| 释义 |
Choctaw|ˈtʃɒktɔː|
[ad. Choctaw Chahta.]
1. A Muskogean North American Indian people, originally inhabiting Mississippi and Alabama; a member of this people. Also attrib. or as adj.
1722D. Coxe Descr. Carolana 25 This mightier Nation of the Chattas consisting of near 3000 Fighting Men. 1725G. Chicken Jrnl. 12 Aug. in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Col. (1916) 122 The Chickesaws have made a peace with the Chactaws. 1736J. Wesley Jrnl. 30 June (1938), The Choctaws, the least polished, i.e. the least corrupted of all the Indian nations. 1738W. Stephens Jrnl. Proc. Georgia in Col. Rec. Georgia (1906) IV. 82 The Choctaw Indians..had..come in a great body. 1775,1791[see Creek n.3]. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes II. iv. 95 A chief of the Choctaw tribe of Indians. 1948Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 21 Apr. 7/5 Doc is half Choctaw along with a mixture of English and Irish.
b. The language of this people. Also attrib.
1796J. Morse Amer. Univ. Geogr. (ed. 3) I. 669 The Chickasaw and Choctaw languages. 1880G. W. Cable Grandissimes 60, I also speak Choctaw. 1941[see Chickasaw 2]. 1948D. Diringer Alphabet i. x. 183 Choctaw is another important Muskhogean dialect; it has now about 18,000 speakers, who live in eastern Oklahoma and in Mississippi.
c. colloq. As a type of an unknown or difficult language; cf. Greek n. 8.
1839New Orleans Picayune 1 Mar. 2/4 Even admitting a person understands French and pronounces the name of a dish correctly, its all Hebrew or Choctaw to the waiter. 1929J. Buchan Courts of Morning 13 He had a good many private expressions that were Choctaw to those that did not know him.
2. Skating. A step from either edge on one foot to the opposite edge on the other foot, in an opposite direction. (Cf. Mohawk 4.)
1892J. M. Heathcote et al. Skating 81 Starting as before from the outside forward, it is possible to put the other foot down not on the outside but on the inside back. This step it is proposed to call a ‘Choctaw’. 1892Monier-Williams Figure-Skating 61 A Choctaw is simply a step or stroke from any edge in one direction, to the opposite edge on the other foot, in an opposite direction. 1908E. F. Benson Eng. Fig. Skating 119 Mohawks and Choctaws, to attempt a definition, are a cross between edges and turns... In Mohawks the same edge (outside or inside) as has been laid down by the first foot is taken up by the second; in Choctaws the opposite edge. 1948Time 2 Feb. 51/2 From difficult double Salchows to simple open Choctaws. |