| 释义 |
▪ I. wiry, a.|ˈwaɪərɪ|
Also 6–7 wy(e)rie, wiery, 8–9 wirey.
[f. wire n. + -y1.]
1. Made or consisting of wire; in the form of wire.
1588T. D[eloney] Ballet Whips Spaniards in Roxb. Ballads (1889) VI. 387 One sorte of whips they had for men,..The strings whereof with wyerie knots like rowels they did frame. 1591Spenser Ruins of Time 10 Her yeolow locks, like wyrie golde, About her shoulders careleslie downe trailing. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 350 Jayes, that in their wyerie gail Can ask for victuals, and unvictual'd rail. a1631Donne Eleg. xix. 15 Off with that wyerie Coronet and shew The haiery Diademe which on you doth grow. 1720Gay Ep. to P. Methuen 95 My song confines me to the wiry cage. 1816Byron Ch. Har. iii. xv, The barr'd up bird will beat His breast and beak against his wiry dome. 1834Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. 1846 II. 272/1 To slit an ear or two, or inflict a wiry scourging. [See wire n. 1 d.]
2. Resembling wire in form and consistence; tough and flexible: said esp. of hair (hence of a dog's coat), grass, stems of plants.
1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 64 O what loue I note In the faire multitude of those her haires; Where but by chance a siluer drop hath falne, Euen to that drop ten thousand wiery friends Doe glew themselues in sociable griefe. 1807Crabbe Birth of Flattery 308 The wiry moss, that whitens all the hill. 1812― Tales x. 120 Here on its wiry stem, in rigid bloom, Grows the salt lavender that lacks perfume. 1834W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood i. i, A strange superannuated terrier, with a wiry back. 1844Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 114 Clods of couch and wiry turf. 1880Blackmore Mary Anerley xxv, While he was rubbing his wiry head with irritation.
b. transf. and fig.
1770Armstrong Misc. I. 199 Your solid wirey nerves are asleep it would seem to the lute. 1809W. Blake Descr. Catal. 63 The more distinct, sharp, and wirey the bounding line, the more perfect the work of art. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 773 In the common method of etching,..those so tinted..always present a wiry hard effect. 1830Lytton Paul Clifford iv, ‘Knock him down’. There is something peculiarly harsh and stunning in those three, hard—wirey—sturdy—stubborn monosyllables.
c. Med. of the pulse: Small and tense.
1801[implied in wiriness]. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 621 The pulse becomes small, sharp, wiry or thready.
3. Of sound: Produced by or as by the plucking or vibration of a wire; sometimes, of music, played on string instruments; of a voice, thin and metallic.
1819[H. Busk] Vestriad iv. 767 Stridulous guitar with wiry twang. 1830Examiner 388/1 He has..softened his voice, the tones of which were sharp and wiry. 1840Penny Cycl. XVIII. 140/1 The tone of this piano-forte was thin and wiry. 1841[see windy a. 1 b]. 1883in Royal Acad. Catal. 222 With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway'st The wiry concord.
4. Of a person or animal: Lean, tough, and sinewy. Hence fig. of personal attributes.
1808Scott Marm. v. Introd. 11 Wiry terrier, rough and grim. 1848Dickens Dombey xi, Mrs. Blimber..was a lady of great suavity, and a wiry figure. a1870Stubbs Lect. Eur. Hist. i. xi. 138 A wiry pertinacity was the distinctive feature of Charles's character. 1878Black Green Past. xiii, The wiry little pony he rode.
5. Comb. (chiefly in sense 2), as wiry-coated, wiry-haired, wiry-leaved, wiry-looking adjs.
1832Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 30 A slightish, wiry-looking old man. 1835C. F. Hoffman Winter in West I. 155 A brindled, wiry-haired dog. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. i, A wiry-looking bay mare. 1880J. Buchanan Indig. Grasses N.Z. Pl. xxxi, Danthonia Australis,..Wiry-leaved Oat Grass.
¶ Used for: Made of iron: cf. wire n. ¶ (at end).
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iv. Handie-Crafts 567 Wiery Cymbals [orig. Des Cimbales le fer].
▪ II. wiry, wirykow
see worry, worricow. |