffling windes. 1660N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. ii. (1682) 205 The whiffling dust which flies in the faces of Travellers. 1685Wood Life (O.H.S.) III. 135 No raine fell from the 26 Jan..., only a little whiffling snow. 1713Rowe Jane Shore iv. i, Like a dry leaf, an idle straw, a feather, The Sport of every whifling Blast that blows. 1765Sterne Tr. Shandy VII. xvi, Those whiffling vexations which come puffing across a man's canvas. 1800J. Hurdis Fav. Village 32 The whiffling breeze..among the bents. 1845S. Judd Margaret xvii, Where the whiffling winds had left the earth nearly bare [of snow].
b. Making or characterized by a light whistling sound.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iv, Some whiffling husky cachinnation. 1911Galsworthy Patrician xix, Rain, which the wind drove horizontally with a cold whiffling murmur.
2. Inconstant, shifting; evasive.
a1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 109 This puts him upon perpetual Apologies..in a Kind of whiffling Strain. 1741Watts Improv. Mind ix. (1801) 79 A person of a whiffling and unsteady turn of mind, who cannot keep close to a point of controversy, but wanders from it perpetually. 1800Asiat. Ann. Reg., Proc. E. Ind. Ho. 139/1 That it should be got rid of by the whiffling way of an adjournment. 1818Hazlitt Pol. Ess. (1819) 343 A whiffling turncoat. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies iv, Hee had..a whiffling double voice, shifting abruptly from a treble to a thorough-bass. 1856Emerson Engl. Traits viii. 143 The national temper, in the civil history, is not flashy or whiffling. 1914Contemp. Rev. Sept. 323 The whiffling and unsteady frame of mind of the Imperial workman.
3. Trifling, pettifogging, fiddling, fussy; (passing into) paltry, insignificant, ‘piffling’.
1613Hoby Counter-snarle 3 Some vile blurr, and maleuolous aspersion, from one or other her suborned Pandars and whifling agents. 1671Crowne Juliana i. 8 A pittiful whiffling small-beer Duke. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 847 A meer Whifling, Evanid, and Phantastick thing. 1710Brit. Apollo III. No. 7. 3/1 Whiffling, Noisy Whelp apace Barks. 1719D'Urfey Pills (1872) IV. 107 The whiffling Gallants of the Inns of Court, Do hinder their Studies certainly. 1817Hazlitt Times Newsp. Wks. 1902 III. 171 The low, whiffling, contemptible gratification of their literary jealousy. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Whifling, slight, slender, insignificant. ‘A little whiffling fellow.’ 1903R. Bridges To a Socialist in Lond. 111 The least petty whiffling ephemeral insect.
Hence ˈwhifflingly adv., in a trifling manner.
1668H. More Div. Dial. II. 482 All the Articles of our Faith..might be most frivolously and whifflingly allegorized into a mere..Fable.
▪ IV. whiffling, ppl. a.2
see whiffling vbl. n.2 |