释义 |
▪ I. † pree, n.1 Obs. rare—1. [a. F. pré:—L. prāt-um meadow, or a. obs. F. prée fem.:—L. prāta, pl. of pratum.] A meadow.
a1625Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 24 In a Writ the generall shall be put..before the speciall: as land before pree, pasture, wood, iuncary, marish, &c. ▪ II. pree, v. Sc. and north. dial.|priː| Also 8– prie. [A shortened form of preive, preve, by-form of prove v.; cf. Sc. gie, hae, lee, for give, have, lief.] trans. To make proof or trial of; to try what (a thing) is like, esp. by tasting. pree the mou' of, to kiss.
a1700Ballad, ‘Blow the winds I ho’ (in R. Bell Collect. 1857), He [a horse] shakes his head above the trough But dares not prie the corn. 1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 91 A mill of good snishing to prie. 1768Ross Helenore 103 Nae henny beik, that ever I did pree, Did taste so sweet. 1785Burns Halloween x, Rob, stownlins, prie'd her bonnie mou. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. vii, I am in..haste to prie your..good cheer. 1857Chambers' Inform. I. 709/2 A custom..of preeing the nets—that is, lifting out a portion of a train and examining it. 1896Barrie Sent. Tommy xix. 215 He had no thought o' preeing lasses' mouths now. Hence pree n.2, a trial, a taste; ˈpreeing vbl. n., proving, trying, tasting.
1821Galt Ann. Parish xvii, The first taste and preeing of what war is. 1835D. Webster Rhymes 182 Sae after some drams I gat a pree, I bade gude day. 1879J. White Jottings 169 Gie me a pree, but no my fill. 1883Cleland Inchbracken ix. 64 The pruif o' the puddin's the preein' o' 't. |