| 释义 |
▪ I. size, n.1|saɪz|
Forms: 3–7 syse (Sc. 5 siys, 6–7 syis, 7 sys), 3–7 sise; 5 (8) syze, 6– size; 5 cyse, 5–7 cise, 7–8 cize; 5 syce, 7 sice.
[a. OF. sise, cise, aphetic forms of assise assize n. probably due to l'assise being apprehended as la sise. Cf. med.L. sisa, cisa, MDu. sise, sijs, MLG. sise, MDa. sise, sisæ. The currency of the form in Eng. may have been subsequently increased by assize being taken as a size.]
I.
1. a. An assize for the administration of justice. = assize n. 11, 12, 13. Now dial.
In later use commonly in the pl. form sizes.
(a)a1300Body & Soul in Map's Poems (Camden) 337 Wȝan ȝe hadden set your sise. ye thre traytours, sore I wep. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 178 Gyle..shope þat a shereyue sholde bere mede Softliche in saumbury fram syse to syse. c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. i. 894 They sette the shire, þe cessyons and the Cyse Ryght as hem lest. c1486Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 68 As touching the matters he hard at the syse, I caused some to be thyn at this time. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 4 There shall be no bayle nor treating of mainprise,..There shall be no delayes vntill another Sise. 1581T. Howell Deuises (1879) 187 Like as the captiue Wight..hopes at Sise to be releast, is then condemde to dye. a1631Donne Sat. ii. Poems (1654) 123 You said if I return'd next size in Lent, I should be in remitter of your grace. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xviii. vi, He sent for a writ against me and had me to size.
attrib.1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. ii. 14 'Twas Size time there, and hanging was a brewing.
(b)a1513Fabyan Chron. vii. (1811) 344 Iudgys [were] ordeyned to kepe a cyrcuyte, as nowe they kepe the syzys in the tyme of vacacyon. 1538Starkey England ii. ii. 190 In the sessyonys and sysys at scyre townys appoyntyd. a1616Beaum. & Fl. Wit without M. iii, The Sattin..will serve you at a Sizes yet. Ibid. iv. [iii], Some Dunce that..admires nothing but a long charge at Sizes. 1673Temple Ess. Ireland Wks. 1720 I. 114 Sometimes one Share of that Money is paid to a single Pretender at the Sizes or Sessions. 1703De Foe Reform. Manners Misc. 81 A Brace of Female-Clients meet him there, To help debauch the Sizes and the Fair. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 145, I will never..bring you to the sizes or sessions. 1847–in dial. glossaries (see Eng. Dial. Dict.). 1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. viii, There had been one tried at the 'sizes, not so long ago.
†b. Sc. A jury. Obs. = assize n. 13 b.
c1470Henry Wallace iv. 124 The siys of this couth say to him rycht nocht. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 489 This governour..Corruptit judgis thair with him he brocht, And syis also that knew richt weill his thocht. a1586Montgomerie Misc. Poems xliv. 29 In dout vhat wyse that feirfull syse Pronunce thair sentence wald.
†2. An ordinance or regulation. Obs.
a1425Cursor M. 9427 (Trin.), Lawes two were set on sise To Adam in paradise. 1474Coventry Leet Bk. 401 The sise of a Corriour is þat he corry no maner of lether but yf it be thorowe tanned. Ibid., The sise is that no mercer, Grocer, Draper, Smyth nor no other crafty man by nor sell no maner thyng..but yf ther weyghtes and mesures be sised & sealed.
†3. The established order of things. Obs.
c1400Sc. Trojan War (Horstm.) i. 570 Thyr war þe wordys of Denyse Quhene þat he saw againe þe syse The sonne Eclyps.
†4. An ordinance fixing the amount of a payment or tax. Also attrib., as size-boll, size-money. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 28438 Toll and tak, and rent o syse, Withalden i haue wit couettise. 1543Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 199 Robert Ratray..resignit..in the prouestis handis..the haly dais fische of Dee, and syise boll. 1633Sc. Acts, Chas. I (1817) V. 94 For bruiking of the said burgh lands.., tolles, customes, sys bolles. 1641Ibid. 627 To apply to þe vse of þe said brucht with the syis boll and syistrie. 1733P. Lindsay Interest Scot. 206 The Payment of their Size⁓money, which they reckon so great a Hardship.
†5. A fixed standard of quality or quantity for articles of food or drink, or other commodities. Obs. = assize n. 5.
1479in Eng. Gilds 424 The Maire..to do calle byfore hym..all the Bakers of Bristowe, there to vndirstand whate stuff they haue of whete. And after, whate sise they shall bake. 1485Rolls of Parlt. VI. 364/2 The Office of Cise of Ale in the same Towne, in the Countie of Glamorgan. 1529Rastell Pastyme (1811) 194 The mayre toke brybes of the bakers & suffred them to sell brede under the syse. 1559Fabyan's Chron. vii. (1811) 705 An acte of parliament for wood and coal to kepe the fulle sise,..that no man shall bargaine, sell, bryng, or conueigh of any other sise. 1641Baker Chron. (1653) 15 He made a Law, ordaining a size, by certain pins in the pot, with penalty to any that should presume to drink deeper then the mark. c1680Shaftesbury in Christie Life (1871) I. App. i. p. xii, The senior fellows..articled with us never to alter the size of our beer. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 308/1 The Bakers cannot without [scales] make and perform that just Size put upon them.
†6. A proper manner or method; a standard of action or conduct; a limit. Obs.
c142026 Pol. Poems 66 He may not stonde, þat haþ no toon [= toes], Lepe ne renne, ne ryde in syse. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. lii. 500 Of syre Tristram came..alle the syses and mesures of blowynge of an horne. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 854 My persone prest Beyonde all syse. 1550Crowley Last Trumpet 400 Though..he were wicked past al sise. 1574Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1584) 63 In our talke or in any other thing no syse is suffered, but in sermons which muste not passe above an howre.
†7.
a. A quantity or portion of bread, ale, etc.; spec. in Cambridge use (see quot. 1617); an allowance.
1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. xii. 285 That in so smalle a syse of breade and wine, the infinite..Christe..shoulde be comprehended. 1592Nashe P. Penilesse 20 The Maister Butler of Pembrooke Hall,..one that sheweth more discretion in setting vp a sise of Bread, than thou in all thy whole booke. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 178 Tis not in thee..to cut off my Traine,..to scant my sizes. 1617Minsheu Ductor s.v., A size is a portion of bread and drinke: it is a farthing which schollers in Cambridge have at the buttery: it is noted with the letter S as in Oxford with the letter Q for halfe a farthing. 1691Ray S. & E. Co. Words 113 A Size of Bread, and a Cue of Bread, Cambridge. The one signifies half, the other one fourth part of a Half-penny Loaf. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v., Size of Ale, half a pint; Size of bread and cheese, a certain quantity.
transf.1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xv. 4 Our size of sorrow Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.
†b. size-q(ue), the half of an ordinary allowance. Cf. cue n.1 2 b. Obs.
16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnassus iv. iii. 1838 You are at Cambridge still with sice kue. 1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 31 He never drunk above size-q: of Helicon.
†8. to pay size, to pay heavily. Obs.—1
1662Pepys Diary 4 Sept., My Lady Batten and her crew, at least half a score, came into the room, and I believe we shall pay size for it.
9.
†a. A device for measuring pearls.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. [Hence in later Dicts.]
b. A gauge used in wire-drawing.
1763W. Lewis Phil. Comm. Arts 55 A brass plate called a size, on which is measured by means of notches..the increase which a certain length of wire should gain in passing through a fresh hole.
II.
10. a. The magnitude, bulk, bigness, or dimensions of anything.
a1400–50Alexander 26 For þai þe mesure & þe mett of all þe mulde couthe, Þe sise of all þe grete see. 1530Palsgr. 270/2 Syse of a mannes body, corpulence. Ibid., Syse of any thyng, moyson. 1621Donne Anat. World i. 12 When, as the age was long, the sise was great; Mans grouth..recompenc'd the meat. a1676Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 65 The humane Brain is..much..larger than the Brains of Brutes, having regard to the size and proportion of their Bodies. 1707Norris Treat. Humility x. 376 The cloathing of humility does as it were conform itself to the size of the wearer. 1796C. Marshall Gardening xiii. (1813) 181 The size of a hot bed, as to length and breadth. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 111 The size of some stems is truly astonishing. 1880Bessey Botany 146 The absolute size of leaves varies greatly also.
b. Preceded by of, or in later use with ellipse of this. of a (or one) size, of the same magnitude or dimensions.
c1400Destr. Troy 3815 Protheselus the pert kyng was of pure shap, Semely for sothe, & of Syse faire. 1470–85Malory Arthur v. viii. 173 Now arte thow better of a syse to dele with than thou were. 1560Bible (Genevan) Exod. xxxvi. 9 The curtaines were all of one cise. [Also 1 Kings vi. 25.] 1598Barret Theor. Warres v. i. 124 Of the Size royal, is that peece which shooteth a bullet from seuenteene pound waight vpward. 1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 63 Young trees of a smaler sise. 1677Plot Oxfordshire 108 Of different colours, figures, cizes. 1767Phil. Trans. LVII. 490 The crystals of this salt were in general..more of a size, than those of the gooseberry. 1781Cowper Ep. Lady Austin 95 A seed of tiny size. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop v, ‘Why don't you hit one of your own size,’ said the boy. 1884Pae Eustace 13 The two men were about a size. 1893Hodges Elem. Photogr. 115 A frame the exact size of the window.
c. In abstract use: Magnitude.
1667Milton P.L. vi. 352 They Limb themselves, and colour, shape or size Assume. 1701Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. i, The mixture of cize and figure, can beget nothing but cize and figure. 1781Cowper Retirem. 67 Whose shape would make them, had they bulk and size, More hideous foes [etc.]. 1845Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 12 The church of St. Julian, equal in size to most cathedrals. 1848Dickens Dombey v, The books precisely matched as to size. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. vi. 199, I had always a quite true perception of size, whether in mountains or buildings.
d. Suitable or normal dimensions. rare exc. in phr. to cut (chop, etc.) down to size: see cut v. 54 h. colloq.
1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 65/1 The plants..should be thinned, and..may be used as they attain size till August. 1953Time 20 July 40/3 He kept Stalin down to size. 1962Listener 17 May 883/1 The complexity and psychological depth abandoned in hacking the novel down to size. 1972N.Y. Times 3 Nov. 39/6 Once the warlord armies supporting him were chopped down to size.., he was content to fade away.
e. Thickness or thinness (of a liquid mixture); consistency (cf. size v.1 4 c).
1863Wise New Forest Gloss., ‘The size of the gruel’ means its consistency. 1889C. T. Davis Bricks & Tiles (ed. 2) 147 The temperer having secured the proper plasticity, or ‘size’ for the clay.
f. In colloq. phr. that's (about) the size of it, etc.: that is what it amounts to, that is the situation.
1860G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 30 Nothing to do, and lots of time to do it in! that seems to be about the size of it. 1880‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad viii. 71 ‘Bloodshed!’ ‘That's about the size of it,’ I said. 1914G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. 89 That's the size of it, only I couldn't ever say it like that. 1922Joyce Ulysses 305 Talking about the Gaelic league and the antitreating league and drink, the curse of Ireland. Antitreating is about the size of it. 1966D. Francis Flying Finish ii. 21 ‘He just went to Italy and didn't come back?’ ‘That's about the size of it,’ Simon agreed. 1973‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Answer xv. 134 It's money that's really in his head... That's about the size of it, wouldn't you say?
11. a. A particular magnitude or set of dimensions; esp. one of a series in the case of various manufactured articles, as boots, gloves, etc.
1591Percivall Span. Dict., Punto,..the sise of a shoo. c1610Donne Lett. xxxii. Wks. 1839 VI. 338 There is not a size of paper in the palace, large enough to tell you how much I esteem myself honoured in your remembrances. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 104 He is certainly a Size above ordinary in his own Conceit. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4899/4 Another silver Mazarene, a size larger. 1828Carr Craven Gloss., Size, a term of measure amongst shoemakers, equal to one third part of an inch. 1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xx, Her white satin shoes being a few sizes too large. 1846Greener Sci. Gunnery 329 It appears also that there is a size which meets with less resistance from atmospheric influence than others. 1872Calverley Fly Leaves (1903) 9 To haste..to..the glover, Having managed to discover what is dear Neæra's ‘size’.
fig.1879Hutton in Bagehot's Lit. Studies I. p. lxii, He was ‘between sizes in politics’.
b. Used ellipt. with a n. following.
1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 41 Cut your sturgeon into what size pieces you please. 1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 215 The Writings of that Father [St. Augustine] were the first Works done on that size Letter. 1846F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 308 After this first trial you can judge what size eye will do next. 1886Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 3 Different size cables. 1889Anthony's Photogr. Bulletin II. 159 A large size plate.
c. to try (something) (on) for size: to consider (an idea, theory, etc.) to see whether it fits the facts. Also loosely, to try out or sample. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1956‘E. McBain’ Cop Hater (1958) viii. 70 ‘Try this for size,’ Bush said. ‘I'm listening,’ Carella said. 1967‘E. Queen’ Face to Face xxix. 127 ‘All right,’ said the Inspector. ‘Let's try this on for size: You knew what Spotty had to sell, didn't you?’ 1969‘J. Fraser’ Cock-pit of Roses x. 81 ‘I know some bugger's been pinching 'em, if that's what you're getting at.’ Try that on for size, you devil, his look seemed to say. 1979A. Boyle Climate of Treason (1980) viii. 258 Trying his boss's desk for size, Philby noticed the untidy array of memoranda and pending files in the in-tray. 1980J. McClure Blood of Englishman xxiv. 221 She was shaking the sardines into a saucer. ‘There, kitty! Try those for size.’
12. a. Magnitude, extent, rate, amount, etc., as a standard of immaterial things. Also in phrases (see later quots.).
a1530Heywood Love 1509 (Brandl), As the horse feleth pleasure in syse..aboue the tre, So feleth he..aboue ye. 1579Spenser Two other Lett. i. 56, I hope you will vouchsafe mee an answeare of the largest size. 1597Shakes. Lover's Compl. 21 Shriking vndistinguisht wo, In clamours of all size both high and low. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage iii. xii. 257 Although those dayes shall be of a larger size then these. 1701Swift Contests Nobles & Commons Wks. 1755 II. i. 25 The power of these princes..was much of a size with that of the kings in Sparta. a1715Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 133 He understood well the size of their understandings. 1780Cowper Progr. Error 283 Errors, of whatever size. 1828Carr Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘He talks at a fearful size;’ i.e. he talks big. 1836–8Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 299 One day I was adrivin' out at a'most a deuce of a size, and he stopped me. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining 224 Size, in reference to a fault; this word means the extent of the displacement or the throw.
b. Of persons in respect of mental or moral qualities, rank or position, etc.; † hence, class, kind, degree, order.
1679Penn Addr. Prot. ii. v. (1692) 151 Which showeth..that Christians of all sizes, great and small, are but Brethren. 1699Bentley Phalaris 497 Our Mock Phalaris is a Sophist of that size, that no kind of Blunder is below his Character. 1719Swift To a Young Clergym. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 5 A plain sermon intended for the middle or lower size of people. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 207 Can we impute to God that, which is below the common size of men? 1746Francis tr. Horace, Art Poet. 506 But God, and Man, and letter'd Post denies, That Poets ever are of midling Size. 1844Emerson Ess. Ser. ii. vi, The cause is reduced..to suit the size of the partisans. 1872Morley Voltaire (1886) 8 There are things enough to be said of Voltaire's moral size.
c. pl. As adv. Many times, far.
1861E. Dickinson Lett. (1897) II. 241 All our Lord demands, who sizes better knows than we.
13. Special combs., as size-bone, whalebone of the length of six feet or above; size distribution, the way in which size varies among members of a population of particles; size effect, an effect due to size; size-fish, a whale yielding size-bone; size-group, those constituents of a population whose sizes fall within a specific range; † size-land, a narrow strip of ploughed land; size-range, a range of sizes; a size group; size-roll, (a) a military roll showing the size of each man; (b) ‘a piece of parchment added to a roll’ (Simmonds, 1858); size-slate, a slate having certain definite dimensions or measurements; size-stick (see quot.).
1820Scoresby Arct. Regions II. 419 The *size-bone or such pieces as measure six feet or upward in length is kept separate from the under-size. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 527/2 The figures given are the values of ‘size⁓bones’,..which is twice the value of whalebone under that length.
1925Trans. Faraday Soc. XXI. 381 (heading) A simple method of obtaining the *size distribution of particles in soils and precipitates. 1966D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. v. 250 In the past, size-distribution analysis has usually involved time-consuming measurements on individual grains or particles.
1943Ann. Appl. Biol. XXX. 216/2 The loss in weight increases progressively from I to IV indicating the existence of a *size effect. 1968C. G. Kuper Introd. Theory Superconductivity v. 92 The discrepancy between the experiments and the London theory has been interpreted as a size effect, arising from the scattering of normal electrons by the n-s boundary.
1820Scoresby Arct. Regions II. 419 The captain and some of the officers..having a premium on every *size fish. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 628 The harpooner gets a bonus for striking a ‘size-fish’.
1944J. S. Huxley On Living in Revolution 110 The total population can be separated into four *size-groups, corresponding to the produce of the four successive years that each grub lives in the soil before it turns into a beetle. 1971I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth ix. 132/2 They contain both filamentous and globular structures, and the latter occur in more than one size⁓group.
1750W. Ellis Mod. Husb. I. i. 75 [In Middlesex] they plow two, three, or four of these *size-lands into one broad-land.
1924Industr. & Engin. Chem. XVI. 930/2 The figures given..for the *size range were calculated in this way. 1955New Biol. XIX. 95 Some particles in the mitochondrial size-range appear to be proplastids. 1962Science Survey III. 296 Shoals of large salmon were observed to remain inactive at the tail of the pool while a smaller size-range of salmon and trout ascended successfully.
1757Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 473 Nor shall I delay to send the companies' *size-rolls, when they come to my hands. 1832Regul. & Instr. Cavalry ii. 16 Each Troop forms on its own parade, in rank entire according to the size-roll. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 155 The form of Size Roll..is so arranged as to sub-divide the three divisions for each height,—‘small,’ ‘middling,’ and ‘large,’—each into three classes.
1865Bower Slate Quarries 31 The average price of *size slates, tons, and slabs.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2192/1 *Size⁓stick, the shoemaker's measuring-stick to determine the length of feet.
Add:[II.] [10.] g. Bodily weight; muscular bulk or power. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1985E. Leonard Glitz xii. 102 He was a big strong Italian fella and I see you're going to have size on you. 1985Bodypower Oct. 17/2 Please can you advise me as to which method builds size, using squats and bench press as an example. 1987E. Leonard Bandits ii. 28, I felt Maureen was gonna put on size.
▪ II. size, n.2|saɪz|
Forms: 5 cyse, 5–7 syse, 6 syes, 6–7 sise, syze, 7– size.
[Possibly the same word as prec., but the history is not clear.
Cf. Sp. sisa, given by Minsheu (1599) as ‘solder for golde’, but explained in later Sp. dicts. in accordance with sense 1. Florio (followed as usual by Torriano) gives both It. sisa and assisa in the sense of size ‘that painters use’, but later It. dicts. do not confirm this.]
†1. A glutinous or viscid wash applied to paper, parchment, etc., to provide a suitable ground for gilding, painting, or other work. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 456/2 Syse, for bokys lymynynge. c1485E. Eng. Misc. (Warton Club) 73 To make a cyse to gyld unburned gold on bokys. 1573Art of Limming Title-p., The maner how to make sundry sises or grounds to laye silver or gold upon. 1601Holland Pliny II. 595 Whatsoeuer is to be pargetted with this Maltha..ought first to be rubbed throughly with a size of oile. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxxiv. 49 Take Red Lead..or Yellow Oker, well ground with Oyle of Spike or Turpentine; this is the Sise: Then draw with that the Figure you would have in Gold. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Limning, There are always applied two Lays of hot Size e'er the Colours..are laid on. 1763W. Lewis Phil. Comm. Arts 62 For gilding on wood, &c. with what is called water⁓size, the parchment or leather size above-mentioned is mixed with whiting, and several layers of the mixture spread upon the piece.
b. Printing. (See quot.)
1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 126 Size, the preparation used for printing with bronze.
2. A semi-solid glutinous substance, prepared from materials similar to those which furnish glue, and used to mix with colours, to dress cloth or paper, and for various other purposes.
1530Palsgr. 270/2 Syse for colours, colle de cvir. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Color, Liquidus... Moyste, tempered with sise as peynters vse. 1582in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 359 Paste bord, paper, and paste, white, sise, verte, syneper. 1658W. Sanderson Graphice 78 Old rotten size, to bind the Colours together. 1714Mandeville Fab. Bees (1733) I. 234 What size is to white walls, which hinders them from coming off, and makes them lasting. 1747Franklin Conjecture Wks. 1887 II. 107 Paper wet with size and water will not dry so soon as if wet with water only. 1800Phil. Trans. XC. 367 The various degrees of viscidity and tenacity which characterize mucilage, size, and glue. 1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 63 The outer face of the veneer and the surface of the table are wetted with very thin glue, or with a stiff size. 1883Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 302/1 Size of very different qualities is made at glue-works.
3. The buffy coat on the surface of coagulated blood in certain conditions. Cf. sizy a.
1770Phil. Trans. LX. 387, I shall next..enquire into the formation of the inflammatory crust, or size, as it is called.
4. attrib., as size-colour, size-gelatin, size-manufactory, size-manufacturer, size-water.
1603–4Act 1 Jas. I, c. 20 §1 As well with Oyle Colours as Size Colours. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Limning, That the Size-Colours hold the best. 1738Ibid. s.v. Book⁓binding, The leaves being wetted with the size-water. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Size-manufacturer, a boiler down of skins, etc., and maker of size. 1869E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 20 Substances..from size, horn, and isinglass manufactories. 1873T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. 123 Others are softer, more resembling size-gelatin.
▪ III. † size, n.3 Obs.
Forms: 5 sise, 6 sys(s)e, syce, 5–7 size, 6–7 syze.
[perh. ad. OF. sis, siis six: cf. size sice and six B.]
A certain kind or size of candle, used esp. at court and in churches.
a1483Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 22, x candells wax, for the sizes of the chamber. Ibid. 41 He setteth up the sises in the King's chambre. 1518Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII, II. ii. 1515 Pure wax for morters, quariers, priketts and sysys. 1560Acc. Fratern. Holy Ghost, Basingstoke (1882) 13 Item paid for tapers & Syces at whitsontyde, ij s. 1570Googe Pop. Kingd. iii. 37 To whome [Christ] if that they light a syse, his mother hath six againe. 1611Cotgr., Bougie,..a size or small round candle vsed in churches. 1659Heylin Examen Hist. i. 288 Upon the Communion Table they..never set more then two fair Candles with a few small Sizes neer to them.
attrib.1552Huloet, Size candle. 1559Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 91 Payd upon Easter day in the mornynge for a sysse candle, jd.
▪ IV. size
variant of sice (six in dice).
▪ V. size, v.1|saɪz|
Forms: 5 syse, 5–8 sise, 8 cise, 6– size.
[f. size n.1, or, in early use, aphetic for assize v.]
†1. trans. To regulate or control, esp. in relation to a fixed standard. Obs.
a1400–50Alexander 4654 Many seerties we seet [read he set] þat sysed all þe werde. 1467Coventry Leet Bk. 335 Þat þe Mair ordeyn iiij assisours to sise þe watir at all Milles within þis Cete. 1579in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 402 All other measures..to be vewed, tryed, sised, allowed, and sealed. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 247 Ye coyn they vse is either of brasse or els rings of Iron, sised at a certein weight in steede of money. 1613in W. M. Williams Founders' Co. (1867) 23 The said Weights..shall..be sized by the Standard at Founders' Hall. 1656W. Webb in D. King Vale Royall ii. 213 This Maior..sized the Wines,—Muscadine at 7d. the quart, Sack at 10d. and other Wines at six pence. 1698–9Act 11 Will. III, c. xv. §1 A Vessel..made, sized, and equalled unto the said Standard. 1766Entick London IV. 79 All makers of brass weights..are obliged to have their..weights sized by the Company's standard. 1771Phil. Trans. LXI. 467 My weights were most accurately sized.
2. a. In University use (at Cambridge, Harvard, and Yale): To enter as a ‘size’ upon the buttery or kitchen books; to score (an amount) against oneself in this manner. Also transf.
1598E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 47, I knew thee when thou war'dst a thred-bare gowne: Siz'd eighteene pence a weeke. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnassus v. ii. 2048, I vse to size my musicke, or go on the score for it, Ile pay it at the quarters end. 1630Randolph Aristippus Wks. 1875 I. 14 Drinking college tap-lash..will let them have no more learning than they size, nor a drop of wit more than the butler sets on their heads. 1790Laws of Harvard Coll. 38 They may be allowed to size a meal at the kitchen. 1811Laws of Yale Coll. 31 The Butler shall make up his bill against each student, in which every article sized or taken up by him at the Buttery shall be particularly charged.
b. intr. To order ‘sizes’, or have them entered against one.
1598E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 11, I have sized in Cambridge, and my friends a season, Some exhibition for me there disburst. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnassus iv. ii. 1691 You that are one of the Diuels fellow commoners, one that sizeth in the Deuils butteries. 1617Minsheu Ductor s.v., To size is to set downe their quantum, i.e. how much they take in their name in the Buttery-booke. 1706Phillips (ed. 6), To Size,..to Score as Students doe in the Buttery-Book of a College at Cambridge. 1852Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 3) 19 Soup, pastry, and cheese can be ‘sized for’, that is, brought in portions to individuals at an extra charge. 1859Slang Dict. 93 If a man asks you to supper, he treats you; if to size, you pay for what you eat.
†c. trans. To allowance (oneself); to eke out with something extra. Obs.
1607Topsell Serpents (1658) 727 It is said, they eat earth by measure, for they eat so much every day as they can gripe in their fore-foot, as it were sizing themselves. c1614Fletcher Wit at Sev. Weap. ii. i, To be so strict A Nigard to your Commons, that you are fain To size your belly out with Shoulder Fees.
†3. To state the size of (something). Obs.—1
a1661B. Holyday Juvenal (1673) 250 The pygmies..being but one foot high (as some size them).
4. a. To make of a certain size; to give size to; to adjust in respect of size. Also with out.
1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. iii. (1623) 4 They serue to size out the Summer-doore to his due space of foure square inches. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 21 Pieces of Lead sized to, and nailed over the said Bolts. 1701Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. i, That the parts of the organ be fitly cized, shaped and set together. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §290 The smaller end of it being sized as near as possible to the manholes of the floors. 1862Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. (1865) V. 233 There is no provision made for ‘sizing the gavels’ [in reaping]. 1897F. C. Moore How to build Home 90 The first-story beams are to be sized and leveled upon the sill and upon the foundation wall. 1981Sci. Amer. Apr. 30/1 Second, says Dr. Derry, the book was sized to fit into a briefcase.
fig.1733Revolution Politicks vii. 44 Sizing his Words at such a rate as one yet willing to be understood that he had not stray'd from his Brethern in Point of Loyalty. 1742Richardson Pamela IV. 284 He is so exactly siz'd and cut out for a Town Fop, Coxcomb, or pretty Fellow. 1899[see panhandler 1].
b. Agric. (See quots.)
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 53 You must not let it lie long before you strick, sise, or plow it up into small Ridges. 1808Young's Ann. Agric. XLV. 342 [He] sizes the field, as it is styled, that is, draws out new ridges or stitches nearly in the direction of the old original ones. 1844Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 5 These..are what is termed sized; that is,..the ploughman sizes them by going one bout, or by once going and returning up the field.
c. To reduce (clay) to the proper consistency for moulding.
1889C. T. Davis Bricks & Tiles (ed. 2) 147 It is necessary to grind the same clay..several times..before it comes to the proper degree of plasticity for moulding; this operation is called ‘sizing the clay’.
5. a. To classify or arrange according to size. Also transf. to class or rank (with others).
a1635Randolph Townsmen's Petition Wks. 1875 II. 658 With proctors and with testers grave Our bailiffs you may size. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 197 Size your Horses or Oxen equal. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 46 They sort and size all the Threads so, that they can apply them to make equal Cloaths. 1735Somerville Chase i. 82 The Multitude Dispers'd, to size, to sort their various Tribes. 1805Edin. Rev. VI. 463 Instead of being scientifically classified, and (if we may so speak) accurately sized, we may expect to find them [i.e. facts] tossed together with little judgment. 1886Law Times' Rep. LIII. 696/2 The said broken products were then sized and separated.
b. Mil. To arrange or draw up (men) in ranks according to stature.
1802James Milit. Dict. s.v., The flank troops of a squadron must be sized in the following manner. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 46 In this formation companies are to assemble.., being sized from flanks to centre. 1868Regul. & Ord. Army §857 All guards are..to be inspected and sized by the adjutant.
c. To single (plants). rare.
1660[see sizing vbl. n.1 3]. 1764Museum Rusticum III. lvii. 241 It would be adviseable, at the time of first sizing the plants, to leave more than are necessary.
†6. U.S. (See quot. 1836–9.) Obs.
1836–9Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 442 Come, I'll size your pile... Plank down a pile of dollars..of any size you like, and I'll put down another of the same size. 1853J. G. Baldwin Flush Times Alabama 113 The jury shortly after returned into court with a verdict which ‘sized their pile’. 1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xii. 198 They are satisfied to ‘size your pile’ and take quarter of it. 1889‘Mark Twain’ Conn. Yankee 300, I was resolved he should have at least one [bath]..if it sized up my whole influence and bankrupted the pile.
7. a. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Usually with up: To take the size or measure of; to regard so as to form an opinion of; to make an estimate of. Hence ˈsize-up n., an estimate (U.S.).
1884Cent. Mag. Nov. 54 Such a stranger..would have ‘sized them up’..simply as a pair of poverty-stricken Mexicans. 1891Marriott-Watson Web of Spider xi, It was dark when I seized her, and I hadn't time to ‘size’ her. 1896Newnham Davis Three Men & a God 148 The grey-haired..man who met us..mentally sized me up at once. 1924E. O'Neill All God's Chillun got Wings 103 John scrutinizes their faces keenly, sizing up the situation. 1945E. S. Gardner Case of Golddigger's Purse v. 35, I always like to plan my campaign after I've sized up my man. 1949Security (Charlottesville, Va.) May 1/2 Reminded him how wrong a bright man can be in his size-up of other folks. 1952Sun (Baltimore) 22 Oct. 19/7 Casey's size-up of Woodling as a pinch-hitter was verified in the eighth inning. 1978N.Y. Times 30 Mar. b3/1 A teen-ager in sneakers, sizing up the drinkers in the darkened bar as easy marks, whispered to a friend, ‘I wonder if they've got any change.’
b. With down: (a) To arrange in sizes downwards; (b) to size up; to comprehend.
1896W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 229 The stone slates are ‘sized down’, the smaller ones to the top, the bigger towards the eaves. 1896Chambers' Jrnl. 25 Jan. 57 There's just one thing I don't size down. I know why I am here:..but why are you? 1912A. Conan Doyle Lost World vi. 87, I want a man I can bank on. So I sized you down, and I'm bound to say that you came well out of it.
8. intr.
a. To be on an equality with; to match with; also with up.
1639Mayne City Match iv. viii, Her birth Not being so high she will more size with you. 1902O. Wister Virginian v, It was a letter which..‘sized up’ very well with the letters written in my part of the United States.
b. To assume size; to increase in size.
a1631Donne Poems (1633) 63 So As they waxe lesser, fall, as they sise, grow. 1818Keats Endymion iii. 206 The gulphing whale was like a dot.., Yet look upon it, and 'twould size and swell To its huge self. c1866G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 36 That a quince I pore upon? O no it is the sizing moon. 1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 13 July 4/5 Pears and apples are sizing well and developing nicely. 1940Sun (Baltimore) 5 Sept. 7/5 Sweet potato tubers are developing and sizing in Western Maryland.
c. With up: to develop or take shape; to amount (to something); to reach the necessary standard. Cf. to measure up to s.v. measure v. 4 c. U.S.
1884E. W. Nye Baled Hay 126 Time, at last, makes all things size up in proper shape. 1905N.Y. Even. Post 21 Nov. 1 If the President does not think that Mr. Halpin sizes up as chairman of the County Committee, [etc.]. 1910J. Hart Vigilante Girl ii. 28 Burke isn't a bad sort—he sizes up about as well as most of them. 1917H. James Ivory Tower ii. i. 89 The question of what Gray's ‘interest’..might size up to.
▪ VI. size, v.2|saɪz|
Also 7 sise.
[f. size n.2 Cf. Sp. sisar (1739), It. sisare (Florio).]
trans. To cover, smear, prepare, treat, or stiffen with size.
Cf. the earlier oversize v.2, and blood-sized in Beaum. & Fl. Two Noble K. i. i. 105.
1667Primatt City & C. Builder 103 For Lathing, Plaistering, Rendring and sizing the Partition. 1703Art's Improv. I. 65 Cold-clear it, i.e. Size it over. 1721C. King Brit. Merch. II. 268 A Liquor is there prepared for sizing or gumming every Sheet. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ii. §4. 93 In order to fit it [paper] for the ink, it is sized, or coated with a mixture of weak fine glue and alum. 1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 225/1 The paper..is then sized by passing the spurs through a strong solution of gelatin.
fig.1633J. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 10 Uncleanness is a deep stain, sized into the soul by her dwelling in the body. |