| 释义 |
▪ I. boy, n.1|bɔɪ|
Forms: 4 boi, boiȝe, bay, 4–7 boye, 5 bey, 6 boie, 4– boy.
[c gray][ME. boi, boy, of obscure origin: app. identical with E. Frisian boi, boy ‘young gentleman’; considered by many to be identical with Du. boef (buːf[/c]) ‘knave’, MDu. boeve, prob. (according to Franck) adopted from MHG. buobe (in mod.G. bube ‘knave’, dial. ‘boy, lad’).
It has been proposed to explain bo-y as dim. of bo, and this short for *bobo the W.Ger. type of buobe, bube. The latter is actually found in MHG. only from about the 14th c. Its Teutonic standing is doubtful: see Grimm, Schade, Kluge. (The original sense being uncertain, the order of senses here observed is only provisional.)]
1. A male child below the age of puberty. But commonly applied to all lads still at school, as such; and parents or sisters often continue to speak of their grown-up sons or brothers as ‘the boys’.
c1300Beket 88 Ȝunge childerne and wylde boyes also..scornede hire. a1400Morte Arth. 3123 Boyes in þe subarbis bourdene ffulle heghe. c1440York Myst. xix. 270 So may þat boy be fledde. 1535Coverdale Zech. viii. 5 The stretes of the citie shalbe full of yonge boyes and damselles [1382 Wyclif infauntes and maydens; 1388 yonge children and maidens; 1611 boyes and girles]. 1538Bale Thre Lawes 966 Come, axe me blessynge, lyke praty boyes apace. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 122 When King Pippin of France was a little boy. 1653Walton Angler 46 The very boyes will learn to talk and swear. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 198 ⁋3 The sailor hated to see tall boys shut up in a school. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. xxiii, Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy? 1844A. Welby Poems (1867) 97 A noble sturdy boy is he, and yet he's only five. Prov. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
2. a. Applied playfully, affectionately, or slightingly, to a young man, or one treated as such.
c1320Seuyn Sages (W.) 1351 Was nowt the boi of wit bereued. c1440York Myst. xxix. 89 Sir Knyghtis, do kepe þis boy [Peter] in bande. Ibid. xi. 247 Þis boyes [Moses and Aaron] sall byde here in oure bayle. 1580North Plutarch 42 (R.) This boy who was made overseer of them was commonly twenty years of age. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 135 Thou wretched Boy that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence. 1599― Much Ado v. i. 79 If thou kilst me, boy, thou shalt kill a man. 1722Daily Post 19 Mar., He is a fat, chubby boy, aged about 20 or thereabouts. a1791Wesley Serm. lxxxiii. Wks. 1811 IX. 434 Every one has his hobby-horse! Something that pleases the great boy for a few hours.
b. Used instead of ‘man’ in certain localities; e.g. in Cornwall, in Ireland, in the far West of the United States. Cf. b'hoy.
1730Swift Dick's Var. Wks. 1755 IV. i. 264 Let the boys pelt him if they dare. 18..Song, ‘St. Patrick was a gentleman’, No wonder that our Irish boys should be so free and frisky! 1847Paddiana I. 263 Judge Moore having decided in my hearing, that in Ireland the word ‘Boy’ has no reference to age. 1867Hepworth Dixon New America i, These Western boys (every man living beyond the Missouri is a Boy, just as every woman is a Lady). 1880W. Cornwall Gloss. (E.D.S.) s.v., There are no men in Cornwall; they are all Cornish boys. 1908Westm. Gaz. 16 Oct. 11/2 In Ireland anyone who is not married is called a boy... John Gillan, the ‘boy’, a sturdy young man, then gave evidence.
c. In expressions of encouragement or admiration, etc., esp. that's the boy! (see attaboy).
[1843T. C. Haliburton Attaché xxv. 61/2 It's a great advantage havin' the minister with you. He'll fell the big stiff trees for you; and I'm the boy for the saplin's.] 1902J. J. Bell Wee Macgreegor ii. 13 ‘If a beast wis gaun fur to pu' ma heid aff,’ remarked Macgregor, who had grown suddenly bold, ‘I-I-I wud—I wud gi'e't a kick!’ ‘Ye're the boy!’ said his father. 1932E. Wallace When Gangs came to London ii. 26 ‘Ain't you the boy!’ he said. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid xvi. 166 ‘Got it?’ echoed Scaley. ‘That's the boy.’ 1962H. Hood in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 205 John's the boy. Oh, he's a sharp lad is John.
3.
†a. A servant, slave. Obs. Now only when a boy in sense 1 or 2.
c1350Will. Palerne 1705 Sche..borwed boiȝes cloþes..& bogeysliche as a boye · busked to þe kychene. c1430Lydg. Bochas ii. v. 46 b, With his sweorde, but she [Lucretia] would assent Her and a boye he would prent I-fere. 1535Coverdale 1 Sam. ii. 13 The prestes boye came, whyle the flesh was seething. 1588T. L. To Ch. of Rome (1651) 9 By David his Boy, whom his heart approved. 1601F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II, §94 (1876) 56 That none of the kings meignee..charetter or sompter boy..keepe his wife at the court. 1764T. Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 190 You mention one [letter] you wrote last Friday, and sent by the Secretary's boy. Mod. The doctor's boy, sir!
†b. A camp-follower. Obs.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. iv. 82 The French might haue a good pray of vs, if he knew of it, for there is none to guard it [the luggage] but boyes. Ibid. iv. vii. 1 Kill the poyes and the luggage, 'Tis expressly against the Law of Armes.
c. ‘In Southern India and in China a native personal servant is so termed, and is habitually summoned with the vocative ‘Boy!’ (Yule). Also applied to male Negro slaves of any age; in the South Seas to Polynesians kidnapped in ‘the labour trade’.
1609Hawkins in Purchas Pilgr. 211 My boy Stephen Grovenor. 1681R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 124 We had a black boy my Father brought from Porta Nova to attend upon him. 1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom xxx, ‘Now up with you, boy! d'ye hear?’ said the auctioneer to Tom. 1875Thomson Malacca 228 A faithful servant or boy, as they are here called, about forty years of age. 1884Pall Mall G. 16 Aug. 1/2 The vessel is granted a licence to carry so many ‘boys’, as the native men are called.
d. In combination with other words, as link-boy, post-boy, pot-boy.
e. In S. Africa, a Coloured or Native labourer or servant of any age. So boss boy, a Coloured or Native overseer; Cape boy, a Cape Coloured man or boy.
1812A. Plumptre tr. Lichtenstein's Trav. S. Afr. I. i. viii. 119 A Hottentot..expects to be called by his name if addressed by any one who knows it; and by those to whom it is not known he expects to be called Hottentot..or boy. 1833J. Philip in Lett. Amer. Missionaries (1950) 40 An example of a native boy at Pacaltsdorp conducting a small school. Ibid. 42 A school on the British system taught by a Hottentot boy. 1896Spectator 2 May 629 A Cape ‘boy’ fighting at Bulawayo is..a coloured native enlisted and drilled within the Colony. 1906Daily Chron. 11 Apr. 3/6 One white man in the mine is expected to ‘boss’ forty blacks or Chinese, which he cannot do with safety, in fact the black ‘boss-boy’ is left to do much of the blasting. 1963Times 2 May 12/7 The Johannesburg city council, which employs thousands of Africans in jobs ranging from welfare officers to dustmen, has banned the use of the word ‘boy’ to describe any of them.
f. (the) boy: champagne. slang.
The derivation is uncertain: see Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Farmer Slang.
1882Punch 11 Feb. 69/1 He'll nothing drink but ‘B. & S.’ and big magnums of ‘the Boy’. 1882O. Wilde Let. 12 May (1962) 117 You and I will sit and drink ‘Boy’ in our room. 1929Melody Maker Jan. 20/2 Lord Delamere came up to them with a foaming magnum of champagne and said, ‘Well, boys! you've given us a glorious time! What do you say to a beaker of ‘the boy’?’
g. From 1918 to 1924, the lowest rank in the Royal Air Force.
1918Army Orders Nov. 35 The following additional column will be inserted in the table of corresponding ranks..Royal Air Force..Air Mechanic, 3rd Class. Private, 2nd Class. Clerk, 3rd Class. Boy. 1924R.A.F. King's Regulations I. p. vii, Airman, or Airmen. These words, wherever they occur, will be held to include a warrant officer, a N.C.O., an aircraftman, and a boy.
†4. As a term of contempt: Knave, varlet, rogue, wretch, caitiff. Obs. [In early quotations, not always to be distinguished from boie, executioner.]
c1300K. Alis. 4376 He..threow him over arsun; And saide, ‘ly ther vyle bay!’ c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 805 In Iherusalem watz my lemman slayn & rent on rode with boyez bolde. c1440Promp. Parv. 29/1 Bey or boy, scurrus. 1562W. Bullein Bk. Simples 76 a, Through a very vile coward or boie, often the valiaunt man is slaine. 1588Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 28 Calling him boy, knaue, varlet, slanderer. 1607Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 101, 104, 117.
5. Used in familiar address, often with the epithets ‘my’, ‘old’. old boy (see also old a. 8 a). Hence to old-boy vb.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 122 But di'de thy sister of her loue my Boy? 1620― Temp. ii. ii. 56 To sea, boys, and let her goe hang. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1727) 79 Fear not, old boy; we'll do it, I'll warrant thee. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 380 Never fear, old Boy, said Sir Charles, we'll bear our Parts in Conversation. 1878R. Broughton Cometh up as Flower xv. 163 Old boy'ing each other.
6. a. In various connexions, indicating a member of fraternity or band, as in Peep of Day Boys, a secret organization in Ireland; Roaring Boys, riotous fellows of the time of Elizabeth and James I.; also the old boy U.S., the devil; yellow boys, guineas.
c1590Greene Tu Quoque in Dodsley VII. 25 (N.) This is no angry, nor no roaring boy, but a blustering boy. 1609B. Jonson Epicœne i. iv. (N.) The doubtfulness of your phrase..would breed you a quarrel once an hour with the terrible boys. 1659Leg. Capt. Jones (Halliw.), In hope to get such roaring boys as he. 1712Whig & Tory iii. 34 He [Sacheverell] had Meat, and Drink, and yellow Boys. 1802Balance (Hudson, N.Y.) 14 Oct. 317 (Th.), The devil has been nick-named the old boy. 1837–40Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 140 As we invigorate the form of government (as we must do, or go to the old boy). 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. x. 331 In Ireland..Ribbonmen, Cottiers, Peep-of-Day Boys. 1854M. J. Holmes Tempest & Sunshine xv. 203 Where the old boy is your mistress? 1953A. Miller Crucible (1956) i. 32 The Church's enemies relied no less upon the Old Boy to keep the human mind enthralled.
b. A rough or rowdy (e.g. of the streets); freq. pl. in the boys = criminals; spec. the thieves and swindlers who frequent race-courses.
1834Knickerbocker III. 34 The landlord after telling me not to mind the boys, went about his business. 1840Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 28 Aug. 2/1 The Bowery boys of New York have..eclipsed the nice young men of Baltimore. 1843Punch 29 Apr. 179/2 The comments and cheers of those very important members of street society, the boys. a1889in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Cleansing the rings from..those criminal scoundrels known as the boys. 1938F. D. Sharpe S. of Flying Squad i. 13 Down goes the Squad the night before to greet ‘the boys’ at the turnstiles. Ibid. v. 64 Word went round among the ‘boys’ that the takings had been hefty.
c. pl. Men of the armed forces; soldiers. So boys in blue: see blue n. 3 b.
1861O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 19 It was then announced that the whole thing was a canard, started just to keep the boys quiet. 1881F. E. Weatherly Old Brigade 2 Where are the boys of the Old Brigade? c1915L. G. Ford (song) Keep the Home Fires Burning, Turn the dark cloud inside out, Till the boys come home. 1959M. Shadbolt New Zealanders 36 The time when we would watch the boys swing, bayonets flashing,..towards the grey waiting ships.
d. pl. Members of a group sharing common interests; one's fellows or habitual companions; esp. in colloq. phr. one of the boys: one who belongs to such a group; spec. one who conforms to its interests or practices, ‘a good sport’. colloq. So jobs for the boys, appointments for one's supporters or favourites.
1886Lantern (New Orleans) 8 Sept. 3/1 When he happens in with the boys, he can enjoy himself. 1889W. Skey Pirate Chief 195 He goes on Sundays to the ‘pub.’ And sits among ‘the boys’. 1893Ladies' Home Jrnl. Nov. 20/3 She doesn't want to be treated like a lady because she wants to be ‘one of the boys’. 1905Beerbohm in Sat. Rev. 11 Nov. 620/1 On him, somehow, the blight of the theatre has not fallen... He is not, and may never become, ‘one o' the boys’. 1930Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves! vii. 192 A chummy lion-tamer—a tamer who, after tucking the lions in for the night, relaxes in the society of the boys. 1939I. Baird Waste Heritage v. 63 He..stopped to watch a half-dozen of the boys playing blackjack. 1950D. & C. Christie His Excellency i. i, It's just a political racket—Jobs for the Boys. 1955M. Gilbert Sky High i. 19 ‘It wasn't exactly a popular appointment, was it?’ ‘It certainly wasn't,’ said the General... ‘Jobs for the Boys.’ 1969New Yorker 3 May 64/3 He doesn't do it by being one of the boys. That's not his nature. He's a lone wolf.
e. With defining word or phrase prefixed = men (of the kind indicated by the defining element). (Cf. backroom boy.) colloq.
1941F. & R. Lockridge Murder out of Turn iv. 39 The B.C.I. boys will be along. 1945A. Huxley Time must have Stop xxx. 288 Just a little bit of Wordsworth, say the blue-dome-of-nature boys. Ibid. 291 Adler and Freud, the Dialectical Materialism boys and the Behaviourists. 1958Spectator 7 Feb. 167/2 The public relations boys could really go to town. 1963R. Parker tr. Solzhenitsyn's One Day in Life of Denisovich 36 Oh no, he wasn't ill, the security boys were keeping him back.
7. Comb. (in which ‘boy’ often approaches the force of an adjective);
a. appositive, indicating sex, as boy-angel, boy-baby, boy-brood, boy-child, boy-cousin, boy elephant; or immaturity, as boy-actor, boy-bridegroom, boy-crusader, boy-ensign, boy-God, boy-husband, boy-king, boy-lover, boy-man, boy-officer, boy-poet, boy-spouse; or with words added which indicate the assumption of another personality, as in boy-girl, boy-harlot, boy-wench; also boy-bishop, the boy elected by his fellows to play the part of bishop from St. Nicholas' Day to Innocents' Day;
b. attributive (of or pertaining to boys), as boy-kind, boy-nature;
c. obj. gen. with vbl. n., as boy-queller. Also boy-blind a., blind as a boy; boy-crazy a., (of a girl) eager to associate with boys; boy-farm slang, a school (cf. farm n.2 7); so boy-farmer; boy friend, boy-friend colloq., a male friend; spec. a woman's favourite male escort or companion; also with implication of an illicit relationship, a paramour; occas., the associate of a homosexual; boy-rid a., overdone with boys (after the analogy of bed-rid); boy-storied a. that of which stories are told by boys; boy-like adv. and adj.
1861A. K. H. Boyd Recreat. Country Parson Ser. ii. 69 The popularity of the *boy-actor Betty.
1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting V. 35 Six *boy-angels playing on musical instruments.
1881Atlantic Monthly Jan. 89/1 They are baby socks. They are always blue. And so they all have to be given to the *boy babies.
1820Scott Abbot xiv, To give place to..the *Boy-Bishop, and the Abbot of Unreason.
a1625Fletcher Love's Pilgr. (L.), Put case he could be so *boy-blind and foolish.
1863M. L. Whately Ragged Life Egypt viii. 63 The parents gave way..aided by the indifference of the *boy-bridegroom.
1879Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 138 Poor Stiopka..first Of my *boy-brood.
1601Holland Pliny II. 301 The haire of yong *boy-children..is held to be a singular remedy for..the gout.
1878Black Green Past. ii. 10 As her *boy cousin had said she was a trifle serious.
1923Cosmopolitan Sept. 72/2 Going *boy-crazy at fifty. 1955‘C. H. Rolph’ Women of Streets 151 Ena became boy-crazy early.
1886Q. Rev. April 529 A fault..which the *boy-ensigns and pages..shared with their parents.
1890W. Morris News from Nowhere v. 43, I had best say nothing about the *boy-farms which I had been used to call schools.
1901Daily Chron. 16 Sept. 2/6 The professional *boy-farmers..are naturally trying to supply what is desired.
1896E. Turner Little Larrikin iv. 41 He went on ahead with his *boy-friend. 1909G. W. E. Russell Coll. & Recoll. 330 The young ladies..meet their boy-friends at all hours and places. 1929Wodehouse Summer Lightning ii. 53 ‘Who is this Pilbeam?’ he demanded. ‘Pretty much the Boy Friend, I take it, what?’ 1953E. Taylor Sleeping Beauty ix. 156 Boy-friend of my mother's just come in. 1957J. Braine Room at Top xxx. 242 Pansies only use pubs for picking up boy friends.
1816Byron Seige Cor. xxx, We kneeling see Her and the *boy-God on her knee.
1570Drant Serm. in Dibdin Libr. Comp. 76 This Romish Church defendeth..concubines, and *boy-harlots.
1876M. Collins Blacksmith & Schol. I. vi. 157 She held herself haughtily aloof from the mankind and *boykind of New Bratton.
1864Pusey Lect. Daniel iii. 152 A *boy-king..is restored at once..by his own people.
1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom ix. 73 Two boys, who, *boy-like, had followed close on her heels.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. xii. 337 The *boy-man laughed to himself, but said nothing.
1876Hamerton Intell. Life x. x. 391 The necessities of the *boy-nature.
1762Wesley Jrnl. 13 June (1827) III. 93 Two or three *boy-officers.
1883S. Waddington Clough 46 These indicate..the feelings and tendencies of the *boy-poet at this early age.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. v. 45 Come, come, thou *boy-queller, shew thy face.
1823Lamb Elia (1860) 82 He is *boy-rid, sick of perpetual boy.
1848Kingsley Saints' Trag. Notes 245 The princess was laid in the cradle of her *boy-spouse.
1816L. Hunt Rimini. ii. 235 *Boy-storied trees, and love remember'd spots.
1586Warner Alb. Eng. ii. xi. 51 Not so much as by the tongue the *Boy wench was bewraid.
8. Phrases. boy and girl (also with hyphens), attrib. phr., pertaining to or involving a boy and a girl; applied esp. to a juvenile attachment; boy-meets-girl (colloq. esp. attrib.), referring to a copybook romance; boy next door (colloq.), the young man in a conventional romance; a simple, unsophisticated young man; boys will be boys: an expression of resignation towards childish ways.
1841Dickens Barn. Rudge xxvi. 84, I have found it necessary to take some active steps towards setting this boy and girl attachment quite at rest. 1870L. M. Alcott Old-Fashioned Girl viii. 132 It's only a boy-and-girl fancy, that will soon die a natural death. 1934P. Bottome Private Worlds v. 54 It was what people called ‘a boy and girl affair’, but they can go quite deep. 1945‘A. Gilbert’ Don't Open Door! ix. 80 The murder..had more of those features that make a crime fascinating to the general public. There was no boy-meets-girl element. 1947Landfall i. 45 This immediately.. reduces the story to the familiar Hollywood formula of boy-meets-girl. 1955T. Sterling Evil of Day viii. 80 The boy-next-door parody was meant to amuse her. 1958Photoplay Oct. 54/1 His whole build-up is based on The Boy Next Door—the boy who's within reach of every girl fan.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiii. 112 And as for the pink bonnets..why boys will be boys. 1858C. M. Yonge Christmas Mummers ix. 131 All he had ever known against Asaph Harper was keeping company with the like of them: but boys would be boys. 1964Wodehouse Frozen Assets iii. 50, I tried to tell him that boys will be boys and you're only young once.
9. (oh) boy! a colloq. (orig. U.S.) exclamation of shock, surprise, excitement, etc.; freq. used to give emphasis to a statement that follows it. Cf. attaboy.
1917Amer. Mag. Mar. 13/1 ‘I told that dame I was Kid Hanlon.’..‘Oh, boy!’ I yells. 1927Punch 7 Sept. 263 Oh, boy, I feel good! 1930D. H. Lawrence Nettles 17 And they blushed, they giggled, they sniggered, they leered..and said: Oh boy!..that's pretty hot! 1934M. Hodge Wind & Rain i. i. 18 Boy! They don't wear a damned thing! 1942L. D. Rich We took to Woods (1944) ii. 34 Maine guides have a legend of quaintness to uphold, and boy! do they uphold it. 1958‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 2, I slithered in over the fence and put her [sc. the aeroplane] down and boy! was I glad to be on the ground!
Add:[7.] boy wonder colloq., an exceptionally talented young man or boy; cf. wonder boy s.v. wonder n. 9 a.
1925New Yorker 5 Sept. 10/1 All sorts of names such as, ‘infant phenomenon’, and ‘*boy wonder’, have been applied to Lacoste. 1951Sport 30 Mar. 12/3 Seconds Out will be ridden by Lester Piggott, the boy wonder. 1986N.Y. Times 31 Aug. vi. 25/2 All that might seem too downbeat for a man who still has the seductive charm and youthful vitality of an ageless boy wonder.
▸ U.S. slang. Heroin. Also with the, that. Cf. girl n. 10.
Time (1951) 26 Feb. 24/2 records the use of the phrase ‘Do you need a boy?’ to ask drug dealers whether they have any heroin for sale.
1955Amer. Speech 30 86 Boy, heroin, as opposed to girl, cocaine. 1960C. Cooper Scene 12 But now he had the boy; he could lie around up in his crib,..drugged to the verge of insensibility. 1993D. Coyle Hardball i. ii. 40 Like most big dealers, Rat worked in both ‘girl’, or cocaine, and ‘boy’, or heroin. 2000F.E.D.S. Mag. 2 vi. 61/1 What kinds of drugs are they out there slinging?.. Everything from X to that Boy, but crack is still the biggest, that and weed.
▸ boy band n. a young all-male pop group; spec. such a group whose music and image are designed to appeal primarily to a teenage audience.
1985Guardian 7 Nov. 11/5 Moody *boy bands like The Waterboys and The Cult are making heavy records with deep lyrics for pimply adolescents with Camus peeping out of the jacket pocket. 1986N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 Mar. ii. 24/1 A ‘girl group’ is still singular enough to require notice. No one reviewed U2 as the latest boy band from Ireland. 1993Newsday (Nexis) 10 Sept. 20 The boy-band from Boston is getting long in the tooth for its prime audience—the under-16 set. 1995Face Sept. 37/3 Your average boy band generally can't wait to flee the potentially stigmatising orbit of the gay club scene. 2000F. Walker Power of Two in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 48 Admittedly he'd tried to kiss me, but he'd also tried to kiss two members of a boy band.
▪ II. † boy, n.2 Obs. rare.
[a. OF. boie, buie:—L. boia, pl. boiæ ‘a collar for the neck’.]
A gyve, fetter.
1375Barbour Bruce x. 763 Schir peris lumbard that ves tane..thai fand in presoune, fettirit with boyis, sittand.
▪ III. boy, v.|bɔɪ|
[f. boy n.1]
In various nonce-usages. a. intr. To play the boy, act as a boy; b. trans. To call (one) ‘boy’; c. To represent (a woman's part) on the stage, as boys did before the Restoration; d. To furnish or supply with boys.
1568Jacob & Esau ii. ii. in Hazl. Dodsl. II. 211 So prattling, so trattling, so chiding, so boying. 1573G. Harvey Letter-Bk. (1884) 48 If he boied me now..I hard him not. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 220, I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra Boy my greatnesse. 1616Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Malta ii. iii. (R.), Boy did he call me..I am tainted..Bafl'd and boy'd. a1635Corbet Poems (1807) 126 But wert girl'd and boy'd. 1650H. More in Enthus. Tri. (1656) 126 How ready the world will be to boy him out of countenance. 1655Fuller Hist. Camb. (1840) 142 The gates were shut, and partly man-ned, partly boy-ed, against him.
▪ IV. boy, boye
obs. ff. buoy. |