| 释义 |
▪ I. carpet, n.|ˈkɑːpɪt|
Also 4 karpete, (6 carpente), 5–6 carpette, -pyte, 6 carpett, -pete, 6–7 carpit.
[ME. carpete, varying with carpette, and in 16th c. carpyte: from F. or med.L., and this from It. OF. had carpite (13th c.), sort of coarse cloth (mod.F. carpette rug, small (Turkish) carpet is app. from Eng.). Med.L. had carpita, carpeta, explained by Carpentier in Du Cange as ‘a kind of villose or thickish cloth, and a garment of that cloth’; also carpetta. Florio has It. carpetta ‘a carpet for a table’; mod.Ital. dicts. carpita a coarse carpet; La Crusca says ‘a coarse hanging for a table, made of rough woollen materials, and of patches, of motley colours’.
Carpīta is etymologically identical with F. charpie (Pic. carpie, Latinized carpia 13th c.) ‘lint (for surgical purposes) procured by the unravelling of old linen,’ the pa. pple. fem. of OF. charpir to card wool, to unravel cloth & reduce it to threads, to tear to shreds, corresp. to It. carpire, pa. pple. carpito, representing (with change of conjugation) L. carpĕre to card, pick, pluck, tear, pull in pieces. The name carpīta may have been originally given to a fabric formed of unravelled cloth, or of shreds of cloth patched together. The variants carpeta, carpetta also occur in later med.L., doubtless from Italian carpetta, which assumes the form of a diminutive.]
I. As a simple n.
¶ In med.Lat. use, ‘A kind of villose or thickish cloth, and a garment of that cloth’. Carpentier cites, inter alia,
1291Carmelite Rule, Habeat unusquisque frater unam Carpitam, quod est nostræ Religionis signum, non de petiis consutam sed contextam [a carpet which is the distinctive dress of our order, not sewed together of pieces (or patches) but woven together]. 1295Unam carpitam de pann serico velluto [a carpet of silk velvet cloth].
†1.
a. A thick fabric, commonly of wool, used to cover tables, beds, etc.; a table-cloth. Obs.
1345Sacrist's Roll Lichfield Cathed. (Derbysh. Archæol. Trans.) 9 Item unus pannus qui vocatur Karpete. 1434in Rogers Agric. & Prices IV. 577. 1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. 283 Laye carpentes about the bedde. 1527Inv. Sir H. Guildford's Goods (MS.), A carpet of grene cloth for a lytill foulding table. 1563Foxe A. & M. an. 1555 Oct., The carpet or cloth, which lay upon the table whereat M. Ridley stood, was remoued. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. x. 287 A Communion-table will not catch cold with wanting a rich carpet. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3851/4 One green Cloth Carpet, with a small Fringe round it, for the Communion Table. 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Carpet, a sort of covering..to be spread on a table, trunk, an estrade, or even a passage, or floor. 1728Newton Chronol. Amended, To adorn their beds and tables with rich furniture and carpets.
b. on the carpet (i.e. of the council table): under consideration or discussion [cf. F. sur le tapis.] Also colloq. (orig. U.S.) (with admixture of sense 2 a): undergoing, or summoned to receive, a reprimand. Cf. sense 2 d and mat n.1
1726Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 255 The great cry made for the people's powers in election..which is the case now upon the carpet. a1734North Lives Pref. 21 These three brothers, whose lives are upon the carpet before me. 1773R. Graves Spirit. Quix. x. xi. (D.) He..contrived to bring another subject upon the carpet. 1800Weems Washington xii. (1877) 187 A question of importance being on the carpet. 1855Motley Dutch Rep. iv. iii. (1866) 604. 1900 G. Ade Fables in Slang 120 Next Morning she had him up on the Carpet and wanted to know How About It. 1902Lorimer Lett. Merchant 134 The boss of the canning-room [will be] called up on the carpet and made to promise that it will never happen again. 1921Ld. Dunsany If i. i. 9 You been on the carpet, Bill? 1936Sketch 22 Jan. 148/1 His manager had just had him on the carpet, pointing out that his work had been getting steadily bad for the last few months. 1944‘N. Shute’ Pastoral v. 136 After the first shock of realising that she herself was on the carpet. 1961Times 8 May 13/2 Such a solution is not on the carpet now.
2. a. A similar fabric, generally worked in a pattern of divers colours, used to spread on a floor or the ground, for standing, sitting, or kneeling on, or (now usually) to cover a floor, or stair. Also the material, as in ‘a piece of carpet’.
1438–60Lib. de Antiq. Legib. ccvi, Duas vestes vocatas Carpette sternendas coram fontem ecclesiæ. 14..MS. Addit. 6113 f. 106 a in Dom. Archit. III. 107, Iij chambres of pleasaunce..all the floures covered with carpettes. 1513More Rich. III (1641) 439 On a carpit in a Ladies chamber. 1548Hall Edw. IV, 234 (R.) A prelate, more mete for a ladyes carpet, than for an ecclesiasticall pulpet. 1580Baret Alv. C 144 A carpet of Turky, Polymeta phrygia. 1682Dryden Mac Fl. 91 No Persian carpets spread th' imperial way. 1712Addison Spect. No. 289 ⁋9 The Dervise..laid down his Wallet, and spread his Carpet after the Manner of the Eastern Nations. 1839tr. Lamartine's Trav. East 155/1 [In] the mosques..I found a small number of Turks, seated cross-legged, or kneeling on the carpets. 1861F. Nightingale Nursing 61 A dirty carpet..infects the [sick] room.
b. Being, at first, chiefly a luxury of a lady's chamber, it became an attribute of luxury and effeminacy (see esp. 6); also of the chamber, drawing room, or court, as opposed to the camp or field.
1581Styward Mart. Discip. To Rdr. 2 Whereby we maie not be reputed sleepers, or followers too much of the carpet. 1630Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 32 For the times began to be quick and active, and fitter for stronger motions, than those of the Carpet. Ibid. 40 They were of the Court and Carpet, not led by the genius of the Camp.
†c. knight of the carpet: see quotations; also = carpet-knight. Obs.
1547in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. ii. App. E, The Knights of the Carpet dubbed by the King on Shrove Tuesday. [These were evidently Knights Bachelors; the list follows that of the Knights of the Bath made at same time.] 1586J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 105 A Knight..may be dubbed..in the time of peace vpon the Carpet..he is called a Knight of the carpet, bycause that the King sitteth in his regall chaire of estate and the Gentleman..kneeleth before his Soueraigne vpon the carpet or cloth vsually spred..for the Soueraignes footestoole. 1630Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 47 A worse Christian than he was, & a better knight of the carpet than he should be. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 57/2 Knights of the Carpet, or Knights of the Green Cloth; to distinguish them from Knights that are Dubbed as Soldiers are in the Field.
d. to walk the carpet: said of a servant summoned before the master or mistress for a reprimand. (Cf. carpet v. 4.)
1823Galt Entail III. xxix. 278 Making..her servants ‘walk the carpet’.
e. to sweep (or push) (something) under the carpet: to conceal (something embarrassing or unpleasant), in the hope that it will go unnoticed or be forgotten.
1963Times 24 Jan. 6/1 It would be self-deception to think that unemployment could be dealt with by emergency measures and pushed under the carpet. 1966Listener 17 Mar. 390/2 You cannot sweep these problems under the carpet as the Labour Government is doing.
3. fig.
a. Applied to a covering or expanse, as of grass or flowers, resembling a carpet in smoothness, softness, or varied colouring.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 50 Vpon the Grassie Carpet of this Plaine. 1670Evelyn Diary 22 July, At either end of the towne, upon the very carpet where the sports are celebrated. 1757Dyer Fleece i. 26 They..The close-wov'n carpet graze. c1854Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. (1858) 122 The carpet of flowers..on the bankes of the Chebar.
b. spec. in Cricket, the surface of the field, the ground. Also attrib., as carpet drive.
1882Cricket 22 June 93/3 His hits..are never high; on the contrary they are mostly, to use the slang of the cricket field, ‘on the carpet’. 1896Westm. Gaz. 23 July 7/2 A grand carpet drive to the off-boundary. 1899J. C. Snaith Willow the King v. 74 It flew like a streak to mid-off all along the carpet. 1908W. E. W. Collins Country Cricketer's Diary xiv. 233 Leaving us in a parlous bad condition by putting catch after catch..upon the carpet. 1927M. A. Noble Those ‘Ashes’ 201 Bowley tried a carpet drive through the covers. 1950W. Hammond Cricketers' School x. 98 The batsman's art..is to learn how to turn the ball..so that..it shall stay ‘on the carpet’.
c. Aeronaut. slang. The ground; on the carpet, at or near ground level.
1918J. M. Grider War Birds (1926) 258, I was right on the carpet and over a little ruined village. 1934V. M. Yeates Winged Victory xxi. 165 He could not go down on to the carpet again point blank into the mouths of the machine guns.
d. Civil Engin. (See quot. 1954.)
1920H. E. Goldsmith Mod. Road Constr. & Maintenance App. I. 86 Carpet, a bituminous surface of appreciable thickness, generally formed on top of a roadway by the application of one or more coats of bituminous material with gravel, sand, or stone chippings added. 1930Engineering 15 Aug. 210/1 It consisted of a 2 in. stone-filled asphalt carpet laid on a reinforced-concrete foundation. 1954Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 31 Carpet, a wearing course containing a road tar or bitumen binder and having a compacted thickness not greater than 1½ inches.
e. A large number of bombs dropped to damage an area intensively, esp. to clear the way for advancing ground troops. Also attrib. and Comb.
1944T. H. Wisdom Triumph over Tunisia xxiii. 181 Our massed bombers..set off to lay Tedder's bomb carpet; to blast a passage for the armies right through to Tunis. 1945Baltimore Sun 23 Feb. 3/5 Several ministries were laid in ruins that Saturday as a result of the American carpet bombing. 1945Life 4 June 25 A carpet raid is an effort to pulverize an area in front of ground troops to facilitate a breakthrough. 1946Aviation Ann. 16 Carpet bombing..consists simply of dropping such a heavy concentration of bombs in a small area that the defenders are stunned and demoralized for a short time. Ibid., A carpet attack in a certain sector. 1968L. van der Post Portrait Japan i. 29 Carpet bombing by the United States Air Forces flattened the capital.
4. Short for carpet-moth; see 5.
1856R. Shield Pract. Hints 108 Those beautifully marked Geometræ called ‘carpets’ by collectors. 1859H. T. Stainton Butterf. & Moths II. 73 In the month of May the ‘Carpets’ enter on the scene. 1866E. Newman Brit. Butterf. & Moths 64 The Satin Carpet..the Ringed Carpet.
II. In combination or attributively.
5. Comb.
a. attributive (pertaining to a carpet, or made of carpet), as carpet-cloth, carpet-shoe, carpet square, carpet-web, carpet-work;
b. objective, as carpet-beater, carpet-beating, carpet-dusting, carpet-maker, carpet-planner;
c. instrumental, as carpet-covered adj.;
d. similative (resembling a carpet of smooth turf), as † carpet-grass, † carpet-ground, † carpet-hill, † carpet-walk, † carpet-way; also carpet-smooth, carpet-woven adjs. Spec. combs. as carpet-bed (Gardening), a bed in which dwarf foliage-plants of different colours are arranged so as to form a pattern like that of a carpet; so carpet-bedding, carpet-garden; carpet beetle, any of various beetles or their larvæ, especially Dermestidæ, destructive to carpets and other fabrics; carpet-broom, -brush, one used for sweeping a carpet; carpet-dance, a dance on the carpet, an informal dance (the carpet being taken up for dancing on great occasions); carpet-moth, a name for several species of Geometer moths, from their variegated colouring; carpet-rod, a metal rod to keep a stair-carpet in its place, a stair-rod; carpet shark, a shark of the genus Orectolobus having spots on the back suggesting the pattern of a carpet; carpet slipper, a slipper the uppers of which were orig. made of carpet-like material; also used attrib. to express an informal or slip-shod method of work; carpet-snake, a large Australian snake (Morelia variegata) with a variegated skin; see also quot. from Whitworth; carpet sweeper, a household implement with a revolving brush or brushes for sweeping carpets; carpet-weed, the genus Mollugo (family Caryophyllaceæ). See also carpet-bag, -knight.
1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz (1850) 44/1 A jobbing-man—*carpet-beater and so forth.
1883Pall Mall G. 7 Sept. 4/1 The *‘carpet beds’, where some intricate pattern is worked out in a variety of colours. Here no flower is allowed, the effect being due entirely to the colours of the leaves.
1889Cent. Dict., *Carpet-beetle, a popular name of Anthrenus scrophulariæ, a beetle of the family Dermestidæ. 1961Which? July 157/1 The varied carpet beetle, often known in its larval phase as the woolly bear (Anthrenus verbasci).
1615Churchw. Acc. Gt. Wigstone, Leicestersh. (Nichols 1797) 149 New *Carpet-cloth for the communion table.
1835T. Hook G. Gurney I. v. 84 Hard *carpet-covered benches.
1846R. Ford Gatherings from Spain xxiii. 325 An extempore ball, which might be called a *carpet-dance, if there were any. 1861T. Peacock Gryll Gr. xxiii. 198 On these occasions, it was of course a carpet-dance. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. (Hoppe), A well-conducted automaton to come and play quadrilles for a carpet-dance.
1756M. Calderwood Jrnl. (1884) 26 Fine *carpet-grass.
1677N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. v. (1706) 30 He will tread as boldly on Stones as on *Carpet-ground. 1759Dilworth Pope 144 An ambling muse running on a carpet-ground.
1732Mrs. Pendarves in Mrs. Delaney's Autobiog (1861) I. 376 This house lies on the top of a *carpet hill.
c1500Cocke Lorell's B. (1843) 9 Brouderers,..and *carpyte makers.
1863Trafford World in Ch. I. 90 Another corridor..reduced upholsterers and *carpet planners to despair.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair iii, She looked for one instant in his face, and then down at the *carpet rods.
1929S. Elliott Napier in Times 2 Aug. 14/1 The ‘Leopard’ or ‘*Carpet’ shark. 1956Coast to Coast 1955–56 128 The two spearsmen came in with a five-foot carpet shark.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 157/1 The large *carpet slippers that served her for shoes. 1902Chambers's Jrnl. 10 May 353 Etymologists relieve the tedium of a hard day's work by a relapse into the carpet-slipper side of their science. Ibid., The old monks were adepts at carpet-slipper derivation. 1905H. A. Vachell Hill i. 17 He slimes about in carpet slippers—the beast! 1967S. Beckett Eh Joe 15 Joe, late fifties, grey hair, old dressing-gown, carpet slippers, in his room.
1844Mrs. Browning Lost Bower xviii, *Carpet-smooth with grass and moss.
1863Wood Nat. Hist. III. 115 The Diamond Snake..[and] The *Carpet Snake..are variable in their colouring. 1864Glasgow Herald 12 Apr., An enormous carpet snake which..was found to measure 12 feet 6 inches in length. 1885G. C. Whitworth Anglo-Ind. Dict., Carpet snake..Loosely applied to any kind of snake found in a dwelling house, other than a cobra or a dháman..most commonly the lycodon aulicus.
1901F. H. Burnett Making of Marchioness i. i. 20 She..bought herself a Kensington *carpet-square, as red as Kensington art would permit it to be. 1973‘H. Carmichael’ Too Late for Tears vi. 80 The carpet square patterned in reds and browns and greens.
1859Rep. Comm. Patents 1858 (U.S.) II. 444 That description of *carpet or floor sweepers in which a revolving brush..is made to take up and deposit the sweepings in a case covering the brush. 1892Ladies' Home Jrnl. Dec. 19/4 Bissell carpet sweeper. 1960Which? Apr. 85/1 The ideal carpet sweeper is one which picks up a lot of dirt, but only a little carpet pile, and which is easy to use and empty.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 201 Mow *Carpet-walks.
1664H. More Myst. Iniq. 549 To keep rank and file..not to break order though all be not *Carpet-way. a1658Cleveland The Times 31 We..Must not expect a Carpet way.
1884Browning Ferishtah 128 A *carpet-web I saw once leave the loom.
1611W. Barksted Hiren (1876) 81 All the floore with *Carpet-worke was strawn. 1816Jane Austen Emma i. x. 72 If I give up music, I shall take up carpet-work.
1768Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 414 The *carpet-woven grass that beautifies our lawns.
6. a. attrib. and Comb. arising out of sense 2 b, as carpet-consideration, carpet courtship, carpet friend, carpet gentry, carpet toy; † carpet-man, † carpet-monger, one who frequents ladies' boudoirs or carpeted chambers, one who deals in ‘carpet-trade’; † carpet-trade, the occupations and amusements of the chamber or boudoir. Also carpet-knight (q.v.), and many appellations akin to it (in which carpet implies haunting the chamber or boudoir), as carpet captain, carpet champion (champion of the dames), carpet coward, carpet peer, carpet shield, carpet squire (= squire of dames), or modelled on it (with the sense of dilettantism, shirking of practical work, difficulty, or danger), as carpet geologist, carpet poet, carpet soldier, etc.
1548Hall Chron. (1809) 153 Like a *Carpet capitaine he..removed his Campe & fled to Crespy. 1623Cockeram iii, Paris, a Carpet Captaine, rather than a Warriour.
1600Fairfax Tasso xvi. xxxii. 286 A *Carpet champion for a wanton dame.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 258 He is knight dubb'd with vnhatch'd Rapier, and on *carpet consideration. 1636Massinger Bashf. Lov. i. i, You are not to be won By carpet-courtship, but the sword.
1605Play Stucley in Sch. Shaks. (1878) 201, I am a soldier And hate the name of *carpet-coward.
a1616Beaum. & Fl. Valent. iv. ii, Have I lived Only to be a *carpet-friend, for pleasure?
1571Fortescue Forest of Hist. 153 b, The daintie coward and *carpette man.
1599Nashe Lent. Stuffe Ded., Any other *carpet-munger or primerose knight of Primero.
1592― P. Penilesse (N.) The..insinuating curtesie of a *carpet-peere.
1854Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Poet. & Imag. Wks. (Bohn) III. 167 Your *carpet poets, who are content to amuse.
1869Rawlinson Anc. Hist. 470 No *carpet soldiers, but hardy troops.
1605Play Stucley in Sch. Shaks. (1878) 188, I shall be thought..a coward, A sleepy dormouse, and a *carpet squire.
1660Waterhouse Arms & Arm. 68 Adorned with rich Clothes, precious Jewels, and *Carpet toyes. 1581Rich Farew. Milit. Profess. (N.) This noble duke had no maner of skill in carpet-trade.
b. Sometimes passing into an adjective.
a1639Ward Serm. 119 (D.) Our strait-buttoned, carpet, and effeminate gentry. 1884St. James's Gaz. 20 Apr. 4 The carpet markmanship which is the special fruit of Wimbledon.
7. Criminals' slang. Ellipt. for carpet-bag 2.
[1903‘No. 77’ Mark of Broad Arrow xi. 166 Your ‘Auto⁓leyne’ cares little about a ‘drag’ (three months), a sixer (a ‘carpet’ it is generally called), or a ‘stretch’.] 1917E. Wallace Just Men of Cordova x. 133 ‘Carpets’ (three months' hard labour) almost innumerable had fallen to his share. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid 17 Long enough to've been in Wandsworth and done a carpet. 1963T. & P. Morris Pentonville xi. 227 A carpet (3 months).
Add:[II.] [5.] [b.] carpet layer.
1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §503 *Carpet layer.., lays, stretches.., and fixes carpets. 1988Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 10 Sept. 30/1 The man who is painting the Queen's Head doubles as a carpet layer.
carpet-laying.
1946Carpet Rev. Oct. 9/2 (heading) Better *carpet laying methods overdue.
▸ slang. A woman's pubic hair; the female external genitals. Cf. rug n.2
Usually in the context of cunnilingus, esp. in coupounds; cf. carpet muncher n.
1981National Lampoon Aug. 22 What do you do when you've been munching some broad's carpet for a couple years and then all of a sudden the gash demands a $400,000 house for her trouble? 1985‘J. Blowdryer’ Mod. Eng. 74 Homosexual women..Carpet Chewers. 2000Out Nov. 64/2 Dick's younger daughter was a carpet-munching lezzie. 2002Village Voice (Electronic ed.) 28 May 159 In private, the women don't munch carpet for more than seconds at a time.
▪ II. carpet, v.|ˈkɑːpɪt|
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To cover or spread with a carpet. Hence ˈcarpeted ppl. a.
a1626Bacon New Atl., A fair Chamber richly hanged and carpeted under Foot. 1811Lett. fr. Engl. I. xiv. 161 The room is carpeted. 1849C. Brontë Shirley x. 142 She noiselessly paced..the carpeted floor. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 348 A sumptuous ship has floored and carpeted for him the stormy Atlantic.
2. transf. To cover or strew as with a carpet.
1728Ramsay Ep. Somerville, These delightful flowers, Which carpet the poetic fields. 1817J. F. Pennie Royal Minstr. v. 339 The yellow leaves That carpet autumn's groves. 1865Gosse Land and Sea (1874) 216 Clumps of pale primroses are carpeting the hollows.
3. To place on a carpet. rare. (Cf. pillow.)
1821Byron Juan iii. lxvii, Haidee and Juan carpeted their feet On crimson satin.
4. colloq. To call (a servant) into the parlour, etc., to be reprimanded; to reprimand, ‘call over the coals’. (Cf. carpet n. 2 d.)
1840H. Cockton Val. Vox xli, They had done nothing! Why were they carpeted? 1871Daily News 23 Sept., When they [Colonel Burnaby and Captain Annesley] were ‘carpeted’ [by the Jockey Club] to account for the suspicious running of the mare Tarragona with Michel Grove. |