| 释义 |
wild life
Also wildlife, wild-life.
[f. wild a. 1 and 2 + life n. 1.]
1. The native fauna and flora of a particular region.
1879R. Jefferies (title) Wild life in a southern county. 1912A. R. Dugmore (title) Wild life and the camera. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Nov. p. xxii/2 The chance to live among country things and indulge a native passion for wild life (for if you scratch an Englishman you are likely to find a naturalist manqué). 1982Times 18 Oct. 20/8 Ancient woods..are especially important for wildlife.
2. a. attrib.
1936Discovery June 190 His description of the patient progress of the wild-life photographer has authority behind it. Ibid. 191/2 (heading) The wild-life film. 1943J. S. Huxley TVA 12 The total range of activities covered by the TVA..includes..wild life conservation. Ibid. 54, I spoke earlier of the wild life survey of the region. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Jan. 24/1 A well-illustrated anthology based on the B.B.C.'s wild-life and naturalist programmes. 1982G. Hammond Fair Game v. 47 The shooting man..needs a rich wildlife scene. 1984Guardian 22 Oct. 3/2 The Liberals estimate that annual compensation to farmers who are preserving scenic land or important wildlife habitats..is running at the rate of {pstlg}1 million.
b. Comb., as wildlife park, a park in which wild animals are kept and displayed to the public in conditions as close as possible to their natural ones; wildlife sanctuary, an area of land in which hunting, collecting, or any other disturbance of the native fauna and flora is forbidden.
1965P. Wayre Wind in Reeds xvi. 234 We became officially known as the Norfolk Wildlife Park. Britain's first wildlife park was away to a flying start. 1976P. R. White Planning for Public Transport viii. 157 Coach operators' inclusive prices for visits to stately homes and wild-life parks.
1936D. McCowan Animals Canad. Rockies i. 12 A warning to poachers in a wild life sanctuary. 1973V. Canning Flight of Wild Goose iv. 57 The whole of that area was kept as a wild life sanctuary.
Hence ˈwildlifer, a person interested in the study and conservation of wild plants and animals.
1963Spectator 8 Feb. 177/3 Children either drop the whole thing or become wildlifers of the intrepid, modern, TV-inspired kind. 1982G. Hammond Fair Game v. 49, I can just picture a bunch of slightly hostile wild-lifers..running the estate. |