| 释义 |
sharpshin|ˈʃɑːpʃɪn|
[In sense 2, a back-formation from sharp-shinned (hawk). Sense 1 is prob. a jocular allusion to the eagle on the coin.]
1. App. orig. a name for some coin of very small value; later, used as a type of what has little value. U.S.
1804Lancaster (Pa.) Jrnl. 14 July (R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss.), Three Sharpshins Reward [offered for a run⁓away apprentice]. 1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. x. (1872) 93 This inconsiderable claim—for it is not of the value of a sharpshin. 1834Marryat P. Simple xxx, Four sharp shins to a pictareen. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 631 Sharpshin, a slang term, denoting the smallest quantity.
2. Usu. hyphened. The small North American sharp-shinned hawk, Accipiter striatus; cf. sharp-shinned s.v. sharp a. C. 2.
1912W. B. Barrows Michigan Bird Life 264 There were Sharp-shins everywhere—sweeping about through the woods. 1937Nat. Geogr. Mag. July 132/2 We have watched the sharp-shin dodge through the thickest brush after its quarry. 1960R. T. Peterson Field Guide Birds Texas 58 Sharp-shin's square-tipped tail can look slightly rounded when spread. |