| 释义 |
▪ I. prey, n.|preɪ|
Forms: 3 preiȝe, 3–6 praie, 3–7 preie, preye, 4 preȝe, 4–5 prai, prei, 4–7 pray(e, 6 Sc. pra, praii; 4– prey. β. 5–6 proye, proie.
[ME. preye, a. OF. preie (a 1140 in Godef.) booty, prey, also a flock, later OF. and mod.F. proie, earlier OF. *preide, Pr., It. preda:—L. præda booty, spoil, prey; in med.L., also, a flock. Cf. prede n. The β-form was immed. from 15th c. F.
Now collective: formerly also with a and pl.]
I.
1. a. That which is taken in war, or by pillage or violence; booty, spoil, plunder. Formerly, often with pl. † in prey, † to prey, as a prey. arch. rare.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 4028 Ðis leun sal oðer folc freten, Lond canaan al preiȝe bi-geten. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6163 Þe deneis..wende estward in to kent & robbede þere vaste & hor preye at medeweie in to ssipes caste. 1382Wyclif 1 Macc. i. 33 He toke prayes of the citee [1388 preies; Vulg. spolia] and brente it with fijr. 1475Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 31 The men of Gaule had wonne gret praies and good, as horse harneis, vesselle of golde and of silver gret plente. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 89 To be maid als with oure mortall fa, At thair plesour baith presoner and pra. 1563Golding Cæsar vii. (1565) 237 Al the rest of the prysoners he dystrybuted among hys souldiers euery man one in name of a pray. 1580Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 308 Exponand..the saidis compliners guidis.., in prey to the enemy. 1584D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 77 Returned to their ships with their praie. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 127 Great Monarchies destitute of their lawfull heires, had..become rich preyes unto such as could first lay strong hand upon them. 1641Declar. to Chas. I in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 529 The Prey, or Booty which they take from the English, they mark with the Queen's mark. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 621 Thy faithful Dogs..hold at Bay The Mountain Robbers, rushing to the Prey.
β1481Caxton Godeffroy ccxii. 310 There gadred he many grete proyes, that is to wete, horses, beufes, Kyen and sheep, And ryche prysonners. 1489― Faytes of A. iii. xi. 191 Where as byfore he was a powere knyght he was becom ryche by the proyes that he had goten and taken. 1552Huloet, Proye, praye, and spoyle.
b. fig. (In Scriptural use.) That which one brings away or saves from any contest, etc.
1388Wyclif Jer. xxi. 9 He that goith out,..schal lyue, and his lijf schal be as a prey to hym. 1535Coverdale Ibid., He shal saue his life, and shall wynne his soule for a pray. 1611Bible Ibid., His life shall be unto him for a prey. Ibid. xxxviii. 2 He shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. 1642Rogers Naaman 25 Craving [that] our owne lives may be given us as a prey, if we can speed for no more. 1827Keble Christian Year, 11th S. aft. Trin. vii, Too happy if, that dreadful day, Thy life be given thee for a prey.
2. a. An animal hunted or killed, esp. (now only) by carnivorous animals for food; quarry. Also fig.
a1240Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 273 Þu band ta helle dogges, and reftes ham hare praie. a1300Cursor M. 833 Þe strang þe weker for to sla, Ilkan to mak of oþer prai. Ibid. 4216 Of him has beistes made þair prai. Ibid. 22901 An hungre leon mete he son, Vp and dun his prai [Trin. prey] sekand. 1390Gower Conf. III. 258 As the Tigre his time awaiteth In hope forto cacche his preie. 1481Caxton Myrr. ii. xvi. 102 The goshawke and sperhawk taken their prayes by the ryuers. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 169 So fall they many times out, and become a pray to Vermine. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 686 The Crocodiles..run up and down to seek preys to satisfie their hunger. 1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 70 There doth accompany this fish [shark] divers little fishes, which are callet pilats fishes,..and feede of the scraps and superfluities of his prayes. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 153 ⁋12 The hungry family flew like vultures on their prey. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. ii. 75 Down they came one after another, like wolves after their prey.
β1484Caxton Fables of æsop i. xiv, The Egle beganne to flyhe and lete fall his proye.
†b. That which is procured or serves for food.
1382Wyclif Prov. xxxi. 15 Fro the nyȝt she ros, and ȝaf prei [1388 prey; marg. liyflode] to hir homli men. [1555–8T. Phaer æneid i. A iij b, Than all bestyrd them to the praye [orig. Illi se praedae accingunt] the bankettes gan beginne. ]1683Brit. Spec. 41 [They] satisfied their Hunger with any sort of Prey, as Venison, Natural Fruits, and Milk, and many times with Roots and Barks of Trees.
3. One who or that which falls or is given into the power of (a) a hostile or injurious person, or (b) an injurious influence; a victim: esp. in const. to be or become a prey to.
(a)c1325Metr. Hom. 55 Satanas was ful redie, And tok that sawel gredilye, And mad ful gret joi of his prai. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 269 Opon þe þrid day, at a toun hamelet, Thomas was his pray, as he to mete was set. c1400Rom. Rose 5143 But unto Love I was so thral, Which callith over-al his pray. c1430Hymns Virg. 14 Lete me not be þe feendis pray. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 331 The Emperour setteth forth against them new proclamations, & maketh them a praye vnto all men. 1681H. More Exp. Dan. p. lxxviii, Like to make us a prey to the common enemy. 1757Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. vii. Wks. 1842 II. 579 Jerusalem fell an easy prey to his arms. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 194 A man who had hitherto been the prey of gamesters. 1878Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 140 The Cardinal succeeded to the crown, and after a brief reign left it a prey to pretenders.
β1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxx. 78 The chyuetayns..yeuen weye to their enemyes and made the peple proye to them.
(b)1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 198, I banish her my bed and company And giue her as a prey to law and shame. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 844 The slow creeping Evil eats his way, Consumes the parching Limbs, and makes the Life his Prey. 1741Watts Improv. Mind i. i. §15 Given up a Prey to a thousand prejudices. 1750Gray Elegy xxii, To dumb Forgetfulness a prey. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 51 Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. iv, An unresisting prey to that inscrutable toothache.
4. a. The action of preying; seizing or taking by force or violence, or (of an animal) in order to devour; depredation, pillage, capture, seizure. Now rare.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxciii. 675 heading, Of the great pillage and proyes [table of contents proies] done by the Chanone Robirsarde and his company agaynst the kynge of Castyll. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 112/1 Ormond..by the dailie inuasions and preies of Piers Grace was almost wasted and vnhabited. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. xiv. 65 To expose himselfe to Prey..rather than to dispose himselfe to Peace. 1675Temple Let. to Sir J. Williamson Wks. 1731 II. 350 Both Parties will be out upon Prey. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 116 The Otter..whose Prey is chiefly upon Fish. 1787Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 100 The general prey of the rich on the poor. 1855Tennyson Maud iv. iv, The whole little wood where I sit is a world of plunder and prey.
b. bird († fowl) of prey: one that kills and devours other animals; a predatory or rapacious bird, esp. one belonging to the order Falconiformes or Strigiformes. Also attrib. and fig. Similarly beast, fish, etc., of prey.
1340Ayenb. 142 Uor þe uoȝeles of praye þet byeþ þe dyeulen. a1398Trevisa tr. Bartholomæus Anglicus' De Proprietatibus Rerum (1975) II. 1288 Most hote briddes of complexioun and colerik, as briddes of pray, haueþ þe vtter partyes ᵹelowe. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 107 Fawcons and other byrdes of proye. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 910 heading, Haukes of pray syxtene kyndes. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 1 We must not make a scar-crow of the Law, Setting it up to feare the Birds of prey. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iii. §8 Even beasts of prey are not such to those of their own kind. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 51 Subject to the voracious Appetites of the Fish of Prey. 1854Birds of prey [see raptor 4]. 1899W. E. H. Lecky Democracy & Liberty (ed. 2) I. p. xxii, He [sc. W. E. Gladstone] had a wonderful eye—a bird of prey eye—fierce, luminous and restless. 1920H. E. Howard Territory in Bird Life vii. 269 A bird of prey would have more difficulty in approaching a flock unawares than it would have in approaching a single individual. 1956D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles V. p. v, It is a sad fact that several of our most noble birds of prey can no longer be studied in what were once their native haunts. 1974M. Bijleveld Birds of Prey in Europe i. 1 During the last two hundred years, the European continent has seen a period of intensifying persecution of the diurnal birds of prey.
transf.a1732Gay Fables ii. xii. 24 Yet this you do, whene'er you play Among the gentlemen of prey.
II.
†5. transf. A company of men, a troop, an army. Obs. [So OF. proie, troupeau (a 1300 in Godef.), med.L. præda (Du Cange).]
a1300K. Horn 1235 Horn tok his preie And dude him in þe weie. 13..K. Alis. 1991 (Bodl. MS.) Alisaundre þi foo..Liggeþ now wiþ swiche preye Þat he wriȝeþ al þe contreye. Ibid. 2595 Of his poeple þe grete praye Lasted twenty milen waye.
III. 6. attrib. and Comb., chiefly objective, as prey-catcher, prey-devourer, prey-getter, prey-seeker, prey-taker; prey bird, fish, a bird, fish of prey.
1812Byron Ch. Har. i. lxxxviii, Unworthy of the *prey-bird's maw. 1821Shelley Hellas 255 The prey-birds and the wolves are gorged and sleep.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John x. 72 To discerne the true shepeherd from y⊇ thefe or *prayecatcher.
1638Falkland in Jonsonus Virbius, The *prey-devourer had our prey been made.
1899O. Pettersson in 19th Cent. Feb. 295 The numbers of useful fishes devoured by *prey fishes, &c.
1552Huloet, *Praye getter or seker, prædator.
1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 85 Who with their riches do raunsome men taken by *preyeseekers.
1619Middleton Love & Antiq. Wks. VII. 320 The sturdiest *prey-taker that here assembles.
▪ II. prey, v.|preɪ|
Forms: 3–4 prei-e(n, 4 prai, 4–7 pray, 5–6 praie, 5– prey. β. 6 proie. pa. tense preyed; 3 preide, 5–6 Sc. prayit, 6 preid, prayde.
[ME. a. OF. preer, preier (in earlier form, preder, c 1040 in Godef.):—late L. prædāre (Vulgate), collateral form of prædārī to plunder, spoil, rob, f. præda prey n. Cf. prede v.]
†1. trans. To plunder, pillage, spoil; to rob, ravage (a place, person, etc.). Obs.
13..Cursor M. 2503 (Cott.) Siþen þai spred to prai [Fairf. spoly; Gött. winne] þe land, Al þai tok þai forwit fand. 1375Barbour Bruce xv. 330 The nethir end of tevy⁓daill He prayit doune till him all haill. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 183 The extorcioner rubbyth and Preyeth good men and trew. 1579–80North Plutarch (1676) 925 To prey and spoil the Countrey. 1594Spenser Amoretti lviii, Devouring tyme and changeful chance have prayd, Her glories pride that none may it repayre. 1654R. Codrington tr. Iustine xxiv. 336 Having plundered the Towns, and preyed the Fields.
β1562J. Shute Cambini's Turk. Wars 39 The Turckes..went and spoyled and proied all the contre.
†b. To make prey or spoil of; to take possession of as booty. Obs. rare.
1596Spenser F.Q. v. iv. 14 Yet my good lucke he shall not likewise pray. Ibid. vi. x. 35 His loves deare spoile, in which his heart was prayde. 1623Bingham Xenophon 7 The Cilicians, abundance of whose persons and goods, we haue preid and carrie with vs.
2. intr. To take booty; to pillage, plunder; to prey on, prey upon, † prey over = sense 1.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 471 Hii wende aboute & preide, hom ne miȝte noȝt atstonde. 1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 226 The king gert men of gret nobillay Ryde in-till ynglande, for till pray. c1400Destr. Troy 2643 If Parys with a pepull past into Grese, In purpas to pray or profet to gete. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 115 Either to aske that which was another mans right, or else to pray vpon that which was none of their owne. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 71 He gaue..treasure there, to the Ianizaries and Spaheis to prey ouer. 1840Macaulay Ess., Clive (1887) 530 Ferocious invaders had descended through the western passes to prey on the defenceless wealth of Hindostan. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 264 The buccaneers preying upon Spanish commerce were masters of the smaller W. India Islands.
3. intr. To seek for or take prey, as an animal; esp. with on, upon: To seize and kill as prey; to kill and devour, to feed on. Also fig.
a1340Hampole Psalter xvi. 13 The princes ware like til the leoun, that is the deuel, redy til pray of mannys saule. 1575Turberv. Venerie 185 They pray also vppon all Pullen. Ibid., After three dayes they [Badgers] haue come out for pure hunger, and gone to praye for meate. 1575― Falconrie 156 As they feede when they pray of themselues at large. 1580Sidney Ps. xviii. ii, On me the paines of death..gan to prey. 1587Golding De Mornay xxi. (1592) 323 He prepareth foode for the Rauens to pray vpon. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 119 'Tis The royall disposition of that beast To prey on nothing, that doth seeme as dead. 1610Rowlands Martin Mark-all 14 Brokers I meane and Vsurers, that like vultures prey vpon the simple. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xxxiv. (1739) 51 Nature taught Beasts to prey for themselves. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 142/2 Another fox finds the same fields to prey in. 1841Emerson Lect., Man the Reformer Wks. (Bohn) II. 240 Every species of property is preyed on by its own enemies, as iron by rust, timber by rot. 1859Mill Liberty i, To prevent the weaker members of the community from being preyed upon.
4. intr. To exert a baneful, wasting, or destructive influence on, upon; to destroy gradually.
1713Addison Cato iii. ii, Language is too faint to show His rage of love; it preys upon his life. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne v. 150 The secret which preyed upon his mind. 1833Wordsw. Composed by Sea-Shore 3 How baffled projects on the spirit prey. 1885Law Times 7 Feb. 270/2 His health was bad, and this had no doubt preyed very much upon his mind.
Hence ˈpreyed-upon ppl. a.
1888H. Waller in Times 12 Nov. 13/3 To help the poor, wretched, preyed-upon Africans. 1905Westm. Gaz. 22 Mar. 2/1 The preyers and the preyed-upon.
▪ III. prey, preye
obs. forms of pray. |