| 释义 |
▪ I. pierce, v.|pɪəs|
Forms: α. 3–6 perce, (4 parse), 4–6 perse, Sc. perss(e, 5 peerce, peerse, 6 Sc. peirs(e, pers, pairse, 6–7 pearce, pearse, pierse, 6–8 peirce, 6– pierce. β. 4–5 persche, persshe, perisse, -ische, perisshe, -issche, 4–6 perch(e, perish(e, 5 pershe, peresche, 5–6 perysshe, 6–7 (9 dial.) pearch.
[a. OF. percer, earlier percier (11–12th c., also persier 13th c.), ONF. perchier, mod. Picard percher; ulterior etymology uncertain.
Ménage, Diez, Burguy, Hatz.-Darm. take percer as:—L. type *pertusiāre, deriv. of L. pertundĕre to thrust or bore through (pa. pple. pertūsus, n. of action pertūsio), although the contraction pertusier, pert'sier, percier is violent, and there are the full forms F. pertuiser, Pr. pertusar, It. pertugiare. For other conjectures see Littré and Scheler. The β-forms appear to have been confused with those of perish v.]
1. trans. To penetrate, or run through or into (a substance), as a sharp-pointed instrument does; of an agent: to thrust (anything) through with such an instrument; to stab, prick, puncture.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9019 Þei it ne percede noȝt þat yre þat blod vaste adoun drou. c1315Shoreham Poems (E.E.T.S.) i. 2209 Þo hand and fet and al hys lymes I-persed were ine payne. 1375Barbour Bruce xiv. 292 Scottis men..perssit thar armyng. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvi. viii. 675 Thenne they came to gyders with suche a raundon that they perced their sheldes and their hauberkes. 1526Tindale John xix. 37 They shall loke on hym, whom they pearsed. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 43 They perst both plate and maile. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iii. 59 If Percy be aliue, Ile pierce him: if he do come in my way. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Piercing, among farriers.—To pierce a horse's shoe lean, is to pierce it too near the edge of the iron.—To pierce it fat is to pierce it further in. 1784Cowper Task iii. 201 Pierce my vein, Take of the crimson stream meand'ring there, And catechise it well. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. ix. 62 The mighty Aiguilles piercing the sea of air. Ibid. ii. xi. 290, I pierced the ice with the auger, drove in the stake, and descended.
β1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 189 Were þe myddel of myn honde ymaymed or ypersshed [v.rr. ypersed, I-perisshed]. c1380Sir Ferumb. 5301 Þe nayles three, & þe croune, þat perschede cryst on ys passyoune. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxi. 94 So þat þe bark be perched; and þan commez oute a licour thikk. c1500Joseph Arim. (W. de W.) 31 His..handes & feet perysshed with the spere & nayles.
absol.c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 288 Men stable in bileue ben a þick walle to turnen aȝen þis þondir þat it persiþ noȝt. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 118 It is..as commendable to pearce to the bone, as to pare the skinne.
fig.1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 256 b, It myght not swage the malyce of the iewes, ne..pearse theyr pryde. 1557N. T. (Genev.) 1 Tim. vi. 10 They erred from the faith, and perced them selues throwe with many sorowes.
b. transf. and fig.; spec. said of the penetrating action of cold, etc.
1390Gower Conf. I. 294, I telle him schent, If he mai perce him with his tunge. 1563Mirr. Mag., Induct. 4 With chilling cold had pearst the tender green. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 673 A scabby Tetter on their Pelts will stick, When the raw Rain has pierc'd them to the quick. 1832H. Martineau Ireland iii. 44 Gusts of wind..piercing her with cold through her scanty raiment.
absol.1562W. Bullein Bulwark, Dial. Soarnes & Chir. 2 Colde weather draweth nere,..Borias perseth.
c. With various constructions and extensions.
a1400–50Alexander 3675 Þe thinnest was a nynche thicke quen þai ware þurȝe persed. c1400Destr. Troy 9477 Paris..Waited the wegh in his wit ouer, In what plase of his person to perse of his wede. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) i. 99 I shall not spare..with sharpe sword to perse them all bare. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings xviii. 21 This broken staffe of rede..which who leaneth vpon, it shall go in to his hande, & pearse it thorow. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 153 His only son..was pierced through the heart by a javelin. 1840Thirlwall Greece VII. lvii. 216 Neoptolemus..pierced him in the groin. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 104 Could I so stand by And see my dear lord..pierced to death?
2. To make a hole, opening, or tunnel into or through (something); to bore through, perforate; to broach (a cask, etc.).
13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 1148 In a thousand stede he let the tonne perce. c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §3 The moder of thin Astrelabie is þe thikkeste plate, perced with a large hole. c1420Pallad. on Husb. ix. 160 This must be doon by persyng the mountayn The water so to lede into the playn. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 231 Marcus pereschenge the walle of the cite [Trevisa, made an hole þorwe þe wal]. 1579in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 429 Any suche butte or hogsed..pearched or drauin. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 211/2 Whensoever he pierced a Vessel of Wine, it was sowred before he spent it. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 200 A neat Brazen Door..pierced through to let in light from above. 1798Hull Advertiser 14 Apr. 2/4 Le Ceres, French ship privateer pierced for 14 guns. 1849Curzon Visits Monast. (1897) 140 The mountain of Quarantina..is pierced all over with the caves excavated by the ancient anchorites. 1853Hobbs & Tomlinson Locks xi. 159 The process of piercing the key consists in making the pipe or barrel.
b. To make (a hole, etc.) by piercing.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 127 Yitte may we, by the persed holes well,..Behalde and see, that [etc.]. 1538Elyot, Foro..to perce or boore a hole. 1703[see piercer 4]. 1859Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. II. 281 Narrow loopholes, pierced through the immensely thick wall. 1884Bagshawe in Law Times 14 June 120/2 Valliant..pierced a doorway between the forge and the adjacent cottage.
3. To force one's way through or into; to succeed in penetrating; to break through or into; to break (an enemy's line). Also fig.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 391 Corineus..made is wey bi eiþer side & percede þe route. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 302 Suche lewide iottis Percen wiþ a pater noster þe paleis of heuene. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 95 Alexander persynge the costes of Ynde in xij. yere. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 136 Nature..made the rayne droppes rounde for quicke percynge the ayer. Ibid. 138 These [arrow] heades be good..to perche a wynde wythal. 1555Eden Decades To Rdr. (Arb.) 51 Neyther dydde any of his shyppes..perce the Ocean. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. Prol. 11 Steed threatens Steed, in high and boastfull Neighs Piercing the Nights dull Eare. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 84 His magnificence and liberality..pierced the eyes of the people, and made him commendable. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 356 Where the might of Gabriel fought, And with fierce Ensignes pierc'd the deep array Of Moloc furious King. 1731Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope I. 83 Some of them..had pierc'd the country several ways by command. 1878H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. II. xii. 334 The wide wild land which, by means of the greatest river of Africa, we have pierced.
4. To reach or penetrate with the sight or the mind; to see thoroughly into, discern. (Not now used with a personal or concrete obj. as in quot. 1640.)
a1400–50Alexander 5537 Þat he miȝt..with his seȝt persee Ane & othire & all þing. c1450Holland Howlat 318 Ernes..Quhilk in the firmament..Perses the sone, with thar sicht selcouth to herd. 1563T. Gale Antidot. Pref. 2 The hard names of medicines by oft reding will be persed. 1614Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 374 [This] is wide of Saint Paul's meaning, so farre as my weak understanding can pierce it. 1640Prerog. Parl. in Eng. in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 244 My lord, learn of me, that there is none of you all, that can pierce the king. 1748Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 64 Attentive..to..pierce each scene with philosophick eye! 1814Cary Dante, Paradise xxviii. liii, Contemplating, I fail to pierce the cause. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iii. (1872) 36 He pierced the mysteries of nature.
†b. To ‘go into’ (a matter), to examine. Obs.
1640Yorke Union Hon., Battels 12 Presently a Parliament was called at London, where matters being pierced againe, the King's side grew stronger dayly.
5. To penetrate with pain, grief, or other emotion; to wound or affect keenly; to touch or move deeply. In pierce the heart, the notion is often more or less physical.
1387–8T. Usk Test. Love Prol. 8 Rude wordes and boystous percen the herte of the herer to the inrest point. a1400–50Alexander 5158 It miȝt a persid any hert to here how scho wepid. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xix. (Percy Soc.) 88 O lady clere! that perste me at the rote. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 126 Can no prayers pierce thee? 1614Raleigh Hist. World iii. (1634) 27 Cyrus being pierc't with Crœsus answer. 1715–20Pope Iliad xi. 323 While pierc'd with grief the much-lov'd youth he view'd. 1833Tennyson Fatima v, My heart, pierced thro' with fierce delight.
6. intr. To enter, penetrate, or pass, as something sharp-pointed, into or through; † to make one's (or its) way into, to, through; transf. to project or jut sharply, have direction. Also fig.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 85 Som of þe Iewes parsed among oþere and come with ynne þe paleys gate. c1440Generydes 2965 Thorough owt ye harnes persid ye spere. 1557N. T. (Genev.) Luke ii. 35 Yea and a sword shal pearce through thy soule. 1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 9 They haue not pearst into the maine lande. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 242 So high a hope, that euen Ambition cannot pierce a winke beyond. 1629R. Hill Pathw. Piety (ed. Pickering) I. Pref. 4 True prayer..pierceth thither, whither flesh cannot come. 1639Fuller Holy War iii. xiii. (1840) 137 King Richard..intended to pierce through Germany by land, the nearest way home. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 99 Where wounds of deadly hate have peirc'd so deep. 1698J. Keill Exam. The. Earth (1734) 241 It is suppos'd..that..the heat of the Sun must have peirced thro' the Crust of the Earth, and reached the Abyss. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 89 My lord Craven..pierced in with us, fighting gallantly in the breach. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxi, Narrow promontories, piercing out into the water.
b. transf. and fig. To penetrate with the mind or the sight into (anything); to see into.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Gal. 15 Ye cleaue to the litterall meanyng onely, and pearce not to the spiritual sence therof. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 242 So farre foorth as my dimme and darke eyesight is able to pearce into the view of his vertues. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 68, I cannot tell What Heauen hath giuen him: let some Grauer eye Pierce into that. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iii. 66 There was no piercing with the eye..into the plantation. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xvi. (1866) 269 It was reserved for One to pierce with the glance of intuition.
▪ II. pierce, n. rare.
[f. prec.]
The act or process of piercing; a hole made by piercing.
1613R. Cawdrey Table Alph. (ed. 3), Perforation, hole, or pierce through. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. iii. 89/2 Pearses.., the holes in the [horse] shooe. 1819Keats Isabella xxxiv, Like a lance, Waking an Indian from his cloudy hall With cruel pierce.
▪ III. † pierce, a. Obs. nonce-wd.
[f. pierce v.; in quot. perh. with punning allusion to the name Percy.]
Piercing, sharp, keen, fierce.
1593B. Barnes Parthenophil & Parthenophe Sonn. xliv. in Arb. Eng. Garner V. 365 That Saints divine, are known Saints by their mercy! And Saint-like beauty should not rage with pierce eye! Ibid. xlvi. ibid. 366 Ah, pierce-eye piercing eye, and blazing light! |