| 释义 |
▪ I. wobble, n.|ˈwɒb(ə)l|
Also † wabble.
[f. next.]
1. a. The action or an act of wobbling; an unsteady rocking motion or movement; also fig.
1699Phil. Trans. XXI. 286 That direction being nothing but a certain wabble in the Earth's Motion. 1842Francis Dict. Arts etc., Wabble, a hobbling unequal motion. 1867F. Francis Bk. Angling iv. 89 The long, slow wobble of a badly spinning bait. 1870Steinmetz Gaming Table II. v. 154 The mouth[s] of the pockets..are easier of access; and the chance of a wobble all but avoided. 1896Wells Wheels of Chance v, The bicycle..began an absolutely unprecedented wabble. 1911Sat. Rev. 19 Aug. 223/1 That is a quite characteristic wobble on the part of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
b. pl. (Austral.) A disease in cattle caused by eating the leaves of the palm-tree.
1895Queenslander 7 Dec. 1090 Rickets or Wobbles in Cattle.
2. Biochem. The variable pairing that is possible between a base in a transfer RNA anticodon and the corresponding base in a messenger RNA codon. Freq. attrib.
1966F. H. C. Crick in Jrnl. Molecular Biol. XIX. 548 (heading) Codon–anticodon pairing: the wobble hypothesis. Ibid. 551, I now postulate that in the base-pairing of the third base of the codon there is a certain amount of play, or wobble, such that more than one position of pairing is possible. 1974Nature 22 Feb. 517/2 tRNAfmet of E. coli, yeast and mouse ascites tumour cells has the ability to recognise both the codons ApUpG and GpUpG and to thus exhibit code degeneracy or ‘wobble’ at the third base (3′ end) of the anticodon. 1982K. H. Muench in T. M. Devlin Textbk. Biochem. xix. 921 According to the wobble rules 31 different tRNAs would suffice to read the 64 codons.
▪ II. wobble, v.|ˈwɒb(ə)l|
Also † wabble, Sc. 8–9 wauble.
[Corresponds to Upper, Middle, and Low G. wab(b)eln: cf. MHG. wabelen to move restlessly, and ON. vafla (synonymous with vafra waver v.): f. Teut. waƀ- (see wave v.). A parallel Teut. wap- appears in LG. wappeln, ON. vappa to waddle, OE. wapolian to bubble. (Cf. swabble v.)]
1. a. intr. Of a person or animal: To move from side to side unsteadily or with uncertain direction.
1657[see wobbling ppl. a.]. 1694tr. Marten's Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. (1711) ii. 91 This Bird is a Diver..They go wabbling from side to side. Ibid. 101 When they go to fly up they wabble a great way before they can raise themselves upon the Wind. 1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4178/4 Advt., Wabbles in his walking. 1749Mrs. Delany Autobiogr. (1861) II. 515 James came wabbling on with the broken equipage, his Fribbleship much ruffled. 1786Burns Auld Farmer's Salut. Mare vii, Ye..ran them 'till they a' did wauble, Far, far, behin'. 1789D. Davidson Seasons 156 The snipe..Starts frae the slimy drain; and, to the spring..now waubles fast. 1833Carlyle Cagliostro Ess. 1872 V. 73 ‘The two pinions on which History soars’—or flutters and wabbles. 1856G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. vi. 69 Such a figure I never saw on a horse!..bumping when she trots, and wobbling, when she canters. 1896Wells Wheels of Chance viii, He resumed the treadles,..jolted over a stone, wabbled, recovered, and began riding faster.
b. Of a piece of mechanism, a top, a missile, etc.
1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. iii. 45 The wheel..would not move perpendicularly, but wabble towards the Fore or Backsides of the Jack frame. 1680Ibid. xii. 215 If in going about of your Work you find it Wabble, that is, that one side of the Flat incline either to the Right or Left Hand. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Wabble, to wriggle about as an Arrow sometimes does in the Air. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life iv. xv, [A] hat..which..wabbles over your eyes and ears. 1828–32Webster s.v., A top wabbles, when it is in motion, and deviates from a perpendicular direction; a spindle wabbles, when it moves one way and the other. 1884E. P. Roe in Harper's Mag. June 88/1 Well now, watch the floats. If you see one bob under and wobble, a shad has struck the net near it. 1884Sat. Rev. 6 Sept. 320/2 A projectile from a smoothbore is apt to ‘wobble’ and go wide.
c. To bubble; to boil. Now dial.
1725New Canting Dict., Wobble, to boil. The Pot wobbles, i.e. The Pot boils. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. xv. III. 397 Sir Frederick smoked his chilum..and whiffed and ‘wobbled’, and wore away the evening. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Wabble, to boil fast.
d. To shake or quiver like a jelly or fleshy body.
1748[see wobbling ppl. a.]. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. xxxvi, Away Jorrocks went, wobbling like a great shape of red Noyeau jelly. 1875Howells Foregone Conclus. xvii, Her chin wobbled pathetically. 1881Harper's Mag. Apr. 643 He wabbled with laughter at the delicious absurdity of the reminiscence.
e. To move unsteadily from side to side or backwards and forwards (without progression). Also fig.
1858H. Mayhew Upper Rhine iv. 214 From the mouth of the..figure a long tongue..was made to wabble. 1865Baring-Gould Werewolves xv. 264 You see it well in old women: how the last teeth wobble. 1878Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) II. xiii. 307 The field of the microscope is crowded with organisms, some wabbling slowly. 1895S. Crane Red Badge xiii, His knees wobbled. 1903G. H. Lorimer Lett. Self-made Merch. xix. 288 He..shouted ‘Hello!’ in what he tried to make a big, brave voice, but it wobbled a little all the same.
2. fig. To hesitate or waver between different opinions or courses of action; to be inclined to favour first one side and then the other.
1884Bath Herald 20 Sept. 3/1 The Standard..has..wobbled back to its old ways. 1885Dilke in Life (1917) II. 111 The other members of the Cabinet either wobbled backwards and forwards, or did not care. 1906G. W. E. Russell Social Silhouettes 161 If you wobble or rat or play the Candid Friend, you are only too likely to find yourself cast at the next election.
3. trans. To cause to move unsteadily from side to side.
1831T. Allen Hist. Co. York III. 41 The convex surface, with its glass pieces, is then turned and wabbled in the concave basin by steam power. 1881P. M. Duncan in Academy 23 Apr. 468/3 One of the rigidly armoured Silurian fishes which learned to snap at its prey and got more food by the attempt to wobble its cranium.
4. U.S. To crumple up.
1869Mrs. Whitney We Girls vi. (1874) 119 The dish⁓towels dirty, and the dish-cloth all wabbled up in the sink. 1884E. P. Roe in Harper's Mag. June 88/1 To keep the net straight, and not all tangled and wobbled up.
5. Comb.: wobble-heat, a form of heat-energy caused by vibration; wobble plate = swash-plate s.v. swash n.1 9; freq. attrib.; wobble-saw, a circular saw mounted askew on its spindle so as to cut a groove wider than its own thickness.
1899Lockyer in Nature 20 Apr. 585/2 To get concrete images of these effects we spoke of path-heat, spin-heat, and *wobble-heat.
1929V. W. Pagé Mod. Aviation Engines II. xlvi. 1897 A peculiar ‘*wobble’ plate mechanism replaces the usual crankshaft arrangement. Ibid. (caption) Wobble plate. Ibid. (caption) A typical example of a ‘wobble’ plate or barrel type engine. 1943Wobble-platemeter [see nutate v.].
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2717 *Wabble-saw. 1917H. W. Durham Saws 53 ‘Drunken’ or ‘Wobble’ saws. |