| 释义 |
ˈwool-pack
[f. wool n. + pack n.1]
1. A large bag into which a quantity of wool or of fleeces is packed for carriage or sale.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11171 [They] Ride vpe tueye wol⁓pakces, chapmen as hii were. 14..in Krapp Leg. St. Patrick's Purg. (1900) 65 Stoppeng and shovyng þe felthe downe into here bodies as þe wold stoppe a wullepak. 1600Maldon, Essex, Docts. Bundle 162 lf. 3 (MS.), ii s. of Richard Studd, collector for the woolpacks, for the profitts of his office this yeare. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. D 1, In chaires of hardest oke they sate Insteede of wooll-packes. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 285/1 A Wool Pack..is a great number of Fleeces made up together on a cloth tied at the four ends. 1726Swift Gulliver ii. iv, There was a Fellow with a Wen in his Neck, larger than five Woolpacks. 1758Hist. London-Bridge 14 The Foundation of this Bridge is by the Vulgar generally believed to be laid upon Woolpacks; which Mistake probably arose from a Tax upon Wool towards its Construction. a1763Shenstone Progr. Taste i. 104 This wards the jokes of ev'ry kind,..As wool-packs quash the leaden ball. 1823Scott Quentin D. xx, This coming Countess..hangs on our arms as dead a weight as a wool⁓pack. 1845D. Mackenzie Emigr. Guide Australia 91 One man is employed in gathering the fleeces as they are shorn—another in folding them up, and handing them to a man who is pressing them into a large bag, called a wool pack, capable of containing..about 250 lbs. of wool, or about 100 average fleeces. 1866Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxii. 568 Hempen fabrics were used for woolpacks.
†b. = woolsack 2. Obs.
a1658Cleveland Epig. on People Wks. (1687) 254 We..Call'd out a Parliament,..Which being obtain'd at last, what did they do? Even squeeze the Wool-packs, and lye snorting too. 1660Pepys Diary 20 Aug., My Lord Chancellor being gone to the House of Lords, I went thither, and..there staid all the morning, seeing their manner of sitting on woolpacks, &c. which I never did before. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 261 These twelve judges sitt in the House of Lord[s] on wool packs.
2. transf. Something resembling a wool-pack.
†a. A large mass of white water. Obs.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 267 Boystrous woolpacks of ridged tides, came rowling in, and raught him from her. 1733Trav. J. Massey 36 We spy'd that which Sailors call a Wool-Pack, seemingly as big as a great Cask, within Cannon-shot of our Ship.
b. orig. wool-pack cloud: A fleecy cumulus cloud. Chiefly pl. (or collect. sing.).
1648Earl Westmld. Otia Sacra (1879) 128 A day most clear;..wherein Some wool-pack Clouds in corner's bin. a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 440 The sky full of light wool-pack clouds boding no rain. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. IV. lii. 483 In the north of England, such clouds are called woolpacks. 1869Daily News 13 Feb., The ordinary cumulus or woolpack cloud. 1883Burton & Cameron Gold Coast I. iii. 69 The bright blue air, flecked with wool-pack.
c. pl. Masses of Wenlock limestone. local.
1848J. Phillips in Mem. Geol. Surv. II. i. 185 The solid masses of limestone are locally termed ‘Woolpacks’.
3. attrib., as wool-pack cloud (see 2 b); in quot. a 1651, ? resembling a pack of sheep.
a1651Cleveland Mixt Assembly 4 Chaos of Presbyt'ry, where Lay-men guide With the tame Woolpack Clergy by their side. |