| 释义 |
▪ I. † wilt, n.1 Obs.
[Origin obscure.]
= wile n. Hence † wiltful a., wily.
a1230St. Kath. 891 Þe wrenchfule feont, þurh onden, wið his wiles [MS. Royal wiltes] weorp him ut. a1250Ancr. R. MS. C.C.C.C. 402, lf. 61 Hu ȝe schulen witen ow wið þes deofles wiltes. Ibid. 73 b, Hit bringeð to noht al þes deofles wiheles nawt ane his strengðes & his stronge turnes ah deð his wiltfule [so also MS. Caius 234, lf. 156 b; MS. Cott. Nero wihtful, Titus wilfule] crokes & his wrenchfule wicche⁓creftes.
▪ II. wilt, n.2|wɪlt|
[f. next.]
The action or an act of wilting; spec. (also wilt disease) any fungous disease of plants which is characterized by wilting.
1855Ainslie Land of Burns (1892) 315 To stiffen the wilt that this wilderness Has brought on this bosom and brain. 1916Q. Rev. Oct. 357 Rusts, smuts, wilts, and insect-attacks were calamities to be patiently endured. 1918[see psylla]. 1946Nature 13 July 56/1, I came across what is apparently a hitherto undescribed wilt disease of the oil palm. 1961A. Schoenfeld tr. Stapp's Bact. Plant Pathogens i. 103 This wilt disease [of beans] can be said with certainty not to occur in Germany. 1981Buczacki & Harris Collins Guide to Pests of Garden Plants 306 Most wilts are caused by Deutero⁓mycete fungi.
▪ III. wilt, v.|wɪlt|
[Of dial. origin (in early 19th c. largely U.S.), having a widespread variant welt (welt v.3); perh. alteration of wilk, welk v.]
1. a. intr. Of plants or their parts: To become limp or flaccid, through heat or drought.
1691Ray N.C. Words (ed. 2) 80 To Wilt, for wither, spoken of green Herbs or Flowers, is a general word. 1779Projects in Ann. Reg. 108/1 Let it remain exposed to the sun throughout the day, or until the leaves are entirely wilted, as it is termed in America. Ibid. 108/2 If the sun does not appear for several days,..they [sc. leaves of the tobacco-plant] must remain to wilt. 1790Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2) s.v., These flowers are all wilted. 1807W. Irving Salmag. xvii. (1824) 315 A Cabbage leaf wilting before a hot fire. 1825[see b]. a1864Gesner Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865) 36 [They] wilted down like leaves when the forest is on fire. 1867Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 378 Some flowers will not bear to be handled without wilting. 1887Amer. Naturalist XXI. 506 The tissues of the flower begin to soften and wilt very soon after separation from the plant. 1897T. H. Warren By Severn Sea 27 Magic bowers never wilting.
b. transf. and gen. To become limp; to lose energy or vigour; to become dispirited or nerveless.
1787A. Adams Lett. (1848) 333 Mrs. Cranch..is wilted just enough to last to perpetuity. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan xvii. II. 109 Look o' the major!..pale as death; and wiltin' away, like a cabbage leaf, in the hot sun. 1857in Harper's Mag. Dec. (1883) 165 My..ruffles wilted to the consistency..of an after-dinner napkin. 1862Lowell Biglow P. ii. iii. 200 Poems 1890 II. 291 They..wilt right down ez debtors will thet stumble on a dun. 1890Henty With Lee in Virg. xv, The man is as hard as a rock... He wilted a little when you were telling your story, but [etc.]. 1920Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Jan. 1/2 The old aristocracy seemed as if it was going to wilt before this new commonwealth of wits.
2. a. trans. To cause to become limp; to deprive of stiffness, energy, vigour, or spirit.
1809T. Dwight Theol. (1819) IV. 165 Despots..have wilted the human race into sloth and imbecility. 1854J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. xix. 349 They had secured for his cause no monarchical friends, but had wilted the enthusiasm of the people. 1888Deland John Ward 233 The full blaze of sunshine..was wilting the dish of violets.
b. Agric. To leave (mown grass, etc.) to dry partially in the open before putting it in a silo.
1971Power Farming Mar. 9/1 ‘But,’ said Mr. Whitton, ‘the loader must be used as part of a system, and it is most essential that the silage be wilted and chopped.’ 1974BSI News May 8/3 The process of wilting the crop [of grass] from 75%–85% moisture content down to 55%–65%. 1980Daily Tel. 28 Jan. 10/4 New techniques such as wilting the crop in the field before it is ensiled.
Hence ˈwilted ppl. a.; ˈwilting ppl. a. and vbl. n.; spec. wilting coefficient, the moisture content of the soil (expressed as a percentage of its dry weight) when a plant begins to wilt.
1809W. Irving Knickerb. iii. vii. (1812) I. 185 Fanciful festoons of wilted peaches and dried apples. 1830Examiner 35/1 A wilted, sinew-shrunk old hunks. 1883G. Allen in Knowledge 3 Aug. 65/1 It is a tall wilted-looking thing, this broomrape. 1884Century Mag. Jan. 356/2 Wilting flowers are hardly appropriate to a steamship. 1912Briggs & Shantz in Bull. U.S. Bureau Plant Industry No. 230. 9 It appears advisable to use a more specific term for the moisture content of the soil corresponding to the wilting point of a plant, and we have employed the term ‘wilting coefficient’ in this sense in the present paper. 1980Communications Soil Sci. & Plant Analysis XI. 843 Studies were performed to determine the wilting coefficient of various selected light tropical soils collected at different locations in..Venezuela.
▪ IV. wilt
see will v.
▪ V. wilt
obs. f. quilt n. |