| 释义 |
Kilkenny|kɪlˈkɛnɪ|
Name of a county and city in Leinster in the Republic of Ireland, used attrib., as in Kilkenny cat, one of a pair of cats fabled to have fought until only their tails remained; transf., of combatants who fight until they annihilate each other; so Kilkenny fight. Also Kilkenny coal, an Irish name for anthracite; Kilkenny marble (see quot. 1959).
1822Hive I. ii. 32/2 (heading) Kilkenny cats. Ibid., One gentleman stated his opinion, that a Kilkenny cat was, of all other animals, the most ferocious;..‘..I once,’ said he, ‘saw two of these animals fighting..and..drove them into a deep saw-pit, and..left them to their amusement. Next morning,..what d'ye think I saw?..there was nothing left in the pit but the two tails and a bit of flue.’ 1849Pict. Guide Birmingham 162 Whatever may be the ultimate fate of the combatants—and it once seemed likely to be that of the Kilkenny cats. 1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 33 Of coal there are various species: as, pit, culm, slate, cannel, Kilkenny, sulphurous, bovey, jet, &c. 1900J. London Let. 2 May (1966) 105 If Russia and England played the Kilkenny cat act, there would be peace in the world. 1901Graphic LXIV. 288/1 The fate of the Kilkenny cats will meanwhile have overtaken the villains. 1910Encycl. Brit. II. 105/2 Other terms [for anthracite]..are..‘blind coal’ in Scotland, and ‘Kilkenny coal’ in Ireland. 1930F. J. North Limestones 145 Black Kilkenny Marble is widely used. 1931Sun (Baltimore) 7 Mar. 8/2 He has been in the center of a good old-fashioned Democratic kilkenny fight. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 23 July 578/2 All these excitable disputants have disappeared like the Kilkenny cats through the excess of their own zeal. 1959Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 217/1 The Kilkenny marbles are greyish crystalline limestones which become deep blue or black on polishing. 1970I. Origo Images & Shadows ii. 40 The home of my mother's Anglo-Irish parents..was an Italianate house built towards the end of the eighteenth century of the grey local limestone known as ‘Kilkenny marble’. 1972Guardian 10 Mar. 1/3 Mr Heath and Mr Wilson..guard the rival despatch boxes with the mutual respect and tolerance of a pair of Kilkenny cats. |