| 释义 |
▪ I. nib, n.1|nɪb|
Also 7–8 nibb.
[Corresponds in form and meaning to Fris. nib, MDu. nib (nyb), MLG. and MDa. nibbe, Norw. nibba, nibb(e, but is perh. only a later spelling of neb n.; in Sc. dial. the vowel is indistinct and there is no real difference in pronunciation between neb and nib.]
1. The beak or bill of a bird; the proboscis of an insect; the nose of a person. = neb n. 1, 2.
For Sc. examples (18–19th cent.) see Eng. Dial. Dict.
1585Higins tr. Junius' Nomencl. 53 Rostrum, the bill, beake or nib. 1658Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1090 Their nib is sharper, they bite more, and tickle lesse. 1676Lond. Gaz. No. 1076/2 Their Claws were like those of Indian Hens, Nibs crooked like Parrots.
2. a. The point of a pen. = neb 3.
1611Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iii. ii, Let not you and I be tost On Lawiers pens; they haue sharpe nibs. 1676Moxon Print Letters 9 Its Nib strikes a Lean stroke. 1786[see pen n.1 4]. 1795Wolcot (P. Pindar) Convention Bill Wks. 1812 III. 376 The pen That with its lever nib of brass Tries from his power to heave Dundas. 1829Mrs. Trollope in Friendships Miss Mitford (1882) I. vii. 193 Had I but the tenth of an inch of the nib of your pen, what pictures I might draw. 1865Chambers's Encycl. VII. 368/1 Fitting small metal or even ruby points to the nib of the quill-pen. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1656/2 A pen with a broad flat nib made for marking packages.
b. A separate pen-point, now usually made of steel, intended for fitting into a pen-holder.
1837Whittock, etc. Compl. Bk. Trades (1842) 373 Steel nibs. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 397/2 A few words upon the manufacture of ‘quill nibs’. 1853Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 367 Another class of workers who..make it concave, if a nib, and form the barrel, if a barrel pen. 1899N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 365 Nowadays nearly all ask for ‘nibs’ when they require pens.
c. Each of the divisions of a pen-point.
1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 398/2 Pens made of gold with a small ruby at each nib seem to be perfect. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1525/1 Pens have usually two nibs, but Perry's have three.
3. a. The point of anything; a peak, tip, projecting part, or pointed extremity. = neb n. 3 b.
1713Derham Phys.-Theol. x. note, Travellers cut the Nib off it, and presently a Spout of Water runs out from it, as clear as Crystal. 1788Smeaton in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 4 Its inside surface is made to agree with that of the horizon by means of a small thin nib of brass. 1826in Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 691 The nib of a jockey's cap. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1525/1 Nib,..2 A separate adjustable limb of a permutation key. Ibid., Nib,..4 The point of a crow-bar. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 413/1 There will also be a little swelling on the other end of the [spoon] handle, called the ‘nib’. 1901J. Black Carp. & Builder Series: Slating & Tiling 13 The ordinary pantile..is provided on the underside with a small projection known as a nib. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 578/1 Nib, a small projection, sometimes continuous, formed on the under-side at the top of each tile, enabling the tile to be hung on battens. 1955Railway Mag. May 307/2 The main feature of the detachable nibs in the relay baseboards is that disconnection points are available without the necessity of providing independent terminal boards for each relay. 1962Gloss. Terms Glass Industry (B.S.I.) 43 Nib, a small protrusion at the corner of a piece of flat glass due to faulty cutting. 1968Gloss. Formwork Terms (B.S.I.) 17 Kicker (nib), a small concrete upstand cast above floor level to position wall or column forms for the next lift and to assist the prevention of grout loss.
†b. = neb n. 3 c. Obs. rare—1.
a1722Lisle Husb. (1752) 115 The outward part of the nib..sends forth the root.
4. dial.
a. pl. The two short handles projecting from the shaft or sned of a scythe.
1673Col. Rec. Plymouth (1856) V. 132 One gun, and one pair of old wheels, and one sythe & nibbs 01–00–00. [1703Providence Rec. (1894) VI. 226 Two sithes, sneds, nebbs, & Rings.] 1843Richardson's Historian's Table-bk., Leg. Div. I. 213 A rest on the nibs, after sharping, was occasionally allowed [to the mower]. 1854–in many dial. gloss. (Yks., Nhp., Worc., Glouc., Wilts., etc.). 1894Northumbld. Gloss. s.v. Scythe, The handles projecting from the sned are called nibs.
b. The pole or draught-tree of an ox-cart or timber-carriage.
1808Beverley Lighting Act 18 If any person..shall draw any timber..through any of the aforesaid streets..without any nib or carriage. 1886Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. 509 Two very high wheels, having an arched axle between them, with the nib proper projecting at right angles to it.
5. pl. The small pieces into which cocoa-beans are reduced by crushing.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIV. 313/2 The simplest and best form is that of the seeds roughly crushed, termed cocoa⁓nibs. 1862Chamb. Encycl. III. 108/2 When C[ocoa] nibs are infused with water like coffee, they yield a highly palatable beverage. 1878Encycl. Brit. VI. 102/1 The seeds are reduced to the form of nibs, which are separated from the shells or husks by the action of a powerful fan blast.
6. A lump or knot in wool or raw silk.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 378/2 Large quantities of this noil are exported to the Continent, where the..machinery is better adapted to card and open out the small nibs which it contains. 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 62/1 The silk..passes through a slit which is sufficiently wide to pass the filament but stops the motion when a thick lump or nib is presented.
7. A speck of solid matter in a coat of paint or varnish.
1940in Chambers's Techn. Dict. 1958Listener 11 Sept. 399/1 You can now tidy it [sc. the undercoat of paint] up with fine sandpaper—just enough to remove any dust nibs or brush marks. 1965W. N. Lapper in Applic. Surface Coatings (Oil & Colour Chemists' Assoc.) iii. 37 A coagulation of pigment can cause ‘nibs’ or bittiness in the film. 1968Pract. Motorist Feb. 611/3 Once the first coat is fully dry rub it down very gently with wet-or-dry (grade 320) to remove any ‘nibs’ and runs.
▪ II. † nib, n.2 Obs. rare.
[See quots.]
a1653Gouge Comm. Heb. iv. 13 They who..grow not..in knowledge, may well be accounted babes, or young novices, or fresh-men (as they say in Schools), or nibs, or pages. [1886Willis & Clark Cambridge III. 304 In King's College, Cambridge,..every new scholar being, on his arrival, looked after by an older one (his ‘chum’), who was responsible for his ‘nib's’ strict observance of all college discipline.]
▪ III. nib, n.3 slang.
A gentleman.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Nib, a gentleman or person of the higher order. 1834H. Ainsworth Rookwood iii. v. (1878) 189 He's a rank nib. 1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas viii. 81 You don't run to an English butler in Hollywood unless you are a pretty prominent nib.
Hence ˈniblike a., ˈnibsome a.
1834H. Ainsworth Rookwood iii. v, All my togs were so niblike and splash. 1839Reynolds Pickw. Abroad xxvi. 224 Betray his pals in a nibsome game.
▪ IV. nib, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.
Also 6 knib.
[App. related to nibble v.; connexion with nib n.1 is doubtful. Sense 4 may be a different word.]
†1. trans. To peck, pick, prick. Also fig. Obs.
1558W. Forrest Grysilde Seconde 81 Theye nybbed Christes faithe after their pleasure. 1575Turberv. Faulconrie 360 Yee shall discerne the crampgout by your hawkes holding of hir one foote upon the other, and by hir often knibbing and iobbing of hir foote with hir beake. 1645T. Hill Olive Branch (1648) 20 Conscience nibs thee, follows and dogs thee from place to place.
2. intr. and trans. To nibble. Now dial.
1613Dennis Secrets Angling i. xiv, When the Fish begins to nib and byte. 1720Humourist 183, I had kept the Neat's Tongue..and every now and then I nibb'd a Bit on't. 1876Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Nib, to nibble. 1888Cornh. Mag. Nov. 530 You has to let 'em [geese] nib by the road.
†3. intr. To pick or pluck, in order to loosen.
1659C. Noble Inexpediency of Exped. 15 That makes their fingers so busie, and to nib so about the Knot that ties up and is the very Bond of our Peace.
4. slang. To nab, to catch.
1775in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 54 For nibbing⁓culls I always hate. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Nibb'd, taken in custody. 1870Robson Evangeline 357 (E.D.D.), Up stackered Larty for a blaw, Fair on Ham's jug'lar nibb'd him.
▪ V. nib, v.2
Also 9 knib.
[f. nib n.1]
trans. To adapt the point of (a pen) for writing; to mend the nib of.
1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) IV. 28 Come, spread your Paper, sharpen your Wit, nib your Pen, and away with it. 1822Praed Lillian Poems 1866 I. 73, I drink my coffee and nib my quill. 1865G. M. Craik Winifred's Wooing (1879) 85 [He] was..mending a pen for himself, and nibbing it with critical exactness.
transf.1850J. Hamilton Mem. Lady Colquhoun iv. 134 It would be easy for an ordinary critic to..nib into a sharper paradox the pungent aphorism. 1885Meredith Diana i, The sentence wants more working to line the thought; or, if you will, the thought to nib expression. |