| 释义 |
blow-hole|ˈbləʊhəʊl|
[See blow v.1 5.]
1. Each of the two holes (constituting the nostrils) at the top of the head in whales and other cetaceans, through which they breathe or ‘blow’.
1787Hunter in Phil. Trans. LXXVII. 380 The blow⁓holes are two in number in many, in others only one. 1822I. Platts Bk. Curios. 205 A double opening, called the spout-holes, or blow-holes. 1861J. Lamont Seahorses v. 75 They give one spout from their blow-holes, take one breath of fresh air..and then they are all down.
2. = air-hole 2.
1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 96 Certain defects in Cast-lead..called by the Plumber Blow-holes. 1878Ure's Dict. Arts IV. 835 The following experiments were made in order to prepare solid steel without blow-holes by the crucible process. 1906Westm. Gaz. 29 Aug. 2/1 The way to prevent steel rusting..is to have no blow-holes. 1960Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXCV. 223/2 (title) Blowholes in castings, and methods of preventing their occurrence.
3. A hole through which air or gas escapes (see quots.); spec. for the escape of foul air from underground passages, of steam from railway tunnels, etc. Also = puffing-hole.
1858John Shaw Gallop to Antipodes vii. 131 That is a blowhole. Don't you see the water forced into the air, like a whale spouting?.. You will see the water first and afterwards you will hear the report. 1872[see puffing vbl. n. 5]. 1875I. L. Bird Sandwich Isl. (1880) 56 An intermittent jet of lava..kept cooling round what was possibly a blow⁓hole. 1883Pall Mall G. 1 June, The erection of the blow-holes on the Embankment. 1884Ibid. 15 Mar. 2/2 Can no doubt ‘construct’ the Parks Railway without blowholes. 1891R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. i. 24 Here also the cavernous condition of the subjacent rocks extended, and every here and there was a large pit or depression like a deserted quarry which had fallen in. From some of these so-called ‘blow-holes’ water could be pumped for the stock in dry seasons. 1938Times 7 Sept. 9/1 He..crawled in through the ‘blow-hole’ [of a barrage-balloon] to look for leaks and examine the pressure valve. 1958Armstrong & Roberts Illustr. Ice Gloss. ii. 91 Blow-hole, opening through a snow bridge into a crevasse or system of crevasses which are otherwise sealed by snow bridges. 1961J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 24/1 Blow-hole, a natural chimney, on a coast, reaching from the inner end of a cave to the surface of the ground above. 1962Listener 11 Jan. 57/2 The whole thermal area of the North Island [of New Zealand], with its hot pools and geysers and blowholes.
4. A hole in the ice to which whales and seals come to breathe. |