| 释义 |
▪ I. sloe|sləʊ|
Forms: α. 1 slah (slach-), slaᵹ (slaᵹh-), 1, 5 sla, 3–7 slo, 4–6 sloo, 6 sloa, 6– sloe (9 dial. sloo, slue, slew). β. pl. 1 slan, 4 slon, 5 sloon, 5–6 sloen, 7 slone, slane. γ. 6–7 slow(e. δ. 6– Sc. and north. slae, 9 north. sla(a, slaigh, slay, slea, slee, etc.
[OE. slá(h), etc., = Fris. slé, MDu. slee, slie (Du. slee, Flem. slei, sleie), sleeu (Kilian sleeuwe), MLG. slee (LG. slê, slî), OHG. slêha (MHG. slêhe, G. schlehe, † schlee), perh. related to OSlav. and Russ. sliva, Lith. slýwas plum.
The original plural in -n (OE. slán, ME. slōn) is recorded down to the 17th cent., and is the source of the sing. forms now current in southern dialects (see Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Slone). A similar transference appears in MDu. sleen (Flem. sleen, slene), MLG. slên, slein (LG. slên, slein, slîn, also slôn, whence probably Da. slaaen, Sw. slån).]
1. a. The fruit of the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), a small ovate or globose drupe of a black or dark-purple colour and sharp sour taste.
αc725Corpus Gloss. B 75, Bellicum, slaᵹ. a1000Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 196 Brumela, bellicum, vel sla. c1000Saxon Leechd. II. 32 Ᵹenim onwære slah..& wring þurh clað on þæt eaᵹe. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 679 Appul, pere, and slo. c1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 928 Blak as bery, or any slo. c1440Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slo, frute, prunum, vel spinum. 1483Cath. Angl. 342/2 A Sla, spinum, mespilum. 1558T. Phaer æneid iii. H iv, For hunger, sloes hath ben my food. 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 91 My self I dieted with sloas. 1620Venner Via Recta vii. 118 The iuyce of them, especially of Sloes,..is of excellent efficacy. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 215 He knew to..tame to Plumbs, the Sourness of the Sloes. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 7. 47 He will swallow, with Transport, what was squeezed from the Sloe. 1774Pennant Tours Scotl. 214 Sloes are the only fruits of the island. 1842Dumfries Herald Oct., Sloes..are almost always plentiful. 1885Tennyson Flight iv, The blackthorn-blossom fades and falls and leaves the bitter sloe.
βa1000Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 269 Moros, slan. 13..K. Alis. 4983 (Laud MS.), Oþer mete þai ne habben Bot hawen, hepen, slon, & crabben. 14..Ms. Harl. 3388 in Cockayne Saxon Leechd. III. 345/1 Succus prunellarum immaturarum, grene slane wose. c1450M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 86 Take and gedre þe a good quantite of sloon, þat bene rype. 1573Baret Alv. (1580) F iij, Haw⁓bearies, sloen, gooseberries and such like. 1601Holland Pliny II. 169 Bulleis, Skegs, and Slone (which are the berries, as it were, or fruit of the wild Plum tree). 1633Hart Diet of Diseased i. xvi. 63 Plummes..are of two sorts, either wilde, called sloes or slane [etc.].
γ1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 86 Slowes blacke as ieat. 1604Drayton Owle 702 The Hip, the Haw, the Slow, the Bramble-berrie. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 11 As far..as the best Abricot is beyond the worst Slow or Crab.
δa1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 322, I saw..A bush of bitter Slaes. [See also slocken v. 3.]. 1786Burns Holy Fair iii, Their visage wither'd, lang an' thin, An' sour as ony slaes! a1802Cospatrick xx. in Scott Minstrelsy, To the grene wood I maun gae, To pu' the red rose and the slae. 1828Carr Craven Gloss., Slaa, sloe. 1837R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 75 To feast on the bramble-berries brown An' gather the glossy slaes. 1838Holloway Prov. Dict., Slaigh, the fruit of the black-thorn.
b. As the type of something having little or no value. (So OF. parnele, = F. prunelle.)
c1250Orison our Lady 28 in O.E. Misc. 160 Þis liues blisse nis wurð a slo. a1300Havelok 2051 Of hem ne yeue ich nouht a slo. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 141 Þer nas man in al þis londe..Þat bireft him worþ of a slo [C. sloo]. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1120 Þou schalt do so, And by desir of good, nat sette a slo. c1450Lovelich Merlin 7152 Al availled hit hem not a slo.
c. transf. The apple of one's eye.
1884Graphic Xmas No. 13/2, I loved him..like the sloe of my eye.
2. a. The blackthorn, Prunus spinosa.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sloe-worm, That of the sloe is of a greyish hue, and its spines longer. 1791Burns Lament Mary Queen of Scots iii, The hawthorn's budding in the glen, And milk-white is the slae. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 51 [This lichen is] whitest on the sloe. 1841Penny Cycl. XIX. 68/2 Of the Plum genus, thus restricted, there is in common use the Garden Plum,..the Bullace,..and the Sloe. 1882Garden 15 Apr. 247/1 We are grateful to the Sloe for the way which it adorns hedgerow, rock, or copse..in spring with its fearless bloom.
b. U.S. (See quots.)
1846–50A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 303 Viburnum prunifolium, Black Haw, Sloe. 1882F. B. Hough Elem. Forestry 269 Haw: Sloe: Arrow-Wood (Genus Viburnum). 1898L. H. Bailey Evol. Native Fruits 224 The black sloe of the southern states, Prunus umbellata, attains a height of twelve to twenty feet.
3. attrib. and Comb., as sloe-black, sloe-blue, sloe-bush, sloe-eye, sloe-eyed, sloe-feeder, sloe gin, sloe-juice, sloe-leaf, sloe-stem, sloe-worm.
1735Somerville Chase i. 241 His large *Sloe-black Eyes Melt in soft Blandishments. 1882Black Shandon Bells i, Those soft, large, sloe-black eyes.
1799M. Underwood Dis. Childr. (ed. 4) II. 183 A *sloe-blue or leaden colour of the lips.
1562Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 104 Our *slobush or blak thorn is one kynde. 1894E. Clodd FitzGerald's Grave 8 The hedges, in their tangle of sweetbriar and sloe⁓bush and bramble.
1957V. J. Kehoe Technique Film & T.V. Make-Up ix. 107 (caption) Effect of *sloe eye after applying latex to outer ends of lashes and eyelid and pressing them together. 1977N. Marsh Last Ditch ii. 37 His sloe eyes looked out of a pale face.
1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xii, This *sloe-eyed, peony-faced girl. 1894D. C. Murray Making of a Novelist 133 Hook-nosed, sloe-eyed and greasy of complexion.
1855Zoologist XIII. 4846 It is probable that many other *sloe-feeders will be found also to occur on the plum.
1895Outing XXVII. 194 Sampling some of his famous *sloe gin.
1798O'Keeffe Wild Oats i. i, Poison yourself with *sloe-juice. 1846Mrs. Gore Eng. Charact. (1852) 140 His evening paper and sloe-juice negus.
1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. vi, A small amount of dried *sloe-leaves.
1708Phillips Cyder i. 19 The *Sloe-Stem bearing Sylvan Plums austere.
1753Chambers's Cycl. Suppl., *Sloe-worm,..the name of an insect found on the leaves of sloe, or black-thorn, and sometimes on those of the garden-plum.
▪ II. sloe
obs. variant of slay v. |