| 释义 |
something, n. (a.), and adv.|ˈsʌmθɪŋ|
Forms: 1 sum þing(c), ðing, 2 sum ðinc, 3–5 sumþing, 3– 6 -thing; 4 somþing (zom-), -þyng, 5 -thyng (6 -e), 7 somthing; 6– something, 6 -thyng, 9 dial. somethin', etc.
[f. some a.1 2 + thing n.1 17. Orig., and freq. down to the end of the 16th cent., written as two words.]
A. n.
1. a. Some unspecified or indeterminate thing (material or immaterial).
For something like see like a. 2 e, 2 f.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xx. 20 Ða com to him zebedeis bearna modor..sum þingc fram him biddende. c1200Ormin 3363 Her icc wile shæwenn ȝuw Summ þing to witerr takenn. a1300Cursor M. 11928 Þar Iesus did in his barn⁓hide Sum-thing þat es of to rede. 1340Ayenb. 33 Huanne..me him hat zomþing þet him þingþ hard, he him excuseþ. 1382Wyclif Luke vii. 40 Symound, I haue sum thing for to seye to thee. 1503Dunbar Thistle & Rose 23 In my honour sum thing thow go wryt. 1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 592 To doe some thing without cause. 1601Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 248 There's something in't More then my Fathers skill. 1638R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 91 Yet something must be done for examples sake. 1681Dryden Span. Friar iv. i, Nay, if you will complain, you shall for something. (Beats him.) 1779Mirror No. 27, A slip of paper, with something written on it. 1823Scott Quentin D. xxii, He read something in the looks of his soldiers, which even he was obliged to respect. 1863A. Blomfield Mem. Bp. Blomfield I. v. 123 His speeches were those of one who had something to say, not of one who had to say something. 1895B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 30 There, to the left, was something coming rapidly through the crops!
Prov. phr.1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 132 Some thyng is better then nothyng. 1638Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 97 Something, we say, hath some savour.
attrib.1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 36 For nothing hath begot my something greefe.
b. Used as a substitute for a name or part of one, or other particular, which is not remembered or is immaterial, etc.
1764G. Williams in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1843) I. 295 Lady Something Grey is here. 1779C'tess Upper Ossory Ibid. IV. 75 Another man has sworn to shoot a Miss Something, n'importe, if she did not run away with him from the Opera. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xvi, ‘His name is Craig—Craig—something, is it not?’ ‘Craigengelt is the fellow's name,’ said the Master. 1862Borrow Wild Wales xxxix, I passed by a place called Llan something. 1896Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign i, I..just caught the five something train.
c. Some liquor, drink, or food; esp. in phr. to take something.
1778F. Burney Evelina lxxxii, Lady Louisa..desired to take something before we began our rambles. 1779Mirror No. 25, Come in and have a glass of something after your ride. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iv, I'll give you a drop of something to keep the cold out.
d. Used (with between) to denote an intermediate stage or grade.
1821–30Ld. Cockburn Mem. ii. (1874) 105 He walked with a slow stealthy step—something between a walk and a hirple. 1823Scott Quentin D. xviii, An officer, who, having taken Deacon's orders, held something between a secular and ecclesiastical character.
e. Used to denote an undefined or unknown occupation, or a person in respect of this.
c1863T. Taylor Ticket-of-Leave Man ii. 32 If Mr. Gibson would only give you employment. He's something in the City. 1874Burnard My Time xv. 130 May I be prompter, or call-boy, or something? 1886Pascoe London of To-day ii. (ed. 3) 37 The restless gentlemen who are ‘something in the city’, but no one knows what. 1907E. Gosse Father & Son ii. 21 My uncles..earned a comfortable living, E. by teaching, A. as ‘something in the City’. 1951[see slinky a.]. 1962[see commute v. 4 b]. 1978P. Fitzgerald Bookshop ii. 20 He was known to drive up to London to work, and to be something in TV. 1979R. Barnard Posthumous Papers iv. 37 He was something in insurance.
f. or something (colloq.), used to express an indistinct or unknown alternative.
1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. xi. 223 There were generally delays, a bad passage or something. 1899[see mittagessen]. 1913‘S. Rohmer’ Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu i. 4 What, are you moved to London or something? 1926I. Mackay Blencarrow v. 49 Yet undoubtedly this man was drunk or ill, or something. 1938Chatelaine Oct. 25/3 Our things must have tattle-tale gray or somethin' 'cause they never shine like this. 1951M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael ii. iii. 100 ‘Aren't they engaged or something?’ ‘I don't know what you mean by or something... It's a vulgar, slipshod phrase.’ 1958N.Z. Listener 4 July 7/1 Jarden was off the field—had hurt his foot or something—and it seemed that we might be hard up against it. 1969N. Freeling Tsing-Boum viii. 54 She might have a police record or something. 1978P. Marsh et al. Rules of Disorder iii. 69 You have to fight or else people..think you're a bit soft or something.
g. Phrases something for everybody (or everyone), something for nothing. Also used attrib.
1869P. T. Barnum Struggles & Triumphs viii. 132 When people expect to get ‘something for nothing’ they are sure to be cheated. 1924G. B. Shaw Saint Joan iv. 41 The Jews generally give value. They make you pay; but they deliver the goods. In my experience the men who want something for nothing are invariably Christians. 1938E. Ambler Cause for Alarm vii. 115 A something-for-nothing proposition always has a string to it. 1955R. Macaulay Let. 20 Aug. in Last Lett. to Friend (1962) 206, I personally think it all to the good, as giving something for every one, however different their minds, backgrounds, and religious temperaments. 1960N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 17 Jan. 1 There's something for everybody. 1971Engineering Apr. 129/2 Something-for-everyone entertainment. 1976Glasgow Herald 26 Nov. 6/2 But human nature dictates that most people..are liable to take advantage of an opportunity to get something for nothing.
2. a. A certain part, portion, amount, or share (of some thing, quality, etc.); freq., a small part or amount, a slight trace.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 157 Dele hit swo, þat ech nedi..haue sum þing þer-of. a1300Cursor M. 9530 To quam ilkan he gaf sum-thing Of his might. 1388Wyclif Joshua vii. 1 Sum thing of the halewid thing. c1470Henry Wallace v. 482 Off Inglismen ȝhett sum thing spek I will. 1562Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 4 Albeit the time be schort, sum⁓thing of ȝour prais man we speik. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §12 A set of things that carry in their Front..something of Divinity. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 55, I hope..I may see something of the Improvement..come to pass. 1710Tatler No. 245 ⁋2 Her voice loud and shrill,..and something of a Welch accent. 1780Mirror No. 81, There was something of bustle, as well as of sorrow, all over the house. 1815Scott Guy M. xliii, Something of the tone, and manners, and feeling of a gentleman. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 319 He has generally seen something of foreign countries. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §5. 511 The two Fletchers,..in their unreadable allegories, still preserved something of their master's sweetness.
b. Const. of with adjective. Obs. or arch.
1654D. Osborne Lett. (1888) 257 Love, which, sure, has something of divine in it. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. 293 As if something of unseemly, or misbecoming had been asked her.
c. something of a(n), to a certain extent or degree a (person or thing of the kind specified).
1711Addison Spect. No. 106 ⁋6 Sir Roger, amidst all his good Qualities, is something of an Humourist. 1780Mirror No. 70, As he was something of a sportsman, my guardians often permitted me to accompany him to the field. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 231, I am something of a judge of china myself. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. xiii, Dormer, who was..something of an epicure, looked rather annoyed. 1931R. Campbell Georgiad iii. 55 Even the devil dwindles to a duiker, Who prides himself as something of a spiker. 1939R. G. Collingwood Autobiogr. iv. 27, I had become something of a specialist in Aristotle. 1959Listener 17 Dec. 1083/3 It had been, I admit, something of a party. 1978Lancashire Life Sept. 51/1 During the last war he became something of a legend, working incredible hours and doing general and orthopaedic surgery, as well as obstetrics.
3. a. Followed by an adjective.
1382Wyclif Acts xxiii. 20 Thei ben to sekinge sum thing certeynere [L. aliquid certius]. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. iii. 75 Ther's something extraordinary in thee. 1610― Temp. iii. iii. 94 I'th name of something holy, Sir, why stand you In this strange stare? 1663S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. (1687) 81 The desire..of speaking something extraordinary on this occasion. 1737Gentl. Mag. VII. 182/2 The Epigram..seems to have something Serious and Noble in the Turn. 1779Mirror No. 61, The most eccentric of them all have something venerable about them. 1819Scott Leg. Montrose xii, Something there was cold in his address, and sinister in his look. 1888Academy 14 Apr. 253/3 Within an ace or so of being something very good indeed.
b. something damp or something short, a drink; spirits. slang or colloq.
c1831Hood in W. Jerdan Autobiogr. (1853) IV. 202, I shall never take ‘something short’ without dedicating it to the same toast. 1865Slang Dict. 240 Something damp, a dram, a drink. a1904in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., She always had a drop of something short in her tea (Oxf.).
c. something (good or special), a useful racing tip.
1907Racing Expert 9 July 3 For the benefit of those who care to wait and act upon the best information. ‘The Expert’ will occasionally wire when he knows Something Special. 1908Racing Judge 6 June 4 Owing to Bank Holiday this Letter will be sent out on Tuesday Evening... Something good at Manchester will be given. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 800/2 Something good, a good racing tip.
4. a. In more emphatic use: A thing, fact, person, etc., of some value, consideration, or regard.
something in the wind: see wind n.
1582N.T. (Rhemish) Gal. vi. 3 If any man esteeme him self to be something, whereas he is nothing. 1611Beaum. & Fl. King & No King iii. ii, To set him..in my rowle, the two hundred and thirteenth man, which is something. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 103, I have so spent my dayes, that I account of my selfe, as one that hath serued for some vse, and for something in the world. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. II. 274 So we may not..falsely imagine we are Something, when in Truth we are Nothing. 1739–56Doddridge Fam. Expositor clxx. (1799) II. 419 Now you say something, signifies among us, You speak right. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xii. 100 If he could even recover five guineas of it, it would be something. 1865Whewell in Mrs. S. Douglas Life (1881) 540, I shall have Kate's sweet dear face there; and that will be something. 1887Lowell Democracy 46 It is something that two great nations have looked at each other kindly through their tears.
b. In the phr. there's something in it, etc.
1681Roxb. Ball. (1884) V. 255 Their being in Print signifies something in't. 1713Berkeley Hylas & Phil. ii. Wks. 1871 I. 309 There is indeed something in what you say. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 363 There is something in it, I am persuaded from my own Experience. 1818T. L. Peacock Nightm. Abbey xiv. (1891) 127 True, Raven, there is something in that. I will take your advice. 1847Tennyson Princ. v. 202 She can talk; And there is something in it, as you say. a1902S. Butler Way of all Flesh (1903) liv. 249 When Christina pointed out to him that it would be cheap he replied that there was something in that. 1977B. Pym Quartet in Autumn i. 7 ‘Cheerful, aren't you,’ said Edwin, ‘but perhaps there's something in it. Four people on the verge of retirement, each one of us living alone.’
c. to make something of, to make important or useful; to improve or raise in some way; to succeed in utilizing to some extent.
1778F. Burney Evelina xxvi, She told them that she had it in her head to make something of me. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1851) 85 If the part is trifling she will have more credit in making something of it. 1836Mrs. Sherwood H. Milner iii. xvi. 310 His hopes of making something of the young man. 1870Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 246 Calumny made something of his relations with William Tooke.
d. something to see (or look at): an impressive sight.
1808J. Mackintosh in R. J. Mackintosh Mem. Life Sir J. Mackintosh (1835) I. ix. 501 It was something to see children clinging round the necks of their fathers, and sons carrying their infirm parents in pursuit of health. 1942T. Bailey Pink Camellia i. 2 In khaki breeches, sitting her horse like a boy, her white shirt open at the throat, she was something to look at. 1957E. B. White Let. June (1976) 440 Martha is really something to see now.
e. to have (got) something, to have an idea or attribute of value or worthy of consideration.
1938‘E. Queen’ Four of Hearts iv. 57 Say..the screwball's got something. Only I got a better idea. 1940G. Greene Power & Glory i. ii. 25 ‘I would take..a hostage.’.. ‘You know,’ the chief said, ‘you've got something there.’ 1948Powys & Bolton Don't listen, Ladies! in Plays of Year (1949) 586 The Crusaders, gentlemen, they had something. The husband ordered his clothes from the blacksmith, and his wife's from the locksmith. 1960Times 14 Sept. 12/6 Yet that girl ‘had something’, as any visitor to the United States will find out. 1973L. Cooper Tea on Sunday i. 20 ‘I'm not at all the nice little wife she wanted for you.’ ‘She may have something there.’
f. Used in various phrases expressing admiration, as isn't (that, he, etc.) something?, to be really something; quite something: see quite adv. 5 d.
1958B. Nichols Sweet & Twenties ii. 42 The Ritz Bar, in those days, really was something. 1967M. Kenyon Whole Hog vii. 81 Isn't that something? So if they [sc. pigs] don't know you they're like interested? 1969Widdowson & Halpert in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 161 Mummers were really something when I was a boy. If you wasn't afraid of them, you wasn't afraid of nothing when you was four or five. 1973A. Christie Postern of Fate iii. x. 213 Perhaps it's something important... And so if they..tried to get whatever it was—that really would be something! 1977‘A. York’ Tallant for Trouble xi. 163 P. C. Abrahams presented arms..decked..out in full-dress white... ‘Oh, isn't he something,’ Jennie Kamm exclaimed.
g. to have something going (with someone), to have an ‘understanding’ or an affectionate relationship (with someone).
1971V. Canning Firecrest iii. 32 It didn't need any semaphore signals to tell her that there was something going between Mrs. Pilch and Major Cranston. 1973Philadelphia Inquirer (Today Suppl.) 7 Oct. 7/2 Is it true that Sammy Davis Jr. has something going with Linda Lovelace. 1977E. Leonard Unknown Man No. 89 xx. 200 She smiled..like they had something going.
5. With article or demonstrative pronoun, or in plural (= sense 1):
a. With adj. preceding. Also in phr. a little something: some food or drink; a snack; refreshments. Cf. sense 1 c.
sing.1577Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 163 A little something was allowed in the morning to young children. 1661Glanvill Van. Dogm. 145 A very slender something in a Fable. 1682Creech Lucretius iii. 75 Then we must add a fourth to this frame, A fourth something, but without a name. 1778F. Burney Diary 18 June, An inward something which I cannot account for, prepares me to expect a reverse. 1800E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. III. 165 An unaccountable something seemed always to prevent their getting further. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. vi. 91 Every monastery..had..its special something, to attract the interest of the people. 1864Bowen Logic iv. 64 It is only an indeterminate something. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt I. xi. 237 Like the shrill biting talk of a vixenish wife, it..compelled you to ‘take a little something’ by way of dulling your sensibility. 1926A. A. Milne Winnie-the-Pooh vi. 77 It was..as if somebody inside him were saying, ‘Now then, Pooh, time for a little something.’.. So he sat down and took the top off his jar of honey. 1950J. Cannan Murder Included vii. 146, I wonder if a little something could be provided to pacify the inner man? 1958Wodehouse Cocktail Time xix. 159 Butlers always like to keep their strength up with a little something in the middle of the morning. 1977P. D. James Death of Expert Witness iv. iii. 192, I cook a little something for everyone in the evenings.
pl.1642H. More Song Soul ii. i. iv. 2 Bringing hid Noughts into existencie, Or sleeping Somethings into wide day-light. 1728Pope Dunciad i. 54 Here she beholds y⊇ Chaos dark and deep, Where nameless Somethings in their causes sleep. 1894Pall Mall Mag. Dec. 601 Whispering soft Somethings in Italian. 1897Atlantic Monthly LXXIX. 139 The title of a group of miniature essays..devoted to airy somethings.
b. Without prec. adj. Also with genitive (cf. 2 a).
In the 16–17th cent. somethings is occasionally found in the sense of some things.
sing.1587Golding De Mornay i. (1592) 4 Nowe betweene nothing and something, (how little so euer that something can bee) there is an infinite space. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 52 Marry sir, for this something that you gaue me for nothing. 1776Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Dissert. 160/1 The opposition of it to the arch-angel Michael..carries in it a something which must displease. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. iii. i, I saw a something in the Sky, No bigger than my fist. 1807T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 37 Experiments..to discover what that something is. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lvi, The young gentlemen..might learn a something of every known science. 1894Parry Stud. Grt. Composers 224 They only wanted words at all as a something to excuse their using their voices.
pl.1656Hobbes Six Lessons Wks. 1845 VII. 301 You allow..your own nothings to be somethings. 1737Gentl. Mag. VII. 560/1, I know Hands, in which a Parcel of Nothings would make a finer Appearance than other Peoples Somethings. 1789C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) II. 143 By having written certain somethings which he was assured by his friends were specimens of uncommon and original genius.
c. A certain amount of money.
1827Scott Chron. Canongate vi, He..had enjoyed legacies, and laid by a something of his own, upon which he now enjoys ease with dignity.
6. a. something or other, = sense 1 a, b.
(a)1707Refl. upon Ridicule 218 'Tis hard at long run not to drop something or other, that may notifie their Disposition of Mind. 1752Foote Taste ii. Wks. 1799 I. 20 A sort of Queen, or wife, or something or other to somebody. 1873B. Harte Fiddletown 27 He was arrested on suspicion of being something or other. 1897Flandrau Harvard Episodes 337 The piece was a Spanish something or other through which a tambourine shivered at intervals.
(b)1858Longfellow M. Standish ii, The battle of something-or-other. 1897‘H. S. Merriman’ In Kedar's Tents vi, The guide, Antonio something-or-other.
b. something else, (a) In suggestive use. (b) slang (orig. N. Amer.), a different matter; an exceptional or extraordinary (person, event, sight, etc.).
1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xliii, More farewells, more something else's; a parting word from Martin. 1909R. E. Knowles Attic Guest 87 But when a lover comes across a couple of states, leaving behind him a big city—and all the girls are sorry to see him go, that's the best of it—that is something else, as we used to say in the South. 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet i. ii. 33 But when cash money starts changing hands, that's something else. 1949R. Harvey Curtain Time 67 Getting the small performer dressed for a public appearance was something else again. 1957E. Horne in N.Y. Times Mag. 18 Aug. 26/3 Something else—A phenomenon so special it defies description. Thus, when asked if the music is great..a cat may reply, ‘No, man, not that; it was something else.’ 1960Melody Maker 31 Dec. 5/5 Philly Joe Jones: Aside from being a fabulous drummer, he could be a great comedian. He has people lying on the floor, he's so funny. Philly's something else. 1968Crescendo Jan. 27/1 The one I rave about more than any other is the band of 1947... That was something else. It was a dream. 1973R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) vii. 50 Dillworthy was something else again. 1977O.D. No. 3, 12/1 (caption) Oh, wow, these guides are..something else man!
c. Comb., as something-nothing, etc.
1817Coleridge Biogr. Lit. (Bohn) 58 In all these cases the real agent is a something-nothing-everything. 1884Tennyson Becket iii. i, Henry. What did you ask her? Rosamund. Some daily something-nothing.
7. As adj. Used euphemistically for ‘damned’ or other expletive.
1859F. Francis Newton Dogvane (1888) 252 It's the somethingest robbery I ever saw in my life. 1888Lees & Clutterbuck B.C. 1887 xxxii, This is the somethinger somethingest railway I ever struck.
B. adv. In some degree; to some extent; somewhat; rather, a little.
Except as an archaism, this use chiefly survives in constructions which admit of the word being felt as a noun.
1. a. Qualifying a verb.
c1275Wom. Samaria 7 in O.E. Misc., Al so he þiderward sumþing neyhleyhte, He sende his apostles by-voren. 1530A. Baynton in Palsgr. Introd. 12 Our Englyshe tong hath some thyng altred theyr..terminations. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xxii. 28 We something doubted the gallies of Genua. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 12 Conies..something resemble a wilde Cat. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. i. 40 Many are unsetled about him,..these may be something satisfied if [etc.]. 1785Holcroft Tales of Castle I. 128, I shall be something relieved of a load of sorrow which oppressed me. 1802W. Fowler Corr. (1907) 45, I think they may shrink something before they be put in use. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. 463 The scarcely ambiguous answer was something softened the following day.
b. Qualifying a prepositional or adverbial expression of place, extent, distance, time, etc.
1530Palsgr. 7 Than shall the o be sounded almost lyke this diphthonge ou, and some thyng in the noose. 1576in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. (1886) 753/2 Ane merche stane set and put sumthing bewest the end of the said dyke. 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 133 For 't must be done to Night, And something from the Pallace. 1611― Wint. T. ii. ii. 55 Please you come something neerer. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 55, I have been something long upon this Theme. 1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3310/4 A brown Gelding something above 14 hands high,..and something thin footed before. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 297 Our Guide being something before us. 1759Sterne Tr. Shandy ii. xvii, His left hand, raised something above his stomach. 1844Disraeli Coningsby iii. iii, He is a man something under thirty. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps v. §xxii. 158 The whole reaching to something above a man's height. 1896G. Boothby Dr. Nikola iv. 79 In something under a quarter of an hour we had reached the wharf.
2. a. Qualifying an adj.
Freq. in the 17th and 18th centuries. Now rare or dial. Also in dial. and colloq. use as an intensive with such adjs. as cruel, frightful, etc.
c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) B iiij, Thou seest diuers wayes oft leading to one place, Thone something open, thother close and shit. 1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 55 So hath a nauet a longe roote and somthynge yealowishe. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 181 Who was of stature something tall, and corpulent. 1666Marvel Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 194 There is one Bill orderd to be brought in of a something new nature. 1708Swift Sacram. Test Wks. 1755 II. i. 124, I have the misfortune to be something singular in this belief. 1791E. Inchbald Next-door Neighbours iii. ii, Sir George is something nervous. 1827Cooper Prairie I. 30 They told us below, we should find settlers something thinnish hereaway. 1851E. Ruskin Let. 25 Nov. in M. Lutyens Effie in Venice (1965) ii. 218 Nani makes them a great dish of Fish seasoned strongly with Garlic and the smell is something too dreadful if one happens to pass by the door. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. I. 170 Indifferent to the obligations of gratitude, and something careless of the truth. 1856G. Meredith Let. 15 Dec. (1970) I. 38 The dulness is something frightful. 1918C. Mackenzie Sylvia Scarlett I. vii. 208 ‘These paths are something dreadful, Emmie,’ said Mrs. Horne, as the three of them scrambled up through the garden. 1932L. Golding Magnolia Street ii. ii. 299 The way the razor trembled..now and again was something cruel.
Comb.1602Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 181 Haply the Seas..shall expell This something setled matter in his heart. 1608Chapman Byron's Consp. iii. ii, Others that with much strictness imitate The something-stooping carriage of my neck. 1842Tennyson Will Waterproof 131 In a court he saw A something-pottle-bodied boy.
†b. With a or an inserted before the adj. Obs.
1588J. Read tr. Arcæus' Comp. Meth. 77 b, Incorporate it so that it may become something an hard Emplaister. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 215, I was borne with a white head, & somthing a round belly. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 12 Having a secure hauen, yet with something a dangerous entrance. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. xiv. 163 These seem to have something an over-near affinity with..Heresie. 1770Warburton in W. & Hurd Lett. (1809) 455, I have now had something a longer intermission from my pain. 1784R. Bage Barham Downs I. 26 Will you..increase your sister's fortune to make her something a more suitable match?
c. Qualifying an adv. of manner. Also with adj. used for adv. in dial. and colloq. usage.
1588Greene Pandosto (1843) 27 She began to simper something sweetely. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 825 Being something gently consider'd, Ile bring you where he is aboord. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 21 What he calls a Courtier he uses something roughly. 1713Berkeley Hylas & Phil. i, The inferences sound something oddly. 1822Scott Nigel xvii, ‘I said Grahame, sir, not Grime,’ said Nigel, something shortly. 1859Dickens Christmas Stories, Haunted House i, ‘O!’ said I, something snappishly. 1898G. B. Shaw You never can Tell in Plays Pleasant 211 Gentleman: Did you howl? The Young Lady: Oh, something awful. 1909A. Woollcott Let. 24 Sept. (1944) 20 She gads around something fierce, as your friend Bert would say. 1915J. Webster Dear Enemy 300 When he was drunk..he smashed the furniture something awful. 1932R. Lehmann Invitation to Waltz i. iii. 58 Her husband drinks something shocking. 1963W. H. Missildine Your Inner Child of Past xv. 221, I was taken into the assembly hall. And beat up something terrible. 1978D. Clark Libertines ii. 41 ‘I'll put a plaster on that cut for you.’.. ‘Thanks, doctor... It does sting something chronic.’
d. With a comparative adj. or adv.
1592Soliman & Pers. v. iv. 130 Yet some thing more contentedly I die For that [etc.]. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 140 This place is something better then desert. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 57 The Stick being something more than the diam. at the Base Ring. 1713S. Sewall Diary 2 Nov. (1879) II. 406 Sam. is something better, yet full of pain. 1735Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Voy. ii. 11, I found him in a Straw-Hat something larger than those of his Subjects. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxi, You have done your duty something more than boldly. 1829― Anne of G. xv, Because my thoughts came slower, may be, and something duller, than those of other folk. 1886Stevenson Kidnapped x, Now this song..is something less than just to me.
e. Followed by too and adj. or adv. Now arch.
1610Shakes. Temp. iii. i. 58, I prattle Something too wildely. 1668H. More Div. Dial. II. 38 Something too copious a digression. 1671Shadwell Humourist v, It is something too sudden and temerarious. 1709Mrs. Manley Secr. Mem. (1736) III. 46 Something too large a Head. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton i. (1840) 3 This fell out something too soon. 1821Scott Kenilw. xii, I got something too deep into his secrets. 1831― Cast. Dang. vi, We have had something too much of this.
† f. Followed by with and a superlative, = somewhat or rather (soon, often, etc.). Obs. rare.
1631Massinger Emperor East ii. i, Shall I become a votary to Hymen Before my youth hath sacrificed to Venus? 'Tis something with the soonest. 1697South Serm. III. 282 Even that perhaps may be something with the oftenest.
3. In various miscellaneous constructions.
1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 179 Say and Sele was..averse to the Court ways, something out of pertinaciousness. 1790in J. Haggard Rep. Consist. Crt. (1822) I. 81 Her deposition..is highly coloured and inflamed,..something in the style really of a French novel. 1842Borrow Bible in Spain xxxvi, It was..built something in the Moorish taste. 1897Academy 9 Jan. 48/1 Something a bore to many, by reason of talking like a book in coat and breeches.
Hence (chiefly as nonce-words) ˈsomething v. trans., used colloq. in pa. pple. as a euphemism for ‘damned’ or other imprecation, esp. in the phr. to see (one) somethinged first; hence ˈsomethinged ppl. a. somethingean a. (cf. somethingth below). † ˈsomethingish adv., somewhat. ˈsomethingth a., used to supply the place of a number, name, etc., which is not distinctly remembered or is immaterial (cf. quots. and something A. 1 b).
1859F. Francis N. Dogvane (1888) 108 As for paying for him, tell him I'll see him *somethinged first. 1867H. Kingsley Silcote of S. xli, He said that he would be somethinged if he gave way. 1882M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. 92 ‘Self-will be ― somethinged’ growled Leonard.
1837Dickens Pickw. xv, Four *something-ean singers in the costume of their country.
1922E. Wallace Valley of Ghosts xiii. 120 You called me..a fool, and a *somethinged fool, almost the first time we met.
1777Vanbrugh's Prov. Wife iv. iii, Why, she really has the air of a sort of a woman a little *somethingish out of the common.
1854Mrs. Gaskell Lett. (1966) 302, I am very poor; which eases my cares wonderfully, see *somethingth satire of Juvenal. 1871Meredith H. Richmond xli, He killed Harry's friend Seneca in the eighty-somethingth year of his age. 1891Duncan Amer. Girl in London 194 The wife of Colonel So-and-so, commanding the somethingth something. 1898Academy 5 Feb. 149/1 There is a new novel from her pen—her fifty-somethingth, we believe. |