| 释义 |
▪ I. sheathe, v.|ʃiːð|
Also techn. sheath |ʃiːθ|. Forms: 5 schethe, 5–6 shethe, (7 sheate), 6–9 sheath, 6– sheathe.
[f. sheath1.]
†1. trans. To fit or furnish (a sword, etc.) with a sheath. Obs.
a1400Morte Arth. 3853 He schokkes owtte a schorte knyfe schethede with silvere. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 138 Walters dagger was not come from sheathing.
2. To put (a sword, dagger, etc.) into a sheath or scabbard. to sheathe the sword (fig.): to cease hostilities, to put an end to war or enmity.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. xxxii. (1869) 20, J bithouht me what j shulde do..with þilke swerd yshethed, seled, wrapped. 1530Palsgr. 702/1, I shethe a knyfe or a sworde, I put them in to their shethe... Shethe your sworde, you be man good ynoughe. 1590Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) 52 Mars come thundring downe, And neuer sheathe thy swift reuenging sword. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 213 Still allowing to Kings and their Senates, and Counsailes, right of drawing or sheathing the sword. a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 273 The Confederate Catholicks of Ireland were iointly and seuerally sworne,..neuer to sheate theire sworde untill they see the lustre of religion florish in Ireland. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 140 In Days of Ease, when now the weary Sword Was sheath'd, and Luxury with Charles restor'd. 1749Smollett tr. Gil Blas vii. i. (1782) III. 7 Enough (said I to him, sheathing my sword) I am not a brute, to refuse to hear reason. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxxii, Those scarfs of blood-red shall be redder before The sabre is sheathed and the battle is o'er. 1841Elphinstone Hist. India ix. i. II. 263 He restrained himself sufficiently to sheath his sword. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 575 The sword should not be sheathed till he had been brought to condign punishment as a traitor. 1891Morris Poems by Way (1896) 210 And then the ancient blade he sheathed.
†b. with up. Also transf. Obs.
1607R. Turner Nosce Te C 3 b, Being soundly bangde he sheathde his dagger vp. 1615Hieron Dign. Preaching 9 May I..like Salomons sluggard, sheathe vp my hands into my bosome and renounce husbandrie? 1640tr. Verdere's Rom. of Rom. ii. x. 35 But perceiving no body to appear, he presently sheathed up his sword. 1738Wesley Hymns, ‘Long have I view'd’ vi, I will not..beg Thee to sheath up thy Sword.
c. transf. To bury (a sword) as in a sheath (e.g. in an enemy's body). Also with obj. an animal's tusk, claw, etc.
1584A. Munday Fedele & Fortunio 1255 in Arch. Stud. neu. Spr. CXXIII. 72 Attilia tolde me, that her mistresse had made a request, To Crack-stone, to sheathe his sworde in your brest. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 617 A churlish swine..Whose tushes neuer sheathd, he whetteth still. Ibid. 1116 The..swine Sheath'd..the tuske in his soft groine. 1593― 3 Hen. VI, v. v. 70 Dispatch me heere: Here sheath thy Sword, Ile pardon thee my death. 1614Gorges Lucan i. 37 Within his [a bull's] throat they sheath'd the knife. 1667Dryden Ind. Emp. iv. iv, 'Tis in my breast she sheaths her Dagger now. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xvi. x, He beat down his guard, and sheathed one half of his sword in the body of the said gentleman. 1858G. Macdonald Phantastes xxi. 270 The hand of his foe..still grasped the hilt of the dagger sheathed in the wound.
d. fig. To lay aside, cause to be laid aside (hostility, malice). Now rare or Obs.
1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. iii. 88 Sheath thy impatience: throw cold water on thy Choller. 1752Young Brothers i. i, Sheath your resentments in your father's peace. 1773J. Allen Serm. S. Mary's Oxf. 16 This ought to sheath plebeian malignity.
e. To retract or draw in (the claws).
1681Grew Musæum i. 12 The Leopard..always keeps the Claws of his fore-feet turned up from the ground, and sheath'd as it were in the Skin of his Toes. 1687Dryden Hind & P. iii. 270 He sheathes his paws, uncurls his angry mane. 1801Southey Thalaba ix. xviii, With tranquil eyes and talons sheathed, The ounce expects his liberty. 1813Shelley Q. Mab viii. 126 His [the lion's] claws are sheathed.
3. To cover or encase (esp. a person or part of the body) in (something, usually protective).
1632Massinger City Madam iv. ii, Thy procurer Shall be sheath'd in Velvet. a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 140 The [petrifying] spring..sheaths everything with stony cases. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 453 In meet Array, Sheath'd in refulgent Arms, a noble Band Advance. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xxiii. 9 Many a bosom, sheathed in brass, Strew'd the earth like broken glass. 1829Scott Anne of G. i, Warriors sheathed in complete steel. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lvi, She started impulsively to her full height, sheathed in her white shawl.
transf. and fig.1860Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 311 People seem sheathed in their tough organization. 1885Truth 28 May 850/1 Plumpness sheathes the nerves and gives an impression of good humour.
b. To cover from view. rare.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 397 Her eyes like Marigolds had sheath'd their light.
†c. to sheathe up: to envelop so as to confine or obstruct. Obs. rare.
1661Boyle Cert. Physiol. Ess. (1669) 146 Those active parts of a body which are of differing Natures, when they are as it were Sheath'd up, or Wedg'd in amongst others in the texture of a Concrete. 1764Museum Rust. III. xiii. 64 The rich fat wort sheathes up the pores of the hop, and, as it were, embalms the leaves.
4.
†a. Med. To mitigate the acridity or pungency of (a drug) by the use of an emollient vehicle. Obs.
1731Arbuthnot Aliments v. (1735) 130 Other Substances..opposite to..Acrimony which are call'd demulcent or mild, because they blunt or sheath those sharp Salts..such as Pease, Beans [etc.]. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Wine, It had a pleasing softness that sheathed the acrimony of the spirit, and covered the bitter taste of the hop. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 546 Its acrimony requires to be sheathed with some bland powder, as starch.
b. gen. To mitigate the painfulness of.
1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 77 The barb of misfortune is sheathed in the mildness of the writer's temperament. 1851Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 18 The innumerous Sweet songs which for this Italy outrang From older singers' lips, who sang..with pang Sheathed into music, touched the heart of us So finely, that the pity scarcely pained!
5. (Often sheath.)
a. To cover (a ship, a door, roof, etc.) with a sheathing of metal.
1615R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 62 We..brought her agrownd before the English howse to sheath her [the ship]. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 13 Barnacles..will eat thorow all the Plankes if she be not sheathed, which is as casing the Hull vnder water with Tar, and Haire, close couered ouer with thin boords fast nailed to the Hull. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 346/2 They Sheath Ships with Lead. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. xxviii, There was no occasion for a good while to sheath any of the Kings Ships. 1763Brit. Mag. IV. 332 His majesty's frigate the Alarm..was sheathed with copper, by way of trial. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers I. iii. 233 At the more solemn festivals, the high Altar in the richer churches, was sheathed in a gold or silver frontal, studded with precious stones. 1885Clark Russell Strange Voy. I. ii. 21 The ship..had been newly sheathed, and the yellow metal..gleamed dully, like old gold. 1883P. H. Hunter Story Dan. ix. 161 The exterior of the dome is sheathed with burnished copper. 1909Blackw. Mag. Sept. 346/2 The doors [of the temple] are sheathed in silver.
b. To cover (a tree-trunk) with a ‘sheathing’.
1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 431 Sheathing the stems of standard trees..should not be neglected.
c. To cover a telegraph cable with a protective envelope.
1884Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Apr. 11/2 These wire-sheathing machines..will sheath fifty miles of cables in a day.
d. To place (a photographic plate) in a sheath.
1892Photogr. Ann. II. 263 With regard to sheaths for the plates—these may be used,..but in the course of several years..no plate has ever been sheathed.
6. Nat. Hist. To surround with a ‘sheath’ or covering.
1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 36 Those black filaments..which are sheathed in her [the snail's] horns. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 215 Leaves rather longer than the joints of the stem, not at all sheathing it. 1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 154 Leaves alternate, slightly sheathing at the base. 1870Hooker Stud. Flora 109 Stem..sheathed below by obtuse leafless stipules. 1872Huxley Physiol. i. 10 A mass of red flesh, sheathed in connective tissue. 1882–4Cooke Brit. Fresh-w. Algæ I. 195 A hyaline bristle, which is sheathed at its base.
▪ II. sheathe
bad spelling of scythe.
a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) III. 125. |