| 释义 |
miller's thumb
Also 5 millathowme.
[Suggested by the proverbial phrase under miller1 1 b; the head of the fish so called has some resemblance to a thumb.]
1. A small freshwater fish, Cottus gobio (Aspidophorus cataphractus); the bullhead.
c1440Promp. Parv. 337/2 Myllarys thowmbe, fysche (King's Coll. MS. millathowme, fische), capito. 1530Palsgr. 245/1 Myllers thombe a fysshe, chabot. c1614Fletcher, etc. Wit at sev. Weap. v. i, Clow. 'Twill ne're be a true water. Cun. Why thinke you so? Clow. I warrant you, I told a thousand Millers thumbs in it. 1634T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. xx. iv. (1678) 457 The little Fish which the French call Chabot, we a Millers Thumb. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. ii. 350 Bull-Head, or Miller's Thumb, is to be met with in Holes, or among Stones, in clear Water. 1895Cornh. Mag. Oct. 387 A bullhead or ‘miller's thumb’ has proved too much for a water rail.
2. Applied to other fishes, as
a. the whiting-pout, Gadus luscus;
b. U.S., any fresh-water sculpin of the genus Uranidea;
c. (see quot. 1838).
1838J. Couch Cornish Fauna i. 37 Rock Goby, Gobius niger..Miller's Thumb, Black Goby. 1880–4F. Day Brit. Fishes I. 287 Gadus luscus... Names—Bib, pout, whiting-pout [etc.]. It is likewise said to be ‘Miller's thumb’. 1882Jordan & Gilbert Synops. Fishes N. Amer. 693 Uranidea..Miller's Thumbs. Ibid. 696 U. richardsonii..Miller's Thumb, Blob, Muffle-jaw, Bullhead.
3. Applied locally to certain small birds (see quots.).
1838J. Couch Cornish Fauna i. 13 White Throat..Wood Wren..Willow Wren..Chiff Chaff..Lesser White Throat. The three or four latter Species are sometimes seen crossing the Channel to us, in Spring; and are confounded together by Sailors under the name of Miller's Thumbs. 1878Cumberld. Gloss. 63/2 Milly thoom, Miller's thumb, the willow wren. 1885Swainson Prov. Names Birds 25 Golden-crested wren..Miller's thumb. Ibid. 32 British long-tailed titmouse..Millithrum, i.e. Miller's thumb. |