| 释义 |
remora|ˈrɛmərə|
[a. L. remora delay, hindrance (f. re- re- + mora delay), also occurring in Pliny Nat. Hist. xxxii. 1 as the L. name of the fish called ἐχενηΐς by the Greeks (but modern edd. prefer the reading mora): hence It., Sp., and Pg. remora, F. rémora, rémore (16th c.).]
1. The sucking-fish (Echeneis remora), believed by the ancients to have the power of staying the course of any ship to which it attached itself.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 84 The fish Echeneis or Remora, staiship, amazeth also..the beholder by his hid and occult..vertue. 1591Spenser Vis. World's Van. ix, There clove unto her keele A little fish, that men call Remora, Which stopt her course. 1601Holland Pliny II. 426 The said stay-ship Echeneis or Remora (call it whether you will). 1640in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) IV. 301 With much more likelihood than that the remora stays vessels under full sail. 1666–7Denham Direct. Paint. i. xii, Smith to the Duke doth intercept her way, And cleaves t' her closer than a Remora. 1711Phil. Trans. XXVII. 348 Fig. 12 is a rare sort of Remora, or Stop-Ship, with a very taper Body. 1796Stedman Surinam II. xxx. 385 The remora, or sucking-fish, is frequently found sticking to sharks, and to ships bottoms. 1846Landor Imag. Conv., Marcus & Quinctus Cicero Wks. I. 244 Like the remora, of which mariners tell marvels, it counteracts, as it were, both oar and sail. 1876Beneden's Anim. Parasites Introd. 18 The fish which, through idleness, attaches itself, like the remora, to a neighbour who swims well.
attrib.1801Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) Supp. II. 400/2 If the two white fish..be of the remora species, as he is inclined to think [etc.].
b. In fig. and allusive expressions.
1601B. Jonson Poetaster iii. ii, 'Death, I am seaz'd on here By a Land-Remora. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. vii. §7 They are indeed but Remoraes and hindrances to stay and slugge the Shippe from furder sayling. 1627Donne Serm. v. 43 This was a Rock in his Sea and a Remora upon his Ship. 1643Tuckney Balme of G. 29 What unhappy remora or Anchor under water not yet seen, hath stopt us in this happy course?
c. Her. (See quot.)
1780Edmondson Heraldry II. Gloss. s.v., In blazoning the figure of Prudence, which is represented as holding in her hand a javelin entwined with a serpent proper, such serpent is expressed by the word Remora.
2. An obstacle, hindrance, impediment, obstruction. (Common in 17–18th c.)
1604Edmonds Observ. Cæsar's Comm. 100 That authoritie..was as a Remora to diuers other nations of Gallia from shewing that defection by plaine and open revolt. 1641H. L'Estrange God's Sabbath 59 We have at last shaked off those remora's which retarded our arrivall at the Christian Sabbath. 1672W. de Britaine Dutch Usurp. 19 There is no such Remora to Grandeur, as a coy and squemish Conscience. 1740Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Pomfret 4 June, My stay here..shall be as short as these remoras will permit. 1793Cowper Let. to Rev. Greatheed 27 July, These numerous demands are likely to operate as a remora, and to keep us fixed at home. 1820C. Colton Lacon cxli. I. 80 The great remora to any improvement in our civil code. 1864J. H. Newman Apol. 407 A sort of remora or break in the development of doctrine.
attrib.c1629Layton Syons Plea (ed. 2) 26 The Remora-Prelats..so blocked up the way, that the said Acts could not pass.
3. Med. Stoppage or stagnation. rare—1.
1782A. Monro Compar. Anat. (ed. 3) 9 Too long a remora of the juices might occasion the worst consequences.
4. Surg. An instrument used to retain bones or other parts in place. rare—0.
1688Holme Armoury iii. xii. 434/2 A Remora, which is an Instrument used for the helping of a dislocated Shoulder. 1693tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Remora, a Chyrurgical Instrument, to reduce a broken Bone. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1916/1. 1897 Syd. Soc. Lex.
Hence † ˈremora v. Obs. rare—1. To delay.
1686in Ellis Corr. (1829) I. 8 That his Excellency should be remora'd at such a cold harbour. |