| 释义 |
▪ I. mottle, n.|ˈmɒt(ə)l|
Also 7 mottel.
[Prob. a back-formation from motley a.]
1. One of a number of adjacent and confluent spots or blotches, by which a surface is diversified or variegated. Also fig.
1676[see mottled ppl. a.]. 1683Lond. Gaz. No. 1847/8 Her marks are black Mottels upon all her Legs and Nose. 1829Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1853 I. 517/1 Is the rouge off my face? It is rather in streaks and mottles. 1855Browning Ep. Karshish 47 There's a spider here..Sprinkled with mottles on an ash-grey back.
2. The arrangement of spots or confluent blotches of colour forming a mottled surface.
1858Greener Gunnery 173 The effect..is to give a beautiful mottle to the [gun] barrel. 1873E. Spon Workshop Receipts Ser. i. 424/1 The mottle of these woods has very little variety. 1896A. Morrison Child of the Jago 136 His chest and flanks were a mottle of bruises.
b. A kind of woollen yarn of variegated colour.
1887Daily News 20 June 2/5 There is also rather more inquiry in single-hank yarns, in lustres, in mottles and in genappes. 1888Ibid. 10 Sept. 2/6 A variety of yarns, including lustres, mottles, and mélanges.
▪ II. mottle, a.|ˈmɒt(ə)l|
[Formed as prec.]
= mottled a. Also Comb. mottle-faced, mottle-legged adjs.
1676Lond. Gaz. No. 1153/4 A light gray Gelding,..motle Nosed. 1678Ibid. No. 1308/4 Lost..a..Spaniel Dog, belonging to His Majesty, his legs and nose mottel. 1837Dickens Pickw. xliii, The mottle-faced gentleman spoke with great energy. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 2 One mottle-legged, chubby-cheeked boy.
▪ III. mottle, v.|ˈmɒt(ə)l|
[Formed as mottle n.]
trans. To mark or cover with spots or blotches; to variegate or cloud with irregular spots or streaks; spec. in Soap-making, to impart a mottled appearance to white soap by the addition of chemicals.
1676[see mottled ppl. a.]. 1775M. Harris Eng. Lepidoptera 12 Light brown, beautifully mottled with dark brown. 1814Southey Roderick xv. 4 Her beams Mottle with mazy shades the orchard slope. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 44 He has..a broad full face, curiously mottled with red. 1862Miller Elem. Chem. (ed. 2) III. 271 Marseilles and Castile soaps..are mottled by the addition of green vitriol and sulphuretted lye.
fig.1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 128 Our national idiom has been mottled by foreign neologisms. |