| 释义 |
▪ I. piddling, vbl. n.|ˈpɪdlɪŋ|
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of piddle v.; trifling, toying, etc.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 127 If hops looke browne, go gather them downe. But not in the deaw, for piddling with feaw. 1655Clarke Papers (Camden) III. 37 The French Ambassadour makes a pidling still. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 87 This dissipated pidling soon gave way to the serious business of the evening. 1816Scott Old Mort. xii, No piddling..but that steady and persevering exercise of the jaws which is best learnt by early morning hours.
▪ II. ˈpiddling, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. Trifling, insignificant, petty, paltry.
1559J. Aylmer Harborowe Q ij b, You haue the pidlyng Scottes, whiche are alwayes Frenche for their lyues. 1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 14 Pidlinge and driblinge Confuters, that sitt all day buzzing vpon a blunt point, or two. 1675Prideaux Lett. (Camd.) 41 We have two or three small pidleing things printeing here. 1735Pope Prol. Sat. 164 Yet ne'er one sprig of laurel grac'd these ribalds, From slashing Bently down to pidling Tibalds. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 342 The man of business has not time for such piddling work. 1827Scott Chron. Canongate Introd. i, For the piddling concern of a few shillings. 1866A. L. Perry Elem. Pol. Econ. (1873) 524 The country is too large for the petty, piddling processes of ‘protection’. 1902W. E. Henley Views & Reviews: Art 10 The Castle of Otranto is a piddling piece of super-nature. 1936[see doless a.]. 1948[see gouger c]. 1966Electronics 31 Oct. 149 The European market for IC's is still piddling. 1971Maclean's Mag. Sept. 4/1 In plain words, I found out what my job was. No piddling assignment either. What it amounted to was saving the country. 1972V. Canning Rainbird Pattern i. 2 Use other people's..piddling fears about their own status, and the world is at your feet. 1976‘D. Fletcher’ Don't whistle ‘Macbeth’ 47 You'd never drown... Not in that piddling little stream.
2. Making water, urinating.
1968Listener 2 May 579/3 Far and away the best..is Thinking Girl. Some may be inclined to poke fun by retitling Miss Meacock's book Piddling Girl, after counting the number of times the characters are glimpsed in lavatories. |