| 释义 |
▪ I. apron, n.|ˈeɪprən, ˈeɪpən|
Forms: 4 naperonn, 5 naprun(e, -onne, napperone, 5–6 napron, 6 aprone, -eren, -arne, ap(p)urn, 6–7 aperne, 5– apron.
[a. OF. naperon (mod.F. napperon), dim. of nape, nappe, table-cloth:—L. mappa table-napkin. The change of L. m to F. n is also seen in matta, natte, mespilum, nèfle; the med.L. instances of napa, nappa for mappa are prob. f. French. In Eng., initial n has been lost by corruption of a napron to an apron. See a adj.2]
1. a. An article of dress, originally of linen, but now also of stuff, leather, or other material, worn in front of the body, to protect the clothes from dirt or injury, or simply as a covering.
1307in Whitaker Craven in Beck Drapers' Dict. s.v., Pro linen tela ad naperonns. c1400Beryn Prol. 33 With hir napron feir..She wypid sofft hir eyen. 1440Promp. Parv., Naprun (or barmclothe), Limas. 1466Paston Lett. 549 II. 268 For ii. napronnes..xd. 1461–83Ord. Roy. Househ. 36 Lynnen clothe for aprons. Ibid. 52 Naprons of the grete spycery. 1535Coverdale Gen. iii. 7 They..sowed fygge leaues together, and made them apurns [1611 aprons; Wyclif brechis]. 1542Richmond. Wills (1853) 27 Nappery ware, as kyrcherys, appurnys, blankytts. 1569Wills & Inv. N.C. (1835) 305 A Napron of worsted. 1598Stow Survay xii. (1603) 103 Bill men in Almaine Riuets, and Apernes of Mayle. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i i. 7 Where is thy Leather Apron, and thy Rule? 1750H. Walpole Corr. 221 II. 370 He would not be waited on by drawers in brown frocks and blue aprons. 1822Scott Nigel iii, A green apron, and a red petticoat.
2. a. A similar garment worn as part of a distinctive official dress, as by bishops, deans, Freemasons, etc.
1704Lond. Gaz. mmmmxxix/4 Had a black Silk Hood on, a painted Linen Apron. 1859Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. i. 50 Never be a bishop, nor even wear the lesser apron of a dean.
b. green apron: a lay preacher (contemptuous).
1654Warren Unbelievers 145 It more befits a Green-apron-Preacher, than such a Gamaliel. 1705Hickeringill Priestcr. i. (1721) 21 Unbeneficed Noncons (that live by Alms, and no Paternoster no Penny, say the Green Aprons). [1765Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 451 The gifted priestess among the Quakers is known by her green apron.]
3. Anything which resembles an apron in shape or function, esp. the leather covering for the legs in a gig or other open carriage.
1790Pennsylv. Packet 22 Apr. 2/1 A new Sulkey, with a top and apron. 1835Dickens in Evening Chron. 21 July 1/3 Cabs, with trunks and band-boxes between the drivers' legs and outside the apron. 1875B. Taylor Faust i. iii. II. 50 The merest apron of leaf and bough. 1879Sala in Daily Tel. 9 June, A movement of his hinder heels in the direction of the cab-apron. 1883Punch 10 Nov. 226 Strapped and buckled within a leather apron [of a bath-chair].
4. Also in many technical uses:
a. At the bottom of a sluice or entrance to a dock: A platform placed so as to intercept the fall of water, and prevent the washing away of the bottom.
b. in Gunnery, A square piece of lead laid over the touch-hole.
c. in Ship-building (see quot. 1850).
d. in Plumbing, A strip of lead which conducts the drip of a wall into a gutter.
e. in Electr. (see quot. 1869).
f. in Mech. The piece that holds the cutting tool in a planing machine.
1633T. James Voy. 75 The Aprons of our Gunnes. 1711W. Sutherland Ship Builder's Asst. 25 Raising the Stem and false Stem (or Apron) together. 1719Glossogr. Nova, Apron is a piece of Lead which laps over or covers the Touch-hole of a great Gun. 1721Perry Daggenh. Breach 24 The fixing of the Apron of the Sluice to the depth as before observ'd. 1842Loudon Encycl. Farm. §935 The aprons [of lead] round the chimney-stalks. c1850Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 92 Apron, a kind of false or inner stem, fayed on the aftside of the stem, from the head down to the dead-wood, in order to strengthen it. 1862F. Griffiths Artill. Man. 230 The 2nd captain..attends the apron. 1867F. Francis Angling iv. (1880) 140 Under the apron of Hampton Court weir. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Apron of a dock, the platform rising where the gates are closed, and on which the sill is fastened down. 1869Eng. Mech. 24 Dec. 346/1 The electricity..developed on the glass by the friction of the rubbers, is carried over by a kind of sheath, technically called the apron.
g. An endless belt or band for conveying material of any kind, or a receptacle on such a belt. Also apron-conveyor.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. iii. 155 His business is to weigh the wool, and spread it in definite quantities on a travelling apron, which feeds the first pair of rollers. a1875Knight Dict. Mech. I. 126/1 Apron, a board or leather which conducts material over an opening, as, the grain in a separator, the ore in a buddle or frame, etc. 1909Cent. Dict. Suppl. s.v. Conveyer, An apron-conveyer consists of endless chains upon which wood or metal slats are placed close together, forming a continuous traveling platform.
h. A protective covering (on a bank, etc.) against the action of a river or the sea.
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Apron, a protecting surface of logs and brush..to protect or to form revetment for river sides.
i. Geol. An outspread alluvial deposit, esp. one at the extremity of a glacier or the mouth of a river.
1889N. S. Shaler in U.S. Geol. Survey 9th Ann. Rep. 548 In front of the kames normally comes the moranial apron... Traces of this frontal apron exist along the southern shore of Cape Ann. 1955Sci. Amer. Mar. 82/2 The rivers of the continents have been building aprons into the sea with their wash of silt, clay, sand and gravel.
j. Theatr. (See quot. 1903.) Also apron stage.
1903A. B. Walkley Dramatic Criticism 108 The ‘apron’ is the technical name for the stage-area in front of the curtain. In the Elizabethan theatre it jutted right out among the public, who surrounded it on three sides. This ‘apron’ slowly shrank..till at last in our day it has altogether disappeared. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage i. 20 Turns are being played on the half-stage or upon the apron. 1950G. B. Shaw in New Statesman 6 May 511/2 The Elizabethan stage..with..an apron stage projecting into the auditorium.
k. A defence against hostile aircraft consisting of a series of wires suspended from a cable to which captive balloons are attached.
1917, etc. Balloon apron [see balloon n.1 10 c]. 1919C. C. Turner Struggle in Air 1914–18 ix. 134 Then the ‘apron’ was devised, to aircraft a sufficiently dangerous and invisible obstruction which caused raiders to maintain a certain minimum altitude.
l. Mil. (See quot. 1918.) Also, a strip of barbed-wire entanglements.
1918E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms, Apron, in fortification, that portion of the superior slope of a parapet or the interior slope of a pit designed to protect the slopes against blast. 1926F. M. Ford Man could Stand Up ii. i. 77 There was their own apron—a perfect village!—of wire over which he looked.
m. A flat, usually paved, surface in front of a building, hangar, etc., esp. an area on an aerodrome prepared for the easy handling, (un)loading, etc., of aircraft on the ground.
1925March's Thesaurus Dict. App. 110/1 Apron, an open working surface in front of a hangar. 1933Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVII. 6 Where the concrete or asphalt apron in front of the buildings meets the aerodrome. 1954C. Armstrong Better to eat You iii. 24 Opposite a three-car garage there was a wide paved apron. Ibid. vi. 63 He..ran across..the parking apron. 1955Daily Tel. 28 Jan. 6/5 The waving base is on the ‘airside’ as distinct from the ‘landside’ of the building, and thus gives a clear view of the aircraft leaving the ‘terminal apron’.
n. A wooden platform trailed aft by the mother ship of a flying boat as a landing platform or for smoothing rough water. (Now disused.)
1933Discovery Dec. 366/1 To make the call for refuelling the Westfalen is equipped with an apron which can be let out over the stern and trailed slightly below the surface of the water. The seaplanes will thus have a fairly smooth area of water on which they can alight if the sea is rough. 1941Flight 24 Apr. 294/1 These ships made use of ‘aprons’ trailed in the water aft of the vessel... The advantage of the apron was that it reduced to a few minutes the time which the flying boat had to spend on the open sea.
o. Photogr. (See quot. 1940.)
1935News Chron. Amat. Photogr. v. 89 Next tuck the film end underneath the flexible apron so that the clip is holding both the apron and the end of the film. 1940F. J. Mortimer Wall's Dict. Photogr. (ed. 15) Apron, band of celluloid or other material used to separate successive turns of film when rolled up for development in a tank.
5. a. ‘The caul of a hog.’ Halliw. apron of a roast goose or duck: the skin covering the belly, which is cut to get at the stuffing.
1755in Johnson. 1855Mrs. Rundell Dom. Cookery Introd. 50 Cut off the apron in the circular line a, b, c.
b. (See quot. 1876.)
1855Fraser's Mag. LI. 267 These [crabs] were lying apron upwards on the ground. 1876Field & Forest II. 73 This mass is very conspicuous even in the rapidly swimming crab, and causes the abdominal flap (called apron by fishermen) to be opened almost to its fullest extent.
c. = tablier 3. Also called Hottentot apron, pudendal apron.
1909in Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1956Winick Dict. Anthropol. (1957) 33 There is some controversy as to whether the Hottentot apron is a genetic trait or an intentional deformation.
6. Comb. and attrib., as apron-cloth (see sense 3); apron husband, one that meddles with his wife's business; apron-lining, the cover of the apron-piece; † apron-man, a mechanic; an ‘aproner’; apron-piece, a small piece of timber supporting the joists under the landing-place in a stair; † apron-rogue, a workman, mechanic; apron-squire = apple-squire; apron wall Build. (see quot. 1934). Also apron-like; and apron-string, q.v.
1857D. H. Strother Virginia Illustr. ii. 139 The *apron-cloth was drawn up over their legs and with a..crack of the whip they started into the storm. 1611Middleton & Dekker Roar. Girl Wks. 1873, 177, I cannot abide these *aperne husbands: such cotqueanes. 1859Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. V. 326/2 The..*apron-like fold that covers the greater part of the intestinal canal. 1607Shakes. Cor. iv. vi. 96 You haue made good worke, You and your *Apron men. 1658Cleveland Rustic Ramp. Wks. 1687, 429 Apron-men and Plough-joggers. 1859J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. (ed. 4) 894 *Apron, or Pitching Piece, an horizontal piece of timber, in wooden double-flighted stairs, for supporting the carriage pieces or rough strings and joistings in the half spaces or landings. The apron pieces should be firmly wedged into the wall. 1663T. Killigrew Parson's Wed. in Dodsley (1780) XI. 382 *Apron-rogues with horn hands. 1593Nashe Christ's Teares 83 b, They will..play the Brokers, Baudes, *Apron-squires, Pandars, or any thing. 1934Webster, *Apron wall, that portion of the enclosing wall of a building between a window-head or lintel of one story and the sill of the window in the story above or, sometimes, only that portion between the floor line and the window sill of the same story. 1952Archit. Rev. CXI. 262 A new system of wall construction (which can be briefly described as 3-ply apron walls formed in-situ).
▪ II. apron, v.|ˈeɪprən|
[f. prec. n.]
To cover with, or as with, an apron.
1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. iv. 289, I mean to apron it and towel it. 1880Blackmore M. Anerley III. xvi. 230 The..bramble aproned the yellow dugs of shale with brown. |