| 释义 |
▪ I. sleight, n.1|slaɪt|
Forms: α. 3 sleahþe, 4 sleiȝþe, 4–5 sleȝþe (sleghþe); 4 slyhþe, slyȝth, sliȝth; also 3 sleþþe, 4 sliþe, slythe, sleiþe, sleyþe, 4–5 sleithe, sleyth(e. β. 4–5 sleȝt, sleghte, 4–7 sleght; 4 sleyhte, sleihte, 4–5 sleyȝte, sleiȝt, 4–6 sleyghte, sleighte, 4–7 sleyght, 4– sleight (5 slieght, 6 slaight); also 4–7 sleyte, 5 sleyt, 6 sleite. γ. 4 slyȝt, sliȝt, slyghte, 5–6 slyght (6 slyht), 4–8 slight; Sc. 5–6 slycht, slicht (6 slichte).
[Early ME. slēȝþ, ad. ON. slœ́gð (Icel. slægð, Norw. sløgd; MSw. slögdh, Sw. slöjd sloyd n.), f. slœ́g-r sly a.
For the change of the final -þ or -th to t cf. height. The three leading types of ME. and later forms are illustrated under some of the senses below, and the following are instances of the chief variations from each of these:—
αc1275Lay. 23345 Mid sleþþe he mot slakie loþe his bendes. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 177 Þey..fiteþ wiþ sleiþe and wiþ cauteles. Ibid. IV. 317 Naso..techeþ sliþe of love craft. a1400Gloss. in Rel. Ant. I. 6 Calliditas, a queyntyse or a slythe. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) ii. xlv. (1859) 51 By falshede, sleyth, and by extorcion. c1440Promp. Parv. 458/2 Sleythe, astucia.
βc1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7151 Knyghtes þat conne of sleytes. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1650 Hypsipyle & Medea, Thour the sleyte of hire enchauntement. c1400Apol. Loll. 111 Þis þout is sterid to him bi sleyt of þe fend. 14..Promp. Parv. 64/1 (K.), Cavtele, or sleyte,..cautela. 1559Mirr. Mag., Warwick viii, Tooke the towne by sleyte. 1577G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 56 To marke withall Ulisses Sleites. 1621Quarles Esther ii, Who playes a happy game with crafty sleyte.
γ1375Barbour Bruce v. 488 He thoucht to virk with slicht. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 177 With subtilitee or slycht. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 160 Gif that he culd be slicht or ȝit ingyne. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 295 Be sum slichte and quyet craft.]
1. Craft or cunning employed so as to deceive; deceitful, subtle, or wily dealing or policy; artifice, strategy, trickery. Now rare or Obs.
In very common use down to the 17th cent., and frequently contrasted with strength, might, or force.
αc1275Lay. 17210 Hit was isaid wile, þat betere his sleahþe [v.r. liste] þane vuele strengþe. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4610 Þe Bretons wist hit wel ynow, Bot of þer sleigþe lystneþ now. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 301 To faren in þe feld & fonde wiþ slyhþe For to refe þe brod of briddus of heuene. a1400Sir Degrev. 791 As wymmen conn mychel slyȝth.
βc1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8800 Strengþe ys god wyþ trauaille; Þer strengþe ne may, sleyght wil availle; Sleyght & connyng doþ many a chare. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 931 Dido. Whan troye brought was to distruccioun By grekis sleyghte. c1440York Myst. xxii. 88 Sen thy fadir may þe fende be sotill sleghte. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 377/2 How they myght by sleyght and deceyte..falle on good crysten men. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 81 His kynsefolkes..shoulde haue taken eyther by sleyghte or force as many of owre men. 1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 45 Thear sleight and stratagems had beene discoouered easlye. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 103 By which Kind of Sleight rather then Stratageme the Towne of Dam was taken. 1650Clarke Eccl. Hist. (1654) I. 44 The Devil striving against him with all the might and sleight that could be invented. 1841Emerson Lect., Conservative Wks. (Bohn) II. 270 Every interest did by right, or might, or sleight, get represented.
γa1400Rom. Rose 3158 It preveth wonder welle, Thy slight and tresoun every deelle. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 13036 ‘Now,’ seyde he, ‘kythe ȝoure slyght! Let se now ȝoure qwayntyse’. 1578Timme Calvin on Gen. 297 Satan used his subtle slight to discredit the miracles wrought by God. 1596Drayton Legends iv. 395 Much wrought they with their power, much with their slight. 1652Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 212 Who by hook and crook,..slight and might, having feathered their neste to some purpose. 1699Temple Hist. Eng. 565 He endeavoured to ward this Blow, by Slight rather than Force. 1712–4Pope Rape Lock ii. 103 Some dire disaster, or by force, or slight.
†2. Prudence; wisdom, knowledge. Obs.
a1300E.E. Psalter civ. 20 He lered his princes als him⁓self reght, And his aldemen teched sleght. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7697 Þat wate he best thurgh wytt and sleght, What space þat way contened of heght. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 55 Of his [a king's] purueyance and his sleghte.
3. Skill, skilfulness, cleverness, or dexterity in doing or making something, in handling a tool or weapon, etc. Now rare.
β1390Gower Conf. I. 127 With gret sleihte Of werk⁓manschipe it was begrave. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxix. 131 Þe whilk was made thurgh sleight and wirking of men. 1470–85Malory Arthur xix. ix. 788 He..put his ryght hand and his suerd to that stroke, and soo putte it on syde with grete sleyghte. 1567Drant Horace, Ep. F viij, Tryflinge things, and things in dede of very slender sleight. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 4 b, And as it is not possible without great labour and sleight to take awaie the false imagination [etc.]. a1668R. Lassels Voy. Italy (1670) I. 215 To it they go, with great nimbleness, sleight, and discretion. 1726De Foe Hist. Devil ii. iv, He manages with a sleight particular to himself. 1753–4Richardson Grandison (1781) II. iv. 68 With what a sleight..he pushed down my drawn sword. 1825Scott Betrothed xix, I have already given you a proof of sleight which has alarmed even your experience. c1855Mrs. Moodie in Borthwick Brit. Amer. Reader (1860) 185 The squaw with a peculiar sleight threw her papoose over her shoulder.
γ13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1289 Deuised he þe vesselment, þe vestures clene, Wyth slyȝt of his ciences, his souerayn to loue. c1400Destr. Troy 10673 Mony wondit þat wegh.., And mony slogh..with slight of his bowe. c1460Towneley Myst. iii. 137 On the syde a doore with slyght be-neyth shal thou take. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 350 Suche as are donne by the slight & arte of man. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xi. §1 (1689) 111 People stand and wonder at the slight, and strength, by which they see Salmons leap. 1786Burns To a Haggis iii, His knife see Rustic-labour dight, An' cut you up wi' ready slight. 1821J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Wallace xxx, As house⁓wife's slight, so finely true, The lengthen'd thread from distaff drew.
b. Const. in or at (something).
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 250 The Romanis..in battell sic prattik had and slycht. c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 637 Thaumaciæ,..and Olison the cold, Duke Philoctetes gouerned, in darts of finest sleight. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. 102 As these Western men do bear away the Bell for might and sleight in wrastling. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Travels i. 174 They have a wonderful slight in stealing. 1707J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 204 Not knowing the Slight he had at packing the Cards. 1803Ann. Rev. I. 31 Docility to instruction, sleight in the mechanic arts. 1896Dialect Notes (Amer.) I. 424 She had a good slight at hoein'.
4. The precise art or method, the special knack or trick, of (doing) something. Now dial. † Also with other constructions.
a1300Cursor M. 6662 A tabernacle all for to dight, þarof he sceud þam þe slight.
1547Heywood Four P's (Copland) B iij b, Ye knowe it is no whit my sleyghte To be a iudge in matters of wayghte. 1600Holland Livy xxviii. xxxvii. 697 The Balears..do exceed and surpasse others in the cast and slight thereof. 1607Middleton Michaelmas Term ii. ii, 'Tis the slight, To be remember'd when you're out of sight. 1642Rogers Naaman 368 Get once the slight of it (as we say) and then halfe the worke is at an end. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 210 As Scriveners take more Pains to learn the slight Of making Knots, than all the Hands they write. 1861Barr Poems 10 (E.D.D.), Weel doon, my lass!.. My word! Ye hae the slight o't. 1882Jamieson's Sc. Dict. s.v. Slicht, I hae the slicht o't noo.
b. spec. Skill in jugglery or conjuring; sleight of hand.
1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 4 Lookers-on feel most delight, That least perceive a Juglers slight. 1850S. Dobell Roman ii. Poet. Wks. (1875) 22 The juggler's sleight, That with facility of motion cheats The eye. 1870Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 25 Soon he 'gan to use his magic sleight: Into a lithe leopard, and a hugging bear He turned him.
5. Adroitness, activity, smartness, nimbleness of mind, body, etc.
In later use after or influenced by sleight of hand.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2084 Ariadne, Sende you grace and sleyght of hert also Yow to defende. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 167 He chastede þe Schytes þat myȝte nouȝt be overcome toforehonde by sleyþe of witte. 1398― Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxix. (Tollem. MS.), Also fische ben diuerse in scharpnesse of felynge and in sliþe [1495 sleyghte] of wit. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 206 He has a foolish Slight of Wit, that catches at Words only, and lets the Sense go. 1744Fielding Tumble-down Dick Wks. 1784 III. 402 Gin's genius all these things reveals, Thou shalt perform, by slight of heels. 1829Macaulay Misc. Writ. (1860) I. 353 A new sleight of tongue to make fools clap. 1865Reader No. 123. 506/2 Hawking all his old wares, performing his sleight-of-mind.
Comb.1809–10Coleridge Friend (1818) III. 114 Mere empty disputants, sleight-of-word Jugglers.
6. A cunning trick; an artful device or design; a piece of subtle dealing or policy, intended to deceive or mislead; an artifice, ruse, stratagem, or wile. Now rare.
Common in the 16th and 17th cent.
βc1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1181 Pride and pompe and covatyse, And vayn sleghtes, and qwayntyse. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 293 Þei bryngen up newe sleiȝtis of covetise. c1400Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1908) 142 Ȝif thou wilt knowe the sleiȝtes of the deuel and be not begiled with his false suggestiouns. c1440Jacob's Well 153 God takyth an othe after þe symple vnderstondyng, & noȝt after wyles & sleyȝtes. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 34 As Leo..in his boke of sleightes of warre telleth. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 15 This is a prettie sleight to deceaue the Purueyor. 1606Dekker Seven Sins ii. (Arb.) 19 He resolues therefore to make his entrance, not by the sword, but by some sleyght. 1652Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 230 The manner of guarding the Sea and the subtile sleights they made use of for that purpose. 1713Swift Upon Himself Misc. (1735) V. 57 His watchful Friends preserve him by a Sleight. 1759Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 354 We are plain people, un⁓practised in the sleights and artifices of controversy. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. i. (1869) 13 A rare fellow..of infinite sleights and evasions. 1875E. White Life in Christ v. xxviii. (1878) 463 The feminine sleights of forgetting or over⁓laying the daily remembrance of the terrible fact.
γ1577Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 161 Such slights also have the alewives for the utterance of this drinke. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 53 We haue found out a slight to hammer it to anie heresie whatsoeuer. 1623Middleton More Dissemblers iv. i, Let your slights be fine, facetious. 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 747 All thy tricks and slights to cheat, And sell thy Carrion for good Meat. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 68 A variety of slights, deceits, impostures,..and depredations.
b. A feat of jugglery or legerdemain; a trick or action performed with great dexterity, esp. so quickly as to deceive the eye.
1596Spenser F.Q. v. ix. 13 For he in slights and iugling feates did flow, And of legierdemayne the mysteries did know. 1609Bible (Douay) Exod. vii. comm., Other strange thinges done by enchanters..are not in deede true miracles, but..sleights, by quicknes and nimblenes of hand, called legier-demain. 1699Garth Dispens. iii. 33 That Jugler which another's Slight will show, But teaches how the World his own may know. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 145 Taking the largest Buds,..with a very quick Slight before the Sap is dry, put them into a little Incision..in the Bark. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 22 Sleights of art and feats of strength went round. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. iii. iii. 158 The sleight of casting up a certain number of sharp instruments into the air, and catching them alternately in their fall. 1857H. Reid Lect. Brit. Poets iii. 108 A curious and elaborate representation of the sleights of alchemy. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 532 The various sleights [in card-tricks] above described.
†c. A design or pattern. Obs.—1
1590Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 30 Thereby his mortall blade full comely hong In yuory sheath, ycaru'd with curious slights.
▪ II. † sleight, n.2 Obs.
Forms: 1 sliht, slyht, -slæht, 1, 3 sleht, 3 sleȝht, sleþt, 4 sleȝte, sleiȝt.
[OE. slyht, etc. = slięht (:—*sleahti), from the stem of sléan (:—*sleahan) slay v.1 Cf. slaught n.]
Slaughter.
c893K. ælfred Oros. v. xi. 238 æᵹþer ᵹe on þeoda forherᵹiunge, ᵹe on cyninga slihtum, ᵹe on hungre. a1000in Assmann Ags. Hom. xv. 177 Sume ic slæpende beswac,..sume mid slehte & sume on some. c1205Lay. 2544 Bi⁓tweonen him aræs..sleȝht [c 1275 sleþt] & muchel seorwa. Ibid. 3995 Swiðe heo was sari for sorehfulle þan slehte. c1315Shoreham iii. 245 Ofte þe mannes sleȝte aryst, Were man hyȝt weneþ wel lyte. 1330Arth. & Merl. 6654 (Kölbing), Þer was miche sleiȝt of man.
▪ III. sleight, n.3 dial.|sleɪt|
Also 7 slaight, 9 slait, slate.
[Of obscure origin.]
A pasture, esp. one for sheep; chiefly in comb. sheep-sleight.
1670Aubrey Introd. Surv. N. Wilts in Misc. (1714) 32 Anciently the Leghs (now corruptly call'd Slaights), i.e. pastures, were noble, large Grounds. 1813Davis Agric. Wilts. Gloss. s.v. Sleighting, A sheep-down is frequently called a sheep-sleight. 1825–in south-western glossaries, etc. 1854Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. ii. 438 Much benefit is obtained by chalking those sheep sleights retained as permanent pastures.
▪ IV. † sleight, a. Obs.
Forms: 5 sleyghte, 6 sleyght, slight, 6–7 sleight.
[f. sleight n.1]
1. Marked or characterized by subtle craft, cunning, or strategy; artful, crafty, wily.
1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxvi. 461 Some [fish] ben wonderly sleyghte [Bodl. MS. slyȝe] and wyly to scape. a1513Fabyan Chron. vi. cxlix. (1811) 136 Gryffon hauynge suspeccion to y⊇ Saxons,.. leste they wolde betraye hym,..made for that tyme, a sleyght agrement. 1547The Bk. of Marchauntes b v b, In their practyke they be sowple and sleight. 1583T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iii. 113 The Enemy..went on with all the cunning and slight meanes that possibly coulde bee deuised.
2. Skilful, skilled; expert, clever.
a1513Fabyan Chron. (1811) 3 To remytte to theym that ben sleyght And sharpe in lecture, and haue kept theyr studyes.
3. Of juggling, etc.: Dexterous, deceptive.
1533More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1098/2 Their false and abhominable blasphemous lyes vpon Chrystes woordes,..their sleyght iuggelyng ouer the bread. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 81 Besides a crafty sleight legerdemaine, there concur two notable untruths. 1567Drant Horace, Ep. A viij, Who..at his hands coulde gayne A tallant by collusion and sleight ligerdemayne. 1634Milton Comus 155 (Cambr. MS.), Thus I herle My powder'd spells into the spungie air, Of power to cheat the eye with sleight illusion.
4. Comb., as sleight-eared, sleight-handed.
1567Drant Horace, Ep. To Rdr. *iiij, Or if oure reader were not rather sleight earde, then cleareeyed. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche ix. clxx, There lay..quick mutations, Sleight-handed Tricks, importunate Courtesies.
▪ V. sleight, v. Now dial.
[f. sleight n.1]
†a. intr. To deal guilefully. Obs.
b. trans. To deceive, beguile, cheat.
1530Palsgr. 721/1, I sleyght with one, I deale craftelye or subtelly with hym. Ibid., Truste hym nat, he sleyghteth with every bodye he dealeth with. 1876Robinson Whitby Gloss. 176/2 Slyted, or Sleighted, cheated.
▪ VI. sleight
obs. form of slight n., a., and v. |