| 释义 |
mirage|ˈmɪrɑːʒ, miːˈrɑːʒ|
[a. F. mirage, f. (se) mirer to look at oneself in a mirror, to be reflected.]
1. a. Originally, and still most commonly, that species of optical illusion, common in hot countries, and especially in sandy deserts, which consists in the appearance of a sheet of water at some distance from the spectator, where no water actually exists; now frequently extended to include other forms of optical illusions similarly produced by atmospheric conditions, e.g. the appearance in the sky of a reflected image of a distant object.
[1803W. H. Wollaston in Phil. Trans. XCIII. 1 The phenomenon known to the French by the name of mirage, which their army had daily opportunities of seeing, in their march through the deserts of Egypt.] 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) II. i. iv. 29 Mirage, or shadow of still waters painted on the parched ground. 1861Court Life at Naples II. 106 The thirsty traveller in the desert pants to attain the cooling stream in the far distance. Alas! 'tis but a mirage! 1865Livingstone Zambesi xiii. 270 The mirage lifted them at times half-way to the clouds. 1885Jennings & Lowe in Expositor Aug. 130 Isaiah (xxxv. 7) certainly mentions the ‘mirage’.
b. fig.
1812Southey Ess. iv. 81 Against this Goliath of the philosophistical Canaanites [Godwin], Mr. Malthus stept forth, at a time when the mirage in which Goliath had made his appearance was pretty well dispersed, and had left him in his natural dimensions. 1825Coleridge Aids Refl. (1848) I. 130 If the self-examinant will..exchange the safe circle of religion and practical reason for the shifting sand-wastes and mirages of speculative theology. 1876Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 141 They lie beyond the horizon of the every-day world and become visible only when the mirage of fantasy lifts them up.
c. A wave-like appearance of warmed air visible just above ground level. Also attrib.
1913A. G. Fulton Notes on Rifle Shooting 18 When mirage can be seen, it provides the best means of estimating allowances for gentle but tricky winds. 1958J. A. Barlow Elem. Rifle Shooting (ed. 5) iv. 50 The effect of wind on such air disturbance is readily remarked, since the result of a cross wind is to give the impression of the mirage flowing either slowly or swiftly in the same direction as the wind, just like a clear stream of water over a pebbly bed. 1962Amer. Speech XXXVII. 270 Mirage puddle, a heat-caused illusion which makes the road appear wet in the distance.
2. attrib. and Comb., as mirage dream, mirage-water; mirage-bright, mirage-lifted, mirage-making, mirage-reflected adjs.
1924E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty xvii. 65 Mirage-bright It lies, that dusty gold.
1908Daily Chron. 3 Aug. 3/2 It was like one of those mirage dreams which lure the gambler to his doom.
1874J. G. Whittier Sea Dream in Atlantic Monthly Aug. 160 And watched the mirage-lifted wall Of coast, across the dreamy bay. 1902J. H. M. Abbott Tommy Cornstalk i. 13 And the wide rolling downs quivered and danced with the same beautiful mirage-making islands of kopjes. 1923R. Graves Whipperginny 9 Mirage-reflected drink At the clear pool's brink.
1918E. Sitwell Clown's Houses 11 Then, mirage-waters as they flow, Or dream-perfumes, they fade and go.
Hence miˈrage v., to affect with mirage; miˈrageous a., of or pertaining to a mirage; miˈrageously adv., as a mirage; miˈragy a., of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a mirage.
1890Gunter Miss Nobody iii, Atmosphere so clear that thirty miles would look as ten, did not a blazing sun make a heat mist that seems to mirage everything. 1895W. Wright Palmyra & Zenobia xxiii. 259 Magnified by the miragy atmosphere. 1905Blackw. Mag. July 81/2 By the side of a deep mirageous lagoon there sprang up a deep mirageous homestead. Ibid., I pictured her mirageously there on the deep verandah, looking out, waiting for me.
Add:[1.] d. Used to denote a pale colour (in later use, usu. blue, grey, or turquoise), esp. in the textile and fashion industries; freq. attrib.
1927Underwear & Hosiery Rev. Oct. 63 Mirage is a shade paler than Grain. 1932Index to Color Names (Textile Color Card Assoc. of U.S.) 34 Mirage Blue... F[all] '31. 1964New Yorker 5 Sept. 86/1 (Advt.), Slip into the Runabout Shift... Desert cloth..in desert tones..mirage-aqua, sunset-red [etc.]. 1976Scotsman 20 Nov. 10/1 The pale blue mirage coat with its Lucca lamb shawl collar is a dream. 1976Liverpool Echo 22 Nov. 15/5 (Advt.), Marina..Coupe.., mirage grey, one owner. |