释义 |
▪ I. soak, n.|səʊk| Also 6–7, 9 dial., soke. [f. the vb.] 1. a. The condition or process of being or becoming soaked; a spell of soaking. Chiefly in the phr. in soak: cf. a-soak adv.
1598Florio, Abombare,..to steepe or lay in soke. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v. Soke, You need give it but one good Soke. 1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 350 He also lays the Ball Leathers in soak to supple them. 1787Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 283, I am not without hopes that a good rod is in soak for Prussia. 1887Brown Doctor 47 Fixin the die, very slow in the soak,..But takin the colour through and through! b. A liquid used for maceration; a steep.
1850Allen Amer. Farm Book ii. 48 As a soak or steep for seeds..there is no doubt of their possessing some value. c. A vat in which hides are macerated.
1876tr. Schultz' Leather Manuf. 17 Before any portion is put into the soaks. 1897C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather vi. 80 Dry salted hides, kips, etc,..are generally put into a pit of water kept for the purpose, called a soak. d. A heavy saturating rain.
1891Daily News 20 Aug. 5/1 The long steady soak that finds out the weak spot..in canvas. 2. A percolation of water; water which has oozed through or out of the ground, strata, etc.
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 191 In dry Ground that is not annoyed with any Spring or soak of Water. 1821Cobbett Rural Rides (1885) I. 4 A sort of river;..the water proceeding from the soak of the higher ground on both sides. 1838Simms Public Wks. Gt. Brit. 19 Springs, soaks, or streams of water. 1883Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Rlwy. 22 Wherever springs, soaks, or streams appear and issue from the face of the slopes. b. spec. in Lincolnshire. (Cf. sock n.3 2.) Also attrib.
1799[A. Young] Agric. Linc. 15 The sock or soak among the silt is sometimes brackish. Ibid. 235 Through all the fens of Lincolnshire we hear much of the soak,..the subterranean water which is found..usually but a very few feet below the surface. c1818Britton Lincolnshire 557 The sea water.., unable to pass by the drains, rises on the surface, and is known by the name of soak. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. i. 285 Upon digging down into the sharp silt the soak oozes from the side of the hole. c. dial. A piece of marshy, swampy ground.
1839Sir G. C. Lewis Gloss. Heref. s.v., A ‘green soak’, or ‘a warm soak’, is a small spot of marshy ground in which a spring rises. 1849J. Lloyd Eng. Country Gentleman 6 Where the soak its emerald fringe displays. 1851Sternberg Northampt. Dial., Soke, a patch of marshy land. d. Austr. A depression holding moisture after rain; a damp spot where water may be obtained.
1894Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 4/2 A prospecting party comes along to one of the clay-pans or soaks. 1899Times 24 Feb. 13/1 The rock holes and soaks on which the lives of themselves and their animals depended. 3. A heavy drinker; a tippler.
1820Clare Poems Rural Life (ed. 3) 93 And hearty soaks oft hand the bottle round. 1889Lisbon (Dakota) Star 15 Feb. 2/5, I think I'll corral a lot of chronic old soaks,..and experiment with them. 4. A prolonged draught or drinking-bout.
1851Sternberg Northampt. Dial., Soke,..a long draught. ‘A good soke.’ 1855C. G. Parsons Inside View Slavery iv. 51 When the Southron intends to have a ‘soak’, he takes the bottle to his bed-side. ▪ II. soak, v.|səʊk| Forms: 1 socian, 4–8 soke, 6–7 soake, 7– soak. Also pa. pple. 6–7 soken, 8–9 soaken. [OE. socian, f. the weak grade of the stem represented by súcan to suck, = WFlem. soken and zoken (De Bo). The following are examples of the strong pa. pple. (see also soaken ppl. a.):—1586 Bright Melanch. xiv. 72 Whose braines are soken.1597J. King On Jonas (1618) 176 Dirt soken with blood. 1633P. Fletcher Poet. Misc. Ps. cxxxvii, Our heart-strings broken, Throats drown'd, and soken With tears. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §196 So that the pores might be thoroughly soaken with water. 1886J. Ashby-Sterry Lazy Minstrel 126 Shiny is each mackintosh, Each hat and coat well soaken.] I. intr. 1. a. To lie immersed in a liquid for a considerable time, so as to be saturated or permeated with it; to become thoroughly wet or soft in this manner.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 240 Dweorᵹe dwostlan weorp on weallende wæter, læt socian on lange. Ibid. 252 Asete þonne on hate sunnan..þæt hit sipiᵹe & sociᵹe.
c1440[see soaking vbl. n. 1]. 1674Brevint Saul at Endor 314 The other water which did cure the Palsie, when the little Image of Montague..had soakt in it. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. s.v., To lay a Thing a-soking. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 313 The Sea, in which they soak every Tide. 1833Rennie Alph. Angling 68 Before using them let them soak about half an hour in water. 1853A. Soyer Pantroph. 160 As soon as the goose was killed, the liver was put to soak in milk and honey. 1889Science-Gossip XXV. 234 A spoonful of water in which a clove of garlic has soaked for half an hour. b. transf. and fig.
a1510Douglas K. Hart i. xx, Ryse, fresch Delyte, lat nocht this mater soke. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. i. s.v. Mitonner, This Potage must be kept soaking upon a Chafing-dish, or the like. 1711Addison Spect. No. 65 ⁋8 Because it is Vulgar to Lye and Soak together, we have each of us our several Settle-Bed. a1791Wesley Serm. xcviii. (1825) II. 475 By soaking (as it is emphatically called) so long between warm sheets, the flesh..becomes soft and flabby. 1874J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl viii. 142 Now, put these little hints ‘to soak’, as they say out here. c. To allow moisture to percolate. rare—1.
1688Phil. Trans. XVII. 981 It being Sandy Land, soaks and drains admirably well. d. Of metal: to become heated uniformly throughout its mass.
1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 241 The work..should be allowed ample time to get hot, or as it is called, to ‘soak’. 1939J. Dearden Iron & Steel To-day x. 134 Here the ingots are allowed to ‘soak’ until they are the same heat all through, and then they are rolled. 2. a. To percolate; to penetrate by saturation or infiltration; to ooze. Also with in, through, etc.
c1440Promp. Parv. 463/2 Sokyn yn, as lycure yn dyuerse þyngys, or drynkyn yn. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 47 For weede and the water so soketh and sucks, that [etc.]. 1587Gascoigne Flowers, etc. Wks. 1907 I. 116 [Floods of tears] Whose fountaine..soketh so, that all my face is styll on flowe. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 188 When the rain descended, it filled the horns, and soked to the root of the Vine. 1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 64 A Barrow full of Rotten Muck,..the fatnesse whereof will soke in among the roots. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 677 If Sweat remains Unwash'd, and soaks into the empty Veins. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 74/2 The Structure..may..be rotted by the moisture lying continually soaking upon it. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 42 The Pit..quite free from Water, except some small Quantity that soaked from the Bed of the River. 1815Scott Guy M. xxiii, A narrow channel, through which soaked, rather than flowed, a small stagnant stream. 1884Law Times Rep. LI. 229/2 The water..soaked under the wall and wetted the mud below it. b. fig.
1583Golding Calvin on Deut. xiii. 14 b, God will make them to soke away like water. 1599Breton Miseries of Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 36/1 Sorrow sokes long ere it slayes. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 3 The grace of that spirit..might soke and sinke into the soules of men. 1675J. Smith Christian Religion's Appeal ii. 6 To repel the thought of future Judgment, from soaking into the Spirits. 1881Times 21 May 11/4 The controversialists have separated to give time for them to soak into the minds..of nations. †c. Of currents: To flow slowly. Obs.
1699W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. viii. 103 The Sea-Breezes and the Currents, that soak down between Africa and Brazil. d. With cognate obj.: To make (way) by percolation.
1815Scott Guy M. xxviii, The rivulet beneath..soaked its way obscurely through wreaths of snow. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. xiv, The nearest of the little rivers soaked its way into the anchorage. e. transf. Of heat: to penetrate through the mass of an ingot until it is at a uniform temperature.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXIX. 587/1 Bringing such an ingot..to the rolling temperature is not really an operation of heating,..but one of equalizing the temperature, by allowing the internal excess of heat to ‘soak’ through the mass. 1970F. Simons Dict. Ferrous Metals 191 Soaked steel, steel heated in a furnace and held at the chosen temperature sufficiently long for the heat to have ‘soaked’ right through to the centre of the mass, which is only then uniformly heated. 3. To drink immoderately; to saturate oneself with liquor.
1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 78 You keep soaking in Taverns, and come and make such Complaints to me. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxi, You do nothing but soak with the guests all day long, whereas..I never touch a drop. 1828Ruddiman Sc. Parish (1889) 69 The sodger gentry..sit soaking and drinking. 188319th Cent. Oct. 594 The shambling and scrofulous shirk whom you may find any night soaking at the pothouse. II. trans. 4. a. Of liquid or moisture: To permeate thoroughly; to saturate with wet. Freq. in passive. (a)a1340,c1440[see b below]. 1544T. Phaer Bk. Childr. (1553) S iij b, Stepe it in suffycyent rosewater, tyll it bee wel soked. 1577Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 156 The..barleie..is steeped in a cesterne..vntill it be throughlie soked. 1601Holland Pliny I. 567 The ground standeth not drenched and soked with water. 1671Milton Samson 1726 Let us go find the body where it lies Sok't in his enemies blood. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 219 Several of her casks had rotted, and her bags were soaked through. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 334 The herbage and the trees are soaked in water. 1876J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. (1878) 280 Not when the marshy ground is thoroughly soaked, but when, after it has been thus soaked [etc.]. (b)1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 187 Where..deep Galesus soaks the yellow Sands. 1784Cowper Task i. 215 When Winter soaks the fields. 1800tr. Legrange's Chem. II. 303 The quantity..should be sufficient to soak the grain. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 730 Hyperidrosis..soaking the boots and stockings with a stinking material. b. fig.
a1340Hampole Psalter iii. 5, I am soked in my synne. c1440Generydes 234 The kyng..was febyll and sokyd with sekenesse. 1600Breton Daffodils & Primroses Wks. (Grosart) I. 14/1 My tree of true delight is sokde with sorrow. 1630J. Preston Serm. 30 Soaked and surfetted with pleasures. 1902M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 88, I am literally soaked in sunshine. 5. a. To lay or place in, to wet with, a liquid so as to produce thorough saturation; to steep.
a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 40 It availeþ mich þat þe yuel or sore be wele fomented or soked wiþ vinegre and watre. c1440Promp. Parv. 463/2 Sokyn yn lycure..to be made softe. 1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 39 b, Beate the Saffron in poulder, stiepe, and soke it. 1652J. Maine tr. Donne's Epigr. 94 The ground..Her Temples now steept in sea-water sokes. 1659H. More Immort. Soul iii. vii. §8 It is not unlikely, but that they soak their Vehicles in some vaporous or glutinous moisture or other. 1707Mortimer Husb. 52 If you put Wormwood into the Brine you soak your Corn in. 1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 350 The purpose of soaking them is only to supple them. 1831Davies Mat. Med. 260 It is..covered over with lint, which is afterwards soaked with the same caustic liquid. 1892Photogr. Ann. II. 443 It consists in soaking the positive or negative on glass in a special solution. absol.1892Photogr. Ann. II. 49 If you must soak, be sure to go over the face of the plate with a wet pledget. b. fig.
1648G. Daniel Eclog iii. 193 You soake your soules, and by too large a flood. 1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such x. 183 We soak our children in habits of contempt. 1895Zangwill Master 439 He must soak himself in Paris and forget her. c. refl. with reference to excessive drinking.
1818Scott Rob Roy xii, Habitual topers..acquire the power of soaking themselves with a quantity of liquor [etc.]. 1891E. Roper By Track & Trail xvii. 256 Even..where people can get what they choose to drink, they do not soak themselves in beer. 6. a. To bake (bread, etc.) thoroughly. Also fig.
1686Goad Celest. Bodies i. vi. 22 The One baketh, the Other as it were soketh (that I may use Pastery Terms) the Fruits of the Season. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece i. ii. 133 A Haunch of 12 Pounds Weight will take up three full Hours to be well soaked. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Soak, to bake thoroughly. It is particularly applied to bread. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 548 Bread..is said ‘to be well soaked’, if it is dry and thoroughly well baked. b. To maintain (metal or ceramics) at a constant temperature for a period to ensure that they are uniformly heated.
1925Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXII. 491 The ingots should be stripped, soaked, and forged before reaching the temperature of the critical range. 1956A. K. Osborne Encycl. Iron & Steel Industry 392/1 The pit was for soaking the ingots or permitting the heat contained in the still molten steel in its interior to penetrate to the outer portions until the temperature of the entire ingot was reasonably uniform. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VII. 346/1 In this type of kiln the cycle of setting ware in the kiln, heating up, ‘soaking’ or holding at peak temperature for some time, cooling and removing or ‘drawing’ the ware is repeated for each batch. 7. colloq. or slang. a. to soak one's clay (or † face), to drink (heavily).
1704in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Am. Col. Ch. I. 180 Sober and meek under disgrace,..Now he's advanced he soaks his face. 1770Gentl. Mag. XL. 559 He is said to..[have] Soaked his face. 1837Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. Look at the Clock iv, Mr. David Pryce had been soaking his clay. b. To ply with liquor. Also in passive.
1822J. Banim O'Hara Tales, Peggy Nowlan, Well? you pumped him? and soaked him? 1884Pall Mall G. 1 Aug. 4/1 He was..so drunk he could not stand. His friend..was also pretty well soaked. c. To spend (money) in drink.
1903Daily Chron. 31 Aug. 3/4 When you meet him give him sixpence... He will soak it, of course, but that is long past mending. d. To put (something) in pawn.
1882Sala Amer. Revis. (1885) 382 ‘Soak my gems,’ and ‘Walker my diamonds’. e. U.S. slang. To punish, beat, pummel, strike hard, etc.; to criticize harshly, to ‘knock’; to soak it to (one) = to sock it to (one) (see sock v.2 1 c).
1892Columbus (Ohio) Even. Dispatch 29 July 1/4 To-day's Washington Post ‘soaks’ it to the Southern Democrats in the House who were so rallied in 1885 in their support of the bill making an appropriation to the New Orleans Exposition, but are now opposed to a similar appropriation for the World's Fair. 1896Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 29 July 1 Embezzlers Soaked. The Fines and Sentences Given the Pittsburgh Defaulters. 1896S. Crane George's Mother xiii. 152 At the gang's corner, they asked: ‘Who soaked yeh, Fidsey?’ 1904G. H. Lorimer Old Gorgon Graham 18 The unspeakable Turk hadn't been soaked hard enough to suit him [sc. an Armenian]. 1908― Jack Spurlock ii. 44 Yes, he done it! Soak it to him good! Ibid. vi. 107 My troubles came at me from all sides, and soaked it to me till my conscience fairly ached. 1915H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) xii. 210 If he gets fancy with you, soak him again. You done it once. 1920Wodehouse Coming of Bill ii. xiv. 239 Soak it to him, kid. 1925H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp Tourists iii. 21, I found that we had on board..the man whose newspaper soaked my last book. 1936[see button n. 5 g]. f. slang (orig. U.S.). To impose upon (a person, etc.) by an extortionate charge or price; to charge or tax heavily; to borrow or extort money from; to cost a high price. Freq. const. for or with indirect object expressing a sum of money. Hence soak-the-rich, attrib. phr. applied to a policy of progressive taxation (progressive a. 3 f); also in similar phrases, as soak-the-poor, etc. (a)1895N.Y. Dramatic News 23 Nov. 2/2 This little scheme sometimes..enables the photographer to ‘soak’ them. 1904Newspaperdom 21 Apr. 8 When a local merchant asks you to give his business a friendly notice, soak him 10 or 15 cents a line. 1915Wodehouse Something Fresh ii. 37 Especially after poor old Percy had just got soaked for such a pile of money. 1932D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xiii. 164 Poor, but not mercenary or dishonest, since he refused to soak Mrs. W. 1936N. Coward To-night at 8.30 ii. 60 She soaked her old man plenty, I'm sure—before he took to soaking himself! 1949[see brass v.1 2]. 1958Times 17 Mar. 12/6, I hope the Court-Leet soaked the Air Ministry, and I expect it did, for these Berkshire men knew their own value. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 101 Can I soak yer fer a coupler bob? 1971Farmers Weekly 19 Mar. 42/3 If you think this is a soak-the-housewives review, nobody knows more about soaking the housewives than you. 1977Time 21 Nov. 59/2 Then add the investment in sophisticated equipment: a single stainless-steel 1,000-gal. vat can soak the vintner for some $6,000. (b)1935J. Warburg Hell Bent for Election 72 He [sc. F. D. Roosevelt] thought he was being ‘clever’ when he tried to steal Huey Long's thunder by suddenly coming out with his ‘soak the rich’ tax message. 1935H. L. Ickes in Lit. Digest 14 Dec. 6/3 Soak the Rich (Antonym, Soak the Poor)—Newspaperese for a system of taxation founded upon the absurd and revolutionary theory that a man should be assessed taxes in proportion to his ability to pay. 1949A. Christie Crooked House i. 8 No Soak-the-rich taxes would have any effect on him. He'd just soak the soakers. 1959Economist 7 Feb. 498/1 The Democratic cry that this is a ‘soak-the-poor’ Budget. 1970Wall St. Jrnl. 29 Apr. 1/5 Soak-the-sinner tax policy remains a stand-by... Taxes on alcoholic beverages and on cigarets have been the most frequent targets for increases. 1972Listener 28 Dec. 898/3 Advocates of populist soak-the-rich policies. III. 8. a. To draw out, cause to ooze out, by means of soaking.
c1430Two Cookery-bks. 25 Take howhys of Vele, & ley hem on water to soke out þe blode. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Clear-Starching, Lay it in a dry Cloth to soak out the Sudds. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 114 Put half the Planks into Water, two or three Weeks, to soak out their Sap. 1892Photogr. Ann. II. 179 The bichromate of potash is next soaked out by immersion in water for about four hours. b. To draw or suck out.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 22 b, Sowe it with lighter seede, that soketh out lesse the substance of the ground. 1626Bacon Nat. Hist. §346 As well by Strengthning the Spirits, as by Soaking out the loose Moisture. 1846Landor Imag. Conv. I. 88 The people you describe to me soak out all the juices of our dialect. †c. To drain, exhaust, impoverish. Also to soak dry or soak up. Obs.
1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 165 And sucks & sokes the marow bones vntill they feeble waxe. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 35 Whereby they might..soake his pursse to reape commoditie. 16051st Part Ieronimo i. iii, His bounty amongst souldiers sokes him dry. 1626Bacon Nat. Hist. §480 All Plants that doe draw much Nourishment from the Earth, and so soake the Earth, and exhaust it. 1661Sir Harry Vane's Politicks 9 It fares with those..as it doth with Gaming Houses, where the Box soaks the Gamesters. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To soke (or drain) ones Pockets, épuiser les Poches. Ibid., A Woman that sokes up a Man,..qui épuise un Homme. d. To allow to drain or ooze away.
a1764Lloyd Poet. Professors Wks. 1774 I. 34 Fellows! who've soak'd away their knowledge, In sleepy residence at college. 9. a. To allow to sink in; to absorb; to take in by absorption.
1553Short Catech. in Lit. & Doc. Edw. VI (1844) 518 He ought..[to] endeavour himself to hear and soak into his mind the word of the Lord. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 16/2 Rather we follow the spider in soking the poison, than in imitating the bee by sucking the honie. 1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 33 The paper..was sleeked..; and this kept it from soaking the ink. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 33 Losing the water soaked by its Crystals. b. With up.
c1550[? G. Walker] Detect. Dice-Play D ij b, Sone after yt this likor was..dried, & soked vp in the boies face. 1588Kyd Househ. Phil. 187 Wks. (1901) 244 They soke up the superfluous humours of the earth. 1663Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. i. 22 Plants..dried..betwixt sheets of paper, which help to soak up the superfluous moisture. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 35 When dry, throw it into the composition,..and stir it about, till it has soaked it up. 1854Lowell Fireside Trav. (1864) 286 One great mountain that soaked up all the rose of sunset. c. To drink, imbibe, esp. to excess.
1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 419 The Men come home fat with soaking this Liquor. 1865Reader No. 117. 339/3 The quantity of port soaked there. d. pass. with in: to be imbued with, to be profoundly acquainted with (a subject of study).
1937Ann. Reg. 1936 56 It was generally agreed that the best speeches were made more or less extempore by speakers who were ‘soaked’ in their subject. a1960E. M. Forster Maurice (1971) i. i. 4 Mr Ducie would smile, for he was soaked in evolution. †10. To cause to sink in. Obs.—1
1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 28 They cast about gently to soake and settle them in mens..consciences. IV. 11. Comb., as soak-dike, soak-ditch, soak-drain; † soakpit = soakaway (obs.); soakway [way adv.] = soakaway.
1970S. J. Hallam in C. W. Phillips Fenland in Roman Times 23 Settlers clung tenaciously to these rich soils, and we can read from the air the story of their constant efforts to cope with deteriorating drainage: silting, the digging of soak-dykes, renewed silting, re-digging. Ibid. 33 The modern soak ditches take the drainage from the field ditches and discharge it into the main channel at regulated points; the Roman soak ditches must have had a similar function.
1963Times 1 Feb. 13/7 The southern fringes of the planned settlement went first; water courses were provided with parallel soak-drains, which in their turn proved inadequate. 1970P. Salway in C. W. Phillips Fenland in Roman Times 18 On the silts, continued occupation must have depended on keeping the system of soak-drains in operation. These drains imply sluices to let the water drain out of field and settlement ditches into the main watercourses at low tide and to prevent or control river water entering the ditches at high tide.
1898E. C. S. Moore Sanitary Engin. i. 5 If made in porous soils so that the liquid soaks away they are called soak⁓pits; they are dangerous to neighbouring wells. 1956C. D. Pigott in D. L. Linton Sheffield 83 Now only Sphagnum recurvum is at all frequent and this is no doubt due to its occupation of the wettest soakways which are avoided by sheep. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 438/2 These latter [sc. rain water channels]..empty into soak⁓ways at the base of the building. |