释义 |
▪ I. salamander, n.|ˈsæləˌmændə(r), sæləˈmæn-| Also 4–5 salamandre; 5–7 in L. form. [a. F. salamandre (12th c.), ad. L. salamandra, a. Gr. σαλαµάνδρα. Cf. MHG., mod.G. salamander.] 1. a. A lizard-like animal supposed to live in, or to be able to endure, fire. Now only allusive.
1340Ayenb. 167 Þe salamandre þet leueþ ine þe uere. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 170 And salamandra most felly dothe manace. 1481Caxton Myrr. ii. vi. 74 This Salemandre berith wulle, of whiche is made cloth and gyrdles that may not brenne in the fyre. [Cf. salamander's wool in 6.] 1590Greene Roy. Exch. Wks. (Grosart) VII. 230 The Poets..seeing Louers scorched with affection, likeneth them to Salamanders. a1591H. Smith Serm. (1637) 9 Like the Salamander, that is ever in the fire and never consumed. 1616R. C. Cert. Poems in Times' Whistle, etc. (1871) 119 Yet he can live noe more without desire, Then can the salamandra without fire. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 20 The Aery Camelion and fiery Salamander are frequent there [sc. in Madagascar]. 1681J. Flavel Meth. Grace xxvii. 464 Sin like a Salamander can live to eternity in the fire of God's wrath. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 205/1, I have some of the hair, or down of the Salamander, which I have several times put in the Fire, and made it red hot, and after taken it out, which being cold, yet remained perfect wool. [Cf. 1481 above.] 1711Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 129 He had 2 Salamanders, which lived 2 hours in a great Fire. 1864Kingsley Rom. & Teut. iv. 131 That he will henceforth [in the island of Volcano] follow the example of a salamander, which always lives in fire. b. Any tailed amphibian of the urodelous family Salamandridæ, or some closely allied family. The land salamanders form the typical genus Salamandra; the water salamanders are the newts or tritons.
1611Cotgr., Salamandre d'eau, the water Salamander; black-backed, red-bellied, and full of yellow spots. 1668Charleton Onomast. 26 Lacerta Salamandra aquatica, the water Salamander. c1711Petiver Gazophyl. vi. lviii, Small Cape Salamander... It squeaks like a Rat. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., The salamandra aquatica, or water salamander... The salamandra terrestris, or land salamander. 1834McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 187 Aquatic Salamanders always retain the vertically compressed tail. 1835Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xxii. 421 The other [sc. Menopoma]..has been called by American writers the giant salamander. 1870Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 30 The Black Salamander (Triton alpestris) has no spots. 1896tr. Boas' Text-bk. Zool. 405 The Japanese Giant Salamander (Cryptobranchus japonicus). c. A figure of the mythical salamander used as an emblem.
1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 205/1 He beareth Argent, a Salamander in flames. 1780Edmondson Heraldry II. Gloss. 1823Crabb Technol. Dict., Salamander (Her.), an emblem of constancy, is represented in flames. 1834L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 138 The last cavalier..belongs to the suite of the King of France, which is seen by the royal salamander on his back. 1841G. A. Poole Struct. & Decor. Churches 9/2 A salamander also appears on this font [in Winchester Cathedral],..in allusion to the words which St. John spake of our blessed Lord [Matt. iii. 11]. 2. transf. and fig. applied to persons, etc. with reference to sense 1 a. a. gen.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 53, I haue maintain'd that Salamander [= fiery-red face] of yours with fire, any time this two and thirtie yeeres. 1600S. Nicholson Acolastus (1876) 45, I sate too hot, yet still I did desire, To liue a Salamander in the fire. 1666Spurstowe Spir. Chym. 103 At a far cheaper rate they might have been Saints in Heaven than Salamanders in Hell. 1670Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 441 God's people are true salamanders, that live best in the furnace of afflictions. 1854Househ. Words VIII. 159/1 She is a salamander in temper..for all her innocent name. 1888F. Hume Mme. Midas i. iv, Madame Midas was a perfect salamander for heat. b. A spirit supposed to live in fire. See Paracelsus De Nymphis, Sylphis, Pygmæis, et Salamandris, etc., Wks. 1658 II. 388 seqq.
1657Pinnell Philos. Ref. 27 To the Fire or the Firmament doe belong the Vulcanals, Pennats, Salamanders. 1712Pope Rape Lock, To Mrs. Arabella Fermor, According to these Gentlemen [sc. the Rosicrucians], the four Elements are inhabited by Spirits, which they call Sylphs, Gnomes, Nymphs, and Salamanders. 1712–14Ibid. i. 60 The Sprites of fiery Termagants in Flame Mount up, and take a Salamander's name. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxiii, Like salamanders executing a frolic dance in the region of the Sylphs. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. i. iv. 55 A prince I seemed o'er many a salamander. †c. A woman who (ostensibly) lives chastely in the midst of temptations. Obs.
1711Addison Spect. No. 198 ⁋1 There is a Species of Women, whom I shall distinguish by the Name of Salamanders. Now a Salamander is a kind of Heroine in Chastity, that treads upon Fire [etc.]. 1771Generous Husb. or Hist. Lord Lelius 37 The real beauty and avowed virtue of those lovely salamanders. d. A soldier who exposes himself to fire in battle.
1705Swift Descr. of Salamander 22 Wks. 1751 VII. 79 Call my Lord C[utts] a Salamander. [1807Sir R. Wilson Jrnl. 15 May in Life (1862) II. vii. 217 As I know that Buonaparte exposes himself as little as possible; not amongst his other vanities believing that he is a salamander. c1849in Spectator 21 May (1904) 810/2 Paddy Gough's a cross betwixt A bulldog and a salamander.] 1897Daily News 20 Apr. 8/4 In battles a man who feared fire was of no use, and Mr. Gee was the soundest Salamander he had ever known. e. slang. A fire-eating juggler. (Cf. quot. s.v. salamandership.)
1859Hotten Slang Dict., Salamanders, street acrobats and jugglers who eat fire. 1886Besant Childr. Gibeon i. vi, We ain't a show. Lotty ain't a clown; I ain't a jumping-horse; Liz ain't a salamander. 3. Applied to various articles used in fire or capable of withstanding great heat. †a. Asbestos. (Cf. salamander-stone; also F. salamandre pierreuse.)
1668Charleton Onomast. 254 Amianthus..aliàs Asbestinus Lapis..Salamandra..the Salamandre, or incombustible stone, and Salamanders wool. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Salamander, a Stone (lately) found in Pensylvania full of Cotton, which will not consume in the Fire. b. An iron or poker used red-hot for lighting a pipe, igniting gunpowder, etc.: see quots.
1698W. King tr. Sorbière's Journ. Lond. 27 Multitudes had little Tin Kettles in their Houses, with Small-coal kindled, to light their Pipes withal; though in some places they use Candles, in others Salamanders. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Salamander,..a red-hot Iron to light Tobacco with. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict., Salamander, a piece of metal with a handle attached, which is heated for the purpose of firing guns. 1847Halliwell, Salamander, a large poker. 1868G. Macdonald R. Falconer I. xv. 196 Peggy appeared with a salamander—that is a huge poker, ending not in a point, but a red-hot ace of spades. 1898United Service Mag. Mar. 621 The salamander—an iron kept red hot in the galley for firing the salutes. c. Metallurgy. ‘A mass of solidified material in a furnace hearth’ (Raymond); called also bear, horse, and sow.
[1866Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 3rd Ser. LII. 128 The matte melting (rohschmelzen) of the Stefanshütte does..not produce any secretions of metallic iron, (eisensauen, salamander).] 1871[see horse n. 12]. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 335 To throw away in mattes, slags, and salamanders the iron it [sc. hematite] contains. d. Cookery. A circular iron plate which is heated and placed over a pudding or other dish to brown it.
1755H. Glasse Art of Cookery (ed. 5) 331 Put it in the Oven to brown, or do it with a Salamander. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 253 Hold a hot salamander over it till it is very brown. 1804Farley Lond. Art Cookery 192 Lay in the fritters, strew a little sugar over them, and glaze them over with a red-hot salamander. 1818Moore Fudge Fam. Paris viii. 84 Their chronometer spits—their intense Salamanders—their ovens—their pots, that can soften old ganders. 1845E. Acton Mod. Cookery vii. 169 This is done with a salamander, as it is called... A kitchen shovel is sometimes substituted for it. 1943F. Thompson Candleford Green iii. 54 The smith then heated red-hot one end of a large, flat iron utensil known as the ‘salamander’ and held it above the plate until the rashers were crisp and curled. 1958Observer 18 May 10/5 Caramelise the sugar by passing a red hot salamander very close to the surface till the sugar melts. e. (See quots. 1873–95.) Also (N. Amer.), a workman's brazier.
1873Chicago Tribune 3 Feb. 1/7 It caught fire from the ‘salamander’ used in drying the plaster. 1875Ure's Dict. Arts III. 1059 The milk of wax, thus prepared, may be spread with a smooth brush upon the surface of a painting, allowed to dry, and then fused by passing a hot iron (salamander) over its surface. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Salamander, a term sometimes applied to a fire-proof safe. 1895Funk's Standard Dict., Salamander,..a metal drum or box for containing hot coals, etc., used in drying plaster. 1944S. Bellow Dangling Man 107, I warmed myself at a salamander flaming in an oil drum. 1971R. Lewis Fenokee Project viii. 151 They caught a glimpse of twinkling lights... ‘Salamanders... The workers over there have set up fire pots made out of punctured oil drums.’ 4. local U.S. A pouched rat or gopher, esp. Geomys pinetis.
1805M. Lewis Jrnl. 9 Apr. in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1904) I. 289 Their work resembles that of the salamander common to the sand hills of the States of South Carolina and Georgia. 1834J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. II. 264 Thousands of ‘mole-hills’, or the habitations of an animal called ‘the salamander’..presented themselves. 1859S. F. Baird Mammals N. Amer. 371 The species [of Geomys] are termed ‘gophers’ in the west, but in Georgia and Florida they are almost universally called ‘salamanders’. Ibid. 380 Geomys pinetis,..Salamander. 1885S. Florida Sentinel 8 Apr. 1/6 The gophers (Florida salamanders) proved its [sc. the garden's] destruction. 1943A. G. Powell I can go Home Again 225 The small burrowing rodent..which others call the gopher, we called the salamander. 1964W. H. Burt Field Guide to Mammals (ed. 2) 136 Southeastern pocket gopher..(Salamander). 5. A form of drinking a toast common among German students. The full expression is einem einen salamander reiben (cf. first quot. below).
1868Daily News 12 Aug., [One of the ceremonies] is called ‘rubbing a salamander’. Every student fills his glass..to the brim, and at the command of the toastmaster rubs it on the table, while the latter counts three. 1891Times 12 May 9/3 The German emperor when he responded to the ‘thundering salamander’ in which the Bonn students drank his health. 6. a. attrib. and Comb., as salamander-gathering, salamander-like adj. and adv.; † salamander('s) blood (see quots.); salamander-cloth, an incombustible cloth made from asbestos; † salamander-fly, a kind of fire-fly; salamander's hair [cf. G. salamanderhaar], a kind of asbestos (see quot.); † salamander safe U.S., a fire-proof safe; † salamander stone = amianthus 1; salamander-stove U.S., a small portable stove for heating rooms; † salamander('s) wool, asbestos (cf. quots. 1481 and 1688 in 1).
1694Salmon Bate's Dispens. 57/2 This Spirit, from its coming forth in red Vapours, is by some Authors called, The *Salamanders Blood. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Salamanders Blood, is a foolish Term that the Chymists give to the red Vapours, which in Distillation of Spirit of Nitre, towards the latter end, do fill the Receiver with red Clouds.
1841Penny Cycl. XX. 337/1 The *salamander-cloth sent by the Tartar king to the Roman pontiff.
1668Charleton Onomast. 46 Pyrogonus..the Fire-fly, or *Salamandre Fly.
1821Lamb Elia Ser. i. All fools' Day, Good master Empedocles, you are welcome. It is long since you went a *Salamander-gathering down ætna.
1728Woodward Fossils 14 English Talc, of which the coarser Sort is call'd Plaister, or Parget, the finer, Spaad, Earth-Flax, or *Salamander's Hair.
1593Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 68 On the *Salamander-like Ierusalem, haue I cast the coole water of my Teares. 1718Entertainer No. 32. 219 A Person..that Salamander like feeds in the Fire of Contention. 1798C. Dibdin Song, ‘The Anchorsmiths’, While, Salamander-like, the pond'rous anchor lies. 1885Stand. Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 308 Salamander-like animals with four well-developed but short limbs.
1840Merchant's Mag. (U.S.) II. 280 The *Salamander Safe. 1845in C. Cist Cincinnati Misc. I. 194/2 These Salamander safes are made of stout, wrought bar and plate iron,..lined with a chemical preparation, which is a non-conductor of heat, and is indestructible by fire. 1852Hunt's Merchants' Mag. XXVI. 256 In April, 1833 I [sc. C. J. Gayler] patented my ‘Double Fire Proof Safe’. The same year the name ‘Salamander’ was applied to it, for the reason that one had been subjected to a very intense heat for a long time, and fully protected its valuable contents. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Salamander-safes, an American name for patent fire-proof iron safes. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v. Safe, They are now generally made fireproof; and some of these are called ‘salamander safes’.
1583Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 61 The *Salamander stone, once set on fire, can neuer be quenched. 1590― Never too late Ibid. VIII. 22 Their eyes are like Salamander stones, that fier at the sight of euery flame.
1852Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. v. (1885) 42 She has been stifled with the heat of a *salamander-stove. 1892Daily News 9 Aug. 5/4 Artificial heat was furnished by one hundred small salamander stoves.
1626Bacon Sylva §774 *Salamanders Wooll; Being a Kinde of Minerall, which whiteneth also in the Burning, and consumeth not. a1633Austin Medit. (1635) 152 A Garment of Salamander-wooll. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xiv. 139 Incombustible napkins and textures which endure the fire, whose materialls are call'd by the name of Salamanders wooll. 1668[see 3 a]. b. passing into adj. = salamandrine a. 1.
1711Addison Spect. No. 198 ⁋3 As for this part of the fair sex who are not of the salamander kind, I would..advise them..to avoid..what religion calls Temptations. 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 1356 And is Lorenzo's salamander-heart Cold and untouch'd, amid these sacred fires? 1814Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary II. 302, I would rather..have gone through the same proportion of fire, as I have more salamander than dolphin properties. Hence salaˈmanderish a. (rare—1), ˈsalamandership (cf. sense 2 e above).
1787Microcosm No. 21 ⁋11 This illustrious Phænomenon of Salamandership and Virtue [sc. Mr. Powel, the Fire-eater]. 1921W. de la Mare Mem. Midget xxxii. 225 Even my salamanderish body sometimes gasped like a fish out of water. ▪ II. ˈsalamander, v. rare. [f. prec. n.] a. intr. To live amidst fire, like the salamander.
1857Chamb. Jrnl. VII. 25 In one apartment..dwells a maker of lucifer-matches, salamandering in fire and brimstone. b. trans. To submit to great heat.
1904Blackw. Mag. Dec. 782/1 His [sc. the Arab peasant's] garments must be salamandered and his carcass must be baked. c. Cookery. To brown by means of a salamander.
1878Amer. Home Cook Bk. 65 When it is cooked, glaze the top and salamander it. Hence ˈsalamandering vbl. n.
1943F. Thompson Candleford Green iii. 54 Another cooking process..which perhaps may have been peculiar to smithy families was known as ‘salamandering’. |