| 释义 |
set piece
Also set-piece, setpiece.
[set ppl. a.]
1. a. A painting, or a sculptured group of people.
1846Dickens Pictures Italy, Rome 190 The hollow-cheeked monk..went down on his knees, in a corner before this set-piece. 1901Westm. Gaz. 22 May 6/3 A group [of flowers] of the set-piece kind in the form of a grotto.
b. A picture or design composed of fireworks.
1874W. H. Browne Art Pyrotechny 118 ‘Set pieces’ (as they are called).
c. A (passage of) formal composition in prose or verse; a discourse, narrative, etc., composed according to a set pattern.
1932C. Brown Eng. Lyrics of 13th Cent. p. xiv, In the English romance Arthour and Merlin a series of lyrics on the various months—May, June, February, &c.—are introduced as set pieces to divide the romance into Fitts. 1954Essays in Criticism IV. 1 Little reason to suppose that Menenius is as impartial or as wise as his famous set-piece, the fable of the belly and the members, might at first sight suggest. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 156 And there is the recurrent set-piece: ‘What's your name?’ ‘Sarah Jane.’ ‘Where do you live?’ ‘Down the lane’ [etc.]. 1968Listener 10 Oct. 475/3 Amis's prose is very good, and some of his little set-pieces are brilliant, as well as modish. Thus, the American road⁓scene. 1977Broadcast 7 Nov. 13/3 ‘Hard Times’..as a novel..has a few splendid set pieces and many incidental pleasures. 1980Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Sept. 1012/1 The ceremony of the Holy Fire in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem—the major set-piece of the novel.
2. Theatr. A piece of scenery, either flat or three-dimensional and usu. free-standing, that represents a single feature such as a tree, a gate, or the like.
1859E. Fitzball Thirty-Five Years of Dramatic Author's Life I. vi. 140 His long costly robes, becoming entangled with a set piece, pulled down with it, the orange tree excepted, every morsel of scenery on the stage. 1884[see cloth n. 7]. 1930Selden & Sellman Stage Scenery & Lighting i. vi. 163 The character of an outdoor setting is better suggested by a few plastic ‘set’ and ‘built’ pieces, such as ground rows, silhouette hills, rocks, trees, and fences placed in front of the sky than by anything placed on the drop. 1970H. Nelms Scene Design ii. 19/1 Except for the cyc and the ground row needed to mask its lower edge, the whole setting..consists of a single set piece. This is a flat piece of scenery placed by itself somewhere in the playing space.
3. An organized movement, action, or manœuvre; spec. in Sport, a prescribed (and usu. rehearsed) movement or feature of the game by which the ball is returned to play, as at a scrummage in Rugby or a free kick in Football.
1938D. S. Milford Hockey vi. 122 We have now finished our survey of the full-back positions for what may be called ‘set pieces’. 1947Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LI. 840/1 The fourth and last type of operation is the raid against an enemy shore base, usually referred to as a ‘set⁓piece’. This is really rather similar to a Bomber Command operation at shorter range and with smaller aircraft. 1960E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby xx. 314 Set-piece Rugby. This is not a game in the strict sense, but a series of set pieces, following rapidly, one on another, at a word from the coach or referee. 1977Western Mail (Cardiff) 5 Mar. 18/5 Modern rugby is a game of pressure and most of this is upon the halves, from set pieces and loose play.
4. (with hyphen) attrib. passing into adj. Having the attributes of a set-piece; formally or elaborately planned or composed; set (cf. set ppl. a.).
1947Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LI. 840/1 (heading) The ‘set-piece’ attack. 1962E. Godfrey Retail Selling & Organization ii. 11 The windows themselves may be enclosed, providing a background for set-piece displays. 1968Economist 17 Feb. 43/1 The not quite universal tendency of reporters to compare the setpiece battle situation that has been building up at Khe Sanh, close to the boundary between South and North Vietnam, to Dien⁓bienphu. 1976H. Wilson Governance of Britain 9 The prime minister is not only required to make a set-piece ministerial or other broadcast on major occasions; he is constantly in the news. |