释义 |
ˈsmittle, a. north. dial. and Sc. Also 6 smittel(l, 9 smittal. [f. smit v. + -le 1. Cf. MSw. smittol in the same sense.] Infectious; contagious. Esp. of diseases, etc. smittle has also dialect currency as n. and vb.; the latter is given by Ray (1674). The adj. smittlish is also recorded by Grose (1787) and others.
1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 760 Thair wald this halie bischope byde, Saying, forsuith, it was not smittell. 1720Ramsay Rise & Fall of Stocks 38 The covetous infatuation Was smittle out o'er all the nation. 1781in J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 96. 1811– in dialect glossaries, etc. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxvi, Get thy saddles off, lad, and come in; 'tis a smittle night for rheumatics. |