| 释义 |
▪ I. ‖ chara1 Bot.|ˈkɛərə|
[L. chara name of some unidentified plant. The mod. botanical application appears to be due to Vaillant (d. 1722).]
Name of a genus of aquatic acrogenous plants, type of the family Characeæ, having their axis covered with tubes on which calcareous matter is deposited, and emitting a fetid smell.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Chara..called by some hippuris. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 201 Aquatic plants, such as charæ, which absorb large quantities of carbonate of lime. 1884Brit. & For. Ev. Rev. Apr. 280 In the transparent depths were suspended great green clouds of chara.
▪ II. chara2 colloq.|ˈʃærə|
Short for char-à-banc. (Cf. charry.)
1928F. E. Baily Golden Vanity xv, I don't approve of them charas on the Kingswear Road. 1953Economist 14 Nov. 470/1 A flavour of paper hats and football rattles..clings still about the good old un-English word ‘chara’. But now the charabancs have all turned into coaches. |