| 释义 |
rodent, a. and n.|ˈrəʊdənt|
[ad. L. rōdent-, rōdens, pr. pple. of rōdĕre to gnaw.]
A. adj.
1. Zool. Gnawing; belonging to the order Rodentia.
1833Penny Cycl. I. 184/2 Of the Rodent mammals (Rodentia) of Africa..we have no very extensive knowledge. 1840tr. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 108 In this we may discern a slight approach to the rodent character of Cheiromys. 1877W. Matthews Ethn. & Phil. Hidatsa Ind. 50 The rodent teeth of the beaver are regarded as potent charms. 1883Encycl. Brit. XV. 419/2 Rodent Moles, with very small or rudimentary eyes and ear-conchs.
2. Path. (See quots.)
1853Paget Lect. Surg. Path. II. 452 The Rodent Ulcer is the disease which has been described under various names: such as cancerous ulcer of the face, cancroid ulcer [etc.]. 1878T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 125 Rodent ulcers are closely allied to the cancers. 1893St. Bartholomew's Hosp. Rep. XXIX. 191 Rodent cancer most commonly occurs on the face.
3. Of waves: Wearing away the shore.
1875G. Macdonald Malcolm III. x. 148 Out came the lovely carving of the rodent waves.
B. n. Zool.
1. An animal of the order Rodentia, characterized by having no canine teeth and strong incisors.
1835Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xxiv. 503 The animals included in the Order of Rodents, or gnawers and nibblers. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. v. (1860) 137 The eyes of moles and of some burrowing rodents are rudimentary in size. 1880Haughton Phys. Geogr. vi. 287 The peculiar families of South American Rodents—cavies, spiny-rats, and chinchillas.
transf.1885R. Churchill Sp. (1889) I. 235 Lord Derby belongs to a tribe of political rodents.
2. attrib. and Comb., as rodent controller, rodent officer, rodent operative, rodent operator; rodent-carried, rodent infested, rodent-like, rodent proof adjs.; rodent-run Ornith., a run made by some birds when disturbed in which they resemble a running rodent.
1959New Biol. XXIX. 96 A *rodent-carried bacterium caused the Black Death.
1970Daily Tel. 14 May 2/8 A senior *rodent controller..was yesterday presented with the British Empire Medal for his 18 years' work destroying rats.
1979Dædalus Summer 137 They all confirm that the chapel was *rodent infested.
1978P. Porter Cost of Seriousness 3 Just as at seven the teeth stick out which Later slope in, *rodent-like.
1944Liverpool Echo 31 Jan. 2/2 Westminster City Council's rat-catcher is in future to be called *Rodent Officer. 1973in Fremdsprachen (1976) XX. 212/1 Fourteen visits from a rodent officer..had not stemmed the infestation.
1944Sunday Times 5 Nov. 6/2 When it comes to official jargon, can you beat turning our old friend the rat-catcher into a ‘*Rodent Operative’? 1972Daily Tel. 1 May 3/4 The Ministry also advises people to consult their local authority's rodent operative on the best way of applying whatever measures they decide on. 1979J. Gardner Nostradamus Traitor li. 248 ‘Are you a rat-catcher, Mr. Kruger?’..‘They are called rodent operatives nowadays.’
1946Word Study May 2/2 Euphemisms..*rodent operator for rat-catcher. 1972C. Drummond Death at Bar vii. 179 The lunatic..is now a traveller for a firm of rodent operators.
1977Field 13 Jan. 68/1 (Advt.), It's horse sense to buy your food storage bins direct from the manufacturer. A quality product. *Rodent proof.
1950Ibis XCII. 28 We observed that a husky dog would immediately chase the Purple Sandpiper that made a ‘*rodent-run’ and would be completely fooled. 1961D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles X. 197 Birds of this northern race [of golden plover] will sit until almost trodden upon, and then shuffle away looking much like a teal in the process, though some would prefer—without too much regard for the truth—to speak of its ‘rodent-run’. 1976Van Tyne & Berger Fund. Ornith. (ed. 2) iv. 209 The ‘rodent-run’ display..has been reported for a number of shorebirds.., for some tundra species, and for the Green-Tailed Towhee. |