| 释义 |
▪ I. sag, n.1 Now dial.|sæg|
Also 6–7 sagge.
[var. of seg, sedge.]
= sedge.
1531Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII, V. 184 Payment to James Hole for sagge. Ibid. 186 Paide to James Hole, of Collam, for saggde for the brykmakrs..for savyng of the brykkes. Paide to Mychell Bynde for reede for the saide brykmakers. 1598Florio Sermenti..flags, sags, or reeds growing by the water side. 1651T. Barker Art of Angling (1653) 9 Leave about a yard, either to tye a bunch of sags or a bladder to boy up the Fish. 1688R. Holme Armoury iv. iv. (Roxb.) 299/1 A Pond or pitt of water surrounded with Reeds and Sagges Vert. 1893P. H. Emerson Eng. Lagoons 118 They say eels are hid up this weather..but these weren't... I think they must have worked out of the sags (hovers).
b. attrib. and Comb., as sag-bed, sag-bottomed, sag-seated; † sag-spear, ? a ‘spear’ or stalk of sedge.
1672W. Hughes Amer. Phys. 28 Like those Sag-beds which grow many together in some..boggy places in England. 1688R. Holme Armoury iv. v. (Roxb.) 310/2 On a crowne three sagge-speares in Triangle O. tyed together with a Rubin G. the ends extended. 1735Somerville Chase iv. 396 Ah! on that yielding Sag-bed, see, once more His Seal I view. 1890Gloucestersh. Gloss., Sag-seated chair, a rush-bottomed chair. 1893S.E. Worc. Gloss. App., Sags, rushes, used for the seats of chairs, such chairs being called ‘sag-bottomed chairs’.
▪ II. sag, n.2|sæg|
[f. sag v.]
The action of sagging.
1. Naut. Movement or tendency to leeward.
1580Burrough in Hakluyt's Voy. (1599) I. 436 It is very necessary that you doe note at the ende of euery foure glasses, what way the shippe hath made,..and howe her way hath bene through the water, considering withall for the sagge of the sea to leewards, accordingly as you shall finde it growen. 1882Daily Tel. 2 Sept. (Casell), Shoving through it very slowly, with a surprising sag to leeward.
2. In a rope, wire, etc. supported at two points: The dip below the horizontal line, due to its weight; the perpendicular distance from its lowest point to the straight line between the points of support.
1861Ann. Reg. 73 The ‘sag’ or droop of the cable from a straight line is 12 feet. 1889Preece & Maier Telephone 136 A consideration which is of the highest importance for telephonic networks of wire is the length of the sag, or dip, of the wires between two supports. 1892C. T. Dent Mountaineering iv. 104 The rope..should stretch from one waistloop to the next without any sag at all.
3. a. A sinking or subsidence; quasi-concr. a place where the surface has subsided, a depression.
1727in Amer. Speech (1940) XV. 387/1 Thence along the North Side of the Mountains to a Corner Several Saplins by a Sagg. 1850Rep. Comm. Patents 1849: Agric. (U.S.) 443 Strawberries are met with..on the edges of ‘sloughs’ or ‘saggs’. 1872C. King Mountain Sierra Nev. viii. 167 A gray canopy of cloud which stretched from wall to wall, hanging down here and there in deep blue sags. 1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 324 To cross with pipes a ‘sag’ in the divide 280 feet deep and..eight miles wide from one crest to the other. 1888‘Paul Cushing’ Blacksmith of Voe I. ii. 61 There was a deep sag in the seat, which, however, added to the comfort of sitting in it. 1892C. Lapworth in Proc. Geog. Soc. 689 Where the great continental sag sinks below the ocean level.
b. fig.
1868W. James Let. 15 May in R. B. Perry Tht. & Char. W. James (1935) I. 512 Such an event rather dislocates my mind from its habitual ‘sag’ in contemplating the world. 1938E. Bowen Death of Heart iii. i. 323 Behind the opaqueness of her features control permitted no sag of tiredness.
4. Comm. A decline in price, in a business, or in a programme of development.
1891Daily News 4 Mar. 2/2 In the American market there is a slight but general ‘sag’. 1897E. Hough Story of Cowboy 334 Then in time came..the ‘sag’ in the cattle business. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 20 Aug. 8/2 (heading) The sag in the housing program. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 555 The Chancellor had cut back local-authority spending on mortgages... In that case, I said, he must permit us to use public-sector building to make up for the sag.
5. attrib. and Comb., as Sagbag, the proprietary name of an informal chair consisting of a large bag filled with polystyrene granules which accommodates itself to the form of the sitter; also sagbag; sagbend, the curved stretch of pipe below the point of inflexion in the S-shaped length of pipeline as it is lowered on to the sea bed from a barge (cf. over-bend n.); sag pond, a pond whose basin is the result of earth movement associated with a fault; sag wagon Cycling (see quot. 1961); also transf.
1974Observer 13 Jan. 23/6 (caption) Polystyrene sagbag in various colours of canvas..from..Habitat. 1974Trade Marks Jrnl. 18 Dec. 2520/2 Sagbag... Furniture; chairs and settees: seats and seating{ddd}cushions (not for medical or surgical purposes);..Habitat Designs Limited, Hithercroft Road, Wallingford, Berkshire; Merchants. 1978Evening Standard 28 Apr. 18/4 June Mendoza's picture of La Rippon, shoeless in a denim jump-suit and reclining fetchingly in a purplish sag-bag.
1969Preprints 1st Ann. Offshore Technol. Conf. II. 37/2 To prevent excessive bending in the sag bend a straight stinger must discharge the pipe very near to the bottom. 1975Petroleum Rev. XXIX. 309/1 A pipe tensioning system has been provided which will avoid buckles in the sagbend.
1933Calif. Jrnl. Mines & Geol. XXIX. 197 Numerous little water-holding depressions known as sag ponds mark the site of local subsidences. 1974Gribbin & Plagemann Jupiter Effect x. 114 And yet in the San Francisco Peninsula, where memories of 1906 should prompt some caution, lines of so-called sag ponds, which geologists use as a clear indicator of the fault line, have been filled in to make building land!
1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1257/1 Sag-wagon, a van that, following a [cycle] race, picks up exhausted riders. 1963Times 6 June 5/7 When, later, Selaru had gear trouble they both gave up the struggle for the solace of a sag waggon. 1977C. McFadden Serial (1978) xlvii. 102/2 You wanna come along in the bus in case I need a sag wagon?
▪ III. † sag, a. Obs. rare.
[f. sag v.]
Hanging or sagging down. Also in Comb. sag-bellied.
a1550Schole-ho. Women 472 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 123 Put me two bones in a bag..; That doon, holde it some what sag, Shake it also, that it may wag. 1648Herrick Hesper., Oberon's Feast 27 Then..He..eates the sagge And well bestrutted Bees sweet bagge. 1651Ogilby æsop (1665) 208 An old Sag-bellied Toad.
▪ IV. sag, v.|sæg|
Inflected sagged, sagging. Forms: 5–7 sagge, (6 sacke), 9 sagg, 6– sag; 8–9 dial. seg(g (see E.D.D.).
[First recorded in the 15th c.; the meaning (as well as the 16th c. form sacke) appears to point to connexion of some kind with mod.Du. zakken, MLG. sacken, Sw. sacka, Norw. dial. sakka to subside, settle down (also sakk subsidence), Da. sakke to lag behind (the Du. and Sw. words have also the nautical sense below). With sense 3 cf. Norw. dial. sagga ‘to walk heavily and slowly, as from weariness’ (Ross), for which other dialects have sigga, sugga.
The Du., LG., and Sw. forms appear to admit of no etymological explanation as native words; on the other hand the Norw. dial. sakka may be related to sekka (ON. sekkva) to sink. It seems possible that the word is originally WScandinavian, and has passed (? as a nautical term) into Sw., Du., LG., and (perh. through LG.) into English.
On this hypothesis the representation of the continental Teut. kk by gg would be an instance of the common uncertainty in the phonetic appreciation of foreign sounds. It is uncertain whether the Norw. dial. sagga abovementioned is related to the other words, and whether its resemblance in sense to the Eng. word is more than a coincidence.]
1. a. intr. To sink or subside gradually, by weight or pressure.
c1425Cast. Persev. 1294 in Macro Plays 116 Mankynne is soylyd & saggyd in synne! c1440Promp. Parv. 440/2 Saggyn or sallyn [? read satlyn] (satelyn, P., stytlyn, S.), basso. 1599A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 96/1 Quilte the bagge least the herbes sacke the one vppon the other. 1601Holland Pliny I. 492 The Cherrie tree wood is firme and fast; the Elme and the Ash are tough; howbeit, they will soone settle downward and sag, being charged with any weight, but bend they will before they break. 1630J. Levett Ord. Bees (1634) 19 Leaving a shoulder on the inside to stay it and this is good to keep the crowne of Hives from sagging downewards. 1881Darwin Veg. Mould iv. 215 We see in these three sections..that the old pavements have sunk or sagged considerably. 1889Nature 5 Dec. 103 The crust of the earth must have sagged foot by foot as additional feet of burdens were laid upon it.
b. Of a part of the body (occas. of a person): To droop; to sink or hang down loosely.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 304 b, Thy blessed body, whiche synkynge downe, sagged & honge by y⊇ crosse. 1563–83Foxe A. & M. 1114/1 At last his feruour began to grow cold and faint, & his handes sagged downward. a1565Sir T. Challoner tr. Boeth. i. metr. i. 12 in Q. Eliz. Englishings App. 150 My skynne do sagg in wrinkles slacke, my fflaggy lymbes do tremble. 1567Golding Ovid's Met. xi. (1593) 263 Appollo could not suffer well his foolish eares to keepe Their human shape, but drew them wide, and made them long and deepe. And fild them full of whitish heares, and made them downe to sagge. 1592Nashe P. Penilesse B 4 b, Cheeks that sag like a womans dugs ouer his chin-bone. a1600Deloney Thomas of Reading (1827) 73 It is, sir, your ill-favoured great nose, that hangs sagging so lothsomely to your lips. 1816W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XLI. 144 O could this wrinkled hand unlearn to sag I'd go; and from this crosier shake the union flag. 1849Longfellow Kavanagh xxi. 132 Except little Alfred, who was tired and cross, and sat sleepy and sagging on his father's knee. 1902Westm. Gaz. 5 June 2/1 The head slowly sagged down on to the cushions.
c. ‘To hang down on one side’ (Phillips, ed. Kersey 1706). Of a garment: To hang unevenly, to slip out of position. Now chiefly dial. and U.S. Hence occas. of a person: † To wear ‘sagging’ clothes, to be dressed untidily.
1592Nashe P. Penilesse A 2 b, Sir Rowland Russet⁓coat, their dad, goes sagging euery day in his round gas⁓coynes of white cotton, & hath much a do..to keepe his vnthrift elbowes in reparations. Ibid. A 3, A paire of trunke slops, sagging down like a Shoomaker's wallet. 1600Surflet Country Farm i. viii. 32 If the croisant or bodie of the moone hang sagging. 1611Cotgr., Glacer,..to flesh-bast; or stitch downe the lyning of a garment thereby to keepe it from sagging. 1624Bp. Hall True Peace-maker Wks. (1625) 541 The girdle of whose equity sags downe on that side, where the purse hangs. 1703T. N. City & C. Purchaser 29 To prevent a Door from sagging, or sinking at the fore corner. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. II. 193 A load of hay or corn that is badly put on the waggon, leaning on one side, and, as it is termed, top-heavy, is said to sag. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., Rebecca's made my Sunda' goun sag sorely. 1878Masque Poets 156 His coat is green and sags. 1883E. C. Rollins New Eng. Bygones 190 It [the bridge] sags to one side. 1885Harper's Mag. May 867/1 The..gates sag apart. 1903J. Fox jun. Little Sheph. Kingd. Come 345 The gate sagged on its hinges.
d. To bend or curve downwards in the middle, from its own weight or superincumbent pressure. Said, e.g., of a rope supported at two points, of a beam, plank, etc. Naut. opposed to hog v.1
1777W. Hutchinson Pract. Seamanship 13 And that their bottoms not only hog upwards, but sag (or curve) downwards, to dangerous and fatal degrees. 1819Rainbird Agric. Suffolk (1849) 298 (E.D.D.). 1842Gwilt Archit. §2031 The beam by its own gravity..would have a tendency to sag or bend in the middle. Ibid., When the rafters are of such length that they would be liable of themselves to sag down, supports aa are introduced at the points where such failures would occur. 1859Whittier Proph. Sam. Sewall 102 Great beams sag from the ceiling low. 1883R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 290/1 The rod will lose its straightness, first sagging in the middle, then dropping. 1886E. S. Morse Jap. Homes i. 27 One..comes to wonder why the whole ceiling does not sag.
transf.1888Henley Bk. Verses 152 The sky saggs low with convoluted cloud.
e. To bulge (out); to belly in. Chiefly dial.
1853G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 151 It sagged in like a bellying sail. 1855Robinson Whitby Gloss., Sagg'd out, bulged out at the side, as a bowing wall. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. 108 The other half come up sagging full o' big uns.
2. a. To decline to a lower level, through lack of strength or effort. Chiefly fig. (Common in U.S.)
1508Fisher Seven Penit. Ps. xxxviii. Wks. (1876) 88 Yf the helpe of his grace be not redy at all seasons we must nedes sagge & bowe. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 10 The minde I sway by, and the heart I beare, Shall neuer sagge with doubt, nor shake with feare. 1891Harper's Mag. Sept. 644/1 Is she sagging towards Realism or rising towards Idealism? 1902Gildersleeve in Amer. Jrnl. Philol. XXIII. 137 Professor Lawton..says that Parmenides sags in his flight.
b. dial. ‘To decline in health; to begin to show signs of old age’ (E.D.D.).
1784Cullum Hist. Hawsted iii. 173 He begins to sag. To decline in his health. 1893F. B. Zincke Wherstead 261 For anything to be over-poised, or metaphorically to decline in health, is to ‘sag’.
c. Comm. To decline in price. Also with down, away, off.
1870W. W. Fowler Ten Yrs. in Wall St. xxv. 393 The price grew firmer when two or three men were observed selling quietly large amounts, and then the price sagged to 250. 1887[see sagging ppl. a.]. 1892Daily News 11 May 3/5 Wheat..further sagged down owing to the increase in amount on passage. 1903Westm. Gaz. 29 Aug. 7/1 With lack of support the market has sagged away, and closes some 27s. 6d. below last week's values. 1905Ibid. 1 June 9/1 There are appreciable advances on the share figures of three months ago on those investments which sagged through last year's bad balance-sheets.
3. To drag oneself along wearily or feebly. Also U.S. (see quot. 1880).
1573Twyne æneid x. E e j b, Encounter them at land Whilest fearful they come forth, and their first steps do sag in sand. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xvi. 219 This said, the aged Steed sagd sadly on alone. 1880Webster's Suppl., Sag, to loiter in walking; to idle along; to drag or droop heavily. 1897Rhoscomyl White Rose 165 ‘And I am not more than a third of the way along’, said he to himself, as the horse sagged slower at every stride.
4. a. Naut. Of a ship or boat: To drift, be carried out of the intended course. Chiefly in the phrase to sag to leeward.
1633T. James Voy. 93 [In tacking] we did sagge upon the maine rand of Ice. 1769[see sagging vbl. n.]. 1794Rigging & Seamanship II. 256* To Sag to leeward, to make considerable lee-way. 1849Blackw. Mag. LXVI. 726 The want of actual headway making the Indiaman sag dead away to leeward. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 287 McGary hung upon his oar, and the boat, slowly but noiselessly sagging ahead. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 206 We're sagging south on the Long Trail.
†b. transf. To drift, deviate insensibly (into, from). Obs.
1639Fuller Holy War iv. xix. (1640) 202 We see elective States in Christendome, though bound with the straitest laws, often sagge aside into schismes and factions. 1655― Ch. Hist. ix. v. §2 Yet such [spheres] as are excentricall can never observe equall distance in their motion, but will sagg aside to grind, and grate one the other. a1661― Worthies (1662) ii. Lond. 224 No Hospital is tyed with better or stricter laws, that it may not Sagg from the intention of the Founder.
5. trans. in causative senses.
†a. [From sense 4.] Of a current at sea: To cause to ‘sag’ or drift; to carry out of the intended course. Obs.
1628Digby Voy. Medit. (Camden) 77 The current sagged me into the bay deeper towardes the eastward. 1635Voy. Foxe & James to North West (Hakl. Soc.) 191 After he was loos'd he was sagged into the Bay.
b. [From sense 1 d.] To cause to bend downwards in the middle.
1755Johnson, To Sag, v.a. To load; to burthen. 1777W. Hutchinson Pract. Seamanship 13 Their bottoms were thus sagged down by the cargoes. Ibid., Sagged down⁓wards six inches by her cargo. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. v. 93 The ultimate measures of the strengths of the ships to resist a strain tending to hog or sag, or break them across is as 5 : 4. 1892C. Lapworth in Proc. Geogr. Soc. 689 The surface of this American arch is sagged downwards in the middle into a central depression which lies between two long marginal plateaux. 1902Westm. Gaz. 5 July 8/3 The vessel will first be ‘sagged’ by being hung by the head and the stern only from two platforms, one at each end.
6. intr. and trans. To play truant (from). Liverpool local.
1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvii. 372 Sagging. This is definitely the prevailing term [for playing truant] amongst delinquents in all parts of Liverpool. 1965Woman 28 Aug. 8, I re-visit childhood haunts in Liverpool, meet the next generation in the Cathedral grounds where we used to ‘sag’—that is, play truant. 1966F. Shaw et al. Lern Yerself Scouse 45 I'm saggin skewl, I am playing truant.
▪ V. sag
variant of seg (castrated bull). |