| 释义 |
ˈnine-killer
[A transl. of Du. negendooder or G. neuntödter.]
The butcher bird or shrike (Lanius excubitor or L. borealis).
[1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 87 In other parts of Germany it is called Neghen-doer, that is, Nine-killer.] 1801Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 442/2 Why is this bird of prey called the Nine-killer? 1808A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. I. 77 Mr. Heckewelder..appears..to have been unacquainted that grasshoppers were, in fact, the favorite food of this Nine-killer. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Nine-killer, the popular name of the Northern Butcher-bird. 1866Fam. Her. 511 The bird called a nine-killer is an arithmetician.
So † nine-murder(er. Obs. [LG. negen-, G. neunmörder.]
1544Turner Avium Præcip. I 5 b, Tyrannus, a nyn murder. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Molliceps, a birde of bodie no bigger then a thrush... Some thinke a shrike or nyn murder. 1598Florio, Regéstola, a kind of lanaret hawke called a shreeke or nine murtherer. 1611Cotgr., Poul,..the Ninmurder, a yellowish bird, and the smallest of birds. |