| 释义 |
ˈwolf's-head, wolf-head
Forms: see wolf n. and head n.1
1. The head of a wolf; a figure of this, e.g. as a heraldic bearing.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 360 To slæpe, wulfes heafod leᵹe under þone pyle. a1400Morte Arth. 1093 Alle falterde þe flesche in his foule lyppys, Ilke wrethe as a wolfe-hevede, it wraythe owtt at ones! 1586J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 230 Hugh the firste Earle of Chester, was surnamed de Loupe, because he bare a Wolfes head in his shield. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xv. 145 Hee beareth Azure, two Barres, Argent, on a Canton Sable, a Wolues head Errased of the second. 1875F. T. Buckland Log-Bk. 5 A young man holding a wolf's head high up in the air. 1891Daily Tel. 16 Apr. 7/2 Minnesota spent last year twenty-five thousand dollars in bounties on wolf-heads brought in.
2. O.E. Law. A cry for the pursuit of an outlaw as one to be hunted down like a wolf; transf. (orig. in phr. to cry wolf's head) an outlaw.
17th century law books have various corrupt forms, as wolferfod, woolfeshered, woolferthfod, wolfetchsod.
[c1000Laws Edw. Conf. vi, Lupinum enim gerit caput a die utlagationis sue, quod ab Anglis uulfesheued nominatur.] c1300Mirr. Justices iv. iv. (Selden Soc.) 125 E point ne vient, qe des adunc le tiegne lem pur lou e est criable Wolvesheved, pur ceo qe lou est beste haie de tote gent. c1400Gamelyn 700 (Harl. MS.) Whan Gamelyn her lorde wolues-heed was cryed & made. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas vii. 1261 Out of ther court banyshed was prudence,..Cried woluis hed was vertuous sobirnesse. c1460Towneley Myst. xxi. 139 Now wols-hede and out-horne on the be tane! 1865Kingsley Herew. i, By that time I shall be a wolf's head, and out of the law. 1914Blackw. Mag. Jan. 95/2 Vengeance on these cruel wolfheads. |