| 释义 |
▪ I. nestle, v.1|ˈnɛs(ə)l|
[OE. nestlian = MDu. (mod.Du.) and MLG. nestelen; cf. OE. nistl(i)an, nystlan = late MHG. nisteln.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) lxxxiii. 3 Turtle nistlað, þær heo afedeð fuᵹelas ᵹeonge. Ibid. ciii. 16 On þam..spearwan nystlað (Cant. Ps. nistliæþ).]
I. intr.
1. Of birds: To make or have a nest, esp. in a place. = nest v. 1. Also fig.
c1000Lamb. Psalter ciii. 16 Ðar spearwan nestliaþ. c1275Lay. 21753 A chlud swiþe strong, þar nestleþ hearnes and oþer grete foȝeles. a1300E.E. Psalter ciii. 17 Þar sal sparwes be nestland. 1382Wyclif Jer. xxii. 22 Thou shalt be confoundyd,..that sittist in Liban, and nestlist in cedris. c1440Promp. Parv. 354/1 Nestlyn, nidifico. 1545Joye Exp. Dan. iv. 48 b, The birdes nestled in hir branches. 1587Golding De Mornay xiv. (1617) 233 Euery of them in their kind, do all liue, nestle, and sing after one sort. 1600Surflet Countrie Farme vii. liii. 885 They nestle thrice a yeere, that is to say, in May, Iune, and August. 1629H. Burton Truth's Triumph 328 Let such vncleane birds neuer nestle or roost in Christian nurceries. 1769Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 20 It will prey on young birds, whether on such as nestle on the ground [etc.]. 1855W. S. Dallas Syst. Nat. Hist. II. 259 They nestle in rocks and holes of trees, and lay five or six eggs.
b. To lodge or settle as in a nest.
a1400–50Alexander 506 Þar it nestild in a noke as it a nest were. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables ccccxxxix, A Cock was got into a Stable, and there was he Nestling in the Straw among the Horses. 1751Narr. of H.M.S. Wager 100 When they [penguins] breed,..they nestle three or four together in a Hole. 1851Kingsley Sonn. Poems (1878) 222 Nightingales who nestle side by side. 1853― Hypatia xii, The warblings of the tropic birds which nestled among the branches.
c. Of other living things.
1705Addison Italy Wks. 1721 II. 163 The floor is strowed..with several kinds of plants, amongst which the Snails nestle all the winter. a1738Swift South Sea 95 The Monsters nestle in the Deep, To seize you in your passing by. 1881Tyndall Floating Matter Air 161 It was no uncommon thing to see from ten to twenty monads nestling and quivering in this ‘moss’.
†2. To take up one's abode, to settle or squat, in a place. Obs.
1406Hoccleve La Male Regle 288 Lest fauel yow fro wele tryce, No lenger souffre hir nestlen in your ere. 1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. ix. 190 Thei nestled first vpon the floude Araxis. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 672 Some out of Ireland, entred in by stealth into this Isle also, and nestled there. a1656Ussher Ann. vi. (1658) 304 Menander was coming on with a great army, which would not suffer him to nestle in Cappadocia. 1797Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 422 If they can nestle in the country for any time..they cannot fail of profiting of the discontents.
3. Of persons: To settle down as in a nest, or in a snug or comfortable manner. (Freq. with implication of affection, as in next.)
1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 30 The Turks..think it strange that the Francks suffer their Hair to grow; for they say that the Devil nestles in it. 1821J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Lady G. Baillie xxxii, With her in mimick war they wrestle, Beneath her twisted robe they nestle. 1832H. Martineau Ireland 119 Begging by day, and nestling wherever they could find a hole by night. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge lxxi, She nestled..in Emma Haredale's bosom. 1883J. Hawthorne in Harper's Mag. Nov. 935/1 She nestled luxuriously among the cushions.
b. To draw or press close, or near, to a thing or person, esp. in an affectionate manner.
1709Steele Tatler No. 9 ⁋3 Here Parisatis heard her Niece nestle closer to the Key-hole. 1838Lytton Alice i. ii, She drew a stool to her mother's feet,..nestling to her and clasping her hand. 1863J. C. Jeaffreson Sir Everard's Dau. 176 Nestling closer to him in the dark corner.
4. Of things or qualities: To lie half-hidden or embedded in some place or thing.
1788Burke Impeachm. W. Hastings Wks. XIII. 17 It is feared, that partiality may lurk and nestle in the abuse of our forms of proceeding. 1849Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xi. (1866) 193 The beauty of the lily nestling in the grass. 1863Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. ii. 36 His cheerful morality nestles in his heart, and inspires his actions.
b. Of dwellings, etc.: To lie in a snug or sheltered manner in some situation.
1842J. B. Fraser Allee Neemroo II. 320 Numerous villages..nestled in sheltered nooks among the ravines. 1850B. Taylor Eldorado I. 3 The country-houses of planters..nestling in orange groves. 1884J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 69 Large groves of palm trees, among which nestled small hamlets.
II.
5. a. refl. To settle or establish (oneself) in a place. Also with into. Now rare.
1547J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes d viij, These men..nesteled themselfes in the nighte of that ignoraunt worlde. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 72/1 The Picts..came and nestled themselues in Louthian. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. v. (1651) 681 The Socinians, that now nestle themselves about Crakowe and Rakowe in Poland. 1642Rogers Naaman Table, The Creature..nestles it selfe in her ease and welfare. a1716South Serm. (1823) III. 106 They have seen perjury and murder nestle themselves into a throne. 1826Gen. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 101/2 A gentleman..who had nestled himself in an English borough.
b. trans. To push in, to press, rest, or settle (one's head, etc.) in a snug or affectionate manner.
c1696Prior Love Disarmed 7 He found a downy bed And nestled in his little head. 1798F. Burney Let. Mar., He only nestled his little head in my neck. 1886Tip Cat xix. 261 Letty, quite contented, nestled her face against Tip Cat's sleeve and dozed. 1894Crockett Raiders (ed. 3) 266 She walked very close to me, as though she would nestle her shoulder against mine.
6. To place in, or as in, a nest; to set in a secure place; † to tend, nurse.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 185 King Henry and his faction nesteled and strengthend him and his alyes in the North regions. c1611Chapman Iliad xxiii. 687 This Ithacus so highly is indeared To this Minerua that..She, like his mother, nestles him. 1822W. Irving Braceb. Hall (1890) 148 He..had nestled her as an eagle does its young among the rocky heights of the Sierra Morena. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxxv, The words had nestled their venomous life within her.
b. To provide with a nesting-place.
1644Evelyn Diary 17 Oct., Trees..which serve to nestle and pearch all sorts of birds. 1838Eliza Cook Land of Birth iii, Where the citron-tree nestles the soft humming⁓bird. 1863Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. xvi. 402 Her first speech is one of those pleasant jests that nestle a gentle philosophy beneath their light wording.
c. In pa. pple. Nested; settled or placed as in a nest. Also with in, away.
1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 77 Where foule bird foggye Celæno And Harpy is nestled. c1595Southwell St. Peter's Compl. 38 My life was nestled In the summe of happinesse. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, xxxviii, In Danae's Cage Wee Nestled happy are. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 80 There are lambs amongst them..nestled in by their mothers. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 235 So nestled was Petra in its rocks, that [etc.]. 1883Harper's Mag. Mar. 533/1 Little clusters of..trees..told where the little villages were nestled away.
Hence ˈnestled ppl. a.
1868Sill Poems 63 Odorous airs, with blessing filled From nestled blossoms round my grave.
▪ II. ˈnestle, v.2 Now only dial.
[Of obscure origin: identity with prec. is not clear.]
intr. To be uneasy or restless; to fidget; to move or bustle about; to trifle. Hence ˈnestling vbl. n.2
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v., What a nestling you keep, how restless and uneasy you are. 1704Steele Lying Lover iii. i, Did you mind how she nestled and fumed inwardly to see your Ladyship look so well. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), s.v., To Nestle about, to move here and there. 1796Marshall Yorksh. (ed. 2) II. 335 To Nessle, or Nestle, to fidget. 1828in Craven Gloss. 1853–in dial. glossaries (Lanc., Yks., Linc.; Hants, Surr., Suss.). |