| 释义 |
piquant, a. (n.)|ˈpiːkənt|
Forms: 6 pickande, -ante, 6–7 pickant, 7 picque-, piccant, 7–8 picqu-, 7– piquant, 9 picqu-, piquante.
[a. F. piquant († picquant), pr. pple. of piquer to prick, sting: see pick v.1, pique v.1 The form piccant was ad. It. piccante. In 19th c. authors, piquante (piˈkɑːnt) usually represents the Fr. fem. piquante |pikɑ̃t|.]
A. adj.
1. That pierces or stings; esp. sharp or stinging to the feelings; keen, trenchant; severe, bitter. Chiefly fig. Obs. or arch.
1521Wolsey in St. Papers Hen. VIII, I. 43 Notwith⁓standing the pickande wordes conteigned in thEmperours letters. 1549Chaloner Erasm. on Folly M iij, Who is he so blunt and restiue, that could not with theyr pickant spurres be quickened? 1591Coningsby Siege Rouen in Camden Misc. (1847) I. 29 This daie the marshall wrote a letter..a lytle pickante. 1651Life Father Sarpi (1676) 32 By some picquant words or arguteness to put them into choler. 1654tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 6 The pangs of the Gout are so sharpe and picquant. 1789E. Darwin Let. in Life (1879) 37 Never to make any piquant or angry answer. 1868Lanier Jacquerie i. 131 Urged him on With piquant spur.
†b. Sharp-pointed, peaked. Obs. rare.
1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 261 When sharp piquant Toes were altogether in request.
2. Agreeably pungent or sharp of taste; sharp, stinging, biting; stimulating or whetting to the appetite; appetizing.
c1645Howell Lett. I. v. xxxviii, [A cook] excellent for a pickant sawce and the haugou. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. II. 78 The differences of Sapours are seven; sweet, sharp, sowre, picqueant, salt, acid, bitter. 1704Addison Italy (1733) 301 As piquant to the Tongue as Salt it self. 1827Disraeli Viv. Grey v. xiii, As piquant as an anchovy toast. 1840Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. (1872) 227 A piquant sauce for supper.
3. fig. That acts upon the mind as a piquant sauce, or the like, upon the palate; that stimulates or excites keen interest or curiosity; pleasantly stimulating or disquieting.
1695Whether Parlt. be not in Law dissolved, etc. 47 It falls below being piquant, and keeps within the Limits and Precincts of Modesty. 1706Art of Painting 319 He [Rembrandt] design'd an infinite Number of Thoughts, that were as sensible and as Picquant as the Productions of the best Masters. 1792M. Wollstonecraft Rights Wom. iv. 144 Their husbands..leave home to seek for a more agreeable—may I be allowed to use a significant French word?—piquant society. 1819J. W. Croker in C. Papers 24 Aug., Your notices of literary works should be short, light, and piquant. 1849C. Brontë Shirley vi, She disapproved entirely of the piquant neatness of Caroline's costume. 1879Tourgee Fool's Err. xxxv. 235 These charms combined to render her an exceedingly piquant and charming maiden. 1885Mabel Collins Prettiest Woman xv, This lovely girl had not Wanda's piquant, pretty face.
‖b. After F. piquante fem.
1823Scott Peveril xxxix, The monkey has a turn for satire, too, by all that is piquante. 1850Smedley F. Fairlegh (1894) 52 Lucy's..what you call piquante. 1873Smiles Huguenots Fr. i. i. (1881) 3 That picquante letter-writer, Madame de Sévigné. 1898Rider Haggard Dr. Therne i. 15 The face of a rather piquante and pretty girl.
B. n. rare. That which is piquant.
a. A hedgehog's prickle;
b. A piquant dish; a whet.
1835Kirby Hab. Anim. II. xvii. 213 The two most remarkable animals in the insectivorous tribe..are the mole, and the hedgehog,..the latter for its piquants, and the former for its hand turned outwards. 1843P. Parley's Ann. IV. 239 He pined for the piquants—he had dreams of the savouries.
Hence ˈpiquantly adv., in a piquant manner; ˈpiquantness (rare), piquancy.
1697Potter Antiq. Greece i. xxvi. (1715) 158 If an Orator..hath been piquantly Censorious. 1703Art & Myst. Vintners 17 Claret loseth much of its Briskness and Picquantness. 1727Bailey vol. II, Piquantness,..sharpness, bitingness. 1882W. H. Bishop in Harper's Mag. Dec. 54/2 The village is piquantly foreign. 1922Joyce Ulysses 399 Blushing piquantly and whispering in my ear. 1955Times 10 May 3/7 M. Claude Barma's production was most piquantly revealing. 1971Daily Tel. 16 July 11/8 With a cast of two, it presents a piquantly rounded theme. |