| 释义 |
▪ I. Pluto1|ˈpluːtəʊ|
[a. L. Plūto, Gr. Πλούτων, name of the god of the underworld, brother of Jupiter and Neptune.]
1. A small planet of the solar system lying beyond the orbit of Neptune, discovered only in 1930 by C. W. Tombaugh.
1930N.Y. Times 26 Mar. 10/3 ‘Pluto’ is the provisional name that Italian astronomers have given to the new trans-Neptune planet discovered March 13 at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz... Hugh Rice..yesterday opposed naming the newly discovered planet ‘Minerva’, as has already been suggested, because an asteroid already bears that name. 1930V. M. Slipher Lowell Observatory Observation Circular 1 May, Many names have been suggested and among them Minerva and Pluto have been very popular... Pluto seems very appropriate and we are proposing to the American Astronomical Society and to the Royal Astronomical Society, that this name be given to it. As far as we know Pluto was first suggested by Miss Venetia Burney, aged 11, of Oxford, England. [Note] Kindly cabled by Prof. H. H. Turner. 1930H. H. Turner in Times 28 May 17/5 A post-card from the President of the Royal Astronomical Society offered this morning ‘congratulations to the suggester of the name Pluto, now adopted’. The reference is to a telegram which I had the honour of sending to the Lowell Observatory on March 15..conveying the suggestion of Miss Venetia Burney, of Oxford, made at breakfast on that day to her grandfather, who sent it on to me... It was a brother of that same grandfather who suggested the names Deimos and Phobos for the satellites of Mars. 1933D. L. Sayers Hangman's Holiday 120 Presently they had guessed among other things Miss Tomkin's mother's photograph,..the new planet Pluto,..and had failed to guess the Prime Minister's wireless speech. 1939Skilling & Richardson Astron. i. 12 The length of seasons depends, of course, upon the length of time required for the planet to go around the sun—all the way from about 3 months for Mercury to 248 years for Pluto. 1953A. F. O'D. Alexander in M. Davidson Astron. for Everyman iv. 203 Pluto's path never crosses Neptune's..for its orbit-plane is inclined 17° to the ecliptic plane. 1972P. L. Brown Astron. in Color ii. 86 One theory accounts for the origin of Pluto by considering that it is an ex-satellite of Neptune which somehow broke free. 1976J. Gribbin Astron. for Amateur v. 70 Because of its elliptical orbit Pluto sometimes passes within the orbit of Neptune, and just now (until the end of this century) Neptune is the furthest planet from the Sun.
2. The name of a cartoon dog that made its first appearance in Walt Disney's Moose Hunt, released in April 1931; a toy dog representing this character.
1932W. Disney Adventures Mickey Mouse II. 14 Mickey watched, and Minnie, too, And Pluto hid himself from view. 1936― Mickey Mouse Fables 3 ‘Now for my bone,’ said Pluto, licking his lips. 1957D. D. Miller Walt Disney viii. 137 Pluto got his nose stuck to flypaper and tried to blow it off. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File ii. 22 A cigarette-girl..offered me a pink felt pluto, too. 1972Guardian 21 Aug. 11/5 Ten dogs took part, plus one yellow plastic Pluto on wheels. 1973L. Maltin Disney Films iv. 267 As the 1930s wore on..Mickey played a progressively less important role in the proceedings, some cartoons completely taken over by the character of Pluto.
▪ II. ˈPluto2
[Acronym f. initial letters of Pipe Line under the Ocean.]
The code name for a system of pipe-lines laid in 1944 to carry petrol supplies from Britain to Allied forces in France. Also attrib.
1945News Chron. 1 June 2/5 As in the Pluto pipeline, petrol was the basis of this secret weapon. Like Pluto the experts said at first that it could not be done. 1946Ann. Reg. 1945 37 Foremost among these was the laying of a system of oil pipelines under the sea stretching across the Channel from the British coast to the Continent, and commonly known as ‘Operation Pluto’ (pipe line under the ocean). 1961E. W. Gladstone Army vii. 103 Many clever inventions like the artificial ‘Mulberry’ harbours, and ‘Pluto’, the Pipe Line Under the Ocean to provide petrol, had been developed. 1978A. Waugh Best Wine Last xv. 177 The Petroleum Warfare Department..invented ‘PLUTO’ (pipe line under the ocean) to carry oil across the Channel. |