释义 |
▪ I. scrappy, a.1|ˈskræpɪ| [f. scrap n.1 + -y.] Consisting of scraps; made up of odds and ends; disjointed, unconnected.
1837Howitt Rur. Life (1842) 474 If you take any of the volumes of the living poets [in Germany], you are amazed at..the short and scrappy nature of their effusions. a1849Poe Marginalia xliii. Wks. 1864 III. 509 The partial genius is flashy—scrappy. 1858–9Thackeray Virgin. lvi, It may be that..there is a dreadfully scrappy dinner, the evident remains of a party to which I didn't invite you. 1864Browning Youth & Art 62 Each life's unfulfilled, you see; It hangs still, patchy and scrappy. 1888Frith Autobiog. III. vii. 156 This chapter..is intended to be desultory, disjointed,..scrappy, in fact. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 436 My classical knowledge is scrappy. 1930Daily Express 6 Oct. 16/6 Both sides resumed their previous rough tactics, and the play became scrappy in consequence. 1976Milton Keynes Express 28 May 54/3 Inter City were unlucky at the start of the second half and then play became scrappy and several unnecessary fouls were committed.
Add:2. Lean; scrawny; meagre. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? v. 83 All the instinct for self-preservation of a scrappy kitten. 1985N. Sahgal Rich like Us xiii. 151, I couldn't hear his grumbling comment because lusty cheers and more Long Lives rose when Ravi announced loans at scrappy interest rates for Delhi's taxi drivers. 1987T. Wolfe Bonfire of Vanities (1988) ix. 205 In his palmy days he had been pudgy, too, but he had looked ‘scrappy’ as the Yanks liked to say. 1988Coarse Fishing Handbk. June/July 56/4 There are some scrappy sized pike living in the deeper areas, and you'll need the maggots to catch a dace, gudgeon or minnow for bait. ▪ II. scrappy, a.2 orig. U.S.|ˈskræpɪ| [f. scrap n.2 or v.2 + -y1.] Inclined to scrap or fight; aggressive, pugnacious, quarrelsome.
1895W. C. Gore in Inlander Nov. 65 Scrappy,..quarrelsome. 1935F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. 11 May (1964) 264 It was fine seeing you but I was in a scrappy mood about Tom Wolfe. 1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? v. 83 All the instinct for self-preservation of a scrappy kitten. 1977Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 52/1 She was only five feet tall, but she was scrappy—her sister Rebecca Julian remembers her once beating up a bully to protect their little brother. 1977Time 27 June 33/1 ‘This puts transatlantic air travel in the pocket of the workingman,’ proclaimed Freddie Laker, the scrappy founder of Britain's Laker Airways. |