释义 |
Meccano|mɪˈkɑːnəʊ| Also meccano. The proprietary name of a set of metal pieces, nuts, bolts, etc., and tools, specially designed for constructing small models of buildings, machines, or other engineering apparatus; any portion of such a set. Also attrib. and fig.
1907Trade Marks Jrnl. 23 Oct. 1893 Meccano... Constructional toys. Frank Hornby,..Liverpool; manufacturer of constructional models. 1908(title) Meccano (mechanics made easy): manual of instructions for the whole series of models. 1924H. De Sélincourt Cricket Match iii. 56, I shall make a prison cell of meccano, and pretend you're locked..inside. 1927Sunday at Home Aug. 675/1 There was meccano in the goldfish bowl. 1928Television May 20/1 String, cardboard, and pieces of rough wood with Meccano parts;..all combined to make the television machine. 1928‘R. West’ Strange Necessity ii. 199 The complete meccano set for the mind that is in The First Men in the Moon. 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement vi. 307 It seemed only yesterday when he was..putting the Meccano set by the boy's bedside. 1934Amer. Speech IX. 167/1 An economy may be made for the foreigner by presenting to him the elementary words only, thereby substituting a linguistic Meccano for the expense of ready-made models. 1945J. Betjeman New Bats in Old Belfries 45 Pressed 'neath the box of his Meccano set. 1957New Scientist 25 Apr. 9/2 The vocabulary is largely a ‘Meccano’ vocabulary; it is built up from bits and pieces which can be stuck together in twos, threes and fours. 1960S. R. Ranganathan Colon Classification (ed. 6) 13 The Meccano feature makes it necessary to give, in addition to the unit-schedules, a set of Rules for constructing Class Numbers with the aid of the unit-schedules. 1965Listener 23 Sept. 464/3 In crisp Technicolor images and prose painstakingly constructed on a Meccano-like principle. 1970J. A. Howard Aerial Photo-Ecol. xi. 122 The mechanical or spider templates are provided by ‘meccano’ type strips. 1972R. Perry Fall Guy iii. 48 The suspension bridge was still standing, its graceful lines making Sydney harbour bridge look like a clumsy piece of Meccano. 1972Guardian 14 Oct. 3/2 The Eiffel Tower..is quite a piece of Meccano: there are more than 18,000 structural components in the 985 ft high tower. 1973Ibid. 10 Feb. 10/2 He's the sort of uncle who'd give you a Meccano set for Christmas and then stay all afternoon and tinker with it. 1974Trade Marks Jrnl. 30 May 939/2 Meccano Multikit... Toys and playthings, all sold in kit form. Meccano Limited,..Liverpool,..manufacturers and merchants. |