| 释义 |
ˈyellow-ˌbellied, a.
1. Applied to birds or animals having yellow underparts. Also in extended use (in quot. 1909 of an airship).
1709T. Robinson Nat. Hist. Westmld. x. 60 The Male is grey, the Female yellow-bellied. 1783Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds III. 42 Yellow-bellied Thrush..the under parts of the body of a pale rusty yellow. 1827J. L. Williams View W. Florida 30 Black-head fly catcher... Yellow-bellied do. 1869[see scrunching vbl. n.]. 1908E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber I. iii. 95 Yellow-bellied Fig-bird. 1909Kipling Actions & Reactions 140 Yellow-bellied ore-flats..punted down leisurely out of the north. 1936Discovery Oct. 307/2 There are many varieties of flying phalanger, the yellow-bellied 25 inches in length with a bushy tail an inch longer than the body. 1942R. Peattie Friendly Mts. 210 A sweet or black birch tree..had been tapped by a yellow-bellied sapsucker. 1971Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 25 July 16/2 Most members of his species (the yellow-bellied marmot) weigh about 13 pounds at maturity.
2. fig. Cowardly, craven. Cf. yellow a. 2 b, yellow-belly 5. slang (orig. U.S.).
1924P. Marks Plastic Age ix. 75 Yellow-bellied quiters. 1930[see potato-mouthed a. s.v. potato n. 7]. 1943J. Mitchell McSorley's Wonderful Saloon (1946) i. 24 You yellow-bellied jerk. 1965J. Porter Dover Two xiv. 185 Anything to save his own skin, the yellow-bellied rat! 1971[see Malt n.2]. 1979‘M. Hebden’ Pel & Faceless Corpse vi. 58 I'm..a yellow-bellied, lily-livered coward. |