| 释义 |
Brussels|ˈbrʌsəlz|
[Name of the capital of Belgium, used attrib. to designate things connected, in their origin or manufacture, with that city.]
1. Short for ‘Brussels carpet’.
1813D. Wordsworth Let. in M. Moorman W. Wordsworth (1965) II. vii. 230 We are going to have a Turkey!!! carpet in the dining-room, and a Brussels in William's study. a1845Hood Domestic Asides iii, What boots for my new Brussels! 1882W. D. Howells Woman's Reason viii, The reception-room..was respectable in threadbare brussels.
2. attrib. or Comb., as Brussels carpet, a kind of carpet having a back of stout linen thread and an upper surface of wool (see quot. 1875); Brussels lace, a costly kind of pillow-lace made in Brussels and its neighbourhood, noted for the thickness and evenness of its texture, and the delicate accuracy of its forms: Brussels sprout (almost always pl.), the bud-bearing Cabbage (Brassica oleracea gemmifera), a variety producing buds like small cabbages in the axils of its leaves.
1799Times 1 June 4/2 *Brussels and Wilton carpets. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iv, A whole immensity of Brussels carpet, and pier-glasses. 1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 732 In the Brussels carpets the worsted yarn raised to form the pile..is not cut. In the imperial Brussels the figure is raised above the ground, and its pile is cut, but the ground is uncut.
1748Richardson Clarissa iii. III. 28 Her head dress was a *Brussels lace mob. 1823Byron Juan xiv, xlvii, Sympathy..robes sweet friendship in a Brussels lace.
1796C. Marshall Garden. xv. (1813) 224 *Brussels sprouts are winter greens growing much like boorcole. 1861Delamer Kitch. Gard. 57 And from the bud at the root of the foot⁓stalk of each, will appear a miniature cabbage, which is the Brussels sprout.
▸ By metonymy: the European Union (formerly the European Community) or any of its legislative or executive institutions, most of which are based or located in the city.
1968Times 18 Mar. 19/6 (headline) Brussels welcomes decision to maintain parities. 1990San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News 29 July 6/1 Americans lack..a ‘Brussels’ mentality that expects government officials (and their checkbooks) to be ready to help. 1996A. C. Masi in H. Kassim & A. Menon European Union & National Industr. Policy v. 84 National leaders can play the European card to do things that they want to but which would be difficult or impossible in the national context without claiming that ‘Brussels insists’. 2004Mirror (Nexis) 24 Nov. 4 The Customs and Excise department has had its knuckles rapped by Brussels for heavy-handedness. |