| 释义 |
maffle, v. Obs. exc. dial.|ˈmæf(ə)l|
Also 7 maffell.
[Cf. early mod.Du. maffelen to move the jaws (Kilian). The Eng. word has a wide dialectal currency in several senses (see E.D.D.).]
1. intr. To stammer; to speak indistinctly, mumble. † Also with an obj.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 91 Ȝif Alfrede seiþ nay in þat, he wot nouȝt what he maffleþ. Ibid. V. 215. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iv. 63 Somme mafflid with þe mouþ and nyst what þey mente. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Balbutio, to maffle in the mouth, as not able to sounde his wordes. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 34 Those disciples who..would needs stut, stammer and maffle as Aristotle did. 1623Cockeram, Maffell, to stammer. 1875Lanc. Gloss., Maffle, to hesitate, to falter, to stammer, to mumble.
2. To blunder, bungle; to delay, waste time.
1781Hutton Tour to Caves. 1837[see maffling vbl. n.].
3. trans. To confuse, bewilder, muddle (see E.D.D. and maffled ppl. a.).
Hence ˈmaffling vbl. n. and ppl. a., ˈmafflingly adv. Also ˈmaffler, one who ‘maffles’.
1552Elyot Dict., Balbus, that can not well pronounce wordes in speakyng, a mafflar. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Balbe, obscurely: mafflyingly: with no perfit sowne. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. II. 13/1 It [Aqua Vitæ] keepeth..the toong from lisping, the mouth from maffling. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 88/2 He deliuered his speeches by reason of his palseie, in such staggering and mafling wise, that [etc.]. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 653 They..go too far in their commandements..who enjoine stutters, stammerers and mafflers to sing. 1608Topsell Serpents 252 They make a maffeling with their mouth and stammer so that they cannot distinctly be understood. 1609Bible (Douay) Isa. xxxii. 4 The tongue of mafflers shal speake readely and plaine. Ibid. xxxii. Comm., This prophecie of maffling or unperfect tongues, to speake readily, is fulfilled in the Church of Christ. 1611Cotgr., Bredouillement, a faultering, or maffling; an ill-fauoured speaking, imperfect pronunciation. 1837Carlyle Let. to Margaret 22 Jan. in Froude Life (1884) I. iv. 94 After much higgling and maffling, the printers have got fairly afloat. |