| 释义 |
▪ I. perdu, perdue, a. and n.
(pəˈdjuː, ˈpɜːdjuː, ‖ pɛrdy)
(Also 7 pur-due; par-, perdieu, -dew.)
[a. F. perdu ‘lost, perished; forlorne, past hope of recouerie, cast away’ etc. (Cotgr.); app. originally introduced in the Fr. military phrase sentinelle perdue, and so usually spelt perdue; in later times often (now usually) treated as an alien Fr. word, and written perdu or perdue, according to gender.]
A. adj. (or pa. pple.).
†1. In sentinel perdue, perdue sentinel (called by Barret 1598 forlorne sentinell):
a. The post of a sentinel (see sentinel n. 1) in a very advanced and dangerous position, where he can hardly hope to escape death.
b. A sentinel posted in such a position. Obs.
(Quot. 1591 is punctuated ‘breaches in espials, in sentinels, perdues’; if this is right, the quot. belongs to B. 1.)
1591Garrard's Art Warre i. 1 In Trenches, where perchance hee shall stand a number of houers in the water and myre vp to the knees: and besides vp on the Bulwarkes, breaches, in espials, in Sentinels perdues, and such like, when occasion requires and necessitie constraines. [1598Barret Theor. Warres iv. ii, The proper forlorne Sentinell is that which is set either on horse-backe or foote..neare vnto the enemies campe:..so neare vnto the enemie, that being discryed and seene, he shall with great difficulty retire and escape.] 1628Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. (ed. 3) 32 So many..desire to enter vpon breaches, lye sentinell perdue, giue the first onset [etc.]. a1648Ld. Herbert Life (1764) 74 Sir Edward Cecill..used often during this Siege, to go in person in the night time, to try whether he cou'd catch any Sentinells perdues. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 149/2 A Perdue sentinell is..layd down in the open field, where he lyeth on his belly with his eare to the ground to heare what he can from the enemy.
2. In other connexions:
†a. Placed in an extremely hazardous position, such as that of a ‘forlorn sentinel’, or a ‘forlorn hope’; hence, in a desperate case, lost. Obs.
1618Fletcher Loyal Subj. i. i, Putf. How stand you with him [the Duke], Sir? Theod. A perdue captain, Full of my father's danger. 1653Gauden Hierasp. 235 Where..peevish cavils and pertinacious calumnies,..do but rally themselves, as in a case perdue, to see what can be done by volleys of rayling Rhetorick. 1656Blount Glossogr., Perdu, lost, perished, forlorn, past hope of recovery, cast away.
†b. Lying out, passing the night out of bed. Obs.
1634Carew Cœl. Brit. Wks. (1824) 154 Though it be to the surprize of a perdu page or chambermaid.
c. Lying hidden; hidden, concealed; disguised. Now chiefly as Fr.
a1734North Exam. i. ii. §160 (1740) 113* The Trick of a Brace of perdue Witnesses, charged and primed in order to a short Turn. 1837H. Ainsworth Crichton ii. ii, A Huguenot perdue in the Louvre.
3. In phrase to lie perdu. (Also, to set, leave, stand, etc. perdu.) Now chiefly as Fr.a. In military usage: Placed as an outpost, sentinel, guard, scout, etc., in an exposed, hazardous position; hidden and on the watch; (lying) in ambush, in wait, in order to surprise or attack. Often transf. or fig.
1607B. Barnes Divils Charter E iv b, This very night must I stand Perdue for this bloudy service. 1611Beaum. & Fletcher King & No King i. i. 1624Massinger Bond-man ii. i, There's a sport too, Named lying perdue..'tis a game Which you must learn to play at. a1625Fletcher Woman's Prize i. iii, I'll stand perdue upon 'em. 1628Wither Brit. Rememb. iv. 761 Suggestion lay pur due by Contemplation, And sought to disadvantage Meditation. 1629Shirley Wedding iv. iii, Let's steal away before we be discovered. I do not like when men lie perdu. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. ix. 278 It is unfitting he should lie Perdue, who is to walk the round. a1668Davenant Siege Wks. (1673) 82 A Weezel That lies Perdue for a Hens Nest. 1678Butler Hud. iii. iii. 34 This Hudibras..by the Furies, left Perdue. a1716South Serm. (1727) VI. xii. 418 If a Man is always upon his Guard, and (as it were) stands perdieu at his Heart, to spy when Sin begins to peep out in these first Inclinations. 1767Sterne Tr. Shandy IX. xvi, Bridget stood perdue within, with her finger and her thumb upon the latch, benumb'd with expectation. 1837Whittock, etc. Bk. Trades (1842) 287 Overtaken in his solitary career, lying ‘perdue’ behind some tree, or bush. 1884Manch. Weekly Times 11 Oct. 4/6 Probably in the village inn a skilful penny-a-liner is lying perdu..to get a scrap of their conversation.
b. Hidden away; concealed; out of sight, withdrawn from sight. Now usually as Fr., spelt perdu or perdue according to gender. (a) Of persons.
1701J. Philips Splendid Shilling (1715) 6 This Caitif..oft Lies perdue in a Nook or gloomy Cave. 1754Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xxv. 174 Mr. Greville was not gone out of town, but intended to lie perdue. 1819Scott Leg. Montrose xiv, Hold..We must lie perdue, if possible. 1855Carlyle Misc., Prinzenraub (1857) IV. 345 They seek shelter in a cavern, stay there perdue for three days. 1855Browning Instans Tyrannus iii, All in vain! Gold and jewels I threw, Still he couched there perdue. 1870R. Broughton Red as Rose xiv, She has been lying perdue,..deeply buried in the unwonted luxury of a French novel.
(b) Of things, qualities, etc.
1758Misc. in Ann. Reg. 373/2 The ingenious author tells us..the general's intention remains perdu. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. iii. ii. (1849) 150 A host of honest, good-fellow qualities..which had lain perdue. 1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly Prol. i, Hidden in the belt of each, or carried perdu in the trouser's-pocket. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 441 [It] had lain perdu in my head all that time.
†B. n. Obs. [Partly short for sentinel perdue or F. enfants perdus, see below, 2 c; partly elliptical or contextual uses of the phrases in A. 3: cf.
c1600Bacon Apol. conc. Ld. Essex 61 Madame..you haue put me like one of those that the Frenchmen call Enfans perdus, that serue on foote before horsmen.]
†1. = sentinel perdue, A. 1 a. Obs. rare.
1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. vi, I would you would relieue me, for I am So heauie that I shall ha' much adoe To stand out my perdu.
†2. A soldier placed in a position of special danger, as an outlying sentinel, or ordered on some hazardous enterprise, as to act as scout or skirmisher, lead in an assault, etc., and hence considered as virtually lost or in a desperate case. Obs.
1605Shakes. Lear iv. vii. 35 (Quarto) To watch, poor Perdu With this thin helme. 1614C. Brooke Trag. Rich. III xlii, The centynels are plac't; perdu's are sent. 1632B. Jonson Magn. Lady iii. iv, Your old Perdues, who, after time, do think..that they are shot-free. 1638Mass. Hist. Collect. Ser. iii. VI. 6 Having..laid out our pardues, we betook ourselves to the guard. 1648in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iv. II. 1173 Our Purdues lie so near the Enemy, as to hear them discourse. 1681L. Addison Disc. Tangier 7 The Earl in person every night laid Perdues to prevent Surprisals. 1706Phillips, A Perdue, a Sentinel or Soldier plac'd in an advanced and dangerous Post.
fig.a1641Suckling Completion Writing Shaks. Poems (1646) 30 Out of the bed the other fair hand was On a green sattin quilt..There lay this pretty perdue, safe to keep The rest o' th' body that lay fast asleep.
b. collectively. The body of troops on outpost duty; the watch, guard. Obs.
1622T. Scott Belg. Pismire 31 Such are the Guard, the Sentinell, the Watch, the Perdu for the Common-wealth. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 69 During this siege, there was taken by the English perdu, a French man [etc.].
c. pl. = forlorn hope [F. enfants perdus]; a body of soldiers selected for a specially hazardous military duty. Obs.
c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1683) 15 The King..sent a number of Infantry Perdews to his Trenches, to bring on the Skirmish. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Perdu, Enfans perdus, perdus: or the forlorne hope, of a campe (are commonly Gentlemen of Companies). 1614Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue v. 327 Two thousand Perduz first Give bravely th' Onset. 1656Blount Glossogr., Perdues,..the forlorn hope of a Camp,..are so called, because they are given for lost men, in respect of the danger of their service.
d. transf. One who acts as a watcher, scout, or spy. Obs. (From 3 a.)
1639Fuller Holy War v. xxii. 267 Poland..lying constant perdue of Christendome against the Tartarian. 1650― Pisgah ii. 57 Shepheards lying constant Perdues in defence of their flocks. a1661― Worthies, Northumbld. ii. (1662) 314 The Sheriffs..who in effect, lay constant Perdues against the neighbouring Scots. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Budge, Standing Budge, c. The Thieves Scout or Perdu. a1734North Exam. ii. iv. §116 (1740) 292 Sir William Waller the Perdue, was the Discoverer..and, by his Diligence, the Man taken and sent to Newgate.
e. transf. A person in a lying or crouching posture. Obs. rare.
1681Cotton Wond. Peak (ed. 4) 33 Eccho tir'd with posting, does refuse To carry to th' inquisitive Perdu's That couchant lye above, the trembling news.
†3. A morally abandoned person; a desperado; a profligate, a roué. Obs.
1612Chapman Widdowes T. ii. i. Wks. 1873 III. 23 Profane Ruffins, Squires to Bawds & Strumpets,..Debaucht perdu's.
▪ II. † perdu, perdue, v. Obs. rare.
[f. prec. n.]
1. intr. (with it). To lie perdu, act the part of a sentinel perdue, act warily.
1656S. H. Gold. Law 33 Thus the Lord Fairfax did no wrong; but wisely Sentinel'd and Perdu'd it to prevent Surprisals, and the better to surprize his Surprizers.
2. trans. (refl.) To place in ambush, hide.
1658R. Franck North. Mem. (1821) 61 An ordinary Artist may kill a trout, provided he purdue himself at a reasonable distance. |